''Play'' is an abstract sculpture by Lars Jonker. It is located in

Hendricks Park Hendricks Park is the oldest city park in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The park is a little over a mile away from the University of Oregon campus, and contains mature forest, a rhododendron garden, and a native plant garden. The park is lac ...

, in the historic Bates-Hendricks neighborhood, south of downtown Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Description

The painted-metal sculpture consists of two large, curvilinear forms facing each other.Greiff, p. 176. One curved form has a yellow ball and the other has a purple ball attached near their pointed extremities. A blue ball rests between the two curves on a metal platform that encompasses both arcs.

Information

Lars Jonker, a local steel artist at the nearby Wheeler Arts Community, created ''Play'' for Hendricks Park, as part of the park's ongoing development. It was commissioned by Keep Indy Beautiful in 2002. Jonker moved from his hometown of

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

to Indianapolis in 1998. Upon relocation, he worked as a designer for Danish Inspirations, a furniture company. He started welding after gaining experience at Danish Inspirations working on prototypes.

Location history

The sculpture was installed in Hendricks Park, a collaborative project between the Bates-Hendricks Neighborhood Association, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Baker & Daniels, Eli Lilly and Company, and Southeast Neighborhood Development that began in 2000 and was completed in 2002. Despite occasional vandalism and some restoration, the sculpture remains in the park, on Madison Avenue, just south of downtown Indianapolis. This small park in the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood is operated by Indy Parks and owned by the City of Indianapolis.

References

{{coord, 39, 45, 2.89, N, 86, 9, 14.32, W, region:US, display=title Culture of Indianapolis Outdoor sculptures in Indianapolis Steel sculptures in Indiana 2002 sculptures Vandalized works of art in Indiana