In a darkened room at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., someone wondered, “What’s going on?”

“Art,” answered Daniel Kelch, as he examined the slides projected onto the wall. “Sculpture.”

Kelch, owner of Lulu’s restaurant, 804 Davis St., is one of nine residents on the panel that met Tuesday to rank proposals for a sculpture that will be installed at the front of the new Sherman Plaza. The building, located on Davis Street between Benson and Sherman avenues, is set to open later this year.

“I’ll be looking at whatever gets put up there 10 hours a day, ” Kelch said.

The sculpture is part of the Evanston Public Art Program, which was founded in 1991 to commission new community art.

More than 100 artists from seven different countries and thirty U.S. states submitted sketches, statements and examples of past works for consideration.

Jeff Cory, Evanston’s cultural arts director, said he was happy with the number of proposals submitted. The Evanston Public Art Committee advertised the project through art publications and mailing lists, he said.

Using a 1-to-5 scoring system based on both aesthetic quality and appropriateness for the location, the panel hopes to narrow the selection after Tuesday’s meeting and then move on to another round of more thorough consideration, Cory said.

More than 500 years after Michelangelo’s “David,” the human form is still a popular sculpture subject, although the medium of choice is steel, not marble. Many proposals, some abstract, included the human body in its various forms.

One artist proposed a sculpture of a male and female with their hands raised to the sky, which the artist said in a prepared description could be considered to represent Adam and Eve. Another suggested a “city scene” sculpture featuring a bird’s-eye view of five people crossing the street.

Other proposals were more abstract, ranging from the geometric to the surreal. One plan that drew some chuckles sought to create an “abstract image of an ice cream sundae,” according to the artist’s written statement.

Members of the panel also were amused by a submission to create the largest sculptured wildcat in the world. The artist said they hoped the sculpture would draw tourists to Evanston.

Ald. Edmund Moran (6th), who attended the meeting, said he hoped the panel would choose something unusual.

“I’m looking for something that’s going to be spectacular,” Moran said. “Something that will enliven that area. Something controversial. Something that will make people talk.”

Moran praised Evanston’s dedication to public art and said he had faith in the panel to make a good decision.

Evanston resident Laura Montenegro said the city has chosen well in the past.

“The horse sculpture is beautiful right by Clarke’s (diner),” Montenegro said. “And I love the one in front of the fire station. It’s so subjective though.”

No matter the decision, there are always some people who are dissatisfied, Cory said.

“If they don’t like it initially, they’ll grow to appreciate it, hopefully,” he said.

Reach Jenny Song at [email protected].