Outdoor sculptures in downtown Chelsea have been swapped with new ones. For the 5th year, SculptureWalk Chelsea is an exhibition of temporary public artworks that dress up downtown's main drag.

This year, 12 sculptures are on display at key spots downtown, from cultural institutions such as the Chelsea Center for the Arts, on the southern end, to landmarks such as the Jiffy Mix towers and the clock tower complex to the North. Next June, a whole new set of sculptures will take their places.

A self-guided walking tour follows the SculptureWalk map, and the labels include a QR code that links smartphones to more information.

A guided tour is planned for Oct. 6, at 2 p.m., in collaboration with the Chelsea District Library, and more may be announced throughout the year.

As people travel between artworks, they pass shops, restaurants, and local institutions such as the Purple Rose Theatre, the public library, the police station, and so forth.

For out-of-towners, SculptureWalk is an opportunity get to know downtown Chelsea. The art walk can be made a part of a larger day trip to the charming town.

For Chelsea residents, the annual change in public artworks gives them something new to look at and ponder for a year.

It is not the only art walk of its kind; however, SculptureWalk Chelsea is a unique approach to exhibiting art in the public space. Instead of being permanently fixed in the landscape, a lot of the downtown art in Chelsea changes. Onlookers are exposed to many different artworks over time.

In general, public art installations always risk public criticism. We have seen controversies arise in Ann Arbor, especially when art is expensive or the artists are not local. But in the case of SculptureWalk Chelsea—supported by the DDA, in collaboration with The City of Chelsea, Sounds & Sights, the River Gallery, and Chelsea District Library—money is spread out to artists in $600 stipends, the artists are from Michigan or the Midwest region, and the temporary public art is for sale to anyone who is interested in giving it a permanent home.

The 12 sculptures featured this year, in my opinion, are quite mainstream—tame, family-friendly, and somewhat familiar. Many are whimsical, minimalist, or abstract. Although nothing is particularly avant-garde, the sculptures surely beautify downtown.

Todd Kime's "XYZ" is an enormous zipper made of welded steel. The everyday object is enlarged to a size only a giant could wear. Taken out of the context of the everyday, the zipper is quite whimsical, playful, and a bit uncanny. It also interacts with its surroundings quite well - the Jiffy Mix towers are nearby. The curved edges of the unzipped part of the zipper start to flop forward and backward to form a "V" shape, which contrasts with the soaring verticals and roundness of the towers in the background.

And there are several others that I find very whimsical. Pamela Reithmeier's steel sculpture "Dragonfly" acts like an enlarged piece of garden art for downtown's 'lawn,' so to speak. The whimsical critter is installed in a planted flower bed at a well-traveled corner of downtown, the intersection of Main Street and South Street.

Many of the sculptures consist of shapes and abstract forms. Some are minimalist or architectural. And some of these juxtapose a man-made object and the surrounding environment.

Russell Thayer's "Threshold" is reminiscent of architecture, a big source of inspiration for the artist and University of Michigan lecturer. Aluminum beams are bolted together, resembling a crooked and narrow doorway. Instead of straight lines and severe geometry, the forms curve slightly with more fluid lines. The artist's personal aesthetic sensibilities come across in his expressive lines.

You can look through Brian Ferriby's "Blue and Orange #1" onto its surroundings behind the clock tower complex. An oval ring, open in the middle, is decorated with other geometric shapes. My impression is that it acts like a sort of 3D picture frame that interacts with the environment around it. In his artist statement, Ferriby says; "The forms are the integration of architecture, music, and nature. My method is not to imitate nature. It is conceived as a parallel structural creative process...I work with the materials, history, and geography of the Midwest, while seeking to communicate universal themes through these explorations."

A few sculptures depict humans or animals. For instance, "Hook Shot," by Doug DeLind, is an abstract rendering of a person with one arm stretched up over its head, in the basketball pose. Although it has a sports-inspired title, it is actually unexpectedly perfect for its location next to the Purple Rose Theatre. The long outstretched pose is very theatrical. It could just as easily be a performer like a dancer, even an actor.

The suggested route to see all of the SculptureWalk artworks in a single pass is as follows:

#1 "Irwin," by Chelsea artist John Schwarz is a found-object assemblage resembling "a fantasy crocodile creature," as he explained it on his 2011 ArtPrize page. It is outside of the Chelsea Center for the Arts, located at 400 Congdon near the corner of West Summit.

#2 "Rattle," by Ferndale artist Albert Young, is the welded steel and cast glass column near the corner of Main Street and Van Buren. Looking a bit like an exhaust system, it seems to blend with the nearby the gas station.

#3 "28," by Toledo, Ohio artist Calvin Babich, is variations on a theme - a tower of 7 limestone blocks with shapes and patterns cut into it or protruding out of it. It dresses up the corner of the Police Station, on Main Street.

#4 "Shard 1," by Ferndale artist Karen Sepanski, a cast glass artwork resting on a stone pedestal, shines in the sun outside of Chelsea State Bank, located near the corner of Main Street and Orchard.

#5 "Threshold," by Frankin artist Russell Thayer, is an artistic interpretation of a passageway. The sculpture adorns the lawn in front of the Chelsea District Library.

#6 "Tuxedo Cat," by Williamston artist Paul Nilsson, is a whimsical piece that greets library patrons at the entrance off the back parking lot.

#7 "Hook Shot," by Mason artist Doug DeLind, is a bronze human figure, arm stretched up over its head in the pose. It is located near the Purple Rose Theatre, on Park Street.

#8 "Dragonfly," by Monclova, Ohio artist Pam Reithmeier, is a stainless steel butterfly in flight over the corner of Main Street and South Street.

#9 "Spiral," by Interlochen artist Maureen Berquist Gray, is a spiraling steel sculpture behind the Common Grill, off West Middle Street.

#10 "XYZ," by Ottawa Hill, Ohio artist Todd Kime, is the giant metal zipper you see as you start to approach Jiffy Mix, on Main Street, North of West Middle Street.

#11 "Spirit Guide - Bear," by Williamston artist Mark Chatterly, watches over motorists and pedestrians as they enter downtown from the North. It dresses up the Jiffy Mix towers, near the corner of Main Street and West North Street. The statue was previously on display outside of the River Gallery.

#12 "Blue & Orange #1," by Farmington Hills artist Brian Ferriby, consists of painted steel shapes. It is on display behind the clock tower, on the North edge of downtown's footprint.