ALTOONA CITY HALL

Cast Iron Sculptures at New Altoona City Hall to Document Contemporary Oral History

The entryway to Altoona’s new City Hall/Police Department will prominently feature two wall-mounted sculptures documenting the city’s oral history and sense of place. The sculptures created by Des Moines artist Edward Kelley will feature relief text and imagery cast in iron plaques designed to resemble historical markers. The text and imagery will be based on brief stories of contemporary oral history collected from community members.

The iron pour itself, a day-long event of hard labor and the spectacle of molten iron, will be open to the community.

Although the city has a few exterior sculptures, in many ways this project initiates Altoona’s public art collection. The sculpture is the inaugural piece generated from the city’s new public arts and culture plan, facilitated by Group after months of community input and planning. The project is supported in part by Bravo Greater Des Moines’ Public Art Grant, which Group successfully wrote for the city.