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At its Tuesday meeting, the Auburn Public Arts Commission unanimously voted to approve "Sky Woman," a sculpture that will be installed in the circular grass median at the corner of William and Lincoln streets, next to the downtown parking garage. The bronze, life-sized sculpture was designed by Audrey Iwanicki, of Auburn, who also created the "Wheel to Reel" sculpture nearby on Exchange Street.

The sculpture takes its name from the Haudenosaunee creation . The pregnant Sky Woman is dropped through a hole in the clouds, and as she falls, swans catch her. They guide her to the back of a great turtle, where animals have patted mud. The mud would become North America, and the twins the Sky Woman birthed there would become light and darkness, whose eternal battle defined creation.

Jesse Kline, the project's creative consultant and assistant director of the Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District, told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV the sculpture will be one of the first pieces of public art in the city to honor its Native American history. She also believes "Sky Woman" will improve that corner, which was redesigned when the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center was built there in 2019. 

"This is going to be a monumental change for that corner. It's going to be gorgeous," she said. "That circle is crying for a sculpture."

"Sky Woman" will hold concentric rings colored orange (the sun), green (the earth) and blue (the sky), and they will turn in the wind like a gyroscope. She will also stand atop and be surrounded by boulders that Kline said were sourced from the city's landfill, including one that will have an informational plaque. The blue parking sign above her will be removed so as not to clash aesthetically.

The sculpture will cost $68,750, all of which will come from the $285,000 public art portion of the city's $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. Iwanicki designed and partially fabricated the sculpture more than a decade ago with funding from the Stardust Foundation. It was planned for the front of the Edward T. Boyle Center, but the city's winter crow population made that unfeasible.

On the corner of William and Lincoln streets, Kline said, "Sky Woman" will be part of an emerging sculpture trail in downtown Auburn. Along with "Wheel to Reel" the trail also includes the Harriet Tubman sculpture in front of the heritage center, and next year it will add Iwanicki's "Harriet Tubman: Life Cycle of a Freedom Fighter" bicycle series in Freedom Park at the corner of Dill and North streets.

In 2024, another project approved Tuesday by the Auburn Public Arts Commission should come to fruition.

The city and BID are working with landscape architect Sue Steele to install new public art at the corner of Genesee and South streets, near Genesee Center, and the commission unanimously approved the issuing of a call for qualifications from artists. Three finalists will be selected to submit proposals, for which they will receive $600 stipends. The proposals will be available for the public to review.

Kline said the height of the art will probably have to be limited due to the signs and lampposts in the vicinity. The low mosaic walls at the corner may come down as well, as there is only 11 feet of space between them. Otherwise, the particulars of the project are up to the artist. The city has no requirements except that it be locally significant, represent a variety of styles and be publicly accessible.

"We decided in the end that staying away from a specific theme was the best way to ensure we're not going to pigeonhole who applies," Kline said. "We're keeping it open-ended."