Dowagiac need look no farther than neighboring Niles to find admirers of its public sculptures spearheaded by the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival Visual Arts Committee.

Nancy Clough of Niles Parks and Recreation Board recently toured the Grand Old City and urged her colleagues to take a look, too.

“I was really impressed,” Clough informed the panel Tuesday evening at its meeting at Niles District Library. “Most of these sculptures have been donated in memory by renowned artists, and they’re across the board. A couple are modern. A lot are very graceful. I was so taken by how it flows together.”

She particularly enjoys the three cheetahs racing down Depot Drive by the railroad tracks by Jan Rosetta of Loveland, Colo., who also created “Stone Lion” in Beckwith Park.

The cheetahs were dedicated on Sept. 11, 2009, to Helen Rudolphi Tremble.

“I was really impressed with the downtown,” Clough said. “It’s cool, it’s full. They’ve been working on it a long time. We have opportunities to do things like that in the City of Niles. There are other areas throughout the city beyond Riverfront Park that type of thing would work.”

Niles and Dowagiac have in common pieces by renowned Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt.

“I’d like to offer the park board, DDA and arts president to tour Dowagiac,” Clough said.

“Investing in public art makes a difference,” Niles Community Development Director Juan Ganum said. “Communities that have public art — the St. Josephs, the Dowagiacs, the New Buffaloes — have someone championing it.”