The Nebraska Wind Sculpture, (sculpture).

The Nebraska Wind Sculpture, (sculpture).

Baker, George P., 1931- , sculptor.

The Nebraska Wind Sculpture, (sculpture).

1974-1976. Dedicated Sept. 1976.

Digital Reference:

Stainless steel.

Sculpture: approx. 10 x 10 x 10 ft.

Curvilinear disks of various sizes arranged on top of four large discs, floating in a pond. Discs move with the wind and are in Nebraska colors.

Allegory -- Place -- Nebraska

Outdoor Sculpture -- Nebraska -- Kearney

Administered by State of Nebraska, Nebraska Department of Roads, Design Division, 1500 Highway, N-2, Lincoln, Nebraska 68502

Located Nebraska Interstate 80, Kearney, westbound rest area, Kearney, Nebraska

Nearby plaque reads: THE NEBRASKA WIND SCULPTURE/GEORGE BAKER/STAINLESS STEEL/THIS IS ONE OF TEN SCULPTURES/SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED AS PART OF/NEBRASKA'S CELEBRATION OF/THE BICENTENNIAL.

One of nine pieces actually completed as part of a Bicentennial celebration to place sculpture along Interstate-80. The idea for the 500-mile sculpture garden originated with Thomas A. Yates, who with Norman Geske, proposed the project to the Nebraska American Revolution Bicentennial Commission in August 1973. The commission endorsed the project and made a $100,000 grant toward the total project costs of $535,000. Funded with a National Endowment for the Arts, Art in Public Places grant of $20,000 given in 1977 to the City of Fargo. Additional funders included the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, the Nebraska ArtsCouncil, the Nebraska Art Association, and private and corporate donations. The project was controversial because of the abstract nature of the sculpture and because no Nebraska artist was selected in the competition. IAS files contain related newsclippings from the Lincoln Journal and Star, and the Omaha World-Herald, 1973-1986; an excerpt from World-Herald Magazine of the Midlands, June 29, 1986; and a brochure printed by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development: "Nebraska's 500-Mile Sculpture Garden."

An April 20, 2011 "Memorandum of Understanding Between The Nebraska Department of Roads and the Nebraska Arts Council" provides the following description of the efforts made by the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) to address ongoing condition issues: "NDOR has also worked on Nebraska Wind Sculpture, by George Baker, which floats in the pond at the Kearney Westbound Rest Area. In addition to replacing the de-icing system, they re-engineered the flotation system to keep it in place while allowing it to float." IAS files contain a copy of an April 20, 2011 "Memorandum of Understanding Between The Nebraska Department of Roads and the Nebraska Arts Council Regarding The Nebraska Interstate-80 Bicentennial Sculpture Project" describing responsibilities for the care of the sculptures.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Nebraska survey, 1994.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

Heritage Preservation SOS! survey of NEA Art in Public Places funded sculpture, 2002.

Nebraska Department of Roads, 2011.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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