Plymouth organizations, artist working to rebuild sculpture damaged by historic flooding

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- An iconic sculpture in Plymouth is being redesigned to incorporate other elements of art in Marshall County. 

The Heartland Artists Gallery, Marshall County Tourism, and Blueberries in Marshall County recently partnered together to fix a blueberry sculpture that was nearly swept down the Yellow River during last year’s historic flooding. 

“The blueberry was so damaged,” said project organizer Shelley Heiden. 

In 2014, Plymouth started a project that placed blueberry sculptures across its downtown area. The sculpture destroyed during the 2018 floods is one of the original blueberries which is another reason organizers wanted to rebuild. 

“We’re finding more and more that arts are an important ingredient in quality of place,” said Heiden. 

Barn quilts from the Marshall County Barn Quilt Trail will be painted on the new blueberry. 

The project’s planners hope the integration of the two creations encourage peole to check out art around Marshall County. 

“I think it’s very important for quality of place as well as you get out,” said Heiden. “You have to go in the country to see the quilt barn and you have to walk to see this.” 

Organizers say it represents how the town overcame last year’s historic flooding. 

“It’s a good reflection of how we’ve recovered from the flood,” said Heiden. “A new face on this is minor compared to everything else that happened, but we recovered from the flood of 2018 beautifully.” 

The artist painting the blueberry wants the community to check on the blueberry’s progress and give their artistic input as he redesigns it over the next few weeks. 

He also hopes this inspires people to explore art. 

“The more art that you have in a town or a city, the more that’s going to help bring people into the city and to check it out,” said Miller. “Art makes you happy. Art is a feel good thing and without it it could be kind of a dull society.” 

Community members interested in checking out the blueberry can stop at Heartland Artists Gallery Tuesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

The sculpture is expected to be put back in River Park Square by mid-September.