When Kai Schulte came to America from Germany in the early 1980s, the first place he called home was Batavia.

Now, more than two decades later, several pieces of his artwork adorn the city, and soon, he’ll add one more to the mix.

Schulte’s sculpture “Nature Sounds of Harmony” was picked to be the first of four sculptures representing the Batavia community on the newly reconstructed William J. Donovan Bridge.

“I’m very happy,” Schulte said of his selection.

Last year, city officials put out the call for artist submissions for a sculpture to adorn a river overlook and seating area on the bridge.

The first sculpture’s theme was nature. Schulte’s piece consists of an arrangement of cattails.

“Batavia’s right on the river,” he said, “and cattails are usually associated with water.”

He also plans to incorporate a kinetic theme by using material to make the sculpture as moveable as possible so that when the cattails sway in the wind, they emit a sound.

“I’m going to have to do some extensive research to see what material would work best for that,” he said.

After receiving 19 entries from as far as Iowa and Wisconsin, five finalists were selected: Schulte; Guy J. Bellaver and Ray Kobald, both of St. Charles; James G. Jenkins of Geneva; and Jeff Adams of Mount Morris.

The concepts for the submissions were exhibited at City Hall for several months to give citizens a chance to give their feedback.

“We wanted to make sure the piece selected truly represented the community,” said Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke.

In the past, Schulte, now of Sugar Grove, worked closely with the arts community in helping to establish the Art Stop at Wilson Street and Route 25. He was also commissioned by the Plain Dirt Gardeners to create a kaleidoscope next to City Hall and designed a stainless steel “Book,” which hangs in the Batavia Public Library.

His work won Best in Show at Batavia’s annual Art in Your Eye in 2006.

Schulte will receive a $30,000 commission from a city tax-increment financing district for his “cattails” work.

The next sculpture theme will be chosen at an upcoming City Council meeting.