Watermark - Spades Park

Watermark (Spades Park Rest Stop)

Category: Outdoor Sculpture

Collection: Reconnecting to our Waterways

Location: 1800 Nowland Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, 46201

Medium type: Glass; Mixed Media; Steel

Date created: 2016

Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) is an effort by local artists to highlight the Pogue’s Run Waterway in Brookside Park. The Spades Park Rest Stop is one of three sites along Pogue’s Run funded through ROW. Led by artist Eric Nordgulen, students from Herron School of Art and Design, a team of professional artists, and local residents and stakeholders collaborated on the design and implementation of public art installations centered on waterway issues and inspirations.

Eric Nordgulen’s installation, Watermark, is derived from aerial maps and is used as a visual signpost to locate the Rest Stop Art project sites for Pogue’s Run Creek and Trail. The artist looked at the contours of rivers and creeks, as well as the grid patterns of the city, and used these forms as inspiration to define the edges and the openings of the steel plates. Placed on top of the sculpture is a symbol for water (H2O) to emphasize the importance of our waterways and the condition of our environment.

Participants and members of the community can use the five storage cabinets to display information relating to the location, community, history, and environment. Other possibilities for display include works of art, written stories, and special projects. These items can be rotated as needed.