Newfields Hawryluk Sculpture Green Installations

Speaker: Lisa Milton

Lisa is the Director of Natural Resources at Newfield's. Lisa Milton has been at Newfields since May 2022. Prior, she served as the Assistant Operations and Property Manager for White River State Park. Lisa has a Masters of Science in Environmental Science with concentrations in Applied Ecology and Water Resources from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Lisa has worked in erosion mitigation, technical theater production, and ornamental horticulture and interned with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources at the Dwight Chamberlain Raptor Rehabilitation Center at Hardy Lake Nature Preserve. Lisa is Vice President of Friends of the White River and sits on the Tactical Advisory Board for Frank’s Paddlesports Livery. She previously served as Co-Chair of the White River Waterway Committee for Reconnecting to Our Waterways and Vice President of the Board of Directors for the White River Alliance.

This talk will include a brief overview of the history and current management of The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park with a focus on the new sculpture installations in the Hawryluk Sculpture Green. I will discuss the successes and complications with the construction and installation of these sculptures and how these additions contribute to our overarching goals for Fairbanks Park. She will also discuss the engineering and ecological components necessary to successfully install and maintain these sculptures.

Zoom Meeting Info

https://zoom.us/j/97527634510?pwd=eWcyTFJRMkZGanBQekJxTWxwSTdxdz09

Meeting ID: 975 2763 4510

Passcode: 946584

Program: Live and Zoom: Newfields Hawryluk Sculpture Green Installations

Speaker: Lisa Milton, MS, Director of Natural Resources, Newfields. 

Introduced By: Bob Fischer

Attendance: NESC: 58; Zoom: 30

Guest(s): Dr. Urmila Singh

Scribes: Russell Judd and Sherri Judd

Editor: Carl Warner

View a Zoom recording of this talk at: 

Today's Program 01202025

The speaker today was Lisa Minton; she was introduced by STC member Bob Fischer. Lisa is the director of Natural Resources at Newfields. She has a Master of Science with a concentration in Applied Ecology and Water Resources from Indiana University. She is Vice President of the Friends of the White River and is on the board for Paddlesports Livery. Previously she was on the Waterway Committee and Vice President of the River Alliance.

The name of the Indianapolis Art Museum campus is Newfields and the name tries to encapsulate all of its missions. It is a great resource for the City. The Artpark is the “The Fairbanks Art and Nature Facility” and is also known as 100 Acres. It is used for outdoor education. Her talk included an overview of the history and current management of the Virginia Fairbanks Art and Nature Park with a focus on new sculpture installations in the Hawryluk Sculpture Green. She explained some of the difficulties met in the process while keeping in mind the goals for the Park of, “uniting art and nature and enriching the lives of visitors.”

In 1937 there was no lake, and the area was flooded by the White River. In 1956 farming in the area was stopped. In 1962 there was a gravel mine on the site along with a lake. The area was still frequently was flooded from the White River. Soil erosion and invasive plants were a problem. Efforts were begun to create a nature site, avoiding floods and soil erosion. Also, collaboration with the city was pursued to decrease dumping and improve water quality. All these efforts were to create a wildlife park and increase the variety of bird and animal species.

Studies were done inventorying the species in the Park of plants, birds and animals. The Park collaborated with Butler University, other surrounding schools and Friends of the White River.

The museum believes that art enhances science education.

Several sculptures have been implanted in the Park, occasionally meeting problems because of the lake and River connection and type of soil, which is mostly gravel. She then briefly talked about 8 different sculptures recently put in the Park. She spoke about what the sculptures try to invoke, as far as feelings, and also some of the difficulties implanting them.

Thank you, Lisa, for enlightening us about some of the history of the Artpark and some of the successes and difficulties that were encountered.

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Lisa Milton