Crystal Lake’s new roundabout sculpture, by local artist, installed overnight

Crystal Lake‘s first public art piece funded by the city is now on display in the center of a roundabout at Congress Parkway and Exchange Drive.The sculpture, priced at $50,000, is described in city documents as a “transparent globe” made of stainless steel, with bronze elements, including fish that are found in the city’s namesake lake.See more photos of the new roundabout art, from creation to installationIt was created by artist and Crystal Lake resident Erik Blome. He has completed dozens of bronze sculptures in his career that are on display around the world, including a traveling 8½-foot-tall bust of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable. Blome was also commissioned to create a groundhog statue and bench for Woodstock. Other pieces of his art can be found in Crystal Lake, like a statue at ComEd offices and busts in the Raue Center for the Arts.The 19-by-8-foot roundabout sculpture was cast at Blome’s silicon bronze foundry and studio in Woodstock with marine-grade stainless steel.It was in