La Crosse to begin rotating artwork, with first sculptor installed in Burns Park

A busy downtown intersection in La Crosse now features a new attraction for art lovers.

It’s a sculpture called “Incendiary,” by local artist Luke Achterberg. The sculptor and some city employees put the abstract artwork Wednesday in Burns Park at 7th and Main streets.

Achterberg said the sculpture is based on hot rod culture and car customization, among other influences. He added that the piece is intended to be the first of many artworks which will be put on temporary display at a permanent concrete base on that corner.

“There’s a ton of cities around this area that do rotating public art exhibitions,” Achterberg said, “and that’s one of the things that I’ve been doing throughout my career.”

Incendiary is scheduled to stand at that corner for about a year.

La Crosse’s city arts coordinator, Jacqueline Marcou, said the concept of rotating art is designed to save money that might be spent buying statues.

“A piece like this may not be able to be purchased by the city,” Marcou said, “but we’re renting this piece from the artist.”

“It’s an easy pathway to get more public art up in the city,” she added.

Burns Park used to be the home of the Lyra sculpture. That work of metal was moved to the municipal harbor in 2019.