(Orleans)– The creator of a site-specific sculpture on the south shore of Big Spirit Lake hopes it will help residents and visitors appreciate the Iowa Great Lakes even more.
The 650 pound sculpture titled “The Lake Spirit” is mounted on an eight inch slab of concrete at Orleans Beach Park near the spillway.
Bill Lieb, the sculpture’s creator, says it was laser cut from a single sheet of CorTen weathering steel. He says it took about a year to complete.
It consists of three figures–a father, mother and child. Text on the plaque of the sculpture reads: “The spirit of the lake resides in our experience in the water, the light, the breeze and in the memory of these experiences when we leave”.
Lieb says each feature on the sculpture has significance. For instance, he says the square holes cut into the chests of the figures represent emotional experiences.
He says the raised hand of the father, bent hand of the mother and the hand of the child that wraps around the father’s leg are made of stainless steel. He says they represent ‘taking memories when we leave’.
Lieb says a void in the base plate is filled with sand from the beach to ‘remind us that we are a part of nature and nature is a part of us’.
The sculpture is located just east of the spillway at Orleans Beach Park.
Lieb has also erected sculptures at various locations along the Dickinson County Recreational Trail near the Pearson Lakes Art Center. He will soon begin building a sculpture to be placed in East Leech Park in Spencer.
