New Bloom: A Symbolic Public Sculpture

Artist: Dianna Thornhill-Miller and Omni Art Design

A Community Art Project Sponsor by
FAME (Foundation for Art and Music in Education)

Dianna and New Bloom Model

Objective

To create New Bloom, a community landmark sculpture that symbolizes our continuing commitment to the arts, and that represents civic identity with cultural achievements and innovation during a new era of growth and development.
 

To provide a rallying point for public activities in Fort Wayne and a permanent visual tribute to creativity that will remain a lasting legacy of our time.

 

Description

·         Image: Giant stylized flower (an Iris) with free-standing leaves that strikingly changes color with reflected light

·         Material: Stainless steel with rotating color lighting loop (LED source)

·         Dimensions: 24 foot high flower with an 8 foot wide petal span

New Bloom Video by Branden Thornhill- Miller

 Artist Statement

Since the beginning of civilization, monumental art has always declared the civic and cultural importance of a place.  It has provided a sense if community, of identity, and values for all to aspire to.  A significant public space without meaningful symbols is a lost opportunity for community building and education.

Providing a central focal point, visible throughout the square and from the street, the New Bloom  icon gives Harrison Square and Parkview Field identity and meaning.  It physically reminds us of dynamic growth, health, beauty and of our highest, most forward-looking ideals. It symbolizes the flowering of artful innovation and the renaissance and blossoming of our community.  New Bloom also celebrates the creativity of children, who are our collective cultural future.

·         Aesthetically: New Bloom creates a visual focal point of beauty and artistic merit.

• Historically: New Bloom references the past of a city that has valued beauty in the shared environment and erected monuments to recognize important moments in its development.
• Technologically: New Bloom represents a city that embraces the future through design execution in modern-day materials, engineering, and technology.
• Metaphorically: New Bloom symbolizes the community’s creative spirit, its values and its “becoming”—grounded in strength, flowering in a dynamic and vital way.

Community Involvement: New Bloom will help define a destination—a civic gathering place that will serve as a catalyst for community activity.  Possibilities under discussion include:

·         A New Bloom Festival for the dedication ceremony including an exhibition of children’s art and performances of music and dance by the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir, the Fort Wayne Ballet, the Dance Collective, the Old Crown Brass Band, the Possum Trot Orchestra and an original fanfare by composer, David Crowe.

·         An iris garden in proximity to the sculpture for flower exchanges with Sister Cities and other visiting dignitaries. Various cooperative pursuits with FAME, Fort Wayne Parks Department, and the Downtown Improvement District.

New Bloom is an appropriate and important ICON for Fort Wayne today because, “We’re Blooming!”

Steering Committee Members: Dorothy Kittaka (FAME President),  Beth Peter (FAME Executive Director), Dana Wichern, Patty Martone, De Klocke, Ruth Niewyk, Linda Ruffolo, Kim Bastin, Sandy Schumaker, Branden Thornhill-Miller  (creative consultant), and the late Bette Harris.

 "T" Irmscher, FAME Executive Director at info@famearts.org, 260-481-0545

Tax deductible donations made out to:   “FAME (New Bloom)”

Address: FAME, IPFW Rhinehart Music Center #230A, 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN, 46805- 1499

Dianna Thornhill-Miller is a nationally known Fort Wayne artist She is an accomplished artist who has exhibited widely and created hundreds of commissioned works of art located in public and corporate settings, cultural environments and private collections in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
More about the artist and a selection of her portfolio click here.

Public art is an important civic need that is more and more overlooked as our society gets more and more materialistic. Artists have, unfortunately, always had to rely on wealthy patrons. The Catholic Church commissioned works by Michelangelo, the royal family of Spain commissioned works by Velazquez, Picasso’s painting Guernica, one of the most dramatic anti-war statements ever made, was commissioned for the Paris Exposition of 1937. What if that money just went to provide food and shelter for the general public? We would be deprived of inspirational works of art, things that can lift us up out of the day-to-day routine of our daily lives and help us consider our possibilities. I believe that I have a story to tell you. . . represents this to the community and it is important that the community know that its needs for inspiration are recognized, not watered down to the basic economic needs of existence.

Written by Paul Sachs, Division Director of Behavioral Health Services
Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Philadelphia, PA regarding “I have a story to tell you” Public Art Project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania   June 2003

New Bloom is an inspiring important and appropriate icon for Fort Wayne and its children today, because

“We’re Blooming!”