(COLORADO SPRINGS) — America’s Mountain, the Manitou Incline, The Broadmoor — all things the Pikes Peak Region is world famous for, but quickly becoming top of mind, those ‘Humpty Dumpties’ popping up all across town.
The artist, Kimber Fiebiger of Minneapolis, Minnesota said she visited Colorado Springs “20-some years ago,” when she took part in ‘Art on the Streets.’ Fiebiger and her egg-shaped, bronze sculptures she calls ‘Humpty Dumpties,’ quickly gained the attention of Downtown Ventures, the flagship program of the Downtown Partnership, and soon thereafter, the Humpty Dumpties began appearing in Colorado Springs.
Fiebiger said ever since she was little she wanted to be an artist. “You know when I was little I always cartooned… and I was a sculpture major in college, and then my son, when he was two-year’s-old asked me to make him a Humpty Dumpty,” said Fiebiger.
At the time, Fiebiger said she was a potter. “So I made the egg shape on the potter’s wheel and then I sculpted in the face and hands, and that was 40 years ago.”
Fast-forward to 2023, and Fiebiger’s Humpty Dumpties are quite the hit. “You’re famous for these you know? Everywhere I go in the county, people are like, ‘oh, you mean the Humpty Dumpties in Colorado Springs?’ And, I go yeah! I’m their mom,” said Fiebiger.
Although Fiebiger’s bronze sculptures are popular now, they didn’t start out that way. In 2009, “I was up at a sculpture show in Loveland, Colorado and the show didn’t go very well, and you know, I was a struggling artist.”
That’s when David Jenkins, Founder and Executive Chairman of Norwood Development Group, would stumble upon Fiebiger’s creations. “The show was over, ended at 5 p.m., and then 10 to 5, down comes David Jenkins with a notebook and he’s got a list of things he wants,” said Fiebiger.
The list called for more Humpty Dumpties in the Pikes Peak Region. “It was really about a five-minute conversation that kind of changed my life.” A conversation that would happen again, about five years down the line.
With about a dozen now in the Springs, there are more Humpty Dumpties on the way. “We are getting another half a dozen eggs,” said Fiebiger.
From downtown Colorado Springs to the First & Main Town Center, the Humpty Dumpties are making their presence known, and each sculpture has a theme.
“I think of the name before I do the sculpture, so the alien one is, ‘Egg-straterrestrial,'” Fiebiger said as she explained the sculpture currently sitting at First & Main.
Fiebiger said she does her own welding, mold-making, sculpting, and painting as part of the process. As for the metal pouring, she does that in Loveland, Colorado. “I live in Minnesota and I drive all the way to Colorado to do my work.”
Fiebiger said it takes at least six months to make the bronze sculptures. People can order their own online, or check out other offerings by Fiebiger on her website, artbykimber.com.
As for the Humpty Dumpties, Fiebiger describes them as the “most labor-intensive art form there is.” As for why she continues to make them, well that was an easy answer. “They make people happy… You know, it’s artwork that doesn’t say a whole lot, but it makes us bust into a smile, and it’s going to be around forever.”
