The newest art treasure added to the Jefferson City Hall's collection was installed in the front sidewalk this week by Parks, Recreation and Forestry Deparmtent staff - a mixed-metal medallion created first in the mind of Hartsburg blacksmith Don Asbee then brought to life on his anvil.
The city's Cultural Arts Commission will host a ribbon-cutting to celebrate installation of the metal art plaque at 5 p.m. Monday.
Asbee's sculptures and architectural metalwork can be seen throughout the United States, as well as in Jefferson City, Columbia and elsewhere in Missouri.
Working from a studio in what he describes as a rustic setting east of U.S. 63 near Hartsburg, Asbee designs and crafts custom commissioned pieces - like the unique sidewalk plaque for which he was paid $8,800 through the City Hall Trust Fund.
The city explains Asbee and the work this way: "In 2015, the Cultural Arts Commission solicited artists to submit designs for an in-ground installation of a plaque in the sidewalk outside the McCarty Street entrance to City Hall. Two artists submitted conceptual designs. The conceptual design submitted by Asbee was selected.
"Mr. Asbee proposed a mixed-metal medallion to be incorporated into one of the panels in the front entrance of the plaza of City Hall," the city explains. "The plaque is approximately 64 inches in diameter and represents natural and cultural aspects of Jefferson City, using a variety of metals."
The medallion exhibits catfish, sturgeon, the Missouri River, cattails and a heron, a keel boat, the Missouri State Penitentiary, a steamboat, a tractor, trains, the Capitol dome, the Missouri River bridge and the KATY trail, among other landmarks.
In his trademark self-deprecating humor, Asbee said he was shocked he got the job because the bulk of his portfolio "is nothing at all like that plaque. The city paid me to have some fun figuring out how to make that piece."
This artist began life in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He trained as a blacksmith in Montana and as a welder and metal fabricator in Missouri. He opened a blacksmith and horseshoe business in Bland in the early 1970s, which gradually evolved into a studio where he began hammering out wood stoves, fire tools, gates and fences.
Asbee has been working creatively in metals since 1972.
"My early works were primarily functional pieces, with an emphasis on the 'form follows function' concept," he said. "However, during the past two decades, I have discovered with increasing ease the means to draw upon an inner spiritual energy. This is expressed in both my sculptural and architectural forms. I have come to believe that the creative process best expresses itself on an emotional level. The resulting sculptural forms are the emotional bridge and essential connection between the artist and those experiencing the art."
For those interested, you don't have to look far to find some of that Asbee portfolio. One of his first works was a fireplace and furnace for the McElroy residence in Jefferson City in 1984. Other early creations adorn the Kellogg corporate headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, as well as the William Klinger Inn, the Hermannhof Winery and Festhalle in Hermann.
In 2010, he completed a wall sculpture called "Algenisis Revisited" of recycled forged wrought iron and recycled travertine for the National Biodiesel Board in Jefferson City, as well as "Oakmont Revisited" for the Spears residence balcony railing in Jefferson City.
In 2011, Asbee completed another wall sculpture, called "Dogwood," prominently displayed at Boone Hospital Center in Columbia. Seventeen years earlier, he created a 52-foot window well for Ellis Fischel Hospital in Columbia.
He created truss hardware and tension rods for the Twehouse residence in Jefferson City in 2009. In 2007, Pat and Marsha Dubbert commissioned Asbee to create stairway and foyer railings for their home in the Capital City. Chuck and Nanette Weber, of Jefferson City, have a floral window sculpture Asbee created from forged steel in 2004.
Bud and Sandy Farmer have an Asbee stair railing, a chandelier of steel and slumped glass, as well as a window sculpture called "Pineapple" in their Jefferson City home. Dr. Ken and Lou Anne Rowan commissioned Asbee to do "Dogwood," a newel and stair railing for their home in Jefferson City.
Asbee's works are in many public spaces, too. The Casualty Indemnity Exchange in Jefferson City has gates and railings created by him. The Wesley United Methodist Church in Jefferson City features Asbee sanctuary, exterior and baptismal crosses by Asbee.
The Columbia transit station features Asbee's "Wabash 808" sculpture. The Unity Center in Columbia displays his Dove or Peace. The St. Louis Zoo showcases Asbee's Jungle of Apes sign.
In Washington, Asbee's "Kite" made it to the finals of a national competition at the Smithsonian Institution in 2003. Long before that, in 1988, Asbee created leaf and stem ornamentation for a restaurant at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.