Father's day, June 20th, 2010, was about more than just proud papa's, it was the unveiling of the 100 Acres: Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Being that is was my husband's first Father's Day what a better way to spend the afternoon than out and about on the grounds of the IMA? Well, that's what I thought until we stepped outside of the front doors of the museum and the sweat beads began to form. We didn't have to wait at all to catch the trolley that carried us to the 100 Acre Art and Nature Park. When the trolley pulled up it was like something you would see in San Francisco, only without the rail system. We piled in, literally, stuffed past capacity by twenty some people as we held on to everything valuable for the short ride down 38th Street to one of the entrances to the park. We were greeted as we stepped off the trolley by several volunteers passing out maps and fans. Camera crews were getting set up as the ribbon cutting would take place at 1pm, not wanting to wait at the entrance for the event we started into the park. Down the winding paved pathway we met a giant grasshopper who was welcoming the crowd into the park. As we made our way down the trail along the lake back to the Visitors Pavilion the heat began to make an impact, but the IMA was ready for the heat with bottles of water and a cool place to retreat from the sun. The Visitors Pavilion is a beautiful building that had many activities for the kids including a bee keeper that even caught the attention of a few adults.

Making our way back up the trail we ran into several friends that were absolutely loving the park. And what's not to love? With eight art installations set into a beautiful wooded area it makes for a fun setting. Park of Laments is an installation by Alfredo Jaar using Indiana Limestone. One should appreciate an artist that takes in consideration the surroundings of where his art work will reside, especially since this artist is from Chile. Had I known more about him I would have recognized him when he was standing across from me on the trolley. With the artists obviously on site to talk about the work it really added to the day of discovering something new and fun to do in the city. I am sorry to say I went out to see a friend who was performing for Motus Dance on the Stratum Pier, design by Kendall Buster, but the rough terrain on the stroller got the better of me and I turned back, not to mention the 90+ temperature taking its toll. I hope some of you were able to enjoy the performers who were indeed working hard on that hot day.

With an eleven-week-old baby, the high temps were too much for us to make a very long outing on that day. So, we said adieu to the art, performers and all of our four legged friends who were welcome in the park as well. We even saw a cat being pushed around in a stroller. Now that's one spoiled creature. We decided to take the trolley back to our car since the trails are a bit rough with a baby stroller. When the trolley finally arrived to pick up the small group waiting to head out, I saw the frustration in the eyes of those who chose to drive to the IMA. By the time we made it back to the IMA's entrance we stopped once to pick up newbie's working their way to the park, the small group on the trolley suddenly found themselves packed once again shoulder to shoulder. By 2 pm the lines waiting on the hot steamy pavement grew longer and longer, it was as if this huge crowd coming out to spend their day at the new park took the IMA by surprise. With just a few trolleys in commission on this day the lines grew and a natural response is for people to complain about the lack of public transportation. Which I find amusing, since most of the eager people climbing aboard the trolley do not normally select Indy's public transportation as a means to get around. With this said the IMA did an awesome job encouraging visitors to ride their bike or even take IndyGo to avoid parking hassles, but for those of us who have little ones or not able to ride, our bikes were not an option on this day. However we lucked out and parked in the garage on the grounds of the IMA and as we were leaving the couple parked beside us (lasted in the sun the same amount of time as us), smiled and asked if we enjoyed ourselves. I said yes, but it was too hot of a day for the little one and the gentleman said, "It was too hot of a day for the big one too!" I had to laugh, it was nice to know that we were not alone in our early retreat from the days festivities.

With nearly 10,000 people in attendance I would say Lisa Freiman (Curator of the park) and the IMA have succeeded in making our city's museum a world class attraction. Featuring installations created by artists from around the world set into an ideal wooded area surrounded by the White River and the Central Canal Towpath, this was like an installation artist's dream location. If you haven't made it out to see the new 100 Acres at the IMA I suggest making a day out of it, take a blanket and picnic and enjoy yourselves. Now you probably won't see a giant grasshopper walking around but I am sure the IMA will have several fun events planned in the future for their park. Oh, did I mention the 100 Acres is one of the largest museum parks in the country? That's something to brag a little about. For more information visit www.imamuseum.org.