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Time Machine: Fly Wright

Public art salute to aviation pioneers dotted downtown Cedar Rapids in 2003

Diane Fannon-Langton

Nov. 26, 2024 5:00 am

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Bruce Koehler (left), maintenance coordinator for The Renaissance Group, and Donnie Pliester, a seasonal Renaissance worker, guide The Gazette/KCRG’s Fly Wright plane sculpture onto a forklift in front of The Gazette building on Fifth Street SE in Cedar Rapids on Sept. 30, 2003, at the conclusion of the public art event. (Gazette archives)
Bruce Koehler (left), maintenance coordinator for The Renaissance Group, and Donnie Pliester, a seasonal Renaissance worker, guide The Gazette/KCRG’s Fly Wright plane sculpture onto a forklift in front of The Gazette building on Fifth Street SE in Cedar Rapids on Sept. 30, 2003, at the conclusion of the public art event. (Gazette archives)

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Cedar Rapids experienced a highly successful foray into public art in the summer of 2001 with its “Overalls All Over” project, displaying 30 creatively decorated fiberglass statues of Grant Wood’s “American Gothic.”

The display attracted an estimated 360,000 visitors over the summer.

Why not try it again, the sponsors of the “Overalls” project — the Cedar Rapids Convention and Visitors Bureau and The Renaissance Group — decided.

So, in 2002, they began planning for “Fly Wright — Just Plane Art” for the summer 2003, adding Art in Public Places as a sponsor.

The Wright Brothers theme was chosen because of the 100th anniversary of manned flight and also because the Wright brothers lived briefly in Cedar Rapids as youngsters, from 1878 through 1880. During that time, their father gave them the hand-powered helicopter that sparked their interest in flying.

The new exhibit would celebrate the centennial with 40 steel replicas of airplanes decorated with designs by area artists.

Tom Newport of Cedar Rapids, a large metal sculptor, shows the aluminum prototype he created in August 2002 for the 2003 public art display, “Fly Wright -- Just Plane Art,” in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)
Tom Newport of Cedar Rapids, a large metal sculptor, shows the aluminum prototype he created in August 2002 for the 2003 public art display, “Fly Wright — Just Plane Art,” in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)

Newport prototype

A prototype plane, created by sculptor Tom Newport of Cedar Rapids, was unveiled on May’s Island on Aug. 19. He said artists would have the choice of two models, a single-wing jet or a Wright Brothers biplane.

“They’ll all be out of steel and painted or cut however the sponsors want,” Newport said.

Steel was chosen for the sculptures to discourage the vandalism that occurred during the “Overalls” exhibit.

“They’re just not breakable,” Newport said. “One always has to worry about vandalism with public art.”

Newport said a call for artists’ concepts would happen in the following few months.

In November, ads appeared in The Gazette asking for artists to submit their design ideas. Those interested were issued artist packets.

Art teacher Chad Hageman (left) and metalsmith Tom Newport, both of Cedar Rapids, look at one of the finished steel planes decorated like a butterfly on May 24, 2003. The butterfly, along with 39 other decorated planes, were displayed in Cedar Rapids during the summer in the “Fly Wright -- Just Plane Art” public arts display. Hageman decorated one plane and Newport four. Students from six high schools also decorated one plane each. (Gazette archives)
Art teacher Chad Hageman (left) and metalsmith Tom Newport, both of Cedar Rapids, look at one of the finished steel planes decorated like a butterfly on May 24, 2003. The butterfly, along with 39 other decorated planes, were displayed in Cedar Rapids during the summer in the “Fly Wright — Just Plane Art” public arts display. Hageman decorated one plane and Newport four. Students from six high schools also decorated one plane each. (Gazette archives)

As artists were creating, The Renaissance Group was applying to the Weaver Witwer Trust Fund for a grant to help fund the project. The group got $833.

In March, Newport had created “Corn Air” as an example of what could be done with the prototype sculptures. It was an ear of corn whose peeled husks formed the wings and tail of the airplane.

“Newport is, in effect, the project’s coordinator, and it’s clear that ‘Fly Wright’ would hardly have gotten off the ground without his help,” a story in The Gazette said five days before the unveiling.

This was the “Fly Wright” sculpture decorated by artist Chad Hageman in the summer of 2003. The sculpture — named “The Plane that Wright Bulit — Frank Lloyd, That Is!” — sat in front of The Gazette building in the 200 block of Fifth Street SE in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)
This was the “Fly Wright” sculpture decorated by artist Chad Hageman in the summer of 2003. The sculpture — named “The Plane that Wright Bulit — Frank Lloyd, That Is!” — sat in front of The Gazette building in the 200 block of Fifth Street SE in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)

“He has his finger in nearly every aspect of the project: He primed and assembled the 40 plane sculptures; recruited artists for the project; delivered the plane sculptures to the artists and then picked them up; allowed other artists to use his tools and work studio; gave technical advice to the artists; and built metal stands for each sculpture.”

Businesses sponsored each sculpture at a cost of $3,000, but instead of sending their creations off to be auctioned like the “Overalls” sculptures, sponsors were allowed to keep them.

Unveiling in June

It was raining as the finished planes were unveiled June 6, 2003, beside downtown sidewalks and along the riverfront, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of those attending the reveal.

During the first few weeks, vandalism to the sculptures was minimal. Someone inscribed their name on “Plane Corn,” and a propeller was taken from “Wright’s Flight by Light.”

In keeping with the flight theme, all three downtown museums had aviation-related events in July, while there was a “Fly Iowa” celebration of 100 years of flight sponsored by Rockwell Collins at The Eastern Iowa Airport on July 5 and 6. Free shuttles ran all day between the museums and the airport.

This “Fly Wright” sculpture was decorated to honor the BlackTuskegee Airmen of World War II and positioned in front of the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)
This “Fly Wright” sculpture was decorated to honor the Black Tuskegee Airmen of World War II and positioned in front of the African American Museum of Iowa, in Cedar Rapids. (Gazette archives)

The History Center had an exhibit focusing on the lives of the Wright Brothers when they lived in Cedar Rapids at ages 8 and 12. The Science Station showed an IMAX feature on “The Magic of Flight.” The African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center hosted Tuskegee Airmen Russell Collins and James Bowman for a panel discussion.

After drawing approximately 200,000 viewers, the flight was over Sept. 29. The planes were scheduled to come down after that. Sponsor owners moved several to their properties. A few of them are still visible in downtown Cedar Rapids two decades later.

Comments: D.fannonlangton@gmail.com

Metalsmith Tom Newport of Cedar Rapids welds one of 40 metal planes that were set up in Cedar Rapids during the summer of 2003 to mark the 100th anniversary of manned flight and the role of the Wright brothers -- once Cedar Rapids residents -- in that achievement. (Gazette archives)
Metalsmith Tom Newport of Cedar Rapids welds one of 40 metal planes that were set up in Cedar Rapids during the summer of 2003 to mark the 100th anniversary of manned flight and the role of the Wright brothers — once Cedar Rapids residents — in that achievement. (Gazette archives)
Article Tags Time Machine, Cedar Rapids
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