The story behind Riverside Park’s giant steel sculpture.

Thousands of people have passed this sculpture in Riverside Park. But it wasn’t made for the park. Its name is Celebration, and its story begins with one of Beloit’s longtime industries.

In 1977, Warner Electric president William Keefer commissioned artist O.V. “Verne” Shaffer to create a sculpture marking the company’s 50th anniversary. The result was enormous: about 32 feet tall and eight tons of steel.

Those sweeping pieces were meant to evoke the disc-brake equipment Warner made. An account of Shaffer explaining his work says the sculpture was fabricated in three sections, then transported and assembled on site. Its weathered, rust-colored surface is now a familiar sight at the north end of the park.

The artist had deep ties to Beloit. Shaffer graduated from Beloit College in 1950, later taught art there, and served as the first full-time director of what is now the Wright Museum of Art. His work became part of the landscape across Wisconsin. More than two dozen of his sculptures can be found in Beloit alone.

For about a quarter century, Celebration remained with the company that commissioned it. Then Colfax Corporation, Warner Electric’s parent company, gave the sculpture to Beloit 2000. It was moved to Riverside Park during the winter of 2002–03.

On May 3, 2003, representatives from the city, Beloit 2000, Friends of the Riverfront, Warner Electric and Colfax gathered to rededicate it in its new home. Beloit 2000 chairman Gary Grabowski said the sculpture brought a sense of heritage to the park.

It was a fitting move. What began as a company anniversary marker became public art along the river, carrying a piece of Beloit’s manufacturing history into a place everyone could visit. Even the surrounding prairie planting was described in the city’s comprehensive plan as a nod to the landscape encountered by the area’s early industrial settlers.

So the next time you pass that enormous rust-colored sculpture, take another look. It holds the story of a company celebrating 50 years, an artist with Beloit roots and a work of art that found a second home beside the Rock River. Nearly fifty years after it was created, Celebration is still celebrating a piece of Beloit.

If you enjoy discovering the stories hiding in familiar places, follow Living in Beloit and share this story with someone who has passed Celebration without knowing why it is here.