Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW), a local collective impact organization formed in 2012 has been working with communities throughout Indianapolis to bring neighborhoods together artistically, emotionally, and economically along the city’s waterways. The group aligned their network and resources with what the residents along Pleasant Run on the southeast side, and saw potential in the Barth Avenue Bridge site because of its existing assets — green space around the trail, proximity to the Cultural Trail, and the centrifugal infrastructure of a crumbling, dilapidated car bridge.
Corrie Meyer, Director of ROW, said that their work has been an extension of George Kessler’s original parks plans for the city, set forth in the early 1900s. “He saw the waterways as a way to connect the city, make it accessible, and planned parks to tie into that. We’re trying to bring that back.”
Connectivity is one of one of the guiding principles, or “elements” of ROW’s mission, with the vision to “connect the neighborhoods surrounding our waterways to art, nature, and beauty through bike trails or a 10-minute walk.” In an area where 1 in 10 households are carless and many others want access to alternative transportation, the improved connectivity in Bates-Hendricks is invaluable. Children from the nearby SENSE schools, IPS School 31, and Fountain Square Academy walk across the bridge to school, and residents use the trail and bridge to access Fountain Square, grocery stores, food pantries, and more. Meyer noted that the local schools are using the revitalized bridge like a classroom, testing water quality, conducting experiments, and using it for other parts of the learning experience.
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The Ka-Bike-O-Scope near the Barth Ave. bridge has been very successful.
The Ka-Bike-O-Scope, an interactive public sculpture created by The daVinci Pursuit artists, has been installed on Pleasant Run trail near the Barth Bridge. The Ka-Bike-O-Scope is a large scale, group kaleidoscopic kinetic sculpture consisting of a stationary bike-like base that when pedaled causes canopies of overlapping up-cycled bicycle wheels 18 feet in the air to spin. Colorful acrylics are fitted between the overhead spokes creating chromatic natural reflections during the day and LED generated ones at night. The sculpture allows passersby to playfully explore the principles of energy conversion, simple machines and the properties of light.
Created by professional artist Quincy Owens and physicist Luke Crawley, the Ka-Bike-O-Scope is the culmination of a community-wide design competition created to use the arts to bring basic science concepts to neighborhood residents and beyond. Children from local schools have participated in attaching the colored plastic panels into the up-cycled bicycle wheels while learning the physics concepts. A curriculum is being used by area schools to further the exploration of the physics concepts. Neighbors have been using the sculpture for exercise as well. Mark Kesling, founder and CEO of the daVinci Pursuit, said that since the first installation in September 2015, they have installed a second bike across the trail. “We thought it would inspire some friendly competition — who could bike the longest.”
What they have discovered is that the community has taken community pride in the unique sculpture. When scrappers tried to make off with metal, Kesling said that neighbors jumped in. “They chased them off, called the cops. They really have taken ownership of the Ka-Bike-O-Scope.” In addition, students who use the area as an outdoor classroom noticed that the post of the first bike acts as a sundial — something not noticed by the artists — which has prompted lessons about the sun’s movement throughout the year.
Kesling said that they would like to continue the Ka-Bike-O-Scope installations along the rest of the trail to Garfield Park every quarter mile or so. “We see it as a connectivity gateway from Fountain Square to Garfield Park and back. It has helped to really activate that area, bringing a lot of positive momentum.”
Meyer agrees that the Barth Avenue Bridge project has brought the neighborhood together in new and positive ways. “People are embracing the space as if it were their own back yard,” she said.
