Final 96th Street car sculpture to be installed

The fourth and final 96th Street corridor “Classic Cars of Indiana”-themed sculpture by local artist Arlon Bayliss is set to be installed today, Sept. 20 in the roundabout at 96th Street and Gray Road.

“We are excited to share final piece of public art in the Classic Cars sculpture series along the 96th Street corridor,” Carmel Chief Infrastructure Officer Jeremy Kashman said. “It’s an impressive piece that’s been designed and fabricated locally and adds to the uniqueness of the city.”

“Stutz” joins three other sculptures by Bayliss, installed at the roundabouts on 96th Street at Priority Way, Delegates Row, and Hazel Dell Parkway. Commissioned in late 2021, the four sculptures feature artistic interpretations of the classic cars Marmon, Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg, Studebaker, and Stutz – each of which were designed and built in Indiana during the first half of the 20th century when America first began to fall in love with automobiles.

Inspired by the Stutz ‘Ra’ Art Deco hood ornament, “Stutz,” when finally placed on its five-foot-high Indiana limestone base, will stand 18 feet high. Bayliss’ design incorporates dozens of sheets of steel, fabricated by bo-mar Industries, in vertical slices with space between each one creating an ethereal light-permeable abstract form. At night, the sculpture will be illuminated from within using the artist’s signature-colored dichroic-filtered light sources.