A bright yellow art installation is coming to Hopewell Commons next year.
The design, titled Undulate, was the most popular in a survey released to the community June 24.
Previous coverage: City requests public vote on Hopewell art installation
Undulate is a combination of a “fluid, wave-like motion found in nature” and industrial “large-diameter ductwork,” according to the proposal. The piece is fully interactable, and visitors are encouraged to “touch, climb and explore the structure.” It will also include embedded LED lighting for a “soft, glowing effect.” It will be installed in the Commons’ wetland garden.
Residents selected from a curated list of four potential pieces, which were narrowed down by a selection committee of city staff, Bloomington Arts Commission members and community stakeholders. The city sent a request for artist submissions in March.
Out of the 460 responses the city received, more than 200 selected Undulate as their top choice.
Holly Warren, the city’s assistant director for the arts, said responses to the installation were varied, and that helped the committee choose a final design.
“Overall, the feedback that we got from the public kind of aligned with what we felt about each of the four final proposals as well,” she said “We were also saying what makes most financial sense, what most feasibly can we put in the ground, what's going to make best use of space and things like that.”
Undulate was designed by local artist Jon Racek, director of the comprehensive design degree program at the Eskenazi School of Art and Design.
The project’s budget is $100,000. The installation is funded through Bloomington’s 1% for the Arts program, which funds public artwork.
It’s scheduled to be constructed next summer.
Additional renderings of the design are available on the city’s website.
The city will host a meeting to update the community on the Hopewell neighborhood from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at the John Waldron Arts Center.
Additionally, the city plans to release another artist callout next week for an additional installation in the Miller-Showers park area.
Read more: City of Bloomington announces community art grants
