HUNTSVILLE, AL. - Let’s be realistic.

You either are or aren’t one of those people who visit art galleries and museums. If you fall in the category of “No, they are too expensive,” or “I just think they are boring and stuffy,” then prepare to be converted, artistically that is.

Around mid-November, passers-by on the downtown square might have noticed two large-scale sculptures standing directly in front of Papou's and the Voodoo Lounge. Constructed by Virginia artist Charles Brouwer, both pieces signified the dawn of the Rocket City's own artistic awakening – an opportunity to not only aesthetically enhance the area, but to indulge citizens in public art.

Dubbed "Spaces," this inaugural biennial sculpture trail invited 15 sculptors from 10 Eastern states to participate in a project that will showcase 25 sculptures of a variety of sizes and art movements at six sites, including Alabama A&M University, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Lowe Mill, Madison County Courthouse Square, the Huntsville Museum of Art and the Von Braun Center.

The trail will officially launch with a ceremony Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Von Braun Center, followed by a docent-led trolley tour Jan. 8 at 10 a.m. departing from Lowe Mill. Several components will supplement the sculpture trail, such as its own website – Spacessculpturetrail.org – brochures with maps and locations, GPS-guided tours and cell phone information where observers can simply dial a number to listen to a prerecorded message about the artist, sculpture and additional background information.

"I find Huntsville to be an interesting city, but it's devoid of sculpture," said Glenn Zweygardt, one of the participating sculptors on the trail. "The trail will open up a new way of thinking about environment and the human intimacy public sculpture can bring to cities.

Let’s use the downtown square as a starting point for a roundup of the entire sculpture trail beginning with the first four sculptures of the tour, all of which surround the Madison County Courthouse.

Downtown Square

Title: Grouper Artist: Bruce Larsen Artist location: Fairhope Artist information: Brucelarsenart.com or e-mail brucelarsenart@gmail.com Location of sculpture: West Side Square GPS coordinates: N 34.43.8427 W 86.35.1335 About: It might seem odd that the saltwater giant is more than 350 miles from the Gulf Coast, but at least it’s near some body of water (i.e. Big Spring International Park). Made about a year and a half ago with pieces of steel welded together, the grouper is 5 1/2 feet tall and weighs around 250 pounds. Larsen said the piece was brought to life rather quickly. “I try not to manipulate the metal too much,” he said. “I use pieces pretty much the way they are found. The creation lies in the gathering of the metal and the form they take.” Title: Celestial Motion Artist: Hanna Jubran Artist location: East Grimesland, N.C. Artist Information: Hannajubran.com or e-mail http://www.Brucelarsenart.com Location of sculpture: North Side Square GPS coordinates: N 34.43.8427 W 86.35.1096 About: Here you will see a vibrant-hued sculpture from Jubran’s metal fabrication series that is constructed with steel and painted. The artist is from Jish, located in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel. He is a world-renowned sculptor whose broad range of artwork includes metal fabrication, stone and wood carvings, combined stone and metal casting, and metal casting. Jubran commission’s range from Jackson, Tenn., to Lithuania, and he has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions.

Title: Soft 2

Artist: Craig Wedderspoon

Artist location: Tuscaloosa

Artist Information: E-mail cwedders@bama.ua.edu, call 205-348-1898 or visit art.ua.edu

Location of sculpture: East Side Square

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.8249 W 86.35.0679

About: Believe it or not, but this entire sculpture is one solid line that actually has two ends. Try to find the beginning and the end of the line. Wedderspoon, a professor of sculpture at the University of Alabama, constructed this piece nearly three years ago out of 1,200 feet of aluminum, 2-inch square tubing. It weighs about 300 pounds and is close to 7 feet tall. "It certainly is nonrepresentational, more abstract and contemporary," said Wedderspoon of his sculptures. When visiting the piece, notice the odd scratches at the edges of the square tubing. Wedderspoon said the marks are the result of squirrels filing their teeth.

Title: "...and this is hope..."

Artist: Charles Brouwer

Artist location: Willis, Va.

