A sculpture featuring an Indian family of four will soon be coming to Carmel.
The $405,000 sculpture titled “Indian Heritage,” proposed to be placed in Midtown Plaza on the west side of the Allied Solutions building, will be fabricated by the Seward Johnson Atelier in the style of the sculptor’s other pieces scattered throughout Carmel. A local committee including Carmel residents of Indian heritage worked for more than a year to finalize the design as they searched for the right models, attire and other details.
“This will be a lively extension of our Seward Johnson living museum. It adds some diversity to our offerings, is a nice selfie spot and continues to celebrate our city,” said Raju Chinthala, who served on the committee, at the May 24 Carmel Redevelopment Commission meeting. He is also the founder and president of the Indiana-India Business Council.
Last month, the CRC approved a contract with the atelier for the sculpture. The CRC will pay $152,000 plus shipping costs, while the Carmel mayor’s office will cover the rest. Artist J. Seward Johnson died in 2020, but his atelier continues to fabricate his work and new designs in his signature style and maintain the sculptures.
Earlier in May, the Carmel Public Arts Advisory Committee voted 7-1 against acquiring the sculpture. According to the intake form for the piece, the committee unanimously supported acquiring art reflective of Carmel’s diverse community, but most of its members did not believe “Indian Heritage” is the best way to do that.
Some committee members expressed concern about the city continuing to grow its Seward Johnson collection, which they indicated in this case “seems forced and inauthentic to fit the goal of honoring Carmel’s Indian community,” according to the intake form.
“If the City wants to honor the Indian community with art, it should not be with yet another SJ piece as there is little artistic value in them, and the City has enough of them already, as has been repeatedly expressed to the City by CPAAC members in the past,” the intake form states. “The realism is uninspiring kitsch art, and Carmel can do better. Simply being the biggest (purchaser) of SJ art in the world is not an admirable goal.”
Carmel is home to more Seward Johnson sculptures than anywhere in the world except for a site associated with the atelier in the artist’s home state of New Jersey. The city has been acquiring the collection for nearly two decades as part of Mayor Jim Brainard’s vision for redeveloping the central core and bringing visitors and economic growth to the area.
“We’re continuing this living Seward Johnson museum and making sure these statues reflect what our community looks like,” CRC Director Henry Mestetsky said at the May 24 meeting. “That’s a mission the CRC has been on since its inception, long before the art advisory committee was created.”
A city spokesman said a timeline for installation of the sculpture has not been set.
