City Council Hears About 2016 Walk-N-Wander
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Warsaw Public Arts Commission members Suzie Light and Paulette Davis updated the City of Warsaw Common Council on the art display at its meeting Monday night.
Light explained Mayor Joe Thallemer brought the Commission together to focus on the arts in Warsaw. Members represent Warsaw Community School Corp., Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, Lakeland Art Association, Warsaw Community Development Corp. and the Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
“The success of Walk-N-Wander 2014 made people in our community aware of the hunger for the arts in our community as a quality-of-life enhancement. The event brought tourists from at least four states to walk downtown Warsaw. Bus loads of retirement communities and visitors from all over came to wander downtown Warsaw,” Light said, noting that she personally met people from Ohio and Michigan as well as other parts of Indiana. She said they couldn’t resist getting photographs with the sculptures.
Light said the Commission is focused on developing a strategic plan that includes contemporary art events as well as permanent art acquisitions that will be throughout Warsaw and in its parks.
Davis, the chairperson of the Walk-N-Wander 2016, invited the council to the unveiling of the “all new” display on the courthouse lawn June 3 to kick off June’s First Friday event.
The 2014 had 14 Seward Johnson sculptures. “The success of that exhibit inspired the Warsaw Public Arts Commission to offer an all-new Walk-N-Wander project with the goal of additional sculptures and a larger walking path,” Davis said.
She reported that with the support of individuals, businesses and foundations of the county – with no tax dollars being used – there will be 20 all-new sculptures and a larger walking path this summer. It will stretch from the corner of Lake and Market streets to Center Lake.
Brochures outlining the map of the exhibit will be available at area businesses, the city’s website as well as a Facebook page under Walk-N-Wander 2016. The exhibit will continue through the end of September. Light added that it’s not too late to sponsor a statue.
The council then heard a presentation from The Watershed Foundation Executive Director Lyn Crighton on watersheds, water quality and the Clean Waters partnership.
A watershed is the land area that drains to a particular body of water, she explained. The Tippecanoe River, which is where Kosciusko County’s watershed is located, drains down to the Gulf of Mexico.
The east side of the watershed – referred to as the Tippecanoe Grassy Creek – is where the Watershed Foundation has been working to improve and protect the county’s water quality since 1997. Starting in January, it expanded to include the west side – referred to as Tippecanoe Walnut Creek.
“This watershed is 276 square miles. It is 75 percent farmland. It includes more than 60 lakes and 13 lake associations, which help support and make fun things to do on lakes like fireworks,” Crighton said.
Watersheds are important, she continued, because that’s where the problems and solutions to water quality begin. She said the Foundation tries to stop pollution at its source before it gets to the lakes and streams. In the years the Foundation has been working, Crighton said they’ve completed over 200 water-quality improvement projects, from fixing a culver to storm drain studies.
Now that the Foundation is expanding into the Tippecanoe Walnut Creek area, Crighton said they spent the last two years developing a network with leaders in the new area. It includes Chapman, Center, Pike and Winona lakes and all the land that drains into the lakes.
In January, The Watershed Foundation was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to develop a watershed management plan for the Tippecanoe Walnut Creek area. It is a 2-1/2 to 3-year project, Crighton said, and includes water monitoring at 10 sites; public input meetings; determining what are the biggest problems and solutions; and how can the solutions be paid for.
As part of the $200,000 grant, she said the Foundation had to come up with a $133,000 match from its community partners. Through the Warsaw Stormwater Utility, the city provided $5,000, and Crighton thanked the city for that. She said they are still raising money from the community.
Once the plan is finished, Crighton said The Watershed Foundation hopes to receive another grant from the state, which are typically in the $300,000 to $500,000 range to start fixing the problems of the watershed.
“Why are we doing this? There’s so many good reasons. Really the goals of this project are to increase the awareness of our lake residents and of our community about the importance of our lakes and to help them realize these lakes need stewardship. If we don’t take care of them, they are not necessarily going to stay healthy and beautiful. They require active stewardship. Through this planning process, we hope to gain a shared vision and a goal and a plan for all of those leaders in our community that we can have healthy lakes and streams,” she said.
After Crighton was finished, councilwoman Diane Quance reminded the council that the Lakes Festival is June 11 and 12 at Center Lake.
