New sculpture for Burns Park, called “Incendiary,” is planned as the start of an art rotation on that spot

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 in place at 7th and Main on Wednesday morning, in Burns Park.

Achterberg says the sculpture is based on hot-rod culture and car customization, among other influences. He says 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,” says Achterberg, “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, says the concept of rotating works of 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,” says Marcou, “but we’re renting this piece from the artist.”

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

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