Where to Find Tanner King’s Metal Sculptures in Sac County, Iowa
Drive through Sac County and you’ll start noticing Tanner King’s metalwork everywhere — beside highways, in community gathering spaces, along trails and parks, even inside local restaurants. Some pieces are impossible to miss. Others are easy to walk right past.
This guide turns his known sculptures into a road trip: 12 stops across Sac City, Lake View and Auburn.
Sac City
- East Entrance Hillside
- Criss Park and Chautauqua Park
- Cattail Cove and the downtown planters
- Sac City Public Library
- South Park and the Sac City Aquatic Center
Auburn
- Grant Park Trailhead
- Grant Park Trail and Butterfly Sanctuary
- Martin’s Welding
- Fat Guy’s Pub & Grub
Lake View
- Lake View Community Center
- Sauk Rail Trailhead
- Soak’d
Sac City, Iowa
1. East Entrance Hillside
Address: East Main Street, between Morningside Drive and Pierson Ave.
Where to park: This is really a drive-by stop — there’s no walking path and the highway stays busy. For photos, park at the Dollar General lot (420 E Main Street).
Entering Sac City from the east, you get an early introduction to Tanner King’s work. The landscaped hillside along Main Street holds several large metal sculptures mixed in with flowers, stone and ornamental plantings — oversized butterflies, ants, ladybugs, and other nature-inspired pieces. Some sit right at the roadside; others are tucked farther back. Slow down coming into town, because several are easy to miss at speed.
Items to watch for:
- Two ladybugs
- One oversized ant
- 2 butterflies
- 1 bald eagle
- 1 Sac City welcome sign
- 2 herons
2. Criss Park and Chautauqua Park
Address: 503 W Main Street, Sac City, Iowa
Where to park: Park at the Sac County Freedom Rock, 503 W Main Street.
This is the best walking stop in Sac City. Leave your car at the Freedom Rock and explore several sculptures on foot. You’ll cross one street — between the Freedom Rock and the gazebo — and from there a concrete path runs past the sculptures, over the North Raccoon River, and into Chautauqua Park without another crossing.
Items to watch for include:
Memorial Tree
Begin by looking for the metal memorial tree west of the Sac County Freedom Rock. The sculpture gives a different appearance depending on where you stand and it’s also illuminated at night.
Flying Geese
Cross the street from the Freedom Rock and walk toward the gazebo. Beyond the gazebo, you’ll find a group of metal geese flying above the landscaping.
A concrete path connects this part of the park, although visitors can step across the grass for a closer look.
North Raccoon River Bridge Railing
Follow the paved path east to the pedestrian bridge over the North Raccoon River. Tanner built the decorative railing — overlapping branches and leaves that form a pattern easy to miss from a car. Walk out onto the bridge to see how it changes as light passes through it.
Abstract Sculptures
Cross the bridge into Chautauqua Park and the path passes several abstract metal pieces set in landscaped beds. Their curling shapes look like unfurling ferns or young plants — though their official name and meaning aren’t confirmed.
Three Giant Pine Cones
Farther along the path are three oversized metal pine cones, each with its own shape and stance, grouped together among ornamental grasses, dark gravel and large stones. This is the last stop on the walking route — retrace your steps across the bridge back to the Freedom Rock.
3. Cattail Cove and the Downtown Planters
Address: Between 505 and 511 W. Main Street, Sac City
Where to park: Free parking is available along Main Street.
Cattail Cove is a narrow pocket park squeezed between two downtown buildings. Towering three-dimensional cattails frame the entrance, with more cattail cutouts worked into the metal panels at the back. Walk in and look closely at the landscaping — a detailed dragonfly and a metal turtle resting on a stone are easy to miss from the sidewalk. A few picnic tables make it a good spot to pause on the tour.
What to look for while visiting Cattail Cove:
Downtown Metal Planters
Before leaving downtown, look for Tanner’s large metal planters along West Main Street. They’re scattered rather than grouped, so spotting all the butterfly, pine-cone and other nature-themed cutouts turns into a small scavenger hunt.
4. Sac City Public Library
Address: 1001 W Main St, Sac City, Iowa
Where to park: plenty of free parking in front of the library
The library has two Tanner King pieces. The newest is Dewey, a copper frog perched on a limestone block reading an oversized book — his name chosen through a community naming contest, a nod to the Dewey Decimal System. Look also for the large metal library sign, which Tanner designed as well. Both are outdoors and viewable any time, with a sidewalk leading straight to Dewey.
