There’s one thing people always associate with spring - flowers. Being outside and seeing the tiny miracles helps us shake away the winter gloom. The birds begin to chip, the air becomes warmer, and it’s almost as if nature is waking up just for us. And this spring at Newfields, it really will.
Most Indy locals are familiar with the Spring Blooms outdoor exhibit that Newfields has been putting on the past few years. This is the third year that Hoosiers of all ages can celebrate spring and art. The Orchids exhibit also returned this year, welcoming guest into the galleries with vibrant, colorful reminders of the coming warmer days. To add to these wildly successful events, Newfields will unveil a new interactive art installation that will literally usher in feelings of spring.
Photo: Instagram user @minapoutine
Today, Meadow by Studio Drift will begin to greet guests into the Efroymson Family Pavilion, the lobby of the museum. The kinetic light sculpture responds to movement as guests pass beneath, opening and closing 18 mechanical blooms that add even more beauty to the outdoor splendor. The artists, collaborators at Studio Drift in Amsterdam, say that Meadow is based on plants' ability to bloom in the daytime - literally, waking up each day for Newfields guests. Studio Drift is known for large-scale sculptures that are similar to Meadow. Their pieces have been seen in museums all over the world, but this is the first time the sculpture has been exhibited in the United States.
Up-side-down flowers tinted with gradient coloring shows that technology, art, and nature can exist in the same space. And where are they wrong? Every single flower, painting, and sculpture we see at Newfields is there because of a distinct connection between the ordinary and extraordinary. In a way, that is the beauty of spring. It’s the fact that ordinary people, and flowers, are willing to wake up for something magical each year.