Iowan’s sculpture now featured in Washington, D.C.

A replica of a sculpture created by an Iowa artist is now on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. The “Cornhusker” sculpture is one of many works created by Christian Petersen while he was artist in residence at Iowa State University. A bronze casting of the work was presented to the Smithsonian in a ceremony this week. ISU Museums Director Lynette Pohlman says Petersen created the sculpture in the 1940s from sketches of a Story County farmer who’d won a husking contest. Pohlman says the donation of the bronze casting to the Smithsonian is part of an ongoing effort to document Petersen’s work. The sculpture will sit in the museum’s Renwick Gallery for the next week or so. It’ll then be put in storage, along with other exhibits, while the American Art Museum is being renovated. The renovation is scheduled to be completed in 2003. In the meantime, Pohlman says you can view the original plaster sculpture in Ames.Pohlman says another bronze casting is also on display with the original at ISU’s Brunnier Gallery. Petersen was the “Artist in Residence” at ISU for 21 years.