Public Art Collections
Finding and touring public art collections can be a fun date night activity. They improve the character of a place and make great destinations for scavenger hunts, especially when your city is rich with public art. Lincoln, Nebraska is such a city. Public art has been a part of Lincoln since it was conceived. The State Capital houses many public art treasures.
Pioneer's Park is home to Smoke Signal and Columns, some of the older large scale public art installations. Sheldon Art Galleries' outdoor public art includes such notable sculptures as Fallen Dreamer and The Torn Notebook. Wesleyan's collection includes Calling Away and several monuments made by students. Union College's Clocktower has the distinction of being one of the tallest pieces of public art in the city.
Pop-culture public art collections are scattered throughout the region. Liz-Shea McCoy hosted some broadly popular art creation events serving as fundraisers to benefit various organizations. Here is a list of a few of those efforts:
- 2018 Serving Hands series benefiting Campus Life
- 2017 Nebraska by Heart honoring Nebraska's 150th Birthday (93 hearts)
- 2015 "Illuminating Lincoln" Lightbulb series in honor of the Lighthouse (51 lightbulbs)
- 2006 Star City series honoring the YWCA
- 2003 Tour de Lincoln bicycle series benefiting the Lincoln Arts Council (71 bike sculptures)
In 2001, Omaha hosted the pop-culture J. Doe exhibit, following the cow parade exhibits in Zurich (1998), Chicago (1999), Kansas City (2001) and San Antonio (2025) is the latest addition to that parade. Gromit Unleashed is one of the longest running public art trails. In 2025, they added the character Norbot the Gnome to the public art trail in Bristol, UK. It is an effort to raise funds for the Bristol Children's Hospital. So many of these efforts create experiences or are foster tourism.
Not all public art is met with such acclaim. The Split Pavillion sculpture along the Carlsbad, CA generated such a controversy that it was ultimately removed in 1999. Although, this ultimately did not stop the inclusion of public art in other areas of the city. Elizabeth Rest has concisely outlines a number of the issues communities engaged in large scale public art installations should consider at the outset of a project as well as at the maintenance and end-stages of a project. Deaccessioning of public art or removal due to controversy or changing public opinion can involve a number of these issues.
Buses, port authority buildings, airports, hotels, grain silos, hospitals, universities and roundabouts are all common locations for large scale public art installations. Art can be found in surprising places. Percent for Art programs provide public incentives for place-making. Some installations use materials, like glass or shotcrete, in clever ways, such as the Museum at PrairieFire or the SunRunner Bus RTS installations..
Other installations are sponsored advertising as pop-up art for large community events like game conventions and concerts. Some people question if commercial art installations truly constitute public art. Especially when the installations bring controversy and fines. Is it advertising or public art? Is it place-making or purile? Is it iconic?
Lincoln's Parks and Recreation website maintains a list of public art installations in the our town. Not every piece of public art is listed. Some of my personal favorites around Lincoln include:
- Iron Horse Legacy Mural
- Sunken Garden's Gazebo
- Roll, Pitch and Yaw
- Bicycle Man - on top of Cycle Works bike shop
- Chrome Bugs - at Penelope's Lil Cafe
- the mural behind the old Dietz Music building
- the mural at Constellation Studios
I am glad to be part of a city that values and encourages public art. Exercise your visual artistry by adding a photo of your own of a public art piece here.
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