Artist Information: Charliebrouwer.com or e-mail cbrouwer@swva.net

Location of sculpture: South Side Square

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.7858 W86.35.0934

About: When you encounter this piece, you will notice that it's actually two separate sculptures and are the only sculptures on the trail of human figures. Brouwer said he realized that many artists were not using human figures anymore for sculpture. Both pieces are carved from locust wood, a hearty solid commonly used as fence posts because it lasts nearly a 100 years. "Things I wanted to deal with art were often people related," he said, "and so my sculptures are reflective of the experiences with my family." His daughter Emily and her family, husband Jarek and two sons Alex and Ben, served as the models and inspiration for his two sculptures.

Now follow the trail to the six-piece sculpture garden at the newly renovated

The Huntsville Museum of Art

Title: Dragon

Artist: Bruce Larsen

Artist location: Fairhope

Artist information: Brucelarsenart.com or e-mail brucelarsenart@gmail.com

Location of sculpture: It faces Church Street

GPS coordinates: N 34 43.6524 W 86 35.2208

About: Built about a year ago from pieces of steel welded together, the Dragon sculpture is nearly 22 feet tall and weighs between 850 and 900 pounds. Larsen says he was influenced to construct a dragon piece because of his Norwegian ancestry. "It's very similar to the dragon-shaped bows of Viking boats," Larsen said. Many of the artist's sculptures are of animals and creatures, like the dragon. "I like the anatomy and I like the way things are put together," he said. "If I wasn't an artist, I would be either an archaeologist or paleontologist." Larsen doubles as a creator of mechanical props and creature effects, he says, where he builds robotics and animatronic animals and, of course, creatures.

Title: Bipolar Hydra

Artist: Glenn E. Zweygardt

Artist location: Alfred Station, N.Y.

Artist information: Glennzweygardt.com or call 607-478-8869

Location of sculpture: On the museum's corner facing Williams Avenue and near the pond at Big Spring International Park

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.6013 W 86.35.2335

About: This sculpture, Zweygardt says, represents numerous veins of his interest. It's a complex combination of materials - metal, stone and glass - and techniques, such as a 20th century stone method. "The trilogy of materials is sort of my trademark," he said. Although the sculpture's title uses the term hydra, don't assume it is associated with water. Zweygardt says it's more symbolic of multi-heads. With more than 40 years under his belt, the sculptor's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Title: Vertical 20

Artist: Casey Downing

Artist location: Mobile

Artist information: Caseydowningart.com or call his studio at 251-441-0761

Location of sculpture: It faces Church Street

GPS coordinates: N 34 43.6479 W 86 35.2052

About: Born in Tuscaloosa and reared on the Alabama Gulf Coast, Downing knew he was a sculptor since he was a kid. "I used to steal chalk off the chalkboard and carve them under the desk in grade school," he said. "I have been an artist all my life and really don't remember a time that I didn't do art." Downing dubs his sculptures as nonreferential, not abstract. The University of Alabama in Huntsville graduate said that Vertical 20 - made of stainless steel - is the product of taking a rectangular box shape, slicing it and the shifting the form until it animates to evolve into something that has a life of its own. "It kind of hit me as sort of the Asian version of the Virgin Mary called the Guanyin," he said, "but that's just my idea when I was looking at it."

Title: Pick

Artist: Andrew Crawford

Artist location: Atlanta, Ga.

Artist information: Ironisking.com, Andrewtcrawford.com or call 404-351-8324

Location of sculpture: Corner of museum facing Church Street

GPS coordinates: N 34 43.6316 W 86 35.2064

About: The name of this sculpture says it all. Made from fabricated steel, Pick is a Herculean representation of the actual tool. Crawford says he thinks of his sculptures as very realistic as far as the imagery, but the main abstraction is the scale. "Most of my nonfunctional work is inspired by the work I do with my job doing functional work," he says. Beside being a sculptor, Crawford constructs railings and ornamental iron work with a focus on blacksmithing. It's impossible for his art to not be influenced by the tools he is immersed with every day. "They have infiltrated my creative process," Crawford said.

Title: Owl

Artist: Bruce Larsen

Artist location: Fairhope

Artist information: Brucelarsenart.com or e-mail brucelarsenart@gmail.com

Location of sculpture: On the museum's corner facing north by the pond at Big Spring International Park

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.6347 W 86 35.2613

About: Larsen was welding the Owl minutes before loading it for the sculpture trail. Weighing an estimated 2,600 pounds and close to 30 feet tall with the base, the Owl began with a few circular pieces of metal grouped together in a pile on the floor. "When it seemed like the time for it to grow, I welded it together," Larsen said. "I was then contacted by SPACES and thought I could have it done in time. I did, but barely made it," he joked. It took the artist about a month to construct the Owl, working eight hours per day. All Larsen can say about the piece is "That sucker is heavy."

