DeWitt sculptures will honor native artist John Bloom
Anne Dorpinghaus
DeWITT, Iowa — The art of native DeWitt artist John Bloom will be featured in two sculptures being planned to enhance DeWitt's 6th Avenue after the city's downtown thoroughfare is rebuilt in 2006.
Still early in the planning stages, a streetscaping committee hopes to commission two bronze and limestone sculptures that depict elements of Bloom's murals, City Administrator Steve Lindner said. The sculptures would be placed at the north and south entrances to the downtown area.
IIW Architect and Engineer Ron Balmer, who presented the idea to the streetscaping committee, planned to meet with three artists last weekend in Galena, Ill., to develop the sculptures' designs. The DeWitt City Council on Tuesday approved up to $2,000 to cover the artists' expenses and the rental of an art studio for their work day.
Bloom painted "Shucking Corn" for the U.S. Post Office in DeWitt in the late 1930s. The mural, officially owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is still in its original home, now the site of DeWitt City Hall. It shows a farmer dressed in overalls picking corn by hand, while a team of white horses stands hitched to a wagon, awaiting the harvest. Another Bloom mural, "Cattle," was painted for the U.S. Post Office in Tipton, Iowa, in 1940. Bloom studied and worked under Grant Wood and was married to renowned sculptor Isabel Bloom. He painted numerous murals, was a commercial artist and was "rediscovered" in the 1980s. He died in 2002.
Lindner said the street design will include 1930s-era street lamp styles and incorporate colors of Bloom murals. Lindner spoke with Bloom's sons, Tom Bloom and Jerry Bloom, and he said both support the plan.
"They would like to see their father get more recognition and are very excited about the project," Lindner said. Funding for the sculptures would be sought through grants and donations.
Balmer said the design is very preliminary. He envisions life-sized bronze animals based on Bloom's murals, such as a draft horse, cow and perhaps even a pig and a dog, emerging from the rows of corn. The corn stalks would be carved from native Iowa limestone of a yellowish color and would replicate how farmers planted corn in hills during the Depression era. The two sculptures would be rough mirror images, Balmer said.
Balmer was to meet in Galena with a metal sculptor from Kalona, Iowa, a stone carver from Decorah, Iowa, and a theatrical lighting specialist from Chicago. Beacons of light are also part of the street design.
DeWitt Chamber of Commerce Director JoElla O'Connell said she hopes the sculpture design can be unveiled at the Chamber's semiannual meeting on Jan. 21.
"We hope to at least have some sketches, and at best, a model," Balmer said.
One idea is to create miniature three-dimensional replicas of the sculptures and sell them to raise funds for the full-sized art.
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