Water-themed sculpture brings art to new Elanco campus

The sculpture “Water in Dripping, River,” by Zheng Lu, is made of mirror-finish stainless steel. (Photo provided by Elanco Animal Health)

Leadership of Elanco Animal Health unveiled on Friday a sculpture outside the company’s new global headquarters, a downtown campus west of the White River that’s scheduled to open Oct. 1.

The sculpture’s creator, Chinese artist Zheng Lu, traveled from Beijing to attend the dedication ceremony for his 18-foot tall, 4,000-pound work made of mirror-finish stainless steel.

“Water in Dripping, River” is an artwork in Zheng’s signature format that depicts splashes of water captured in midair.

Zheng told IBJ that the shape of the sculpture meanders and twists, similar to the nearby river.

“The sculptural design is inspired by the microscopic images of water movement we captured [via slow-motion video], which depict the real physical state of water,” the 47-year-old artist said. “Based on this, we artificially incorporated concepts such as DNA helices and river-like flows into our imagination, shaping the final state.”

Dave Kinard, Elanco’s vice president of human resources, communication and administration, said the sculpture resonates on three levels: as a complement to the river, as a suggestion of the DNA double helix that’s foundational to biological science and as a “splash” moment that catalyzes innovation.

Elanco, a pharmaceutical company that produces medicines and vaccinations for pets and livestock, commissioned “Water in Dripping, River” to fulfill the company’s Public Art for Neighborhoods requirement.

Established in 2016, the city’s Public Art for Neighborhoods ordinance dictates that real estate developers receiving tax-increment financing, or TIF, set aside funds for public art. The amount is equivalent to 1% of the TIF incentive.

Elanco received $64 million in TIF funding for its project at the former GM stamping plant site. To date, no construction project has exceeded Elanco’s minimum requirement of $640,000.

Developers can choose to place artwork onsite or deposit their 1% into a fund for public art elsewhere in the city.

Elanco’s leadership agreed to spend $846,000, which exceeded the minimum requirement of $640,000, to place Zheng’s sculpture at the southeast corner of its new building.

“Water in Dripping, River” stands at the intersection of South White River Parkway, a road being shifted away from the river’s edge, and Innovator Way, the name of a new road that will connect to the Henry Street Bridge.

The Elanco building is part of the OneHealth Innovation District, a partnership between the company, Purdue University and the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

Elanco worked with Mindy Taylor Ross, founder of Carmel-based Art Strategies LLC, to facilitate the selection of an artist and artwork.

“Water in Dripping, River” is Zheng’s first permanent installation of public art in the United States. In 2017, the artist was commissioned by Indiana-based Cummins Inc. to create a sculpture for the lobby of the company’s Beijing location.

One of Zheng’s sculptures, “Undercurrent 2023,” was installed on a temporary basis near the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Susan McCaffrey, senior director of New York’s Sundaram Tagore Gallery, which represents Zheng, was expected to attend Friday’s dedication.

Zheng also has an ongoing relationship with the Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc., thanks to his design of the Jane Alexander Global Wildlife Ambassador Award the nonprofit gives to high-profile wildlife advocates.

Of the $846,000 budget for the Elanco sculpture project, Zheng’s artist fee was $128,000.

Zheng said he used a new technique for “Water in Dripping, River.” After creating a large clay model, he made a 3D scan of the model. Zheng then made revisions to the digital version before making a 3D-printed version that became the sculpture’s mold. His previous work didn’t include the step of digital fine-tuning.

“This one is more detailed than our previous works,” he said.

Finally, stainless steel sheets were laser-cut, heated, wrapped around the mold and welded together. The sculpture was shipped in one piece to Indianapolis, traveling first by boat and then by truck.