Blooming Artwork Downtown

The spring weather got us out for a walk downtown today.  And while we didn't see many flowers blooming yet, there is plenty of other color popping up around Fort Wayne this week.

First, there's the new sculpture "New Bloom" at Parkview Park.  The piece was installed earlier this week, and the crew was still hooking up the electronics and fixing up the grounds around it.  The sculpture was created in memory of the artist's husband, and in honor of the spirit of new life, beauty and emerging creativity that characterizes our city.  When it's complete, the 25 foot metal iris will light up and night, and will be surrounded by live irises.  "New Bloom" gets it's official dedication on April 26.

Today the sculpture was surrounded by machinery, which was a hit with the boys.  Our viewing also gave us an excuse to take our first lap of the season around Parkview field.  The park is open daily, whenever there isn't a game, and it's a popular lunchtime walk for folks who work downtown.  Toby tried out some seats, ran around the concourse, climbed up and down the terrace steps, and took advantage of the bathrooms.  In short, it's like going to a game--except there's no begging for concessions and there's no lingering guilt for not actually watching the game you paid to see.

From the field we headed toward Pint & Slice 816 (at 816 Calhoun Street) for a slice of pizza.  Outside, Toby chased the mural on the side of the building.  The artist, Nosego, also has work on display right now in the Biological Canvas exhibit at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

As an added treat, we caught crews installing the first of IPFW's Sculpture With Purpose bike racks.  Remember the Mastodons that celebrated IPFW's 40th birthday?  For their 50th they're coordinating the creation of 50 bike rack/sculptures around town.  The majority will be downtown or on IPFW's campus, with a few scattered elsewhere in the city.  They'll all be up by May 17 for Kickstart - a celebration of bikes, art, and music.  As an added bonus, anything that is sturdy enough to hold a bike is probably sturdy enough to hold a 5-year-old boy.  Not that I'm encouraging that sort of thing.  But really, could you resist climbing into this piggy bank?