Edina Sculptor Awarded 'People's Choice' Prize

The people have spoken.

Edina resident James Gabbert has been named the "People's Choice" winner of the Edina Public Art Committee's 2011 sculpture exhibition. Gabbert—whose piece "Sunniva—A Gift of the Sun" has been on display at Grandview Square Park for several months now—received a $1,000 prize and the right for his sculpture to be on display through 2012.

Steve Elliott of Wayne, NE, took home the $750 second-place prize for "Transponder—An Abstraction of Nature," while Wayzata's Judd Nelson took third place for "Blue Heron with Pumpkinseed—Realism and Nature." Nelson received a $500 award.

The issued a call for sculptures earlier this year for both Grandview Square Park and the Edina Promenade. The sculptures were installed and, after hundreds of votes were cast by residents for their favorites, three reigned supreme.

The winning sculptures will be on display for one year and are part of rotating exhibitions at both public venues. A similar competition is expected to take place in 2012.