Public asked to select piece of public art

COEUR d'ALENE - The city of Coeur d'Alene is asking for public input in selecting a piece of Native American art to be installed at North Idaho College.

Five mock-ups are on display at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, and visitors are encouraged to cast their vote for their favorite piece. Those votes will be taken into account by members of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, city officials and NIC representatives when they make their final selection at the end of April.

Funding for the $45,000 project comes entirely from the city's public arts fund, and the winning art will be installed after Labor Day on the bank of the Spokane River next to the Centennial Trail.

"The collaboration between the Tribe and the Arts Commission is a great opportunity for the city," Amy Evans, who serves as the city council liaison to the commission, said. "It's a great way to highlight Native heritage in our area and it's going to be in an amazing location."

Parks and Recreation Director Steve Anthony told The Press that the five pieces were chosen by a citizen selection committee - comprised of a member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, a city councilor, a representative of North Idaho College, residents of the Fort Grounds neighborhood, a representative from Vision 2030 and several artists at large. The committee received 21 proposals and selected the finalists based on their significance to the history of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, as well as their aesthetic appeal.

"Each of the selections have strong ties to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe," Anthony added.

Below are brief descriptions of the finalists:

* "Vitality Handed Down" by Jason Sanchez - This piece features two large hands, one above the other, to represent passing down and receiving knowledge. Sanchez wrote that his piece illustrates that "we are all currently responsible for being the giving hand (handing down possibility, opportunity, and life) to future generations, but we are also the receiving hand from past generations."

* "Chief Morris Antelope" by Cheryl Metcalf - The proposed 8.5-foot bronze sculpture was made to highlight the impact Chief Morris Antelope had in advocating for the Coeur d'Alene Indians. Metcalf wrote that "in the times of vanishing American Indians, Chief Morris Antelope fought for his people's rights and land."

* "Mother and Child" by Gareth Curtiss - The life-sized bronze statue depicts a mother and her child, both in traditional Coeur d'Alene Tribe attire, with the mother using one hand to gesture toward the lake. Curtiss wrote that "the feeling of the piece would be that one of the Tribe's ancestors bearing the future generations on her back, expressing that 'These are our waters.'"

* "CDA Indian Tribal" by Jeff May - This statue features a Native American man releasing a bald eagle from his arm, with small children sitting on boulders looking upward to watch the eagle fly away. May wrote that "there are some strong ties to teaching by means of observation, and equally significant is the passing of knowledge from generation to generation through educating children."

* "Shared Wisdom" by William Simmons - The proposed piece is based on the ancient stories of the Crane and the Coyote and features the two animals working together to share the earth's bounty, which is represented by a net. Simmons wrote that the sculpture has "nice visual movement from the low earth based beginning of the net through the mid sized coyote at 5-feet high to the 10-foot tall crane."

Next Tuesday, Anthony said, the mock-ups will move to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe Wellness Center in Plummer to allow members of the Tribe to cast their votes. The following week, the pieces will be in the NIC Library for additional voting.

At the end of April, the selection committee will use responses from the public and make a decision on which piece to bring before the Coeur d'Alene City Council for final approval.