If you’ve been around the Iowa City area lately, you may have noticed that Herky is back…and he’s everywhere!
Herky on Parade is enjoying a third installment of statues.
In 2004, 100 blank Herky statues were covered by local artists and displayed around the cities of Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Solon, and Tiffin.
In a cooperative effort between the cities, the University of Iowa Athletic Department, the Iowa City Area Sports Commission, and Think Iowa City, another 100 Herkies were done in 2014.
Now it’s 2024, and the 20th anniversary of Herky on Parade, and another 100 blank Herky statues have been commissioned by local businesses and individuals and sent out to local artists for completion.
One of those artists is Kelsi Lynch, the art teacher at West Liberty Elementary School.
She has done her Herky with thousands of pieces of stained glass. She documented over 260 hours working on it.
“I’m sure there were more, but I was really bad about documenting when I was gluing,” Lynch said.
Lynch got her Herky project through Amanda Arn at Hills Bank. Arn is in Community and Shareholder relations, and she has been friends with Lynch since forever.
Lynch’s Herky is based on a piece by scratch artist Claudia McGehee, which was commissioned by Hills Bank about 25 years ago and is featured in many of their offices.
McGehee is an Iowa City-based illustrator and scratch artist. The piece is intended to symbolize the values and practices of Hills Bank: opportunity, dedication, trust, involvement, and commitment.
The country scenes represent their commitment to agriculture, the school buses represent their commitment to youth and education, the buildings represent loans for homes and businesses, and the rising sun serves to remind us that every day creates new opportunities to make a difference.
Amanda Arn has been in view of this artwork daily since she began her career at Hills Bank, and it only seemed natural to ask Lynch to use this marvelous work as a source of inspiration.
“A lot of what’s in the design are the values and culture of the bank,” Arn said. “So we thought, what better to honor that and our culture than to do her artwork. Then, to find the artist, I knew Kelsi did mosaic glass, and we loved that she is a teacher as well, so I approached her about it and she happily agreed.”
Lynch was surprised by the idea. She was familiar with the Herky statues, but unfamiliar with the details.
“I obviously grew up in the area, so I’ve seen them for years and never really looked into how you get into doing them,” Lynch said.
“But I really like a challenge, and that’s one thing I’ve told the kids at school a lot of times; it was really hard and it was a struggle, and sometimes I wanted to give up, but it turned out really cool and I feel really proud of it,” she said.
Lynch expressed that her family helped a lot, not just by giving her the time and space to work on Herky, but by actively gluing on pieces of glass.
Lynch’s Herky was unveiled at Ranshaw House in North Liberty on Wednesday, May 1st. It will remain there until Aug 30, when all 100 of the Herkies meet up at Fry Fest.
“All of them will be back together for the only time in public for Fry Fest, Aug 30,” Lynch said, “and then after that, they’ll go to their forever homes, which in this case will be Hills Bank.”
Every potential artist has to submit a proposal. Lynch used her proposal worksheet as an exercise for her students.
The student Herkies now adorn the hallways at the Elementary School.
“I just made a place for the kids to put their names on it and then had them design their own,” Lynch said.
Her own proposal is also on the wall. Kelsi Lynch has seen many painted Herky statues, but she doesn’t think of herself as a painter.
She finds her inspiration in stained glass mosaics, and scratch art seemed like a natural translation.
Lynch began the process of cutting glass pieces just after the new year, and it took about 36 hours to cut all the pieces she would need.
After the cutting, all the pieces would be glued into their designated positions. Then it was grouted, buffed, and shined.
The Herkies are all coated with a clear automotive finish to protect them from the prairie weather.
At 10 a.m., the sirens sounded and the box cutter got to work unveiling the Herky. Kelsi Lynch stood for photos, surrounded by her friends and family.
“I just want to say thank you to Amanda and Hills Bank for this opportunity,” Lynch said, “and thank you to my family for giving me the time to do this.”
You can see Kelsi Lynch’s heart and soul on display at Ranshaw House, 515 Community Drive in North Liberty.