Life-size statues of Cy, decorated by local artists, will be on display throughout Ames in the fall of 2014.

The project taken on by the Ames Chamber of Commerce Leadership Ames Class XXVII is designed to raise money for local charities such as Mainstream Living, Youth & Shelter Services and the Emergency Residence Project.

The project is called CyclONE City Tour. 

Local businesses or community members in Story County will sponsor the statues decorated by local artist. Once a Cy statue is sponsored it will be displayed somewhere in Ames.

Each statue will have a plaque with the name of the sponsor, along with the name of the decorated Cy given to them by the artist. After CyclONE City Tour has finished, businesses may keep their Cy statue if they had given a higher level of sponsorship.

The nine-month class, Leadership Ames, is a one-time class. Each year the class completes a service project, which has ranged from working at homeless shelters to planting trees.

Usually the class will break into small groups and work on small projects for Ames, but this year the XXVII class decided to work together as a whole class for their service project.

“This is actually the first time that the Leadership Ames class has decided to do one project as an entire class,” said Makenzie Heddens, a tri-chair member in the Leadership Ames class. “The idea has been circulating for a couple years and we were the ones to finally pick it up and take a stab at it.”

Artists who are interested in decorating a Cy will submit a design to the CyclONE City Artist’s Committee. Once the design is approved by the committee the artist can pick up the Cy, along with $500 of their stipend.

The completed Cy is returned to the committee and the artist will receive the remaining $1,000 of their stipend. 

“The only specifics we are not able to add to the Cy is the [sponsoring] company logo,” said Sarah Battani from the artist committee. “Although we can have other things that represent the company or the sponsor themselves.” 

Battani said she has tips and information for artists interested in working with a fiberglass sculpture.  

After the tour is over, those who did not pay for a higher sponsorship will auction their Cy at a later date.

Artists design submissions are due by Monday, April 14.  

“It’s meant to be a fun exciting project to bring the university and the city together,” Heddens said. “[It’s] a good way to show off Cy and show pride in our town. “