The Blue River Trail Head is about to get a bit brighter.
The Blue River Community Foundation received approval from the city’s Board of Works March 5 to install asphalt art on the trail head. The art will depict a sun, keeping in theme with the planet sculptures already installed along the trail.
“It started by looking at the planet sculptures and wanting to put signage with them so people in the community knew where to look for them,” BRCF Community Engagement Officer Laura Land said.
And then they found out that if they put a sun near the trail head, it would be in proportion to where the planets are on the trail, in terms of scale.
“We had an idea for a sundial,” she said. “We felt we should put some color on the base of it, so we started looking for designs.”
Land wanted to pay homage to Shelbyville artist Roland Hobart, who created murals and branding material for a variety of places in Indianapolis.
“I personally loved his style, and he did these really elaborate sculptures for proms at Shelbyville High School,” she said. “We thought it would be cool to pay tribute to him.”
Her background is in design, so she designed a sun influenced by Hobart’s style that BRCF will install at the trail head. Once the art is installed, they hope to install a shadow-casting device to make the area a sundial.
The color would be applied with a thermo-plastic technique, so that as long as the pavement or concrete lasts, the art will last, Land told the board Tuesday morning.
“We’re thankful the city and Parks Department will support this work,” she said. “We’ve gotten two grants for the actual asphalt art, and then the Foundation is also putting money toward it. If all goes well, this will be installed pretty quickly.”
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