SculptureTour Salina plans to announce its latest winner on Friday, and you can watch it live!
The winner of the 2020 People's Choice Award is scheduled to be announced at 11 a.m. Friday on SculptureTour Salina's Facebook page.
"The SculptureTour Salina People's Choice program was such a fun and exciting competition this year! This was the first time we had so many local artists enter the competition, and the votes were very close! It was fun to see the community get behind the People's Choice program and get out and vote," said Penny Bettles, executive director of Salina Downtown, Inc.
To see all of the 2020 sculptures, click here.
SculptureTour Salina is an annual juried competition and exhibition. Approximately 20 sculptures are selected and carefully sited in downtown Salina. The sculptures remain installed for one year.
To date, 41 sculptures have been purchased or donated, including works purchased by the City of Salina through the People's Choice Award initiative. The city designates up to $15,000 for the purchase of the People's Choice Award winner. The sculpture is then installed in a public environment within the community selected by Salina Arts & Humanities along with the SculptureTour Salina committee.
Previous People's Choice Award winners include the following.
2011 -- Watch Dog by Louise Peterson, Oakdale Park Sculpture Garden
2012 -- Sweet Kisses by Marianne Caroselli, Oakdale Park Sculpture Garden
2013 -- Farmer by Lawrence Starck, downtown Salina's Campbell Plaza
2014 -- Next Up by James Haire, KWU tennis courts
2015 -- Daughters of Peace by Benjamin Victor, second floor of the City-County Building
2016 -- Slim by Dale Lewis, Tony's Pizza Events Center
2017 -- Picasso's Violin by Jodie Bliss, The Salina Innovation Foundation
2018 -- Patches by Dale Lewis, outside The Smoky Hill Museum
2019 -- Wheat Harvest by James Mages, in front of the City-County Building
"SculptureTour Salina is entering its 11th year," Bettles said. "We had some big hopes and dreams for the 10th anniversary of the program, but much like everything else, COVID-19 put a stop to that. However, we decided to move forward with the outdoor exhibit and give the community something fun and safe they could continue to look forward to, and we're happy we did."