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Warsaw Public Arts Commission members Suzie Light and Paulette Davis updated the City of Warsaw Common Council on the art display at its meeting Monday night.
Light explained Mayor Joe Thallemer brought the Commission together to focus on the arts in Warsaw. Members represent Warsaw Community School Corp., Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, Lakeland Art Association, Warsaw Community Development Corp. and the Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
“The success of Walk-N-Wander 2014 made people in our community aware of the hunger for the arts in our community as a quality-of-life enhancement. The event brought tourists from at least four states to walk downtown Warsaw. Bus loads of retirement communities and visitors from all over came to wander downtown Warsaw,” Light said, noting that she personally met people from Ohio and Michigan as well as other parts of Indiana. She said they couldn’t resist getting photographs with the sculptures.
Light said the Commission is focused on developing a strategic plan that includes contemporary art events as well as permanent art acquisitions that will be throughout Warsaw and in its parks.
Davis, the chairperson of the Walk-N-Wander 2016, invited the council to the unveiling of the “all new” display on the courthouse lawn June 3 to kick off June’s First Friday event.
The 2014 had 14 Seward Johnson sculptures. “The success of that exhibit inspired the Warsaw Public Arts Commission to offer an all-new Walk-N-Wander project with the goal of additional sculptures and a larger walking path,” Davis said.
She reported that with the support of individuals, businesses and foundations of the county – with no tax dollars being used – there will be 20 all-new sculptures and a larger walking path this summer. It will stretch from the corner of Lake and Market streets to Center Lake.
Brochures outlining the map of the exhibit will be available at area businesses, the city’s website as well as a Facebook page under Walk-N-Wander 2016. The exhibit will continue through the end of September. Light added that it’s not too late to sponsor a statue.
The council then heard a presentation from The Watershed Foundation Executive Director Lyn Crighton on watersheds, water quality and the Clean Waters partnership.
A watershed is the land area that drains to a particular body of water, she explained. The Tippecanoe River, which is where Kosciusko County’s watershed is located, drains down to the Gulf of Mexico.
The east side of the watershed – referred to as the Tippecanoe Grassy Creek – is where the Watershed Foundation has been working to improve and protect the county’s water quality since 1997. Starting in January, it expanded to include the west side – referred to as Tippecanoe Walnut Creek.
“This watershed is 276 square miles. It is 75 percent farmland. It includes more than 60 lakes and 13 lake associations, which help support and make fun things to do on lakes like fireworks,” Crighton said.
Watersheds are important, she continued, because that’s where the problems and solutions to water quality begin. She said the Foundation tries to stop pollution at its source before it gets to the lakes and streams. In the years the Foundation has been working, Crighton said they’ve completed over 200 water-quality improvement projects, from fixing a culver to storm drain studies.
Now that the Foundation is expanding into the Tippecanoe Walnut Creek area, Crighton said they spent the last two years developing a network with leaders in the new area. It includes Chapman, Center, Pike and Winona lakes and all the land that drains into the lakes.
In January, The Watershed Foundation was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to develop a watershed management plan for the Tippecanoe Walnut Creek area. It is a 2-1/2 to 3-year project, Crighton said, and includes water monitoring at 10 sites; public input meetings; determining what are the biggest problems and solutions; and how can the solutions be paid for.
As part of the $200,000 grant, she said the Foundation had to come up with a $133,000 match from its community partners. Through the Warsaw Stormwater Utility, the city provided $5,000, and Crighton thanked the city for that. She said they are still raising money from the community.
Once the plan is finished, Crighton said The Watershed Foundation hopes to receive another grant from the state, which are typically in the $300,000 to $500,000 range to start fixing the problems of the watershed.
“Why are we doing this? There’s so many good reasons. Really the goals of this project are to increase the awareness of our lake residents and of our community about the importance of our lakes and to help them realize these lakes need stewardship. If we don’t take care of them, they are not necessarily going to stay healthy and beautiful. They require active stewardship. Through this planning process, we hope to gain a shared vision and a goal and a plan for all of those leaders in our community that we can have healthy lakes and streams,” she said.
After Crighton was finished, councilwoman Diane Quance reminded the council that the Lakes Festival is June 11 and 12 at Center Lake.
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