A replica of Kansas golden wheat is the people’s choice. The Sculpture Tour Salina organization has announced the 2019 People’s Choice in the Salina Sculpture Tour program as “Wheat Harvest” by James Mages from Hays.

“Wheat Harvest is about recognizing the importance of wheat in our daily lives”, stated artist James Mages. “This piece showcases the beauty of a plant that endures all the elements and still produces an outstanding golden field. Although the field is comprised of individual plants, once they are combined, they create a breath-taking appearance to behold. They sway in the wind, creating a wave of liquid gold, much like the blue waves of an ocean. It’s hard for man to replicate a color that resembles the gold of a wheat field as God is the creator of that color.”

The 2019 Best of Show award goes to “When Pigs Fly, Amelia’s Jet Pack” by Dale Lewis.

“Wheat Harvest” is the ninth People’s Choice selected by the public and purchased by the City of Salina.

Previous People’s Choice Award winners include:

2011 – “Watch Dog” by Louise Peterson; On display in Oakdale Park Sculpture Garden

2012 – “Sweet Kisses” by Marianne Caroselli; On display in Oakdale Park Sculpture Garden

2013 – “Farmer” by Lawrence Starck; On display in Campbell Plaza, Downtown

2014 – “Next Up” by James Haire; To go on display at the Oakdale Park Tennis Courts

2015 – ““Daughters of Peace” by Benjamin Victor; on display inside the Salina City / County Building

2016 – “Slim” by Dale Lewis; on display at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center

2017 – “Picasso’s Violin” by Jodie Bliss; on display outside the Salina Innovation Foundation

2018 – “Patches” by Dale Lewis; on display outside of the Smoky Hill Museum

Other than purchasing the People’s Choice winner, Sculpture Tour Salina is entirely privately funded. Multiple sculptures are temporarily displayed in the downtown area for a year. Each sculpture is for sale, with the City of Salina purchasing the People’s Choice winner for permanent display.

The current sculptures on the tour will soon be coming down, to make way for new ones. New Sculptures have been selected for 20, and will unveiled in May.

“Wheat Harvest”

“When Pigs Fly, Amelia’s Jet Pack”