By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Sarah Byrd loves telling stories.
Some she has written down in a notebook she wants to develop one day in a published book. Others she commits to memory to give herself some more time before putting them down on paper.
So far, words have been the building blocks for her art of storytelling. And so far, many of the stories she has accumulated over the years, including a manuscript left by her late father, have stayed in the private space of her diary or her thoughts.
But her most recent storytelling project breaks that mold as its material is aluminum, its form is a sculpture and its display is in one of the most vibrant public spaces in Cedar Falls – Main Street.
With it, the 21-year-old Springville, Illinois, native has found a way to own and share the story of her journey from an athlete to an artist.
Notable as it is in her own growth, Sarah’s work also makes local history. She is the first African American artist to have a sculpture displayed on Main Street, according to Cory Hurless, the cultural program supervisor of the Cedar Falls Hearst Center for the Arts.
If you remember Sarah as a recent shot putter on the UNI track-and-field team, or if you happened to run into her at her part-time job as a server at George’s Local, the trendy downtown hangout, this summer, you’d know what it feels like to be lifted by her generous smile and positive energy, no matter how fleeting your encounter may have been.
But even if you are among Sarah’s friends or former teachers, (I am among the latter), she is unlikely to tell you about her work as a sculptor.
“I downplay myself a little bit and I am my own worst critic so I usually don’t like to talk about my work,” she said.
You can’t miss the sculpture at 319 Main Street, in front of what will soon be an event center called Lawn City, right next to the popular eatery Patton Diner.
In downtown, where public art is held in special appreciation, Sarah’s sculpture, placed in a student-designated space, is unlike any of the other permanent exhibits on Main.
It is the closest a contemplative walker would come face to face, literally, with an artist’s rendition of a self-portrait.
It depicts the silhouetted profile of a woman’s face, with multiple layers of plates between the two profile sides. If you take the time to walk around the sculpture and pause to take in the perspectives, at times, you may see a face, at times, a heart.
“I like creating—everyone has a story and everyone has layers to them and you never know what someone else is going through on the inside, but they are, so that’s what I want to portray,” Sarah said.
Seeing that connection between the heart and the head, and inviting the viewer to reflect on it, is Sarah’s creative intent.
Intentionality, she says, has been her word in this year of growth and self-discovery, and the downtown sculpture, she believes, says it all.
“I feel like this is like the first time I’ve actually put myself out there fully,” she said.
Why and how Sarah leaned into her artistic side
The creative spark, Sarah told me, has been inside of her for as long as she can remember.
But it took a career-ending injury in sports to turn her attention to her inner creativity.
As an athlete, she worked hard to earn her stripes on the track-and-field team, hoping sports would be her future, but when that came to an abrupt end, she started searching for a path forward without it.
It wasn’t straightforward and it wasn’t quick, but once Sarah eventually unwrapped her self-worth from sports, she realized the potential of a new direction.
Here is how she navigated her way out – she understood that her body could no longer endure the arduous regimen demanded by the athletic commitment, so her spirit was free to soar and explore.
When she finally embraced the idea that art could be a part of her healing, she knew she was on the right track. Thinking about the doors art might open, she felt the same gush of joy and apprehension, not to mention the urge to achieve her potential, similar to what she had felt every time right before she would compete.
What was different now, though, was that she was a team of one and “competing” against herself.
Gradually, Sarah started to become her own coach and captain, as her goal now was to dig deep and find expressive freedom in her quest as an artist.
What the sculpture means
Sarah said many of her life experiences, including losing her father at an early age, and the many post-injury daily challenges she deals with, have sharpened her senses.
“I wanted to play with looking and feeling invisible, but also being whole at the same time so I just wanted to capture how I felt in society,” she said.
While in college, she had picked a minor in art, mostly as a way to give herself a “breather” in between training and back-to-back classes, but she hadn’t planned on art being her sole focus.
On campus, she connected with UNI’s Public Art Incubator (PAI), a program providing the space and guidance for budding and experienced artists to create public art.
There, with help and encouragement from award-winning artist Dan Perry, the faculty member who coordinates the PAI, as well as other instructors, she found the courage and the support to explore art full-heartedly.
At the incubator, she met like-thinkers, and that creative community made all the difference.
She then rolled up her sleeves, literally, and took a profile picture of her face, then traced it and uploaded it into a software program.
“That got me started,” she said.
As any beginner, Sarah didn’t quite know the tools she would need to express herself in another medium.
“I honestly had no clue,” she said. “I didn’t really know how to weld.”
It took a year to bring the sculpture from the software to the street.
It was installed in June and it is in a special place designated for student sculptures called the Miller Student Art Pad. Started in 2017, as a rotating opportunity for students to showcase their work, the program is funded by the Hugh Pettersen Estate, and the Cedar Falls Public Art Committee. The space honors the memory of Rueben and Hazel Miller, whose shoe store, at 319 Main Street, closed in 2002, after 86 years.
Seeing the sculpture displayed so prominently on Main Street has boosted Sarah’s confidence.
“This has shown me that I have more layers, I have more depth,” she said.
When I first interviewed Sarah, she hadn’t come up with a name for the sculpture, but eventually, she landed on one she believes fits the process and the purpose of the project.
“I picked Cardiac Colleen, cardiac is for heart, but then Colleen’s also another name for being a woman, so I just wanted to play with those two,” she said.
She added that her work also serves to spotlight the lives of African American women in the area and hopes the sculpture might inspire confidence in girls and others to persist with their dreams.
The work will be exhibited on Main for a year, and then another student sculpture will replace it.
Sarah, then, would be able to loan it to another location or sell it, but has not planned that far yet.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” she said. “I know afterwards I want to touch up a few more things, I wanted to maybe add a base so it’s a little bit higher.”
To Sarah, the coincidence that her artistic work sits literally across the street from her waitressing job, is a reminder of how far she has come as a creator. Occasionally she hears compliments from customers and friends who know she is the creative spirit behind the “face” sculpture on Main.
“It’s reassuring and fulfilling and just motivates me to keep going,” she said.
Sarah’s mom, Joyce Bell, came to Cedar Falls to see the sculpture in late August. It was raining, so they didn’t stop for a picture, but Joyce watched it from George’s window. Later this fall, the whole family is coming to town to see the work in person.
“My mom was astonished and proud of me,” Sarah said. “My family and my friends have surely been my support system and I’m so grateful for that.”