Cranes ready for takeoff
Sandhill cranes won't arrive along the Platte River until mid-February, but about 100 have already landed.
Dawn Rotary's Cranes on Parade IV project was unveiled at a gala reception Oct. 22 at Rowe Sanctuary. On display were 100 laser-cut aluminum cranes decorated by 55 artists, most of them local. The cranes will be hung on silver light poles throughout Kearney in early 2027.
At the festive unveiling, more than 350 people sipped wine, nibbled hors d'oeuvres and chatted with the artists, who had to apply and were paid $500 to decorate two 5-foot-tall cranes provided by the club.
Beyond a few ground rules — no obscenities, no off-color art and no political messages — artists were free to let their imaginations run wild.
"We have a wonderful variety of designs. It's fun to meet the artists," Sue Bigg, co-chair of the project with Randy Kratochvil, said as she welcomed the crowd.
The artists included youngsters from Meadowlark, Emerson, Cottonwood and Kenwood elementaries, led by art teachers Kameron Dostal and Hayley Brophy. Art students from Kearney High School participated, too.
"It's an honor to host the premier of Cranes on Parade and to see awesome creativity in a place dedicated to crane conservation," said Marcos Stoltzfus, director at Rowe Sanctuary.
Kelsey Baxter, manager of the front desk and the gift shop at MONA, dedicated the flowery, swirly design on one side of her crane to Lindsey Brownfield, an avid crane lover and the coordinator for academic services at the Calvin T. Ryan Library at the University of Â鶹¹ÙÍø at Kearney.
"Lindsey loves cranes and nature." Baxter said. Baxter included the phrase "Dance of Whimsy," which Brownfield invented in reference to the cranes' courting ritual.
Baxter put a small heart in the center of the other side of her crane for her fiance, Joseph Anderjaska, an access services associate at the UNK library. "He's very creative. He's been a big inspiration to me in my artistic endeavors," she said.
Trevor Issac, a 2023 graphics art graduate of Central Community College, used themes of balance, fragility and resilience in his crane. The bright side represents "the beginning of happy opportunities in life and the ability to make good things," he said.
The other side is somber. "The dark side is letting things go. Accept the things the dark side was good for and let them go," he said.
Noah Edgington, the office coordinator at MONA, glued together what he called 333 "wacky, weird and whimsical creations on one 5-foot-tall aluminum crane" in memory of the late Barbara Andrews. He named it "Saturday in the Park." Cindy Jacobs, an artist and interior designer in Kearney, used tiny gray-and-white brush strokes on the feathers of her cranes. "I wanted it to look real, so I Googled sandhill cranes. I got a lesson in all things crane," she said.
Diane Sciachitano and her husband Mike, who perform as the Shockitanos, performed next to a crane done by Diane. It featured a large cello on one side.
A 24-year tradition
Cranes on Parade IV continues a Dawn Rotary tradition that began in 2002 when artist Martha Pettigrew sculpted a life-size clay crane she called "Riverdance."
From that clay form, PolyIcon Fiberglass of Gibbon created 30 life-sized cranes that were decorated by local artists and auctioned off at the Museum of Â鶹¹ÙÍø Art.
In 2010, the project was repeated as Cranes on Parade II. Again, 30 cranes were auctioned off. One of those, a gold crane, stands in front of the Kearney Welcome Center at 220 11th Ave.
Six years later, Cranes on Parade III was held. Those cranes, a mix of sculpture and other media, were so creative that they were featured in American Art Parades magazine.
However, Bigg noted, they were expensive to produce. Each crane sold for from $2,800 to $7,000 at auction and needed a sponsor to help cover the costs.
Three years ago, Dawn Rotary began planning for a fundraiser and resurrected the Cranes on Parade idea. In early 2025, the project took a dramatic shift when Rotarian Tami Moore photographed a similar metal art installation she happened to see in a Colorado town.
The metal crane idea took off. The design was done by Sondra Gerber, a metal sculpture artist from Omaha. A Denver company manufactured 100 one-dimensional metal cranes.
Turner Body Shop clear-coated all 100 cranes with the same substance that is put on cars so they will look shiny and hold up in rain and snow.
The project has been funded by sponsors, who have each donated $2,500 to the project. Each sponsor receives two cranes that can be displayed on light poles wherever they choose. Eight more sponsors are needed.
Profits from the project will be donated to the S.A.F.E. Center, the Kearney Area Children's Museum, the Family Advocacy Network and Kearney Sustainable Housing.
Pettigrew returns
This year, Pettigrew was back with her crane entitled "Flower Power." She is the artist who completed the first sample crane in 2002 and convinced the club that Cranes on Parade was a feasible project.
In the art room of Rowe Sanctuary, visitors could try their hand at crane art. Charlianne Cline, a kindergartener in Holdrege, was painting happily. She's the daughter of Denise Cline and Tyrell Cline.
Sondra Gerber came from Omaha for the show with her husband, Kearney-born artist Jason Gerber. Sondra's "River Dance" crane, a silver design with an orange center, was on display up front.
"Every single crane is so unique. The personality of each artist comes through," Gerber said, referring to the show. "It's been fun to meet the artists. It was neat to walk in tonight and collaborate with 50 artists. I can't wait till spring."
Where to see the cranes
Cranes on Parade IV can be seen at Rowe Sanctuary at 44450 Elm Island Road south of Gibbon through Nov. 7.
Their next stop is the American Automobile Experience at 3600 Highway 30, from Nov. 10 to Jan. 5.
Their final stop will be at MONA at 2401 Central Ave. from Jan. 12 to 17, with a reception Jan. 14.
The cranes will be mounted on 50 light poles in Kearney in time for crane season in midFebruary.
