The steel horse awaits you. Kristen Piersa Kregel’s Number Seven, a life-size steel horse made from real horseshoes, won first place in the 2013 People’s Choice Awards of the Edina Public Art Sculpture Exhibit. Kregel’s sculpture will be on display until May at Grandview Square Park across from the Edina Senior Center, although the artist has the option to extend the display for another year.
“Kregel’s sculpture created a buzz in the city from the day it was installed last May,” says Barbara La Valleur, commissioner for the Edina Arts and Culture commission and chairwoman of the Edina Public Art Committee, which sponsors the exhibition. The artistic horse is the seventh horseshoe sculpture created by Bloomington artist Kregel. Her People’s Choice Award came with a stipend of $1,000.
Placing second was Egghead by Kimber Fiebiger of Minneapolis. The bronze “Humpty Dumpty” figure sits on a pedestal reading a book at Grandview Square Park, which faces the Edina Library. Fiebiger, known in the area as the “Humpty Dumpty lady,” received $750.
“We’re very pleased that we had more votes this year than ever before, which shows that residents and visitors enjoy Edina’s expanding public art exhibit,” says La Valleur. “This year, thanks to help from city communications department, we incorporated QR codes on the sculpture plaques for the public to learn more about the sculptures, artists, public art in Edina and the Edina Art Center. Next year we plan to have voting available through the QR code system, as well as online to make the process easier.”
