Have you driven along I-70 just west of our downtown area in the last few months near the Holt Road exit and noticed the large colorful objects in the green space and wondered if Willy Wonka's imagination has come to life? No? The 34 multi-colored forms created out of brightly painted fiberglass are just the beginning of an expansive beautification project headed by Eli Lilly and Company and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB). On October 7th more than 9,000 volunteers will be participating in an undertaking that is decades overdue. On this day all six lanes of Interstate 70 between the south split of downtown and Interstate 465 to the west will be closed from 6 a.m. and 6 p.m to give this welcoming stretch to our city a bit of a face lift. Or as one of Indy's newest website's refers to, www.agreenerwelcome.org.

The website even has a countdown to October 7th down to the second, and of course for those of you who can not seem to get enough of Facebook you can follow them on their page. One can also read about the 5 interchanges that will see enhancement with more than 1,600 tree, 995 shrubs, and 71,309 perennials. Did I mention they are only using native plants to our region?

The improvement project had a bit of a head start when Herron School of Art graduate student Kathryn Armstrong's sculpture going home was installed in February of this year. Armstrong's multi-colored forms interact with the green space suggesting what Armstrong refers to as a "living environment". Now that the installation has had time to sink in and let viewers voice their opinions, one begins to hear everything from praise to complaint about how the beautification of this single area could have been done better. To back Armstrong's work, no matter what she would have created, someone would have found something to complain about. My first impression of her work was less than excited and I was not entirely sure what to make of the sculptures. But now I look forward to seeing how other's will perceive the new pieces that have added a splash of color to an otherwise very unattractive interchange. I have heard her pieces referred to as "Gum Drops", and others complain how the interchange is not being kept up. I agree that in looking around our city we have a lot of weed pulling to do, but as I gaze into my own overgrown flower beds I have little right to complain this summer. However, it will be a blessing to see these interchanges take shape over the next year.

Herron School of Art and Design's Master sculpture program is certainly taking front stage on this project as three of their students were chosen through Herron's Basile Center for Art, Design and Public Life to create works for the I-70 beautification. Herron's graduate students were asked by KIB to develop proposals for the different public sites. Armstrong said that being chosen to be a part of this project was a great challenge that she is not entirely sure how to describe, but said, "I would like to believe that since going home was installed, a transformation occurred and the living culture of Indianapolis was improved." To see more of Armstrong's work visit her at www.kathrynarmstrong.blogspot.com.

Jason Bord working on his master's degree at Herron is creating a series of multiple standing totems that will be installed throughout the Harding Street intersections around the highway. Bord described his piece to me as tackling a project where the audience only interacts for a matter of seconds with his art. He says the idea came to him as he was on a road trip out west and found himself intrigued with the alignment of the corn fields. I found this part a little funny, as a Hoosier we know he didn't need to travel any great distant to see corn fields. Needless to say, he brought out an interesting view. Bord says, "My peripheral vision contained a mess of corn but directly in the center of my line of sight opened up hidden sights of stretching space between the corn. This made me begin to think of that small moment of insight the view could contain that would last a minimal second. The piece I am working towards is one where multiple views open opportunities for intrigue as the audience is passing it by." Bord's piece remains untitled while he is still working diligently on finishing. For more images of the soon to be installation on Harding Street exit one can see a sneak peak at www.jasonbord.blogspot.com.

Shi-Fen Liu, also a graduate student in sculpture at Herron, will take over the West Street exit with colorful inspired lotus leaf forms Blossom. Liu describes "making art as a way of communicating, a method of viewing the world, an attitude toward life and a process for bringing beauty to the community." Liu's work will be a large scale installation of steel, polyester resin and fiberglass leaves mounted in concrete foundations that have hopes for bringing in what Liu described as a "soothing and calming symbol of cleansing and purity."

Not to leave out the final artist involved in this project; Biagio Azzarelli. Azzarelli will be installing a ribonucleic acid molecule that will depict life evolving near the Meridian Street exit. Azzarelli is a former Professor in Neurology, which highly influences his work. To see more from this artist visit www.sculpture.smugmug.com.

What I love about this beautification project is that not only are they creating a more visibly pleasing entrance to our city, but they had the foresight to include artwork that will be viewed daily by thousands. I do not pretend that most of the residents of our city will enjoy or even appreciate the artwork that each of these sculptor's have worked hard to create. I do hope that instead of belly aching over something that was simply created to make the drive along I-70 a little more pleasing, that we now, as a community, embrace what these artists have done for us, giving us a bit of culture on one of our main roadways.