Schiller Park's floating sculptures will hang on

For two years, the status of the Schiller Park sculptures hanging in peaceful suspension above its pathways and lake has, fittingly, been up in the air.

• That will soon change, as the city of Columbus expects to install five permanent sculptures at the historic German Village park.

The intrigue: It's been a long and winding journey for the 23 unique sculptures brought to town on loan by Polish artist Jerzy Kędziora in late 2019.

• The mesmerizing exhibit, entitled "Suspension: Balancing Art, Nature, and Culture," features a floating golfer mid-swing, acrobats "flying" through the air and even a recreation of the headless Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Context: The temporary showcase was supposed to last until March 2020, but the pandemic kept Kędziora's team from returning to collect the sculptures.

• They've remained in the park ever since, to the delight of community members like Katharine Moore, chairwoman of the Friends of Schiller Park group.

What they're saying: "Keeping them was literally the only silver lining I found to the pandemic," Moore tells Axios.

Yes, but: Moore and others knew the day would come when the sculptures would be taken back to Europe.

• Friends of Schiller Park organized a successful fundraising campaign of around $125,000, per the Dispatch, to commission Kędziora to make five new permanent pieces to hang in the park.
• This includes near replicas of "The Rower" and "Girl With Yo Yo," the latter currently located near the southeast park entrance.

What's happening: The sculptures await perfunctory approval this month from the German Village Planning Commission and Columbus Art Commission before they can be installed.

• Moore expects Kędziora to come in late April to retrieve the old sculptures and present the new ones.