{"id":349,"date":"2025-09-04T04:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T04:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/349\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T04:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T04:34:09","slug":"30-foot-tall-sculpture-moves-closer-to-installation-in-broad-ripple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/349\/","title":{"rendered":"30-foot-tall sculpture moves closer to installation in Broad Ripple"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city\u2019s Board of Zoning Appeals gave the artwork installation, titled Gavin – Divergence, the green light Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 A proposed piece of artwork at the center of debate is one step closer to installation in Broad Ripple<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gavin-Divergence is a 30-foot-tall LED sculpture created by Indiana-born artist Jason Myers using metal, recycled scrap steel and other building materials. It represents \u201cthe divergence of history, culture and community, celebrating Broad Ripple’s ongoing commitment to artistic expression, human connection and the unity found in its diversity,\u201d the team said in a press release.<\/p>\n

It will stand on a 2 1\/2-foot-tall base and weigh approximately two tons.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved the variance petition to provide for the installation at the intersection of College Avenue and Westfield Boulevard.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like it\u2019s going to be interesting,\u201d said Kelsey Ebbert, who works down the street. \u201cIt looks strange in my opinion, but I\u2019m all for art in the Broad Ripple area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the artwork,\u201d said Charlotte Fisher, a resident of 27 years. \u201cIt will be nice to have it lit up. It\u2019ll be a destination where people will say, \u2018Oh, look at that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher is glad to see people making an investment in the Broad Ripple community.<\/p>\n

Gavin-Divergence is funded by a donation from the Birge Family Foundation. It will also be part of a partnership with the Broad Ripple Village Association, Indy Art Center and The Penrod Society.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

The plans do not involve any impacts to the existing tree or traffic signal box, according to the Board of Zoning Appeals agenda. However, the changeable copy sign will be removed from the intersection and a light pole will be relocated.<\/p>\n

Robert and Mary Beth St. John just moved to the area and hadn\u2019t heard of the sculpture proposal, but enjoy public art.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it adds to the pedestrian experience and adds to the character of a neighborhood,\u201d Robert said.<\/p>\n

The artwork has gained traction on NextDoor with some calling it \u201ccreepy,\u201d \u201cugly\u201d and \u201cdistracting.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a different spot could be better, just because I do consider this area a pretty big intersection in Broad Ripple, so something that large and distracting might be kind of unusual,\u201d Ebbert said.<\/p>\n

Fisher finds the NextDoor posts frustrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy about it, it will be a good thing for Broad Ripple,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The team behind Gavin-Divergence said their next step is to receive the proper permits from the city, which they say is already underway. Once those are secured, they can install the sculpture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city\u2019s Board of Zoning Appeals gave the artwork installation, titled Gavin – Divergence, the green light Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}