Robert Craig, professor of art, installed his sculpture Holdfast at the Blanden Art Museum on Nov. 6.  This project began nearly two years ago when he was commissioned by the Blanden Charitable Foundation to create an outdoor sculpture for the Blanden Art Museum’s grounds in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The Blanden is the oldest art museum in Iowa and it is located in the historic Oak Hill District: a neighborhood founded by the early industrialists of Fort Dodge.

The sculpture is 12’ 6” tall and fabricated out of aluminum with a kinetic top element that turns in the wind.   The abstract form and colors of Holdfast offer a range of associations to known things referring simultaneously to the many ingredients that were part of the formation of Fort Dodge, the current neighborhood culture, and the Blanden Art Museum as a mainstay.  The colors and patterns complement the existing architectural and natural palette and were chosen to be as suggestive as the form itself.

Additionally, the museum acquired the preliminary studies for Holdfast (a scale model, drawing, and a color rendering) that will be used for educational purposes.

Through both municipal sponsorship and private commissions, Robert’s large-scale sculptures have been exhibited in museums, universities, and sculpture parks nationally. Commissions include the City of Cedar Falls and Grinnell College. His work is in public and private collections such as Spring House Farms, Maurertown, VA, HarborArts, Boston, MA, Central Iowa Shelter and Services, Des Moines, IA, the Village of Ponderosa, West Des Moines, the Hearst Center for the Arts, Cedar Falls, IA, Dordt College, and the Sioux City Public Art Collection.  Additional sculptures can be seen at https://robertcraig1.com/home.html.