This weekend, as part of Oktoberfest, a dedication of Iowa City’s newest art project will take place.

The North Side Marketplace Literary Walk, a recently completed Iowa City Public Art Project, will feature landmarks on Linn Street to honor works by authors, poets, and playwrights with ties to Iowa City.

The dedication will begin at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Oktoberfest main stage on Linn Street (near the Hamburg Inn).

The project received $70,000 funding from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to complete the installation, according to a press release.

Final touches were put on the landmarks this week, just in time for the Oktoberfest this weekend.

"Everything about this project has been really fast-paced," said Marcia Bollinger, the city’s public-art coordinator.

Despite the rush, all of the elements of the Literary Walk are in place. The installation was created by Confluence, a design company in Iowa City and the bronze-toned models include five podiums, eight ribbons/banners, two tree grates, and three street markers, Bollinger said.

The dedication includes readings by several authors whose work is honored in the walk. All of the writers included in the project were invited to participate in the dedication, but the readers who will contribute on Saturday are mostly local.

— by Hannah Kramer