Herky is HERE: Exclusive Interview with the Artists Behind "The Musical World of Imagination" Herky
One week of brainstorming, four Herky mock-ups, and over 200 hours of painting led to a West Music star being born: “The Musical World of Imagination” Herky.
Since 2004, the University of Iowa has held three Herky on Parade events, one every 10 years. It’s the Corridor’s current largest public art installation that features 100 statues of UI’s infamous mascot. A different Herky can be found wherever you go in Iowa City and Coralville, from the Lisa Bluder Herky located at the UI Athletics Hall of Fame that honors the legendary women’s basketball coach, to Homer Herky outside of Iowa City’s City Hall that depicts—you’ve guessed it—Homer Simpson. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the parade, with over 100 local artists who dedicated their time, energy, and creativity to the Hawk spirit to make these Herkys come to life. Two of those artists are part of the West Music family.
Rachel Hansen, West Music’s Graphic Designer, and Sadé Head, the company’s Marketing Manager, received the call to put together at least three different Herky designs within a week. We had the opportunity to sit down with both artists and go over the process of the art coming to life.
What steps were involved in bringing the design to 3D?
R: Since there were a lot of lines, I drew it on an iPad in Photoshop and had different layers. I had a basic black outline on a layer, and used a projector to put those on Herky the best we could. That was tedious.
There are so many little details in this Herky. What aspects did you feel were important to highlight?
S: I think making the instruments pop was the most important thing. The piano mouth pulled everything together, in my opinion, because it was just so fun. The bedazzled grill was a good touch, too.
What were the biggest challenges while working on it?
R: How long it took.
S: How long it took, definitely, but specifically doing the shadows because we didn’t take into consideration how hard it might be to blend on fiberglass, and that was insane work to do because it was so tedious.
R: Yeah, there were so many different colors because, not only did we have the main colors, but the shadows themselves. It’s not just a black color you put over it, it’s a darker color of the original. You have to do each individual color and it took so long, and then blending it out to make it look like a shadow was definitely difficult.
S: Then, the black lines. Even though they seem so simple, it’s so hard trying to do it upside down while you’re laying on the ground, too.
(Check out the timelapse of the two bringing it to life!)
How do you think the design fits with both UI’s and West Music’s spirit?
S: It encourages individuality for sure.
R: Yeah, plus West Music sponsored the school’s marching band last year, and obviously we’re in the area, so it just made sense. We also incorporated the school’s fight song sheet music as Herky’s hair, but nobody ever notices since he’s 6’ tall.
What are you most proud of?
S: It makes me happy how many people like it; seeing people admire it makes the work feel like it was all worth it.
R: It’s just so bright and happy, I just love it.
S: Yeah, it reminds people that music is supposed to be fun.
You can find “The Musical World of Imagination” on the southeast side of the West Music Coralville location, facing 12th Ave. Take a picture with it and remember to tag @WestMusic!
Meghan Hanley
Meghan Hanley is the Digital Marketing Specialist for West Music. Before joining the West Music team, she was a News Producer for a local TV station and graduated from Iowa State University in 2022 with a Bachelors of Science in Public Relations and Event Management.