With the Bell Tower Festival starting up tomorrow, there is lots going on for Jefferson Matters: Main Street.

Program Director Peg Raney invites everyone to answer survey questions for next spring’s Family Feud: Jefferson Edition fundraiser. The public will also get a chance to vote on their favorite sculpture for the Ring Out For Art contest. There are three sculptures that were selected this year, which are from: Cumming, Ankeny and Jefferson. Home State Bank is once again sponsoring the prize money of first place with $2,000, second place for $1,000 and third place for $500. Tower View Team Committee Chair Deb McGinn says they are looking at changing the event in the future.

“More people are going to stipend events, where you just pay the artists a certain amount of money, and we’re working with Home State Bank on that. We would really like to find a place where we can keep them for the year. This time we can only keep them on the Bell Tower Plaza until October. We have so many people coming year round to Jefferson. We really would like to have the sculptures somewhere in our district for the year.”

Raney says another activity that is happening tomorrow from 12:30 to 4:30pm is the public’s opportunity to pour liquid metal into casts for the Arch Alley project that is taking place on the north alleyway of the downtown square with artist David Williamson and his portable foundry.

“It’s going to be a collaboration and David Williamson is a master at this. He’s done this in many other communities and boy are we lucky to have him involved in this project. It’s the ownership of making decisions of what will be there and how to make it and be apart of all of that.”

Finally there will be opportunities for people to learn more about how to sign up to be a volunteer host for when the Smithsonian Institute’s Hometown Teams traveling exhibit stops in Jefferson August 11th through September 23rd.