5. South Park and the Sac City Aquatic Center
Address: 703 S 12th Street, Sac City, Iowa
Parking: Visitors can use the free parking areas around the perimeter of South Park and follow paved walking paths to the dandelions.
South Park contains two Tanner King installations: three giant dandelion seed heads and a group of metal palm trees.
Giant Dandelions
These three enormous seed heads were Tanner’s first Sac City sculptures, funded by the Criss Trust. They’re accessible around the clock and best seen after dark — they appear to glow, though there are no lights inside them. Ground-mounted fixtures shine upward through the metalwork instead.
Aquatic Center Palm Trees
Inside the fenced Aquatic Center, tall metal palm trees give the pool a tropical feel. Close-up access depends on the center’s hours and admission, but they’re visible from outside the fence when it’s closed.
Auburn, Iowa
6. Grant Park Trailhead
Address: Intersection of Xavier Ave and Highway 71 / 175, which is just west of Auburn, Iowa
Parking: No designated lot — pull safely onto the shoulder along Xavier Avenue rather than stopping beside the highway.
This trailhead holds one of Tanner’s most elaborate installations. Several enormous metal oak trees rise from a paved plaza, and another forms an arch over the trail entrance with “Grant Park Trail” suspended beneath its branches — look above the lettering for a hidden owl. A smaller metal tree is worked into the trail sign, and the plaza adds landscaping, stone benches and paved walkways. It’s open 24 hours, and the two main trees are lit at night.
The trail project also ties back to publishing entrepreneur Roy Reiman, who grew up near Auburn and later helped establish Reiman Gardens in Ames. A state Community Visioning report credits a significant contribution from Reiman with helping Auburn complete the trail and trailhead.
7. Grant Park Trail and Butterfly Sanctuary
Address: It’s located in the wooded area, along the Grant Park Trail that is just north of the Grant City Cemetery.
Parking: Along the gravel road (365th Street) beside the cemetery. Follow the paved trail through the cemetery — the sanctuary is roughly a quarter-mile from there.
You can reach the Butterfly Sanctuary two ways. For a longer walk or ride, start at the Grant Park Trailhead and follow the paved trail about half a mile (the full path runs close to a mile, making a two-mile round trip). For a shorter walk, drive to Grant Cemetery at Xavier Avenue and 365th Street and park along the gravel road there.
The whole trail is paved and step-free, open 24 hours, though unlit at night.
Timber Ridge Memorial Arch
Along the route you’ll pass beneath this arch, its design packed with a large deer, an American flag, an eagle, birds, trees and other wildlife. Worth walking around — new details show up from different angles.
Butterfly Sanctuary Arch
At the sanctuary itself, a second metal arch is covered in butterflies, caterpillars, flowers and leaves, echoed by the colorful landscaping and nearby butterfly houses. Tanner also built the wildlife bench here.
8. Martin’s Welding
Address: 104 Second St., Auburn
Where to park: Street parking; the outdoor pieces are generally visible without entering the property. Treat this as a glimpse at work in progress, not a fixed exhibit.
Martin’s Welding is Tanner’s workplace, not a public attraction — the shop isn’t open for tours, and visitors should stay on the street. It’s worth a stop because his newest or in-progress commissions often sit outside waiting for pickup, so what’s on display keeps changing. On my visit, the yard held giant dandelion seed heads, large metal palm trees and several commissioned benches.
9. Fat Guy’s Pub & Grub
Address: 109 Pine St., Auburn, Iowa
Fat Guy’s is owned by Tanner’s uncle, Colin King, and shows how his work fits into a working business rather than a park or trailhead. Most of it is on the outdoor patio: a spherical firepit covered in wildlife and nature cutouts as the centerpiece (Tanner mentioned it may eventually be rebuilt, so its look could change), plus the patio railings, structural metalwork and oversized Jack Daniel’s-inspired wall pieces made with the company’s permission.
Fat Guy’s is also authorized to serve Jack Daniel’s from a tap — Colin says only a handful of bars have that. There’s indoor axe throwing and a golf simulator that feels more like something out of a bigger city.
The patio is open whenever the bar is; plenty of free street parking nearby, but check hours before you go.
Tanner King Sculptures in Lake View
10. Lake View Community Center
Address: 201 Boulder Drive, Lake View
Location of sculpture: North side of the building
On the north side of the building, Tanner built a long metal scene inspired by Black Hawk Lake: waterfowl rising above cattails, two herons near the shoreline, and what looks like a pelican flying past a representation of one of the lake’s stone piers — the centerpiece of three connected scenes. The weathered steel gives it a silhouette look. Park at the Community Center and walk up; it isn’t lit, so daylight is best.
