Elkhart Art
Overview
Cloud Catcher
Artist: John Mishler
Viewing Tip: On the Riverwalk by the bridge leading to Elkhart Health & Aquatics. Parking at McDonalds.
Old Main Street 1910
Artist: Former Elkhart Central High School Art Department Students, 2009
Viewing Tip: Free street parking.
Thunder Dance
Artist: John Mishler
Viewing Tip: Located in front of the Midwest Museum of American Art.
Riverview Concession Stand
Artist: Former Elkhart Central High School Art Department Students
Viewing Tip: Free parking in park lot, located on Ball Park Concession Stand.
Mountain Man
Frederick Remington re-cast
Viewing Tip: Sculpture located at West Entrance of Remington Park, two sculptures one at each entrance to industrial park, loop half circle paved drive to take from one to the other through industrial park. No public parking by each sculpture. Suggested parking in each business lot beside entrance roads.
Bronc Buster
Artist: Frederick Remington re-cast
Viewing Tip: Sculpture located at West Entrance of Remington Park, two sculptures one at each entrance to industrial park, loop half circle paved drive to take from one to the other through industrial park. No public parking by each sculpture. Suggested parking in each business lot beside entrance roads.
Crystal Ribbons
Artist: Orion Blaha
Information: Created in in 2021; measures 6 feet by 3 feet; weighs 150 pounds; made of welded steel and found machine parts
Description: Crystal Ribbons is Orion’s next step in a series of works rooted in plant forms and will represent a synthesis of recycled industrial materials, flowing, lyrical forms found in nature, in hot, exciting colors. It is to be eye-catching and tickle the viewer’s imagination. This sculpture tells the story of peculiar plant-like structures blooming from cast-off industrial components. Local viewers will recognize some of the recycled and found objects that are part of the sculpture and imagine the life cycle of the alien plants growing from that waste. The organic and geometric forms of wild prairie grasses have informed previous pieces. This sculpture expands on that theme and explores forms from the lichens, mosses and fungus that are also a part of the biosphere. Among these florae there are many extraordinary colors, and this piece will leverage this with exciting and varied colors among the flowers on their long stalks.
For sale: To be determined
About the artist: Orion takes inspiration from the machines that he maintains and the aesthetics of science fiction and heavy industry. He works to combine this with a fascination with the natural world by coupling science and engineering with the chaotic beauty of nature. Orion has developed this aesthetic focus over the last 12 years.
Matriarch
Artist: Tuck Langland
Information: Created in 2010; measures 6 feet by 3 feet; weighs 300 pounds
Description: This woman stands for the best a mother can offer her family. She is the matriarch of the family who will accept nothing but the best from her children — or for her children. Her standards are high, you know what they are, and you are expected to live up to them.
Not for Sale
About the artist: Harold “Tuck” Langland is a maker of monuments, an accomplished medalist and portrait artist, author of two best-selling books on sculpture instruction, Professor Emeritus, world traveler, international educator, Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, choral singer in the United States and abroad, raconteur, Academician of the National Academy Museum, father, and grandfather. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of virtually anything related to art — whether contemporary, prehistoric, ancient, Indian, or otherwise. An expert on every subject I have ever discussed with him, he shares his knowledge with passion and delight. He is a natural teacher, and he’s not slowing down; Langland creates and
Dance of Awakening Day
Artist: Tuck Langland
Information: Created in 1998; measures 5 feet by 2 feet; weighs 110 pounds
Description: She stretches dreamily, bringing morning to the world.
Not for Sale
About the artist: Harold “Tuck” Langland is a maker of monuments, an accomplished medalist and portrait artist, author of two best-selling books on sculpture instruction, Professor Emeritus, world traveler, international educator, Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, choral singer in the United States and abroad, raconteur, Academician of the National Academy Museum, father, and grandfather. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of virtually anything related to art — whether contemporary, prehistoric, ancient, Indian, or otherwise. An expert on every subject I have ever discussed with him, he shares his knowledge with passion and delight. He is a natural teacher, and he’s not slowing down; Langland creates and supports sculpture with great enthusiasm, skill, and seemingly boundless energy.
Que’ Soy? XI
Artist: Joel Lara
Information: Created in 2021; measures 7 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet; weighs 150 pounds; made from steel metal and spray paint
Description: This piece is a mid-century modern architectural sculpture that I believe fits the theme of Epic Art Adventures. It stands tall close to 7 feet and the colors are vibrant, like a traffic light - there is no way you’ll miss it.
