As we re-imagine our relationship to our creeks and rivers through ICON, so too will we reimagine the role of the arts in our community.

In 2020 the National Endowment for the Arts awarded a grant to our region for Shoreline Signals. Shoreline Signals will use public art to educate new and current users on water safety creating a welcoming space that signals when to engage with the rivers.

This prestigious and competitive grant was successful because Shoreline Signals positions public art as essential to planning and development and champions art as a tool for problem-solving, innovative education and outreach, and cultural celebration by helping communities focus on public art as activation rather than as simply a sculpture, a mural or an installation.

As a professional practice, public art has become more complex, process-oriented, collaborative, and experimental. Artists of all disciplines wish to engage and enhance our communities in new ways, creatively addressing a community’s needs as identified by its citizens and stakeholders. Such needs may include the environment, community health, cultural diversity, youth development, and attracting tourists.  The best public art contributes to a sense of place, opens a process to see anew and generates transformation in experience and perception.

Shoreline Signals serves as a key feature of ICON connecting residents and visitors of Greater Des Moines to the quality and potential of its water, enhancing our cultural community and serving as a catalyst for economic development and tourism.

The current concept under consideration for Shoreline Signals is Heads Up, a twelve-foot duck that happily floats with its head down as if feeding when conditions are good and brings its head up when water levels are too high and deserve caution.  This whimsical piece of public art will transform how we connect with our rivers. Average citizens will have a way to tune in to our dynamic river system, a way to pay attention. Is the duck’s head up today?