A new Salina Fire Department truck made a trip down Santa Fe Saturday morning, sounding its siren, and providing the signal for 24 new sculptures to be simultaneously unwrapped.

This year marks 15 years of SculptureTour Salina. It is an annual outdoor art exhibition featuring a juried selection of sculptures displayed in downtown. Artists place their sculptures in the program for a year, May through April, and the sculptures are available for public viewing and sale. Visitors can vote for their favorite sculpture, with the winning piece being purchased by the city for permanent display.

Highlights this year include a giant mosquito fishing, a mother weeping for her children, a miniature oil derrick, nesting dragons, an 11 foot tall giraffe, and many more.

Artists from nearly a dozen states are represented this year, some new and some returning artists.

Sunday Mahaja from Indiana is one of the new artists. Though he stands 6′ 7″ tall, he looked small standing beside his sculpture titled “The Wonderer”, an 11 foot tall giraffe made from camper parts.

Joel Washing from Ohio is also new this year. His sculpture titled “Icosahedron” spins. He told KSAL News the name is pretty simple, it means 20 sided shape, which is exactly what it is. Washing said a friend had urged him to try and become part of SculptureTour Salina, and he was glad he did. He was blown away by the response on Saturday morning.

This year is the second year for James Bryant who brought with him his “Mama’s Nesting Again” dragon sculpture. His sculpture from last year, an Octopus titled “Something New For Otto”, has recently sold and is being installed in Nantucket.

Jodie Bliss from Colorado is no stranger to SculptureTour Salina. She has been a part of seven of the fifteen. A half-dozen of her sculptures displayed have sold. In 2023 her sculpture “Phoenix” was the People’s Choice award winner, and in 2017 her piece “Picasso’s Violin” won the award. She told KSAL News she became a part of the event at the urging of her mother, who is a Salina native. Bliss said it has been exciting to watch Salina grow over the past seven years. This year she rented an Airbnb and is spending a week here to just enjoy all Salina has to offer.

Other than purchasing the People’s Choice winner, there is cost to the City of Salina.  SculptureTour Salina is entirely privately funded.

Private businesses have a history of purchasing some of the sculptures. Over a dozen have been purchased over the years and can bee seen all over Salina.

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