Sculptures add artsy layer to Transit Center
UI students, locals add sculptures outside Moscow Intermodal Transit Center each May
Sculptures completed by University of Idaho students and Moscow residents have been sitting outside the Moscow Intermodal Transit Center since May 2013. Every May since then, a new batch of sculptures replace the old ones and grace what is called the Sculpture Garden.
Five sculptures were placed in the garden this past month - four by UI students and another by a Moscow resident.
Artwork is submitted to the Moscow Arts Commission, which decides what pieces of art will be displayed outside the center.
Talitha Davis, a 20-year-old UI art student, was one of the artists whose sculpture was selected and displayed. Her piece - an octopus with a top hat - is called "The Gentleman" and is priced at $1,100. Davis, who received car parts from a local auto shop to make the sculpture, said she made it in honor of her son who died.
"My point was try to make something whimsical," Davis said. "Try to make something that would make kids smile or make adults smile. ... So as long as it does that, I'm happy.
"When I found out it was going to be on display I thought this was a really great opportunity for me to get my art out there because this is what I love. This is what I want to do for my life, so it was kind of like that first big stepping stone."
Cody Magee and Michaela Olinger teamed up to make "Phil," a colorful fish that they welded. It is priced at $1,200.
Magee said he and Olinger came up with the name "Phil" because it was a short way to describe their project when they were communicating with each other about it.
Magee said he and Olinger did not know exactly what they were going to make, but Magee said they kept the day care across the street in mind when thinking about what to build. He said they wanted to make something exciting for the children when they walked by the Sculpture Garden and were playing in the yard.
Zachary Asher's sculpture is called "Totems" and is priced at $900; Shelly Gilmore's piece is called "Evolution Totem" and the pricing is unavailable at this time; and Israel Gonzales' sculpture is named "Yield" and is priced at $1,200.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.
