Uncover a Beautiful Collection of Public Art Around the Ames Region

Jeff Adkins

Ames and the Greater Boone, Hamilton and Story County region has a vibrant arts scene, and you don’t have to visit a museum to see it. Public artwork is visible in the form of sculptures lining historic downtown streets, murals gracing the sides of local businesses, and even as utilitarian objects like electrical boxes and storm drains. To experience the Iowa region’s arts scene for yourself, Livability chatted with two art experts – Kyle Hauswirth, chair of the Ames Public Art Commission, and Joni Kellen, the project lead for the Ames Foundation’s Ames Murals: An Open Air Gallery initiative – to create a list you can use to take a self-guided tour of some of the region’s offerings. Enjoy!

Riding High

One of Hauswirth’s favorite local sculptures is Riding High, which is found on Main Street at Douglas Avenue. Created by artist Steve Reddell, who works with scrap metal, the work is of a man in a top hat riding an old-fashioned penny-farthing bicycle.

Britt Fowler

“I’m a cyclist, and I just love that piece,” Hauswirth says. “It’s right in front of the bookstore called Dog-Eared Books.”

Cooks’ Emporium Mural

The mural covered in olive branches and lemons with the words “Easy Peasy” graces the alleyway facing Fifth Street on the side of Cooks’ Emporium, a kitchenware shop.

Britt Fowler

“It was commissioned by the store’s owner, Mindy Bergstrom, and it’s so cute and totally fits her personality,” Kellen says.

Transformer Box Wraps

The Ames Public Art Commission worked with Downtown Ames to wrap ordinary transformer boxes in creatively designed vinyl artwork designed by local artists.

City of Ames

“They’re usually an eyesore, but now, they’ve got some visual interest,” Hauswirth says.

Everts Flowers Home & Gifts Mural

One of two murals completed in 2024 as part of the Ames Foundation’s Ames Murals: An Open Air Gallery initiative, this mural covers the wall outside of Everts Flowers Home & Gifts, a shop offering floral arrangements in downtown Ames. Artist Kipp Davis created a bright and colorful mural full of flowers and birds.

Britt Fowler

Ames Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition

Every year, the Ames Public Art Commission makes a call for artists to submit their artwork for consideration for the Ames Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition. The entries are juried by community members and roughly 10 are selected to be displayed along the Main Street corridor for the year.

Kelly Tompkins

“The really cool thing is that it ties into the Public Art Commission’s other major program, the Neighborhood Sculpture Program,” Hauswirth says.

“If a community really enjoys an art piece in that year’s Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, they can apply to purchase that artwork and put it in a public spot in their neighborhood.”