Home
News
2019
Feedback wanted on five public art projects for Trades District

Feedback wanted on five public art projects for Trades District

By: Jenny Porter Tilley The Herald-Times

Sunday, April 28, 2019

A colorful outdoor sculpture — Inspired by naturally occurring origami folds, Orix is described by the artists as a “new icon for innovation and connectivity.” The design, which draws from the outdoor color palette of Bloomington and the imagery of area quarries, is the work of Jiangmei Wu, Lucas Brown and Brian McCutcheon, with collaboration from IU Bloomington mathematician Matthias Weber.

By mid-June, a key component of development in the Trades District will be chosen — a large public art project in the new Gateway Plaza near 10th and Madison streets.

Beginning today at the Bloomington Street Fair, city officials will seek public feedback on five proposals. A booth in Peoples Park from noon to 4 p.m. will give attendees the opportunity to look at renderings, learn more about the artists and provide feedback. Community members also will be able to provide feedback on the projects online.

After an international request for qualifications was released in 2018, a selection review panel narrowed the field down to five installation proposals from artists and teams in Bloomington and beyond. Each finalist already has engaged in a conceptual process to help define the Trades District.

Initially, Bloomington Arts Commission received more than 70 international applications, according to a city of Bloomington news release.

Instead of only having a committee of officials and community members discuss the art, with this project, the city seeks a larger dialogue throughout Bloomington and the surrounding area, said Sean Starowitz, assistant director for the arts.

“It’s good for the community to be more involved,” he said. “The arts commission is amazing, but it’s a subset of the larger community. This is a way to elevate art dialogue in the community.

“Public art really does help us define moments. They’re kind of like pages in a diary.”

Starowitz said, in the past, the city has made it possible for local and regional artists to grow and build their careers through public art commissions. In this case, artists from anywhere in the world were able to apply, giving the city the opportunity to curate more diverse pieces.

“As we grow as a city, we can think about our public art as a collection, like a museum would have,” he said.

Diversity, in terms of both art and the artists themselves, was key to this project, Starowitz said, and that involved finding vendors in fabrication, design and other areas who would work with the city on the project. Along with the $80,000-$100,000 budget for the project, and the possibility of financing for those unable to front the money for expenses, he said this creates a more economically diverse pool.

Not all public art commissions in the works will include a public comment process, but Starowitz said this particular project lends itself to more input from the community. “This is a new process for us. We know that we have a very active citizenry here, and we want to try to involve them in this process, because the Trades District is a larger investment in the community.”

Arts and culture tend to be high priorities for residents who give feedback to the government, Starowitz said, and he hopes the process will inspire other communities to seek more public input on pieces in their daily environment. In his experience, there’s generally no indifference to public art. “Either they love it, and it’s their identity and attached to Bloomington, or they hate it.”

He doesn’t think any public art project will ever win over everyone, but he hopes this process will engage more individuals. Even if the conversation around a final piece selected is negative, he said, “they’re still having a dialogue around public space.”

Feedback wanted on five public art projects for Trades District

Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design resources and social media channels