“Seeds of Hope” by Sue Heemstra is part of a series of sculptures she and her husband, Jim, created for Whiterock Conservancy. Photo: Jim Heemstra Writer: Michael Morain This summer Americans are celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary with all kinds of spectacles its founders couldn’t h ave imagined: televised concerts, photos from space, even nightly drone shows at the Iowa State Fair. But there are some quieter observances that even we the people of the 21st-century may not have expected. A public art initiative called “Declarations” is designed to make Americans reconsider the land we call home, and its individual projects reflect a wide-open range of ideas. Local quilters are making 250 picnic blankets to give away at Union Park, where crowd-sourced “love letters to the future” will be sealed in a time capsule in the new shelter by the Heritage Carousel. At least 250 volunteers are invited to be part of a “human mosaic.” One artist repurposed plastics to make a sculpture that floats on a pond. Another produced ambient sound installations you can download during a leisurely stroll through the Clive Greenbelt and Wallace Farm in Orient. “We wanted to do something beyond flag waving, something more contemplative,” said Teva Dawson, who leads Group Creatives, which is spearheading the project. “If we’re celebrating the Declaration of Independence, in a year with so many challenges to the Constitution, what would people write for a new one?” she said. “How should we think about our relationships to each other and the land in the future?” Jim and Sue Heemstra answered those questions with a project called “Markers and Deep Roots,” which they created for the Whiterock Conservancy. It’s a series of sculptural ceramic posts, each approximately 5 or 6 feet tall and planted throughout the 5,500-acre property near Coon Rapids. Sue and Jim Heemstra. Photo: Duane Tinkey “We kind of thought of ourselves as markers, as artists leaving a mark on the landscape and comparing that to the history of the United States and whoever left their mark on the prairie,” Sue Heemstra said. “We thought about all the human and non-human forms that have been there before.” The Heemstras work out of their studio in Des Moines and have created similar posts — they call them “stacked sculptures” — for museum shows and private collections. Their new work will remain through September, tucked into out-of-the way spots across Whiterock. “We like the idea that you can’t drive to see them all,” Sue Heemstra said. “You’ll have to walk through the prairie.” For more details about “Declarations,” visit declarations.art. ...read more read less