Get off the couch and enjoy some art

It’s a splendid spring, sunshiny day in Coeur d’Alene, and you have the whole day off. Instead of your routine of lounging on the sofa all afternoon watching “Three’s Company” reruns, you should venture out and experience some art.

Certainly there are many fine art galleries in Coeur d’Alene to visit, but you probably don’t have the cash to make any of their artworks your own.

However, you are fortunate enough to live in a place where there is art that belongs to you, me and everyone else.

Public art can be found tucked away in many locations, subtly enhancing our lives and adding a visually pleasing element to the personality of Coeur d’Alene.

I’ve put together a loose tour of some of the main public art pieces in the greater downtown area, so get on your bikes or put on your walking shoes and let’s go.

Birds of a feather

Starting at the western entry to town on Northwest Boulevard, we have the controversial big metal feathers.

The official title of these two behemoth plumes, one an eagle and one an osprey, is “Guardians of the Lake.” Commissioned in 2002 through city-mandated arts funding, they were created by David Govedare and Keith Powell.

At the time, not everyone was thrilled by the finished project, but I think they serve as majestic and memorable landmarks, improving a part of town that had been run-down for years.

Similarly, the large rock and water fountains a block down at the Lakewood entrance to the Riverstone development might not be considered high art, but surely they have helped improve the aesthetic of the area.

Nifty graffiti

Travel the Centennial Trail next to the Spokane River, and you will see some interesting graffiti painted underneath the U.S. Highway 95 bridge.

Some people might not consider graffiti to be art, but in a way, it is public art in its rawest form. And it’s always changing as more people add their gang tags and love messages to the random visual mix.

I wouldn’t want to see our fair town taken over by graffiti artists, but I see no harm in them having their way with such an obscure slab of concrete.

Paul’s a babe

One of the oldest examples of public art on my list is perhaps the folksiest as well. The giant Paul Bunyan sign has stood proudly on Northwest Boulevard for more than 50 years in front of the landmark hamburger joint of the same name.

He gazes proudly out at Lake Coeur d’Alene, surveying City Park and beckoning us in for a greasy try of those legendary onion rings and a real vanilla Coke. Constructed of industrial-strength 1950s steel, Mr. Bunyan, I seem to recall, received a much-needed face lift when they rebuilt the drive-in in the early ‘90s.

NIC has it

Head down the Centennial Trail to the campus of North Idaho College. The college has public art everywhere, especially in Boswell Hall, where student art is displayed in every lobby and up and down every hall.

There’s too much to cover here in detail, but worth mentioning is the giant chair with realistic ceramic food glued all over it, titled “No Food Beyond This Point.” Also noteworthy are the giant paper monsters that live under the stairs and the aliens that hover above the east entrance.

Across the street in the lobby of Molstead Library is the magnificent historical panel sculpture by NIC art legend Joe Jonas. The giant abstract metal athletes that gracefully dance across the front of the gymnasium building also were sculpted by Jonas.

Two of Spokane artist Harold Balasz’s sculptures have been placed on the NIC campus over the years.

Near Seiter Hall is an untitled piece – a tall gray box constructed of concrete squiggles and carved-in amoeba shapes. It’s classic Balasz, but sadly, 30 years of Idaho weather have not treated it well, and its top portion is beginning to crumble.

A half-block east, near the Hedlund building, is a smaller Balasz abstract sculpture from 1983 made of black marble, It whimsically is titled “I Must Go Down to the Sea Again” and was dedicated in memory of Charlie, aka “Jack Steve” by his friends. I can only imagine the interesting story that lies behind the sculpture.

‘Stump art’ abounds

From the college, swing down west Lakeshore Drive to City Park and check out the amazingly intricate wood carvings scattered among the shade trees.

The “stump art” here includes critters such as a bald eagle with a fish in its talons, a family of raccoons and a black mama bear and her cub.

Also near the park is the Human Rights Center – go see its unique entry arch, which is topped by an intriguing metal piece created in 2005 by welding student Betty Gardner.

Murals and more

Downtown, you will see an enormously bright mural at Second and Sherman with sailboats and flowers done in an excessively harsh psychedelic color palette.

More successful is the gorgeous “Running Horses” mural two blocks up at Second and Coeur d’Alene, which was painted by local tattooist and mural painter Robert McNeill a few years ago when the building held an art gallery.

This giant, lush green scene probably is my favorite example of how public art can serve to brighten a formerly ugly, dark urban corner.

Another delightful mural that is perhaps a bit off the path of our tour but worth venturing up Fourth Street to see is the big rock ‘n’ roll painted mural on the side of the Idaho Youth Ranch store. It’s a colorful swirl of musical instruments and rock icons, including Elvis, The Beatles, Ray Charles, The Supremes and Madonna.

It has become the centerpiece of midtown Coeur d’Alene, sitting well amid the funky thrift stores, tattoo shops and eateries that make up the neighborhood. Maybe you should stop for a bite before heading back down to Sherman Avenue for the last leg of our tour.

Bear, moose and other wildlife

Next to the Art Spirit Gallery, 415 E. Sherman, sits a giant rusty metal sculpture of a grizzly bear snacking on a fish, which was created last year by Bill Ohrmann, a former cattle rancher who decided to take up an art career at age 80.

Residing next to the bear is a light gray carved granite piece with a partial figure of a woman emerging from a seashell-type structure, her smooth, feminine curves providing a unique juxtaposition with the masculinity of the bear.

Also downtown, you likely will notice several wildly painted life-size moose, leftovers from the 2005 Coeur d’Alene Arts Council public art project, “No Moose Left Behind.” After spending a summer decorating Sherman Avenue, the moose were auctioned off to private owners, but fortunately, they still can be spotted at various locations around town.

Artists’ play land

Head east to 15th Street and turn north to the Harding Family Center – here lies what we could call the public art Mecca of Coeur d’Alene.

Some years ago, the playground of this former elementary school was handed over to a bunch of local artists to have their way with. The idea was hatched about a decade ago by local art patrons Sue Flammia and Doug Fagerness.

It includes a mosaic archway by Balasz and Kim Emerson along with at least a dozen other functional artworks to create a surreal, evolving play land that’s intriguing to children and adults alike.

Get the picture?

Finally, slightly out of the realm of our tour but certainly worth venturing out for is the whimsical statue by David Clemons that sits at the end of Lake Coeur d’Alene Drive at Higgins Point on the Centennial Trail.

It’s an old-time photographer nicknamed “Leopold,” his camera poised to capture the beauty of the lake year-round.