Five animated luminous sculptures by artist James Brenner provide focal points for the ribbon walkway. Inspired by the free feeling of ice skating and the curving geography of the nearby river, the sculptures evoke a magical, otherworldly quality further enhanced by colour illumination and fog elements.
Arcs of Light: The Sculptures of Ironworks Plaza
Perspective – Apr 2025
Seeing an opportunity for revitalization, the city of Mishawaka, Indiana embarked on an endeavor to renovate an obsolete industrial area next to the St. Joseph River into a public amenity.
Today the site is known as Ironworks Plaza, the heart of which is a multi-seasonal open plaza and ribbon garden walk that transforms into a skating rink in colder months.
An interactive fog garden is anchored by a sculpture with a multiple timeline lighting controller, programmed to coordinate the dynamic lighting and pacing of the sculpture, fog, rink and façade. The luminous presence of the sculptures varies during the day, dusk, and night with QR codes and touch points that allow users to trigger and interact with the fog animation. The system interface, housed within the adjacent event centre, also allows light sources to animate with music and activates the fog zones in coordination with the lighting patterns.
Made up of thousands of LED lights, the internal DMX addressable pixel-controlled lighting is independently controllable at the stainless-steel ribbing and at the textured glass spines. The lighting within the sculptures is accessed through removable rib sections and flexible slide-out mounting panels, allowing for easy maintenance. Adding another visual dimension, ground-mounted uplights surround each sculpture to illuminate the outer surface and complement the internal light sources.
Attaining a sense of unity and play were central to the development and design of the sculptures, and those same attributes are evident throughout Ironworks Plaza. This once underutilized part of Mishawaka has become a central gathering place for the community, and the interconnected nature of light, sculpture, and fog speak to its larger purpose as a place for all.
This public art installation received the 2024 Illuminating Engineering Society Award of Merit and was a LIT Award Winner, Outdoor Light Art category.
Architect: Stantec Minneapolis
Artist and Photographer: Jim Brenner
