Since 2001, the CSPM has been responsible for the management and preservation of the City’s permanent art collection, which currently numbers 100 pieces. These pieces range from keystones on the museum’s building to sculptures around downtown to pieces at parks in Colorado Springs. The majority of these works are located downtown — eight artworks on the grounds of the CSPM, 12 on Pikes Peak Avenue in the two blocks between South Cascade Avenue and South Nevada Avenue, and five are in Acacia Park. This year, two sculptures were added to the City of Colorado Springs’ Public Art collection.
Living with the Parking Break On by Tara Sauvain
In 2022, local art teacher Tara Sauvain made a piece for the event called, Living With the Parking Brake On.  Sauvain created the piece in honor of her father, Rich Sauvain, who has Parkinson’s, and to bring awareness of the disease. She took inspiration from the red tulips, the official symbol of hope for Parkinson’s patients. She then utilized yellow and green vines among the tulips to represent the nerves of someone with the disease which are “interconnected yet disjoined.” The design on each wing is symmetrical with the butterfly’s body representing the brain stem.
The Colorado Springs Parkinson’s Support Group purchased the piece at the Rotary Club’s auction in 2022. The artist mother, Mary Sauvain, is a member of the group. The organization then worked with the City’s Public Art Commission to donate the piece to the city’s Outdoor Sculpture Collection and with city staff to then select a park. In April 2023, the sculpture was dedicated near the pond at Nancy Lewis Park as part of Parkinson’s Awareness Month. You can view Living With the Parking Break On at Nancy Lewis Park.
Community Imagination by Joshua Wiener
The second new sculpture is Community Imagination by artist Joshua Wiener and is based on conversations in Colorado Springs’ Southeast Community. Wiener is a Boulder based artists who has installed public art throughout the United States. Located in Panorama Park, this sculpture developed from a series of community workshops. The sculpture’s design brings together the ideas of residents of different ages and backgrounds. These artmaking meetings focused on people thinking of both their identity and that of the Southeast Community.
According to Wiener, the sculpture resulting from these meetings represents, “the rays of light elevating the Southeast Community riding clouds of potential into heights unimagined.” This is shown through its design consisting of a swirl of cloud that is on a ray of light. The cloud has an animal like form and the houses are brightly colored and winding. For the artist, this shows “connection and commonality” while the shapes are the “volumes of imagination.” Together, these express that what might appear to just be a house to the outside world, is a home for those in the community. Each of home within the sculpture has a window decorated by a member of Colorado Springs’ Southeast Community. The different designs further reflect the diverse experiences of those within the community.
The creation of this sculpture was part of the larger renovation of Panorama Park. It was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts with support from the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, The Trust for Public Land, and the citizens of Colorado Springs. The sculpture was dedicated on June 23, 2023, and became part of the City’s Public Art Collection.