Art in Public Places brings six new statues to Longmont

Art on the Move is in it’s 16th year, bringing new temporary art and sculpture to Longmont’s public places. 

Six new sculptures have moved in downtown and at the Longmont Museum, including Mollie.

“This year we had over sixty applicants for the three-dimensional portion of Art on the Move,” said Art in Public Places Administrator Angela Brill. “The goal of Art on the Move is to give the community an opportunity to see the work of our regional creatives and pay artists a fair stipend for sharing their works.”

The Art on the Move program is part of Longmont’s Art In Public Places, or AIPP, initiative. The six sculptures — four at St. Stephen’s Plaza, one at theLongmont Museum and one at the west 500 block of Main Street — will be on loan through the summer of 2022.

This year includes two Colorado artists new to the program — Barbara Baer has loaned her work titled “Calla” for residence at the Longmont Museum, while AJ Davis’ 12-foot-tall steel spear and crescent moon, “Under the Lover’s Moon” will join the new works at St. Stephen’s Plaza.

Baer is the executive director of Denver’s Spark Gallery, and has had her sculptures displayed across the globe, including New Zealand, Japan and Germany. Baer’s “Calla” is constructed of brightly painted aluminum and thick plexiglass, casting colorful refractions of light around it.

“I work to create art that engages and delights,” Baer said. “These metal and plastic artworks display rich, translucent colors that glow in sunlight like stained glass.”

Annette Coleman’s latest sculpture, “Mid-Century Mod-Cacti Mini” is a combination of steel and stained glass mosaics, while the sharp edges of the glass are embedded into silicon-coated concrete to prevent accidental injury. Coleman’s “Whirling Dervish Transcendence” was at St. Stephen’s Plaza as part of last season’s Art on the Move.

“I’m very excited about creating this new sculpture for Longmont,” Coleman said. “As a kid I went to Longmont from Denver to my grandmother’s home on Emery. We enjoyed walking around town and gardening together … ‘Mid-Century Mod-Cacti Mini’ is in honor of my grandmother’s vibrant garden.”

Joining Coleman and Davis in the sculpture garden at St. Stephen’s Plaza are works from Colorado artists Jade Windell and Gregory Fields. Windell’s “Protector” is more than 1,000 pounds of Colorado marble on a granite base. Fields’ “Wild Ones” combines ceramic and steel to give the impression of ancient carvings.

Though most Art on the Move pieces are temporary, according to Brill sometimes the community falls in love with a work. Ursa Major, currently at the mouth of the breezeway at the east 300 block of Main Street, originally came to AIPP through Art on the Move. The piece was so beloved, the AIPP commission acquired it permanently. 

“I don’t see that bear sneaking off on her own for many years to come,” Brill said. “The return of the work to Longmont has received so many comments, she belongs here.”

Next month AIPP will install a new two-dimensional works inside the Safety and Justice Center.