The inspiration that this sculpture conveys or hopes to convey to the public is a new way of looking at architecture. It’s an abstract way of seeing a city layout, a skyscraper, or a planet with revolving moons. This piece is up for interpretation. The creative process to bring this piece to life started a little over a year ago when Joel was deciding how to start building a portfolio for architectural school. He had taken a couple of sculpture classes and was loving the process and learned the skill of how to weld. Joel got hooked on the creative and design aspect of creating sculptures using recycled materials.
For sale: $777
About the artist: Joel is an art major at Goshen College. Generally, his media of work is three-dimensional and specifically sculpture or ceramics. Lately what has inspired him is the stories of people battling with mental illness (depression, anxiety, food disorder, etc.). He has struggled, and still struggles with this personally and he wants to bring awareness and positivity to this illness.
Joel’s vision for his art is to provide a way for others to see the good in life and the good in the struggles that we all face. Life is not easy and even waking up every day is an accomplishment already. Joel loves being an artist, because he feels he is free to go into his own little world and bring people in. Artists can express themselves without having to speak because their art speaks for them. He has been a sculptor for since 2018.
Eagle
Artist: Steve Depositar
Information: Created in 2021; measures 5 feet by 3 feet; weighs 100 pounds; made from steel cutting and welding
For sale: $5,000
About the artist: Steve possesses a strong need to create and uses his life experiences to express that in his art pieces. He is a student of fine arts at Indiana University South Bend. Steve is self-employed as a visual free-lance artist and owns Art Works Sign Company in Mishawaka, where he creates art using aluminum, steel and wood.
Shadows on the Ceiling
Artist: Emma Zuercher
Information: Created in 2022; measures 8 to 10 feet tall by 3 to 4 feet wide; weighs 100 pounds; made of welded steel
Description: Emma is a sign language interpreting major at Goshen College. The lines and movement of this piece reflects similar shapes seen in American Sign Language. The lines in the sculpture are like fingers and they move together and around each other like handshapes in ASL. The piece began as an idea and a desire to create movement with a material that otherwise appears very rigid. The individual composition and formal decisions the artist made did not always feel conscious as the sculpture seemed to suggest what needed to be done next without much of her vision or prior planning.
For sale: $1,000
About the artist: Emma is a creator, and her art takes on many forms, often three-dimensional as that allows a tangible interaction with her work. She loves to explore light, shadows and movement. Creating art, especially when making pieces that show movement fills one with joy that dances through her much like the lines in her work.
Monstera
Artist: Haley Kirkton
Information: Created in 2022; measures 5 feet, 10 inches by 3 feet; weighs 150 pounds
Description: Haley loves the holes in the Monstera plants, and they are still healthy. She also likes the concept of things being a little bit random and chaotic but contained inside of a leaf. Pieces of whole and half circles of metal are welded together to be shaped like a leaf. Each leaf was then filled with different round pieces, and all welded together to make a full plant.
For sale: $1,000
About the artist: Haley is largely inspired by plants and living things around her. She enjoys using art to unwind from intense daily work. Haley also enjoys knitting, jewelry making, clay work, and painting, and started sculpturing in 2021. She enjoys the ability to be creative and the contrast from her daily life, which is very calm and carefree.
Wind Stream
Artist: John Mishler
Viewing Tip: Free Public Parking on Baldwin Street, walk from lot on pavement to view sculpture by tower.
Havilah Beardsley Memorial Sculpture
Artist: Floretine sculptor, Pietro Bazzanti
Viewing Tip: No public parking near sculpture, recommend park at Havillah House (102 W Beardsley) and walk the short 1-2 blocks.
Fire Fighters Memorial
Viewing Tip: Park at Brass Elk Brewing (333 Nibco Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46516)
Totem
Artist: Brian Monaghan
Created 1982. Donated to MMAA by Ross (the late) and his wife Paula Turk (still living in Elkhart). Under Permanent Extended Loan to the City of Elkhart since 2000 by the MMAA.
Viewing Tip: Parking on Nibco Parkway or at Brass Elk Brewing (333 Nibco Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46516)
Recyclasaurus Rex
Artist: Robert Richardson
Viewing Tip: Free parking in lot. See Quilt Garden and Seward Johnson sculpture while you're there.
Rudy the Envirobot
Artist: Richard Peterman
Jazz Parade
Artist: John Mishler
Viewing Tip: No parking available, stop at gas station across the street to get photo.
River Passage
Artist: John Mishler
Viewing Tip: On corner of Johnson Street and East Jackson Boulevard.
Mother and Children Sitting on a Bench
Artist: Unknown
Viewing Tip: Free parking in park lot, walk to 2 sculptures down paved path
Two Girls Skipping Rope
Artist: Unknown
Viewing Tip: Free parking in park lot, walk to 2 sculptures down paved path.
Elkhart Art Alley
Featuring Artists: Christian Smith, Valerie Seegers, Diana Blacut Katasonov
A project of Pillars of Elkhart and Arts on Main in 2017.
