A sculpture by a local artist is the most recent winner of the SculptureTour Salina People's Choice Award.
City Commissioner Mike Hoppock, who also serves as SculptureTour Salina chair, announced this morning that For The Love of Steel by the late Salina artist Sunny Corbett was the 2020 People's Choice Award winner.
Corbett, who for more than 20 years worked as a fabricator for Pestinger Heating and Air, died June 8, 2019. Hoppock said Corbett worked on the sculpture, which is made of scrap metal, at Pestinger's before work, during his lunch break, and after work.
He loved to work with his hands and could create just about anything with metal. A motorcycle enthusiast, Corbett became the owner of an Iron Horse chopper in 2018 after arriving home from the Sturgis rally. A few months later he began to build a chopper from scrap metal he found in the Pestinger's shop. He measured his life size chopper and downscaled by 50 percent, creating For The Love of Steel. The project started in November of 2018 and was completed in May of 2019.
"He really, at one point, said he didn't even know if this was really considered art, but obviously, the people of Salina believe it is," Hoppock said.
According to Hoppock, Tom Pestinger encouraged Corbett's wife, Ann, to submit the piece to be part of the 2020 SculptureTour Salina exhibit.
The sculpture also was the winner of a new award this year, the Kid's Choice Merit Award, which was voted on by persons ages 18 and younger, Hoppock said. That award carries with it a $500 prize.
Additionally, Out of Africa, by Dale Lewis of Minnesota, received the Merit Award for second place in the People's Choice voting. That award carries with it a $1,000 prize.
For The Love of Steel is located in the 200 block of North Santa Fe Avenue on the west side of the street. A recommendation to keep the sculpture in that location will be going to the Salina City Commission in early February, according to Brad Anderson, Salina Arts and Humanities executive director. The city designates up to $15,000 each year for the purchase of the People's Choice Award winner.