11. Sauk Rail Trailhead
Address: 703 Third St., Lake View
A large arch marks Lake View’s entrance to the Sauk Rail Trail — four metal cyclists ride across the top, with a “Sauk Rail Trail — Lake View, Iowa” sign hanging beneath them. The blue-and-black design stands out against the sky. It spans a paved, step-free trailhead with landscaping, benches and decorative lighting, and it’s lit at night, so it’s worth seeing both before and after sunset. Free street parking is plentiful.
12. Soak’d
Address: 301 Vine St., Lake View
At Soak’d, Tanner’s work shows up both outside and in. He built the black metal railings around the patio; inside, look above the bar for a series of large suspended metal panels, including one built around the Soak’d logo. (He made the overhead metalwork, not the bar itself, which glows turquoise from internal lighting.) Since part of it is indoors, plan your visit around business hours — parking is plentiful nearby.
More Reasons to Visit Soak’d
Soak’d is also known for live country music and pizza. The tall, open interior has a dedicated stage, real lighting, and room for both eating and shows. Pizzas come out of a specialized high-temperature oven, and every one I ordered arrived fast and tasted great. It’s picked up some recognition as a country music venue too.
Meet the Artist: Tanner King
Tanner King makes his sculptures at Martin’s Welding in Auburn — everything from small decorative details to massive public installations: metal trees, dandelion seed heads, wildlife, custom signs, railings, entrance arches. A lot of the best details are the ones you’d never spot from a passing car: owls hidden in tree branches, small animals tucked into landscaped beds, familiar Sac County scenes worked into larger pieces.
Help Expand the Checklist
Tanner King’s work extends beyond the stops included here, and new commissions continue to appear across Sac County and beyond.
Have you found another Tanner King sculpture in Iowa? Share its location and a photo so it can be considered for a future update to this guide.
More about Tanner King
Tanner King is a welder and metal sculptor from Auburn, in southern Sac County. He owns Martin’s Welding, the small-town shop where he learned the trade from his grandfather. Sculpting isn’t the whole business, either — Martin’s still repairs farm equipment and handles traditional fabrication work. The art side grew out of that agricultural welding background and has since become a major part of what the shop does. His pieces now include oversized flowers, insects, birds, wildlife, trees, signs, railings and other decorative metalwork, much of it installed in parks and public spaces across Sac County and western Iowa.
A family welding tradition
King learned to weld from his grandfather, Martin Erickson, who ran Martin’s Welding in Auburn — Tanner was 12 when the two built his first project together, a motorcycle. He also learned from his father, Lonnie King, who ran an auto body shop, and went full-time as a welder in 2011.
His sculpture work started around 2012, when he and his grandfather built a life-sized metal palm tree — the project that launched the artistic side of the business. He’s best known for realistic, nature-inspired work at life size or dramatically oversized. In a 2022 interview, he said people sometimes stop and touch the sculptures because they look so real, which is exactly what he’s going for. That realism is part of why the pieces work so well as roadside attractions: recognizable at a glance, but detailed enough to make people stop for a closer look.
How the sculptures are made
King is self-taught as both an artist and a drafter. Most projects start with a customer’s idea or a flat reference image, and he and his crew work out how to turn it into a durable, three-dimensional metal form. His tools and techniques include:
- Welding and metal fabrication
- CNC plasma cutting
- A vintage power hammer once used by his grandfather
- Oxyacetylene welding and brazing
- Forming sculptures from sheet metal
- Working with stainless steel, conventional steel and copper
- Powder coating and other finishing work
The scale gets serious: Sac City’s illuminated dandelions stand 28 feet tall, weigh about 1,600 pounds each, and may contain as many as 20,000 individual pieces. For the copper bullfrog at the Sac City Public Library, he started with a sheet of 14-gauge pure copper, which will develop a green patina as it ages. As King put it, there’s no instruction manual for building something like a copper frog — he just has to figure it out.
Martin’s Welding today
Martin’s Welding, at 104 Second Street in Auburn, now has several full-time employees who help with both the sculpture work and the farm welding side, which currently take up roughly equal time. For a custom welding project — home, business or community — call 712-688-7721.
His role in Sac County
King’s sculptures have become genuine local landmarks in Sac City, Auburn and Lake View. Sac City’s collection grew after the late John H. Criss left $5.7 million in trust for community beautification; since 2017, the trust’s trustees have commissioned public artwork and other improvements across the city, with King’s nature sculptures becoming a major part of that effort.