Murals:
Made To Be Someting by Christian Smith
The Last Second by Valerie Seegers
Untitled by Diana Blacut Katasonov
Expanding Star
Artist: Heather Gabel
Information: Created in 2019; measures 6 feet by 2 feet; weighs 150 pounds; made of steel rebar and spray paint
Description: The message of this sculpture is one of hope and brightness. Named “Expanding Star,” the piece should evoke a feeling of happiness and hope for a better tomorrow. The piece came to life because the artist wanted to experiment with creating a form that felt fluid but was made up of straight bars. So, piece by piece, rebar was added until the sculpture was born. Then it was decided that it needed to be brightly colored so was painted light blue, dark blue and salmon/orange. It has been displayed outside the art building at Goshen College.
For sale: $250
About the artist: Heather has been a sculpture artist for four years. Originally from Iowa and graduated from Goshen College, she now lives in Oregon. Heather pulls a lot of inspiration from Iowan culture, specifically farming and agriculture. Her sculptures are made of found and recycled metal scraps, many times including old farming equipment. Heather tries to bring life and energy into the world through colorful pieces, which is the thing she enjoys most about being an artist.
Watcher of the Plains
Artist: Sunday Mahaja
Information: Created in 2022; measures 8 feet by 4 feet; weighs 120 pounds; made of scrap metals
Description: The giraffe is a representation of journeys and places we see and brings something that is unusual and unique to the community.
Not for sale
About the artist: As an artist, Sunday enjoys exploring every aspect of art, such as artwork that reflects African culture and lifestyle. He works primarily with found metals and upcycled materials, and mostly the work tends to hold beauty alongside humor and functionality. Sunday is a metal sculpture/painter and enjoys welding and creating art in various shapes of metal and steel as well as aluminum.
Summer Carousel
Artist: John Mishler
Information: Measures 11 feet by 5 feet; weighs 400 pounds; made of recycled metal, and welded and painted steel
Description: This sculpture is made from square and rectangle tubes. Many of the shapes suggest lightning bolts. It started with the main lightning bolt part, then was added with two other shapes to make it free-standing. This piece has been displayed at White River State Park in Indianapolis, and recently at the Wellfield Botanical Gardens in Elkhart.
For sale: $11,000
About the artist: John Mishler has been associate professor of art at Goshen College for more than 30 years. He still enjoys teaching sculpture and is a full-time sculptor with a studio at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen. John has a bachelor’s degree in art from Goshen College, 1977, and an MEA degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. John has had commissions to make many public sculptures in the northern Indiana and southern Michigan area as well as throughout the United States.
Continue to Reach
Artist: Nathan Pauls
Information: Created in 2021; measures 7 feet by 2 feet, 7 inches; weighs 700 pounds; made from metal reclaimed from the scrapyard.
Description: Nathan chose this piece to be on display because it shows the industrial side of Elkhart County and the beauty that can come from industry. The pieces of the sculpture are from the scrapyard in Goshen which is an industrial, messy and dusty place. From all these different harsher parts was created a swooping more graceful piece. The piece is to convey a sense of interest and joy to the viewer. Nathan likes his work to have an element of interactivity to them, so the viewer can move from just viewing to interacting with the piece. The piece has several large parts — the large auger drill bit, the large metal post and wheel, and the metal scaffolding that is on top of the piece. These pieces guided the creative process of the artist. He started by welding all these pieces together and then adding “meat to the skeleton” by welding other tools and metal pieces to the sculpture. This sculpture has been on display outside the Visual Arts Building on the campus of Goshen College.
For sale: $1,000
About the artist: Nathan’s artistic inspiration is his subconscious and the people around him. When he creates a piece, he tries not to plan out very far ahead. Doing this allows him to go with what feels like the next right step, instead of trying to follow a rigid plan from beginning to finish. He hopes that his art can be accessible and a way for people to find joy. When Nathan makes a sculpture, he wants at least one part of it to be mobile, so that an observer can interact and “play” with the piece. That is why he is excited for the possibility of being part of this project. Having his sculpture where many people can see it without any restrictions feels right to him.
Nathan loves being an artist because it allows him to create things that are beyond his imagination. Most times when he makes something it turns out much differently than he imagined. It used to bother him, but now he looks at that unpredictability to make things that he never thought possible. Nathan has been a sculpture artist since 2019, the spring of his sophomore year of college. On the lawns next to the dorms at Goshen College, there were many fallen sticks from a recent storm. Instead of passing the branches by, he decided to prop them against one another to make a stick sculpture about 3 feet tall. It was at the end of the senior year that he took a sculpture class and learned how to weld.