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The 1912 memorial to 1,616 Confederate Soldiers and Sailors who are buried in Indianapolis sits at the southern entrance to the park.
Garfield Park celebrated Independence Day with a new installation that blends art, history and technology.
With a spot on the National Registry of Historic Places, Indy’s oldest park is home to numerous historical monuments and structures, and now visitors can experience the sites in a new way.
Standing in front of one of five new Vista Markers, people can easily dial a number and experience a story. Andy Fry, creative director for Big Car Collaborative, says the markers are topped with fabricated metal gramophones where you set your smartphone to amplify the call, giving a fresh perspective.
"Nothing here is new but it’s a new way of seeing them and I think that makes all the difference," said Fry.
Friends of Garfield Park, Big Car and iFab with help from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust created the pieces that are strikingly simplistic and accessible.
Mark Bowell, with the Friends of Garfield Park, voiced the audio tour that explores the places and the people of the park. "Celebrate the history, celebrate the effort, the extreme level of what we call...these folks, difference makers," explained Bowell.
The social installation is one way Big Car is making an impact in the neighborhood, where it recently relocated its headquarters.
There are plans to add a few more markers to complete the auditory installation.
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