Westward Ho!

It is a massive art project in Omaha, Nebraska--- that city of steak, hamburger, and beef. In Downtown Omaha, HDR and Leo Daly, along with Boody Fine Arts, Inc. and the Lauritzen Family of Omaha, NE, have come together with various artists and sculptors to build a two-section sculpture landscape that honors the native animals and plants along with the settlers of the region. The two sections are known as Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness and Pioneer Courage. On November 12, 2007, I saw yet another part of the tribute to those hardy pioneers who would be followed by those seeking to settle a town on the west bank of the Missouri River being erected.

Using a boom forklift *that's my best description of the equipment they were using* the installers slowly lifted the new statue off the flatbed that brought it into the park (the flatbed was attached to a heavy duty Dodge pickup). Using heavy straps, the statue was connected to a steel beam with an eye on it. The straps were hooked onto the beam and as the statue was lifted, the pickup and flatbed attachment moved out from under it. The statue was now hovering about a foot off the ground as the workers placed the statue where the plans for the park denote. Later in the day, as they set the statue in place, they brought the dog statue in and placed it in the appropriate location.

Pioneer Courage and Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness

Step back to the 1840a and 1850s, and forget, as you see the statuary, that any of downtown Omaha is there. Starting from Fourteenth Street just north of Capitol Avenue, a wagon-master on horseback waves you forward along the trail into what is now Downtown Omaha. Walking south and southwest into the Pioneer Courage section, you follow a wagon train of families moving west. The sculptures are of men, women, and children as they travel. The wagons are horse-draw and mule-drawn farm wagons. Just ahead and to the northwest of the current lead wagon is a hunter on horseback, returning with several deer tied to a second horse. A hunting dog follows behind at the heels of the second horse. Two wagons are already in place with more to be installed, as Steve Boody of Boody Fine Arts, Incorporated, told me. The wagons will represent the various social and economic strata of those who made the trip west to settle the region and the rest of the country.

As you proceed along the trail to the corner of Capitol Avenue and Fifteenth Street, you see a bull Bison, among the many startled by the approach of the wagons, begin to stampede south. Follow the sidewalk on the west side of Fifteenth Street and you will see five more stampeding bison, including one cow bison and her calf. These five bison represent connector points between the two sections. The cow is heading southwest toward the Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness section. Part of the body is hidden inside the parking garage wall that is currently there, but the idea is that downtown Omaha is not yet present. From that point you enter the Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness section, across Dodge Street and to the corner of Dodge and Sixteenth Streets. Here three more bison run, startling the geese in the water. The geese are taking flight and small groups of them can be seen "flying" around light poles and buildings. The geese go from bronze to stainless steel, and in the winter garden of the First National Tower the geese are all stainless steel and flying in the garden. In both sections there are fountains and streams that run when seasons permit.

Ironically, as they were installing new statuary in the Pioneer Courage section, other workers across the street were working on bringing down a symbol of another piece of American history, the old Union Pacific headquarters building. The new Union Pacific Center is now operating, and on the site of the old building is planned a high-rise condo complete with movie theater and grocery store.

There is also more statuary due in, and by the time it is complete it is projected to end as being one of the largest sculpture parks in the United States, if not the world. I recommend that visitors to Omaha, Nebraska, come downtown and see the sculpture park as it stands now, and that they check back in the future to see how the project progresses. The project is a gift to the region by the Lauritzen Family and honors those that came before us and shows, in part, the area as it was when these first non-Native Americans came to settle.