River City Sculptures on Parade in Mason City, Iowa.

Public art has exploded in many Iowa towns. For some locations, it takes the form of building murals. In Mason City, Iowa it mostly takes the form of sculptures. They have some building murals too, but their strength is in their public sculptures. Not only is there a large number of sculptures, but each one is a quality piece.

They have an exclusive partnership with SculptureOne Partner Network. No other town in Iowa has access to this network. This helps them bring in a new set of sculptures each year. They place the sculptures along a 1.7 mile walking route for the public. The route runs through their downtown square, through their local businesses, great restaurants, breweries, and boutique shops.

A majority of the pieces are owned by the artist and are for sale or lease. Mason City also conducts a public vote called the People’s Choice Award. The winning sculpture is then purchased by Mason City and is added to their permanent collection.

Map listing the sculptures and the walking route for all 69 sculptures.

You can also find more information on their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/RiverCitySculpturesOnParade

Here’s a preview of some of the previous sculptures (some of them have been replaced – and a few are now part of the permanent collection), but this gives you a quick feel for the quality of the sculptures on parade.