Title: Gladiator

Artist: David Hayes

Artist location: Coventry, Conn.

Artist information: Davidhayes.com, e-mail john@davidhayes.com or call 860-742-9687

Location of sculpture: By the museum facing Church Street

GPS coordinates: N 34 43.6460 W 86 35.2487

About: Contemporary sculptor David Hayes, 79, has been exhibiting his sculptures for more than 50 years. Made in the mid-1980s, the Gladiator has been shown extensively, said David M. Hayes, son of the artist. "It just came off of a large outdoor public art show in New York where it spent two years outside," he said. "My father likes doing public art shows and putting his art on the street where people can interact with it. Many people will not necessarily go into a museum or a gallery, but putting it outside where it's accessible means people can enjoy it as they choose." Gladiator is extremely representative of Hayes' style, incorporating boldly painted, welded steel.

The next move is to cross Big Spring International Park and head toward the Von Braun Center where three sculptures await you. Remember there’s a pond full of ducks and geese between you and your destination.

The Von Braun Center

Title: Column Temple

Artist: Austin Collins

Artist location: Notre Dame, Ind.

Artist information: www.nd.edu/~acollins/ or call his studio at 574-631-9446

Location of sculpture: In front of the North Hall

GPS coordinates: N34.43.6845 W 86.35.4933

About: Collins, professor of sculpture in the department of art, art history and design at the University of Notre Dame, has exhibited his work since the early 1980s to present day nationally. Collections of his work are seen as far as New York state and northwestern Oregon. Diving Board Temple I is a product of a series of sculptures titled The Temple Series, which he has worked on for the past 10 years. The Temple Series, influenced during a trip to Haiti, consists of nearly 30 sculptures, all of which are constructed of mild steel.

Title: Synapse

Artist: Albert Paley

Artist location: Rochester, N.Y.

Artist information: Albertpaley.com, e-mail info@albertpaley.com or call 585-232-5260

Location of sculpture: By the Smith Concert Hall facing Monroe Street

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.7091 W 86.35.4019

About: An active artist for more than 30 years, Paley's sculpture dubbed "Synapse" is of metal construction. Work by the world-renowned sculptor can be found in permanent collections such as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Title: Oarspace

Artist: Clifford Tresner

Artist location: Monroe, La.

Artist information: Clifftresner.com or e-mail ctresner1@comcast.net

Location of sculpture: Between the South Hall and Arena

GPS coordinates: N34.43.5491 W 86.35.4084

About: The description of this 10-feet high sculpture is a secret until the unveiling ceremony of SPACES, the sculpture trail, on Jan. 7. What can be said is that the piece is sculpted from steel, stainless steel and wood. It has a fabricated steel structure with stainless steel words and lathe-turned cedar wood inserts. Oarspace is positively worth the wait.

Although you are not too far from Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment, it would be wise to drive to this location rather than walk across Governors Drive and Memorial Parkway. The edgy art hub only has one sculpture on display outside, but don’t skip it. This one is definitely worth seeing for it’s comedic value.

Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment

Title: Mosquito vs. Human

Artist: Doug Makemson

Artist location: Athens, Ga.

Artist information: Makemsonsculpture.com

Location of sculpture: In a patch of green grass next to the Happy Tummy restaurant.

GPS coordinates: N 34.42.9251 W 86.35.7969

About: This sculpture is suitable for the South since the mosquito can double as the region's infamous state bird. Constructed in 2003, Makemson's sculpture is made from recycled truck parts like the transmission house and gears, a cylinder head from an engine and a universal joint, used for the mosquito's head. "In 2003 I fell off the roof of my house and almost died," said Makenson. "I wasn't blowing leaves out of my gutters, but blowing water out because of the mosquitoes and West Nile. Once I got working again, I didn't make the piece consciously, but it's sort of the mosquitoes that put me there directly," he quipped. Words of caution: Expect a life-size person cowering on the ground before he/she is impaled by a giant mosquito.

Assuming you are still in your car because UAH is a bit of a hike from Lowe Mill, you have arrived at the campus. Now eight sculptures are waiting to be found on this campus. That’s right, eight grand pieces of art. So, get to it!

