Skip to main content

Page last updated on October 23, 2018 at 11:42 am

For more information, please contact

Vic Kelson
Director
City of Bloomington Utilities
kelsonv@bloomington.in.gov
812-349-3650
 

City of Bloomington Utilities Unveils Water-Themed Art Installation

Bloomington, Ind. - City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) will host a reception Monday, October 29th to showcase an installation of paintings exploring the city’s relationship to water.  Paintings by Bloomington resident Ben Pines have been mounted in the lobby of the CBU Service Center (600 E. Miller Dr.) for a yearlong exhibition.  

Pines’ paintings were selected in response to an RFQ issued in April 2018 for work by a local artist that would raise awareness about Bloomington and Monroe County’s unique geology and water history, and/or celebrate milestones in establishing a water source and developing water treatment technology.  A selection committee comprising CBU and other City staff, along with members of the Utilities Service Board and the Bloomington Arts Commission, chose Pines’ figurative oil paintings, which emphasize the human aspect of Bloomington’s water supply and maintenance system, according to the artist.  

“This installation is intended as a meditative affirmation of the value of public institutions, as well as a more specific celebration of informed water management and its importance to our life in Bloomington,” Pines said.

A painter of landscapes and portraits, Pines has exhibited his work across Indiana, in Pennsylvania, and Missouri.  Pines holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University and teaches 2D Design at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, along with private drawing and painting lessons.   He also works at Pygmalion’s Art Supplies in Bloomington.

“Bloomington has always had to be creative to sustain a plentiful and safe water supply,” said CBU Director Vic Kelson.  “With this installation, we have tapped into our local creative resources to raise awareness of our unique relationship with water.”

CBU staff and Utilities Service Board members welcome the public to join them for an opening reception for the exhibition at the CBU Service Center from 4 to 5 p.m. on Monday, October 29. More information is available on Facebook at @BloomingtonUtilities.  
 

###