Press release:

A multi-year effort spearheaded by the City of Des Moines Arts Commission to bring an outdoor gallery of sculptures to the downtown Des Moines Marina District is nearing completion. On May 17, five sculptures by Washington State artists are slated for installation at sites along Marine View Drive S and in the Marina.

Among the local artists represented, Des Moines resident George C. Scott will have one of his sculptures, a cast glass in powder-coated steel piece called “Tide Pool,” installed at Marine View Drive and S 216th Street. Another sculpture created by students in the Highline School District’s Puget Sound Skills Center welding program, will be situated at Marine View Drive and S 227th Street.

Other sculptors who will have their work included in the Arts on Poverty Bay downtown sculpture gallery include Gretchen Daiber of Leavenworth, Leo Osborne of Guemes Island, and Lin McJunkin of Conway, WA.

There will be a formal opening celebration of the Art on Poverty Bay sculpture project on Saturday, June 1, at 1 PM in the Des Moines Marina, on the Promenade to the northwest of the Harbormaster’s Office.

The Art on Poverty Bay project, spearheaded by former Des Moines Arts Commission member Nancy Stephan, has raised over $15,000 to date in private funds to pay for the installation of permanent sculpture bases and other expenses related to the sculpture project. Major project contributors include the Des Moines Legacy Foundation, Rotary Club of Des Moines, Law Offices of Gehrke, Wegener & Doull, and Powell Cuystom Homes and Renovations. The City of Des Moines Arts Commission’s Art on Poverty Bay project plans to present a rotating gallery of sculptures on an annual basis. Those involved with the project hope to install additional bases as funds are raised. For more information, contact Nancy Stephan at 206-228-4024.