Milkweed Seed, 2026

Cast iron, enamel, gold leaf

13.5 x 13.5 x 1.5 inches

Fair Market Value: $6,000

Starting Bid: $4,200

Buy It Now: $9,000

LEE EMMA RUNNING is an artist based in Omaha, NE, who creates monumental public installations on windows and arresting objects using cast iron, enamel, glass, bone, and handmade paper. She uses this work to engage audiences in conversations about the impact of human-built systems on the natural world. Running was a Foundry Resident in the Arts/Industry program at Kohler Co. in 2023 and 2024. Permanent installations of her work can be viewed at the Omaha Central Public Library, the Polina Gardens, the University of Nebraska, Omaha, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Bernheim Arboretum in Kentucky. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Joslyn, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and the Des Moines Art Center. She has been awarded residencies at Opera Omaha, Sloss Furnaces, Western North Carolina Sculpture Center, Ucross, and the Santa Fe Art Institute. Running is the recipient of a 2023 Populus Fund grant from the Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha and was a 2017 Iowa Arts Council Fellow. She was a Professor of Art at Grinnell College from 2005 to 2021.