Elkhart Truth, August 2000

Visual attraction

Sculpture symbolizes Elkhart's image for residents, newcomers

By Rick Meyer

ELKHART - Motorists entering downtown via East Jackson Boulevard will begi

n seeing a 14-foot tall kinetic sculpture this afternoon.
City officials, however, hope the impact of the colorful work - called "River Passage" - is more than visual at the landscaped corner of Jackson Boulevard and Johnson Street. Economic development could be an offspring.

"I think cities are much more image-conscious now than what they have been in the past," said Mark Brinson, Elkhart's director of planning and development. "One of the reasons is that in today's economy, cities have to compete for skilled workers who now have a choice of being able to live in any community.
"There's such a demand for workers that cities are looking for ways to make their community more attractive," Brinson added. "If we can attract people to live here, that supports our economic base and our business growth."
The 1,200-pound, stainless steel sculpture, designed and fabricated by Elkhart native John Mishler over the past 15 months, is one way to add visual interest for residents and visitors alike. It was installed by a crane Monday and will be unveiled at 1 p.m. today during a dedication ceremony.
Before Johnson Street was widened in the early 1990s, the city acquired a portion of land in the northeast corner where a motel once operated. Several yeas ago, the city landscaped the vacant parcel, which isn't large enough for a structure.

The sculpture also completes the Jackson streetscape project which featured a new street surface, sidewalks, trees and landscaping from Waterfall Drive to Johnson Street.
The cost of the material and labor for the sculpture was around $30,000, according to Brinson. Funding was secured in the Johnson Street project.
The sculpture symbolizes the city, which was named for an island - now called Island Park - in the shape of an elk's heart. The body of the sculpture consists of two organic shapes - painted in blue and green - to represent the Elkhart and St. Joseph rivers that go through the city.

At the center of the work is a red heart, constructed of diamond plate aluminum which Mishler believes adds texture to the piece and represents an industrial material used in the area. Through the use of bearings, the heart, which also has two silver strips to represent the rivers, turns in the wind.
" really like the way it flows," said Mishler, who designed the sculpture after a series of meetings with an informal design committee led by Jim Faigh and Diana Lawson. "A lot of other sculptures are more angular. This really flows nice and compliments the corner."
The sculptor also believes it's appropriate that the work is located within blocks of both waterways - the St. Joseph River to the north and the Elkhart River to the south - because "The rivers control (Elkhart) lives."
Mishler designed and fabricated the sculpture in his studio at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen. "River Passage" is the third sculpture Mishler has created for the city of Elkhart. Others were finished in 1988 at High Dive Park, 500 E Beardsley Ave., and 1994 at the Midwest Museum of American Art, 429 S Main St. The first was funded by private donations and the second by a Genesis grant.

Mishler has other work featured in private, corporate and public collections across the United States and Canada and in southern France. Last year, he completed a commissioned sculpture for ESPN Zone in Chicago. His next project is a wall sculpture for Andrew Corp., also in Chicago.
Mishler, who grew up in Elkhart, teaches sculpture part time at Goshen College, where he received his bachelor's degree. He earned a master's degree at the University of Tennessee.