The area between the Savannah Center and Moraine Student Center in Gary will be “home” to the Shadows and Echoes Sculpture Garden. Ten large-scale bronze sculptures set among native grasses and flowers will pay tribute to the region’s industrial and ecological heritage.

Scholarships and the Shadows and Echoes Sculpture Garden are the focus of the 19th annual IU Northwest Gala fund-raiser to be held Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Avalon Manor, 3550 E. Highway 30, Merrillville.

The gala will provide an opportunity to honor and recognize some of northwest Indiana’s brightest and hardest working students and to show appreciation to the donor organizations and individuals that contribute to IU Northwest’s scholarship programs.

To help fulfill the educational needs of students, the campus offers approximately 130 different foundation scholarships and awards approximately $200,000 each year.

With public support, the area between the Savannah Center and Moraine Student Center is the soon-to-be home of the Shadows and Echoes Sculpture Garden. Ten large-scale bronze sculptures set among native grasses and flowers will pay tribute to the region’s industrial and ecological heritage.

Neil Goodman, professor of fine arts, has been creating and building the sculptures while landscape architect Cynthia Owen-Bergland has designed the garden portion of the project.

“This is my research. This is what I do,” Goodman said. “This is probably my most interesting body of public work. I get the opportunity to do a really interesting public sculpture project and the students get an opportunity to see what sculpture means in terms of everyday life.”

Owen-Bergland’s architectural landscape portion of the garden will complement the sculptures by creating a serene and simple backdrop. “The best part is just knowing that people will have something they can enjoy every day. The garden will not be something to go and find tucked away in the corner of campus somewhere. When people live with art, it has a real impact. It makes a difference in our quality of life,” she said.

For more information about the gala, call the IU Northwest Office of Advancement at 219-980-6800.

Garden Web page:
http://www.iun.edu/~garden/shadowsechos.shtml

Related archival story:
http://www.homepages.indiana.edu/011604/text/feature4.shtml