If you get turned around enough times, navigating Carmel, Indiana’s 150 roundabouts, you might give up on finding dinner at a local eatery and put your hotel’s address in the GPS, intent on ordering a pizza and watching too much Shark Week. Or you might be surprised and delighted to find yourself in the Carmel Arts & Design District, where you’ll discover interior designers, art galleries, showrooms, antique stores, and retail shops.
There are plenty of one-off restaurants too, so you can pass on the pizza and ‘reality’ TV.
Let me slow down just a minute and point out that the roundabouts themselves lend an artistic air to the city of Carmel. From ground-level you’ll notice well-manicured landscaping in the center of the roundabouts, decorated with seasonal flowers and trees that wear that season’s most fashionable Midwestern colors. Many of the roundabouts create a centerpiece for large sculptural art. If you’re enjoying the view, you can always circle the roundabout a few more times, to take it in.
From the sky, I’m told, the town takes on the appearance of a crazy bowl of Cheerios. There are a lot of roundabouts, after all! If you don’t get dizzy (or carsick) from the meandering route and non-stop traffic patterns you might make your way to the Arts & Design District. You’ll be glad you did!
Years in the making, and after a $10 million investment in infrastructure to support the anticipated growth in residential use and tourism, the district is part of the Redevelopment Commission’s efforts at revitalization. Old Town Carmel has been transformed!
“The Carmel Arts & Design District is an Indiana Cultural District which is a distinction given to areas with a high concentration of cultural assets. Home to over 200 art and design focused businesses including the Indiana Design Center, the Midwest’s premiere design facility, the Carmel Arts & Design District will stimulate your senses!” (Carmel’s Arts and Design District website)
I have to admit – the district is charming and welcoming to this artistic, adventure-minded work traveler. After a long day I was very close to ordering pizza. Who doesn’t love pizza? But there’s so much to see, experience, and feel out there in the world. Shark Tank is overrated anyway. . . I mean Shark Week. Same thing, right? I’m so glad I kept stumbling along, taking on one more roundabout that got me pointed in the right direction.
Some of the art is truly larger than life!
Murals integrate building features into their design, adding whimsy to the side of the building.
Who doesn’t enjoy discovering a chimpanzee in a red spacesuit, wearing a gold crown and oversized headphones, while he spins a turntable (or is that a CD?) and blows a Bubblicious bubble?
One of the most intriguing, and sometimes alarming, things you’ll see driving around the arts district is the odd characters you’ll catch unexpectedly out of the corner of your eye. They are doing ordinary things – reading books, riding bikes, holding hands, and carrying groceries – while eerily frozen in time. Realistic life-sized sculptures, cast in bronze and doing all the ordinary things we occupy our days with, are scattered along the art district’s brick sidewalks.
I don’t think they’d much mind sharing a park bench with you!
If there is a bustle of pedestrian traffic and the person in front of you sidesteps, to avoid running into a stationary figure, you just might not be able to stop in time to avoid a collision. Your brain might not register the fact that the gentleman with his face buried in a book isn’t going to look up in time to avoid running into you. The dad with a joyful toddler bouncing on his shoulders might cause you to tap your car’s breaks, before you realize the pair aren’t going anywhere.
The Norman Rockwell of American Sculpture –
J. Seward Johnson Jr., American realist
“J. Seward Johnson Jr., born in 1930, is the grandson of the founder of Johnson & Johnson Co. After a career in painting, Johnson turned to sculpting in 1968. Thirty-eight years later, Johnson has designed and created more than 250 life-size bronze sculptures in countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.” (Carmel’s Arts and Design District website)
When you look more closely you notice the bronze-tinted skin tone, you register the fact that no toddler is that self-contained, and you decide that a facial expression is a little exaggerated or slightly “off.” But, wow! The realism takes you off guard and the unconventional placement of an artistic sculpture — in your way, quite frankly — causes you to pause. And that’s a good thing!
“I use my art to convince you of something that isn’t real. You laugh at yourself because you were taken in, and in that change of your perception, you become vulnerable to the piece and intimate with it in a certain way.” – J. Seward Johnson, Jr. (Carmel’s Arts and Design District website)
The artist’s intent lends itself to a bit of mischief, it seems.
What power in art, to change our perception!
What power in art, to make us feel something, question something, wonder about something, or simply laugh at ourselves. The sculptures are well integrated into the neighborhood – you just have to look for the connections. Perhaps you should read what’s printed in the newspaper, notice which particular shop an sculpture is poised in front of, or allow your spirits to be lifted at the sight of a child’s first independent moments on a bike, right there along the bike path.
The next time I visit the area I hope to stop in at Woodys Library Restaurant.
“The library was constructed in 1913 & dedicated in 1914 when it opened as Carmel’s public library. The structure was built with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation for a total of $11,000. Andrew Carnegie’s wealth helped to establish numerous colleges, schools, nonprofit organizations & associations in the United States & throughout the globe. Among his many philanthropic efforts, the establishment of public libraries was especially prominent.“
Down the road, the doors of the World’s Smallest Children’s Art Gallery were locked when I was visiting, but I was able to enjoy the gardens, the burbling fountain, and the surprise of discovering another of Johnson’s statues, just a few feet tall, with a watering can in hand. She was doing a fine job — the flowers were thriving under her care. I’ll need to visit on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday next time, to gain entrance!
“Small in size and stature but big with talent, the Carmel Arts Council Children’s Art Gallery is the World’s Smallest Children’s Art Gallery (certified by Guinness World Records). Admission is free and so is the inspiration you and your children will gather from the pieces you see displayed.” (Indy with Kids)
What a treat!
On a side note, I don’t mean to be a cynic, but I’m charmed by the fact that the sculptures remain upright and aren’t vandalized or otherwise harmed. Hopefully this continues!
The city of Carmel is making cultural strides beyond bringing art to the community! They are engaging with the community in ways that highlight environmentalism, charitable acts, and community health and wellbeing. From rain barrels supported by local community groups, complete with thriving decorative flowers, to bike trails that tie neighborhoods together, there’s an overwhelming sense of community.
In addition to bike trails, which are such wonderful examples of multi-use greenways, there are highly visible bike racks that are at capacity, a bike share service, and emergency support stations along the trail. As someone who worked in Preparedness, Health, and Safety Services (now called Training Services, at American Red Cross) this all makes my heart happy, with so many of my passions being supported in this small town just north of Indianapolis, IN.
If you find your way to Carmel, IN in the near future. . . . well, don’t worry so much about finding your way! Allow yourself to get a little lost and see what you find.
Embrace the roundabouts! Enjoy the arts and entertainment!
Join me on my next adventure,
~ Kat
Related Links:
City of Carmel, IN: https://www.carmel.in.gov/
Carmel’s Arts and Design District: https://carmelartsanddesign.com/
Woodys Library Restaurant: http://www.woodyscarmel.com/
World’s Smallest Children’s Art Gallery: http://www.carmelartscouncil.org/childrens-gallery/
Accidental Wanderlust 