Crystal Lake‘s first public art piece funded by the city is now on display in the center of a roundabout at Congress Parkway and Exchange Drive.
The sculpture, priced at $50,000, is described in city documents as a “transparent globe” made of stainless steel, with bronze elements, including fish that are found in the city’s namesake lake.
[ See more photos of the new roundabout art, from creation to installation ]
It was created by artist and Crystal Lake resident Erik Blome. He has completed dozens of bronze sculptures in his career that are on display around the world, including a traveling 8½-foot-tall bust of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable. Blome also was commissioned to create a groundhog statue and bench for Woodstock. Other pieces of his art can be found in Crystal Lake, like a statue at ComEd offices and busts in the Raue Center for the Arts.
The 19-by-8-foot roundabout sculpture was cast at Blome’s silicon bronze foundry and studio in Woodstock with marine-grade stainless steel.
It was installed about 3 a.m. Friday at the roundabout, Blome said.
His sculpture was the first item recommended by the Crystal Lake Public Arts Commission that went forward to the City Council for a vote. The $50,000 price tag took up all of the Public Arts Commission’s annual budget.
City Council members approved the sculpture last year in a 5-1 vote. Some council members expressed concern that the art piece isn’t displayed in a more prominent area.
But Congress Parkway could become a more popular thoroughfare in the city, with multiple residential developments along the road recently added or currently under construction.
Plus, the City Council just approved the purchase of the long-shuttered Northwestern Medicine Health and Fitness Center, located at 200 Congress Parkway, to turn it into a community center.