University of Alabama in Huntsville

Title: Diving Board Temple I

Artist: Austin Collins

Artist location: Notre Dame, Ind.

Artist information: www.nd.edu/~acollins/ or call his studio at 574-631-9446

Location of sculpture: By Wilson Hall

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.7682 W 86.38.5059

About: Like an aforementioned piece by Collins, Column Temple is a derivative of his Temple Series. The entire series was the product of Collins' trip to Haiti a few years ago where he encountered numerous works of art that reflected the "deep spiritual, cultural and political struggles." Collins, in his artist statement, says "my hope in the Temple Series work is to capture the this same process of produced reflection, which can invoke in the viewer a sense of sacred space, of retreating, of reflection, and of the need to take active charge of his or her destiny."

Title: Tubular

Artist: Casey Downing

Artist location: Mobile

Artist information: Caseydowningart.com or call his studio at 251-441-0761

Location of sculpture: Near the business administration building

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.7041 W 86.38.5242

About: When you're viewing Tubular, think about how as a child you would lay in the grass gazing at the sky above, debating with your siblings if the clouds looked like a giraffe or a star. Now direct your attention to Tubular, a stainless steel sculpture. What do you see? Downing says the sculpture is sort of a sports thing and figurative in a way. "It's a figure that has a ball he is handling," the sculptor said. "But, I don't think people would know that." Downing, however, prefers to not label his work. He wants viewers to take part in the creative process and determine what they think it is. "I want to move them to the point that they are a character and have a life."

Title: Nails

Artist: Andrew Crawford

Artist location: Atlanta, Ga.

Artist information: Ironisking.com, Andrewtcrawford.com or call 404-351-8324

Location of sculpture: Between the business administration building and Chan auditorium; faces Holmes Avenue

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.6756 W 86.38.4816

About: Crawford finds inspiration in the things he use every day. For the last 15 years, the sculptor has been on a tool kick, constructing gargantuan sculptures of scissors, hammers, screws and even No. 2 pencils. "Most of that started as small models made out of real tools," he says, "and then into large-scale metal work. As I got better doing metal work and had more substantial commissions under my belt, I made them (sculptures) more aggressively and upped the sophistication of metal fabrication."

Title: Valence

Artist: Michael Cottrell

Artist location: Jacksonville, Fla.

Artist information: Cottrellsculpture.com or e-mail Michael@cottrellsculpture.com

Location of sculpture: By the Shelby Center for Science and Technology

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.5352 W 86.38.4556

About: The professor of sculpture at Flordia State College at Jacksonville views his artwork as "a type of personal evolution, each piece and concept leading to the next as I constantly learn and grow as an artist, and as a person." In the sculptor's artist statement, he notes that for several years his focus has been the exploration of abstracted versions of objects that he imagines to be "below the surface" of something. Fossils, bones, microscopic organisms and crystalline structures, to name a few, contribute to the sculptor's subject matter. "The visual impact of some of these pieces as been suggestive of antiquity, like a recently unearthed skeleton on display, or of slices of an object in cross-section," said Cottrell in his artist statement.

Title: Early Homeland Security

Artist: Glenn E. Zweygardt

Artist location: Alfred Station, N.Y.

Artist information: Glennzweygardt.com or call 607-478-8869

Location of sculpture: By Wilson Hall

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.7545 W 86.38.4598

About: This sculpture plays a dual role for the sculptor and Alabama. To Zweygardt, the piece is autobiographical. For the state, it's biographical due to its tumultuous history with the Creek Indians. Zweygardt grew up in the western plains of Kansas in a farming family. As a young lad, he would farm a particular site where an abundance of arrowheads continuously were unearthed. "My father would get on to me because I would always stop the tractor to collect arrowheads," the sculptor said. "I guess it was an early interest, and I always carried that shape in my mind and heart." Zweygardt spent a lot of time building the 18-foot arrow, which is cast bronze, and securing it with a steel structure. Also, Early Homeland Security is representative of when the past and present collide. "When we were threatened with the extremists on Sept. 11, I thought this was a good time to reflect on how they (Native Americans) might have felt when Custer or Jackson crushed parts of their society."

Title: Primal Unity

Artist: Hanna Jubran

Artist location: East Grimesland, N.C.

