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O'Fallon commission extends sculpture voting after reviewing 65 Shape of Community entries
Summary
The Cultural Arts Commission reviewed 65 Shape of Community submissions, agreed to narrow to a recommended 15 and extended internal voting through Friday to allow full member input; commissioners raised size, siting, power and lease-vs.-purchase questions.
The City of O'Fallon Cultural Arts Commission on Wednesday agreed to extend its internal voting window for the Shape of Community temporary-sculpture program after members reviewed 65 submissions and raised questions about siting, size and costs.
Commission staff presented the full slate of entries and a pre-sorted 'yes' and 'maybe' list. Staff said the program features 18–22 month loans of large-scale sculptures to be placed across town, and asked the commission to recommend roughly 10–15 pieces for further review by the O'Fallon Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB) and ultimately city council.
"We will review all entries that received a yes vote by a CAC member," staff said while walking commissioners through the majority-yes selections and the alternate maybes. Members discussed dozens of works by artists including Luke Achterberg, Frederick Napoli, Ben Pierce and others.
Commissioners flagged practical constraints that would affect selection: most existing pads are about 10 by 10 feet, some pieces are conceptual mock-ups rather than completed fabrications, and no display pads currently have dedicated electrical power. One commissioner noted that lit pieces should be LED or solar to avoid running new power lines; staff replied they do not believe power is set up at any of the pads yet.
Financial questions also came up. Commissioners discussed the program stipend the city pays to loan artworks and whether it would be more economical to purchase lower-valued pieces rather than lease them. A commissioner asked, "If the value of it is less than that, would we want to purchase it instead of leasing it?" and another clarified that the stipend described in the packet is the standard loan payment for accepted pieces.
Several commissioners said the original voting window had been too short: only five commissioners had cast votes through the initial CAFE (call-for-entry) process. To allow the rest of the panel to comment and rate submissions, a member moved to extend voting through Friday and permit comment fields and location recommendations; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. Staff committed to provide a mapped “pin drop” of potential locations and to circulate a curated top-15 recommendation for further comment.
What happens next: staff will collate the extended votes and comments, prepare a recommended list of approximately 15 sculptures and the preferred siting for each, then present that packet to the OCVB for funding review and to city council for final approval. The commission emphasized the need for several alternates in case an artist sells a piece before council action.
The commission passed the extension motion and closed the Shape of Community discussion to move on to other agenda items.
