The Durango Public Arts Commission allowed residents to comment on three finalists’ ideas for a new piece of public art, and a selection panel will vote on the winner today.

Durango residents gave their opinions during an open house Thursday afternoon at the Durango Public Library. The new three-dimensional sculpture is expected to be installed in July as part of the new continuous-flow intersection where U.S. Highway 160 and Camino del Rio merge, also known as the DoubleTree intersection, which currently is under construction.

“It’s not a vote,” said Carol Martin, vice chairwoman of the Public Arts Commission. “We look at their comments and take that into account.”

The three finalists impressed the selection panel, which was made up of commission members, city officials, Colorado Department of Transportation officials and local community members.

All the designs included rock and had a “wow” factor, Martin said. Two finalists, Gunnar Anderson and Kelly Hurford, are local residents.

Anderson was represented at the open house by his neighbor Ernie Norris. The sculpture looked like a tree with colored balls at the end of branches. The concept “Live. Build. Thrive. Durango!” was fireworks and the thrill that comes from that, Norris said.

“Hopefully there will be this emotional reaction to the art by people coming into Durango,” he said. “People will get this sense of excitement.”

The rocks around the base had engravings and drilled holes to represent the city’s mining history.

Artist Kelly Hurford and two partners, Craig Stoffel and Walker Christensen, created “Explore Durango!” The sculpture resembled a mining tower surrounded by buffed sandstone rocks reminiscent of the Pueblo cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park. The tower is surrounded by a mesh and will be internally lit so it will shimmer while people drive by it. If chosen, the art will use a lot of reclaimed steel, Christensen said.

“We really want it to be gritty and represent kind of the Old West in Durango, but there’s a lot of cool, cultural things happening in Durango, so it also has that modern edge to it,” he said.

Tom Holmes worked with broken stone for his piece “Arc of History.” It has a steel-rod framework with holes drilled into the center of the rocks, which are put on the frame and arranged in order.

“It would be fabricated locally,” Holmes said. “This rusty sandstone is something I’m more partial to.”

The artwork has flexibility and moves, unlike a static piece. Holmes said it definitely will start a conversation.

“I want it to speak in such a way that it reflects the nature of the community here, it reflects the people that it’s influencing on a daily basis, the people that come into town,” he said. “But I also want it to represent me as a sculptor properly.”

Hope Adams came to the open house while visiting her family in Durango. Her favorite piece was by her brother, Kelly Hurford, but she had opinions about the other pieces, as well, starting with “Arc.”

“It’s beautiful, actually, very interesting, the way it’s put together and the portrayal is interesting,” she said. “But being from Durango, being born and raised here, graduation here, you have to have a geological degree to understand his purpose of using the native rock.”

Adams said she didn’t understand the fireworks sculpture at first and doesn’t see the fireworks concept in the art.

Michelle Turolla said she liked the natural rock piece the best, Holmes’ sculpture. She said as an artist, she’d recommend he incorporate more red rock and shape it more like a horseshoe than in a straight line.

“I think the natural rock really represents Durango better,” Turolla said.

The same selection panel that chose the three finalists will select the winner. The artist will get $25,000 for design, execution, transportation and installation.

The $6 million road project, expected to take about five months, is focused on relieving congestion and improving safety at the DoubleTree intersection and redesigning the intersection of West College Drive and Camino del Rio.

Construction started March 17. CDOT is installing a continuous-flow intersection, which moves a left-hand turn lane away from the major intersection.

smueller@durangoherald.com