WATERLOO - A whimsical, plump steel star dancing atop an off-center pyramid along West First Street and a wildly curvaceous purple painted steel whatchamacallit in front of the Waterloo Center for the Arts are bringing smiles to faces of drivers whizzing past.

Patrons at the Waterloo Public Library recognize the cast iron and steel typewriter as appropriate for its location -- and a historic relic in this age of laptops and BlackBerry devices. On the Jefferson Street side of the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, "Rocking Chair" is an oddly appropriate name for a larger-than-life steel rock music cassette tape that's come unwound.

These are just a few examples of the nearly two dozen public art sculptures in this "gallery without walls," scattered through downtown Waterloo. Other pieces are installed at the Waterloo Center for the Arts, and all are part of the "InsideOutside" invitational sculpture exhibition. Inside works will be displayed until August, while outside works are on view through June 2007.

"Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive," says Kent Shankle, WCA curator, describing the public's response. "The biggest question I've been getting is 'Are we going to make this permanent?' And I'm hoping that we'll be able to say 'Yes, some of the pieces will remain in place.'"

Public art usually is commissioned for a specific space. In this instance, invitations were sent to a select group of professional artists creating public art, and the pieces were installed in selected locations. Other public art featured in the exhibition have been permanent installations for several years, including "We Stick Together," a mosaic tribute to the Sullivan Brothers by Concetta Morales of Des Moines, and John Jago's "Lou Henry Hoover," a bronze sculpture on Washington Street created by the Waterloo native who now resides in Loveland, Colo.

Most of the artists are products of the University of Northern Iowa's sculpture program in Cedar Falls, directed by professor of art Tom Stancliffe, who is also a nationally known sculptor of public art works. Marc Moulton, a sculptor and shop technician in art at UNI, also has been instrumental.

"Some of the artists' pieces deal purely with form and material while others take on social issues. There is incredible diversity represented here. I am pleased and impressed by the caliber of work. We're able to do this at a level many other communities are not, because we have such a strong sculpture department at UNI, where there is an emphasis on creating public art," Shankle notes.

Public art has an impact on environment, and considerable care was taken to locate these conversation pieces to enhance and complement sites.

Featured artists in downtown Waterloo's public art directory are Marie Camille Truscott Lentsch, Jerry Cowger, both of Waterloo; Chris Wubbena of Hattiesburg, Ms.; Stephanie Sailer of Lawrence, Ks.; Jim Benedict of Tucson, Ariz.; Gillian Christy of Providence, R.I.; and Glenn Williams of Marysville, Mo. Also Osie Johnson & Chawne Paige of Waterloo; Stanley Bleifeld of Weston, Conn.; Robert DeGlass (1907), Bounnak Thammavong of Lawrence, Kan.; Larry Lightbody of Waterloo; Jake Jacobs; Marc Moulton of Cedar Falls.

"InsideOutside" works at the center are by Benedict, Christy, Lentsch, Larry Lightbody, Sailer, Thammavong, Williams and Wubbena. Permanent outdoor installations at the Waterloo Center for the Arts includes works by Joseph Bolinksi, Donald Finegan, Carl Moline, Stancliffe, Thammavong, Lightbody, Wubbena and Lentsch.

"Migrations," a piece by Artist Richard C. Thomas, who relocated to the Cedar Valley from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, will be installed on Lafayette Street in the fall. It is a digital print on vinyl.

WCA gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is closed on Mondays.

Contact Melody Parker at (319) 291-1429 or melody.parker@wcfcourier.com.