Artist information: Hannajubran.com or e-mail sculpture-hjstudio@hannajubran.com

Location of sculpture: By Frank Franz Hall

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.9841 W 86.38.4642

About: Sculptor Hanna Jubran notes that his work addresses the concepts of time, movement, balance and space. In his artist statement, he says "each sculpture occupies and creates its own reality influenced by its immediate surroundings. The work does not rely on one media to evoke the intended response, but takes advantage of compatible materials such as wood, granite, steel, stainless steel, iron and bronze."

Title: Untraditional Totem

Artist: Bryan Massey

Artist location: Conway, Ark.

Artist information: Arsculptorsguild.com/html/sculptor_bryan_massey.html or e-mail bryanm@uca.edu

Location of sculpture: By the Union Grove Gallery and Meeting Hall

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.9324 W 86.38.5150

About: This sculptor incorporates his Christian beliefs into all of his sculptures. The painted steel sculpture dubbed Untraditional Totem represents the richness of colors in nature, Massey's surroundings, the word of God, and the heavens above, he says in his artist statement. "People have said that art imitates life," he notes in his artist statement. "That may be true, but I am a firm believer that art should imitate God." When people view his sculptures, Massey wants them to see his desire, sincerity and passion he's developed with his God-given talents.

Title: Quilt

Artist: Craig Wedderspoon

Artist location: Tuscaloosa

Artist information: E-mail cwedders@bama.ua.edu, call 205-348-1898 or visit art.ua.edu

Location of sculpture: In the center of the Union Grove Gallery, the University Center and Admissions, and the Bevill Center

GPS coordinates: N 34.43.8983 W 86.38.5059

About: Constructed nearly three years ago, Wedderspoon's second piece in the trail is made of steel with 1,600 welded 4-inch squares. It weighs more than 1,000 pounds and is 6 1/2 feet tall. "Quilt is the first of a series of five pieces," said the sculptor. The idea behind the 4-inch squares came from ideas of 3-D textiles like quilts." One of the fondest memories of the piece Wedderspoon has is during the sculpture's first show at the 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Va. "When installing these sculptures up there, I had to completely take apart the front of the gallery, including the windows because I was sent the wrong floor plan," he said laughing. "We had to disassemble the entire gallery, put the sculpture inside and then reassemble it."

Alabama A&M University is your last stop on the sculpture trail. So, take a moment to absorb and appreciate the wealth of art you have just seen and prepare for one more round.

Alabama A&M University

Title: Screen Sculpture No. 62

Artist: David Hayes

Artist location: Coventry, Conn.

Artist information: Davidhayes.com, e-mail john@davidhayes.com or call 860-742-9687

Location of sculpture: Near the intersection of Councill Boulevard and the Quad

GPS coordinates: N 34.46.8629 W 86.34.1261

About: Regarded as one of America's great living contemporary sculptors, David Hayes' Screen Sculpture is part of a long-running series he has been making since the early 1970s. But, the particular sculpture was sculpted in the early 1990s. Hayes takes his inspiration from things he sees in nature. "He will make a sketch, for example, of the shape of some limbs coming together on a tree," said his son, David M. Hayes. The lines from the sculpture are taken from scenes in the environment. "He will take these shapes and lines he sees in nature and assemble them into a sculpture."

Title: Wind Song

Artist: Bryan Massey

Artist location: Conway, Ark.

Artist information: Arsculptorsguild.com/html/sculptor_bryan_massey.html or e-mail bryanm@uca.edu

Location of sculpture: By the pond

GPS coordinates: N 34.46.8515 W 86.34.0578

About: This contemporary sculptor, who is currently a professor of art at the University of Central Arkansas, created a sculpture series titled Wing Song that combines visual arts with "a touch of the music world." Painted orange to reflect the setting of the sun, the sculpture contains a wind chime "to allow the breeze breathed from the nostrils of God to move them and to play them."

Title: A Small Celebration

Artist: Ann Melanie

Artist location: Greenville, N.C.

Artist information: N/A

Location of sculpture: At the Quad

GPS coordinates: N 34.46.9178 W 86.34.1743

About: As mentioned in her artist statement, the rectilinear forms of this sculpture represent "windows and doors; windows, which look from my world into yours, but keep us apart, and doors, which allow us passage through." Melanie, the academic advisor for the School of Art and Design at East Carolina University, notes that her work is the "sum of my life experiences, it has no specific meaning and it means everything. The work is simple in its form and complex in its construction."