The City of Statesboro recently unveiled three new sculptures at its Art Park, located at the corner of East Main Street and Railroad Street in Downtown Statesboro. These new installations are part of the city’s ongoing commitment to public art and cultural enrichment.
Each sculpture is on loan through a two-year lease agreement, continuing the city’s model of rotating public art to ensure residents and visitors experience something fresh every few years.
To aid in the selection of the sculptures, the City of Statesboro formed an Art Advisory Committee in 2023 consisting of five members, Kim Riner, Michael Van Wagenen, Marc Moulton, Frank D’Arcangelo and Johnesia Lucas, who were chosen based on their expertise and artistic sensibility.
Though the current sculpture selection took place internally, future plans for the Statesboro Art Park include a public call for sculpture submissions, which the advisory committee would review for final selection. The juried event would happen biennially and coincide with the end of the current sculptures’ lease agreements. The Statesboro Art Advisory Committee hopes to host its first formal call for art in 2027.
The City of Statesboro is excited to welcome the following artists and their work to the park:
“Contemplating Momentary Trajectory (Best of Luck)” by Dallas Blue
Dallas Blue is a sculptor whose work reflects on moments of pause, direction, and the quiet tension between movement and stillness. “Contemplating Momentary Trajectory (Best of Luck)” was born from one such moment—an idea first sketched at a bus stop in Boulder, Colorado.
“I originally sketched the idea for this sculpture at a bus stop in Boulder, CO; thinking about the moments between transportation,” says Blue. “In these moments, you're at rest yet heading in a direction, contemplating your next task or step. I hoped to represent this by depicting the tension of a stone in a slingshot. The stone is at rest, pointed in a direction by the slingshot. While the slingshot’s form is the silhouette of a wishbone representing hopeful thinking towards your next step. That is how I came to name the piece, Contemplating Momentary Trajectory (Best of Luck).”
Currently an MFA candidate at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Blue has exhibited widely across the Midwest and Colorado. His work is held in the collections of the University of Northern Iowa, UnityPoint Health, and Iowa Falls Public Art.
“Cubed” by Beth Nybeck
Beth Nybeck is an internationally recognized sculptor and public artist. She creates elegant metal artwork that explores human connection to the world around. She is interested in activating her sculptures through public participation, inviting others to participate in her creative process.
Nybeck brings her signature community-inspired approach to “Cubed,” a sculpture composed of three interconnected steel cubes.
“This sculpture is inspired by family and community,” says Nybeck. “There is an interconnectedness that we have with each other, and that is reflected within this sculpture.”
Nybeck’s work can be found in public spaces across the U.S., including airports, universities, and civic parks. Her focus on collaboration and storytelling helps bridge the gap between artist and audience.
“Architrave” by Dan Perry
Dan Perry is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist based in Waterloo, Iowa, who works in a variety of media and scales from gallery-sized sculptures to monumental public artworks. “Architrave” is a bold and complex piece that blends classical architectural elements with contemporary sculptural techniques. Fabricated from stainless steel and aluminum with heat-colored bronze elements, the piece captures a powerful sense of upward motion.
“My intent is for the static sculpture to appear suspended in the moment of flourishing,” says Perry. “I take various architectural details and rescale and recontextualize them into sculptural artworks… challenging the viewer with elements that are familiar yet abstract enough to engage them in a visual dialogue.”
Perry is a professor at the University of Northern Iowa and coordinator of its Public Art Incubator, where students assist professional artists in producing commissioned works. He maintains a robust studio practice exhibiting his artwork in museums and arts centers across the United States. Perry has also completed 15 large-scale public sculpture commissions throughout the Midwest.
Coming This Fall: “Flow/Dance”
A fourth sculpture titled “Flow/Dance” will be installed at the park in November. This collaborative piece by Marc Moulton and Pam Reynolds will complete the 2025-2026 sculpture lineup. The piece is designed to evoke motion, rhythm, and harmony through fluid form and elegant movement.
Moulton, a Georgia Southern University professor and member of the city’s Art Advisory Committee, joins Reynolds, a Pooler-based artist, in creating a dynamic work that will add energy and grace to the park’s collection.
About the Statesboro Art Park
The Statesboro Art Park officially opened in October 2024 and was envisioned as a vibrant outdoor space to showcase contemporary public art in what was once a vacant lot at the entrance to downtown. Situated adjacent to an active railroad, the park occupies leased land from Norfolk Southern Railway and has been transformed into a lively gathering space, featuring walkways, flower-inspired landscaping, and interactive installations like the community sundial and the six-foot-tall “BORO” sign.
To learn more about the park, visit www.statesboroga.gov/artpark.
