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Public Arts Commission selects six new sculptures for 2026 downtown walk
Summary
The Public Arts Commission recommended six sculptures for the Lincoln Street walk and described an ongoing effort to include local and regional artists; the commission hopes a buyer will purchase one existing piece so a seventh can be added.
The Public Arts Commission presented its recommendations for the 2026 Sculpture Walk on Aug. 27, telling the Committee of the Whole it selected six regional and local works to rotate into downtown display next May.
"We had the opportunity to meet... with the public arts commission with the applications that we had from regional artists and also local artists," Naomi said, describing a selection that she said balances materials, scale and age-group accessibility. She said the call for artists covered Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota and that Fergus Falls was early to solicit entries in the region.
The commission noted one commission-favorite, "Guardian number two" (a tiger sculpture), may be purchased by an outside buyer; if sold, the commission hopes to use proceeds to add another site so the walk could expand from six to seven installations. Naomi said sculpture prices vary widely—staff mentioned a range "anywhere from $3,000" up to a bronze piece around $12,000—and that bases cost about $2,000 each.
The committee approved forwarding the public-arts recommendation to the council. Naomi also noted rotating paintings in the council chambers are from the library collection, including work by local artist and Public Arts Commission chair Kim Ebertson.
What’s next: the committee voted to place the sculpture-walk recommendation on the consent agenda for the council meeting; staff will continue outreach to potential purchasers and manage logistics for May 2026 installation.
