The project was viewed with skepticism and sparked controversy across Nebraska in 1976.
The federal government gave each state $100,000 to celebrate the United States’ bicentennial. Most chose to spend the money on concerts, programs or fireworks.
Nebraska went a different route, creating what has been called a 500-mile sculpture garden. According to the Nebraska Arts Council, the project was proposed in 1973 to the Nebraska American Revolution Bicentennial Commission.
“The purpose of the project was to celebrate the Nation’s bicentennial by providing access to examples of the best contemporary sculpture of the time outside museum walls and contribute to Nebraska’s cultural heritage,” the arts council website said. “In a time when the idea of executing a program of sculptures in a public setting was innovative, especially with no connection to a museum or civic building, Nebraska’s ‘500 Mile Sculpture Garden’ was dedicated on July 4, 1976.”
More than 100 artists submitted proposals for the artwork which was planned at rest stops along Interstate 80 through Nebraska. The Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation said the project was originally to be 12 sculptures. Ten were commissioned, and eight were constructed.
“Each commissioned artist became an artist-in-residence, living and working in Nebraska towns and engaging residents in discussions, workshops, and educational programming,” the NSHSF website said.
As the sculpture project took shape, the people of Nebraska were not impressed. Town hall meetings were filled with anger and frustration because the sculptures, which are classified as modern art, didn’t look like anything and none of the artists selected were from Nebraska.
Nebraska Public Media broadcast a documentary in 1976 about the sculpture garden’s creation. In 2026 for the semiquincentennial, NPM sent a crew to revisit the sculptures, seven of which still exist.
Amanda Christi, the 2026 series producer, said the sculptures were new to her.
“I’ve lived here 20 years and was an art kid, but we never talked about it,” she said. “We are the only state that did something like that.”
This new project is designed to remind people about the sculptures, one of which is located at the Blue River Rest Stop near Milford.
Christi said she spent time researching the original project before heading out. The Nebraska State Historical Society has boxes of information that include blueprints of the sites and correspondence with the artists.
“It was so cool to see,” she said.
Her main source of information was a 1981 dissertation from a student in Texas. She was also able to talk to artist Jon Raimondi, creator of Erma’s Desire in Grand Island.
Christi’s video project was done for Nebraska Stories and as a digital series on YouTube. She and her crew visited all seven sculptures that are still standing. The one at Sidney succumbed to the wind.
“I was shocked at how big they all were, especially Seward,” Christi said. “It’s almost awe-inspiring.”
The Bicentennial Commission presented three themes for the sculpture committee to choose from. They picked Nebraska Horizons, looking forward to the future. Christi said the sculptures are similar in that they’re all abstract.
“At the time, that was the hot new thing,” she said.
Each piece had to be about Nebraska, she said. While the artists were not from the state, they “had a connection at the end,” Christi said.
The project was paid for through donations, not through tax dollars, Christi said.
“People got tied up about the money, but there were no tax dollars involved,” she said.
As an artist herself, Christi said the scale of the work surprised her.
“I’ve dabbled in sculpture but never to this scale,” she said. “They had to think about the environment where the sculpture lives and work with the environment. That provides another level of immersion for the viewer.”
Artists used limestone, granite, cor-ten steel and aluminum for their works. The steel was specially treated to last longer, Christi said. She expects the granite and limestone sculptures to last the longest.
“They will be around longer than we will,” she said with a smile.
The 2026 NPM crew spent three days crossing the state and stopping for sculptures. The art is not all on one side of the interstate, either. Some stops are on the north and others on the south.
Christi said her favorite is Crossing the Plains at the York rest stop. The limestone sculpture is the most hands-on, she said.
“I can see myself as a kid playing on it every day,” she said. “It’s described as a ship moving through the sea of grasses. It seems friendly.”
Now that she has visited them all, Christi said she likes being in Nebraska and talking about the sculptures. When she brings them up, people either recognize the I-80 series or ask about Carhenge.
Christi has worked on the series since October and said older Nebraskans she’s talked to remember the controversy.
“The 1976 documentary went to bars to talk to people,” she said. “Unfortunately, we only had nine minutes.”
To watch the digital series on YouTube, go to the Nebraska Public Media page. The playlist includes I-80 sculptures.
“I would do it again,” Christi said. “The more I understood, I get it now. It was a little sideways of normal in Nebraska.”
