This year’s finalists for the 8th Annual Ring Out for Art contest recently had their sculptures arrive in Jefferson.

Tower View Team Chair Deb McGinn says the selection committee went through 36 entries, the most they’ve ever had, including entries from Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Colorado and New Jersey. She points out the committee narrowed it down to the top four, which will be voted on by the public throughout the summer. McGinn describes the finalist’s sculptures.

“One is called, ‘Play Ball’ which is a bronze dog, it’s represented ‘at play.’ ‘The Feather’ is the next one, it’s a ten-foot tall sculpture made up of different colored panels. The figure is called, ‘Reaching’ and it’s a figure form that seems to be reaching up to the sky, and it’s made entirely of mirrored polished stainless steel nuts. And then the last one is ‘Fluid Connections 2021’ and it’s a modern piece of art that stands about eight-foot tall, and it’s made from steel and brass, and it’s all about rivers and how it affects the twists and the turns of the land.”      

Each of the finalists receive a $1,000 stipend from Home State Bank. Voting begins during the Bell Tower Festival with the winner receiving another $500 cash prize and the winning sculpture will remain on the courthouse south plaza through next April.