Ferguson Grove receives a new art installation

Visitors and passers-by at Poplar Bluff’s Ferguson Grove may notice a new addition to the park as they cruise the area - a new sculpture.

For the last 15 months or so, sculptures could be found in several Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation Department parks, including Whiteley, Ferguson Grove, McLane and Hendrickson, but on Wednesday, a new addition was added at the small park at the intersection of Main and Ninth streets.

‘Once in a Blue Moon,’ a 6-foot-tall steel structure, was placed near the northwest corner of the walking trail at Ferguson Grove.

The sculpture features multiple blue, round discs welded together on their edges, with a single stainless steel disc included.

“I’ve always loved the saying ‘Once in a blue moon,’ and I had all these circular discs and I have this really cool blue patina, so I came up with the idea to have it all blue except one little stainless steel bit,” explained artist Craig Snyder of Minnesota, who was on hand for Wednesday’s installation.

“It was a lot of fun to make,” Snyder claimed. “I purposely make my welds kind of thick and heavy to give it a little more organic feel.”

‘Once in a Blue Moon’ replaces another sculpture, ‘Akimbo,’ which had been installed in the same location last year and has been moved to Hendrickson Park.

“It went more with the fact that Hendrickson Park is considered more like the kids’ park because there are two playgrounds there, and it is more kid-oriented,” explained Parks and Recreation Department Horticulturist Murray Hammond.

All the parks’ sculptures, Hammond said, have been acquired through the statewide Sculpture on the Move program.

“It’s a statewide program where you lease sculptures from the artists for two years at a time, and it rotates throughout the state,” Hammond said. “You’re not actually buying them, you lease them for two years from the artist. After two years, you have the option to buy or not to buy.

“Poplar Bluff is in the St. Louis region. There are 12 different parks departments involved between here and St. Louis.”

To date, Hammond said, his department has purchased the three sculptures on display at McLane Park and one at Whiteley Park.

This year, there were 52 sculptures to choose from, he said, and ‘Once in a Blue Moon’ was one of his favorites.

In the future, Hammond said, there are plans to install a pair of 6-foot-tall, baseball-themed sculptures at the entrance to the ball fields at McLane Park.

“They’ll be on next year’s program,” he said.