This has been bothering me for awhile. There are these giant cutouts near the intersection of Highways 17 and 141. Does anybody know why these things exist and what it is that they are trying to promote?
Somebody please tell me about these things.
Mystery
I drove by those every single day on my way to LHF. Phil and I briefly discussed the display when it first went up, but neither of us knew anything about it. If you find out what it’s about, please share.
I saw it when I was home for Christmas and had a good laugh with my mother. I agree that it is very odd.
http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab7.cfm?newsid=18815289&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554400&rfi=6
Harald Lamberts of Grimes loves Corvettes. Having bought his first in 1957 while still in college – a car he still owns today – it’s been nearly a lifelong love affair.
That love affair took an unexpected turn a few years ago during a trip to Carmel, Calif. It was a turn that would lead to an unexpected work of public art alongside Iowa Highway 141 near Granger.
“I was in an art gallery in Carmel when I happened upon a larger-than-life-size work of art – a ’55 Corvette,” he said. “It was a part of a display that John had created that had to be removed and was sent to the gallery.”
The John whose artwork Lamberts was admiring so greatly is John Cerney, a Salinas, Calif. muralist who specializes in gigantic cut-out artwork that is designed to be viewed publicly from highways and byways. His artwork often tells a central story with a Rockwell-esque sense of humor.
Lamberts didn’t know this when he purchased the Corvette piece to display in his garage. He instead was interested in finding out the “rest of the story” of the piece of art.
“It’s certainly a one-of-a-kind piece of art, and very nice to display,” Lamberts said. “At that point, I sought out John for some background information.”
Cerney showed Lamberts photos of the larger work of art while it was being created. As the artist and car lover began to correspond with one another, a friendship formed a bond between them. It wasn’t long before talk turned to creating a similar piece of art in Iowa.
“That’s a pretty special type of art to have here in Iowa,” Lamberts said. “You just don’t see something like that around here.”
“Harald said that if I ever wanted to put my cut-outs up in Iowa, he had some land where I could do it,” Cerney said. “So, I came up with a concept, and sketched it out for him to look at.”
Lamberts said he gave Cerney free reign to come up with the artwork. They kept in frequent contact over a four-month period, during which the artist worked on his pieces for the display in between other projects.
The finished product was simple: two kids have discovered a treasure chest and followed it to the X on the map, digging up a chest full of old toys. They look at these antiques with a mixture of joy and wonderment, an example of the difference between childhood entertainment of today and yesteryear.
“I started with the idea that I wanted a kid coming out of a hole in the ground, so I asked myself why he was there. He was digging up treasure – he had found a map – so then I asked myself what he found,” Cerney said. “Was it normal treasure? No, it was something different: toys like I grew up playing with. Kids today, most of the time, are playing with videogames. These kids were excited because they found older toys.”
The cut-out of a girl holding a toy covered wagon was the first piece completed. In all, 15 pieces of special plywood were painted and prepared for assembly.
“I finished painting the pieces in April or May,” Cerney said. “We decided to wait until August to put it up, though – the weather was supposed to be better.”
Instead, the two men braved sweltering heat and humidity, exacerbated by the cut-outs’ proximity to a cornfield, and put up the piece of art. Immediately, neighbors and passersby took notice of the unique addition to the local scenery.
“We had people who would stop and say, ‘Is it going to be a corn maze?’ and I would say, ‘No,’ so then they would ask, ‘What’s it going to be?’ and I would just tell them it was going to be something special,” Lamberts said. “People driving by would honk and wave while we worked on it. Neighbors would stop to thank us for what we were doing.”
Since the piece of art has been completed, interest in it has continued to grow. Some passersby have taken the treasure map to be a literal challenge to the public, and started scouring Beaver Creek for hidden treasure. Others have gone as far as to break out the shovels and start looking around the nearby cornfield.
One family even took the artwork to mean a new reality television show was coming to town.
“Some people think it’s a real game with a real treasure chest. It’s just a piece of public art, though,” Cerney said. “It sort of breaks up the monotony of the environment there. People should just have fun with it.”
“I like to do things people would wonder about. What is it? Why is it there? What does it mean?” Lamberts added. “It causes people to think about it. That’s exactly what we got. There’s no motivation, though, other than to provide some public art. We have nothing to sell.”
Don’t expect too many additional pieces of artwork to pop up along Highway 141 in the near future, he added. Unless someone is serious about commissioning Cerney to do the work, and willing to give him the artistic freedom he needs, the treasure chest and children will likely be a unique feature along Iowa’s roadways.
Locals don’t seem to mind that distinction at all.
“I’ve talked with a few businesses in Granger. They tell me people driving by go to the extent of stopping at businesses in town to ask what is going on,” Lamberts said. “I’m just amazed by the amount of positive reaction we’ve had.”
An added touch was something Cerney didn’t mention to his friend as he created the artwork. Inside the treasure chest, sitting atop an old Monopoly game box, is a toy car-a ’55 Corvette. It is similar to the one Lamberts drives in vintage sports car races in California.
“Only 700 of the ’55 Corvette were ever made; it was the first year Chevy had a V8 engine, which is the same V8 they use today,” Lamberts said. “It’s kind of neat that John picked up on that and included it in his artwork.”
Eventually – perhaps in 10-15 years’ time – the plywood will begin to wear out from the extremes of Iowa’s weather. The paint will fade and the wood will become fragile and break down. In the meantime, Cerney hopes those who pass by will get a little bit of joy from his efforts.
“I just hope people appreciate it has no purpose but to make their drive a little different,” he added. “Someone took the time to do that for them.”
The artwork is best viewed heading south on Highway 141 from Granger. It is located just before the Jester Park exit southeast of the Iowa Highway 17 junction.