Dedication celebration for new I-90 welcome center sculptures set for Oct. 14

A celebration recognizing the installation of three new sculptures at the Northeast Wyoming Welcome Center, located just off I-90 Exit 199 near the South Dakota border, is scheduled for October 14 at 10 a.m.

A life-sized bronze mountain lion greets visitors as they drive up to the center, and two bronze fawns are nestled near the building’s front entrance. Residents from the area are invited to join in the celebration followed by refreshments in the center.

The three bronze pieces by part-time Lander artist, David R. Nelson, were made possible through the State’s Art in Public Buildings “1 percent for Arts” program that allows 1 percent of the construction costs of any new, state-funded construction projects, up to a maximum of $100,000, to be spent on art work for those facilities.

Nelson’s work was selected from a pool of Wyoming artist submissions by an Art in Public Buildings (APB) Selection Committee which included N.E. Wyoming residents, Ila Miller of Aladdin, Jaymi Gilmore of Gillette, Rocky Courchaine of Sundance and Robert Vore of Beulah in addition to the architect for the facility and representatives from the Wyoming Office of Tourism and State Construction Management Office. 

The Wyoming Arts Council oversees APB projects for the State of Wyoming, and all art work becomes part of the State’s art collection, which is administered by the Wyoming State Museum.

Nelson is a nationally and internationally recognized sculptor that specializes in wildlife and human form as well as contemporary life sized and monumental sculptures.  He has been a professional artist for over 26 years, and has been commissioned by corporations, public art programs and private homeowners for a number of site-specific sculptures.  His work can be found at www.davidnelsonsculptures.com . 

For more information on this celebration, please contact the Wyoming Arts Council office at 307-777-7742 or e-mail rita.basom@wyo.gov .