The Ames community soon will be reaping the benefits of the Iowa Community Cultural Grants, which were awarded to the City of Ames and the Octagon Center for the Arts.

The $15,000 grant given to the City of Ames will be used for artistic contributions to the Ames community, said Bob Kindred, assistant city manager.

Kindred said the grant, in addition to $35,000 from the city, is being used to erect artwork along Fifth and Main Streets.

“I think it’s going to be a great addition to the downtown renovation project,” he said.

Some of this artwork will consist of brick piers on various corners of Fifth Street, with terra cotta murals featuring different historical aspects of the Ames community.

Kindred said work cannot be started on the Main Street projects until current plans to replace the water and sewer pipes along the street are completed.

Once the pipes are replaced, various lighted sculptures will be added along Main Street.

The city also has plans to place a tile picture of a railroad lantern at the intersection of Kellogg Avenue and Main Street.

Kindred said the tile art will coordinate well with the railroad tracks near the intersection.

“There will also be a 56-foot-long clay planter with railway images placed near the intersection,” he said.

Kindred said ideas for the artwork originated from members of the Ames community during meetings the city held to discuss the types of art people wanted.

Plans for the artwork also arose from interviews the artist, David Dahlquist, had with various community members and Ames historian Farwell Brown.

“We’re fortunate to have an artist of that caliber working with us,” Kindred said.

Kindred said community officials hope to have all the work completed and ready for display by next fall.

Patrice Beam, executive director of the Octagon Center for the Arts, 427 Douglas Ave., said the $8,000 grant will help the private organization accomplish two goals.

The first of these goals involves widening the entrance to the organization’s auditorium to make it more accessible for the public, Beam said. The rest of the money from the grant will be put toward a larger project to remodel and double the size of the children’s art studio.

Beam said the remodeling project will involve some fund raising in the coming year. Once completed, it will allow the Octagon Center to enroll more children in art activities.

The Octagon Center was started in 1966 by a group of individuals in the Ames community who saw a need for a place where people in Ames and surrounding areas could take art lessons. Beam said the center has since expanded to provide not only art lessons, but also art exhibits featuring various art forms of special interest to the Ames community.

“We feel that an important part of our mission is to showcase the work of local and regional artists,” she said.

The Octagon Center focuses on art education in the areas of visual, literary and performing arts and is involved in several community activities, particularly Art in the Park.