The 11th outdoor sculpture in the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art’s public art initiative, RIVERARTES: THE ART OF PLACEMAKING, a project designed to acquire a public art collection for Owensboro, was unveiled at the C. Waitman Taylor, Jr. City Hall building at Fourth and Daviess Streets, Tuesday, April 9 at 11 a.m.
The sculpture entitled “Lincoln” is a life-size bronze depicting the sixteenth president of the United States sitting on a park bench with top hat in hand. The sculpture by Mark Lundeen, Loveland, Colo., is leased for the “RIVERARTES” program by the Marilyn and William Young Charitable Foundation with project support provided by Ann Murphy Kincheloe.
Lundeen, a member of the National Sculptors Guild, is recognized for his monumental full-scale works and is represented in numerous public collections. Included are the Baseball Hall of Fame, the McDonalds Corporate Collection and the Denver International Airport. A major work commissioned by NASA memorializes one of the Apollo 13 astronauts and is installed in the United States Capital Building in Washington, D. C. He currently is completing a second commission for NASA.
Mark Lundeen is the brother of George Lundeen who has three other works of public art in Owensboro, including “Harvest Dreams” installed in Riverfront Crossing, “Hometown” on the Daviess County Courthouse lawn and a recently completed bronze sculpture of the late motorcycle racing star Nicky Hayden, installed in front of the Owensboro Convention Center.
RIVERARTES: THE ART OF PLACEMAKING, celebrates the vitality of Owensboro and enhances its reputation as a cultural tourism destination. It is a public enhancement program administered by the local art museum as a service to Owensboro.
All of the sculptures leased or purchased for the public art project originated from sculpture exhibitions of national scope held at the art museum in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The exhibitions, sponsored by Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, featured proposals for public art submitted by artists from across the country. The next national exhibit is scheduled for 2020.
Private donors support two-year leases of $5,000 for each sculpture or purchase them outright from the RIVERARTES exhibitions. To date, ten works of art valued at more than $300,000 have been acquired by the art museum for Owensboro’s public art collection and installed in the downtown area.
The Owensboro Museum of Fine Art is located at the corner of 9th and Frederica streets in Owensboro, Ky., and is open Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; and weekends, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free but donations are encouraged. For more information, visit the museum’s website, www.omfa.us or phone 270-685-3181.
