Joliet city square sculpture finalists chosen, public invited to view

The Joliet Arts Commission on Wednesday will review six finalists for a sculpture on the future city square, and the public again is invited to have a say.

The commission meets at 5 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 150 W. Jefferson St.

The finalists will present their proposals for the sculpture to the commission, which will vote Oct. 2 on which sculpture to approve.

[ PHOTOS: Finalists for Joliet city square sculpture ]

“The winning sculpture will be prominently placed in the newly designed City Square, a 1.3-acre urban park being constructed directly across from the Rialto Square Theatre,” the city said in a news release.

The city received 50 proposals for the sculpture after the Arts Commission invited submissions earlier this year, according to the release. An internal review committee of commission members and city staff evaluated the submissions “based on criteria such as innovation, uniqueness and visual impact” before narrowing the proposals to 14, according to the release.

In July, the city invited the public to vote on the 16 proposals and received almost 3,000 votes.

“We were pleased with the amount of input we received,” Ray Heitner, the city staff liaison to the Arts Commission, said in the release. “Now we are asking those interested to attend the meeting on Wednesday to hear the presentations and participate further by voicing their opinions during the public comment section.”

Those who cannot attend can email comments before the meeting to publiccomment@joliet.gov.

More information about the city square and sculpture contest can be found on the city of Joliet website, which is joliet.gov, by going to Public Works Department page.