Indiana artist Debbie Reichard has completed the installation of an outdoor sculpture in the circle entry of Community Hospital North. This installation is an extension of the Community Health Network Foundation’s initiative to incorporate art into the healing process for patients and families.

Titled A Torrent of Pleasantries (in plaid), the installation is five feet tall and 15 feet long and is made of garden hose and steel. This installation is the first in a series of planned projects created by art students at the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Later this year, more temporary sculptures will be installed as part of an ongoing relationship with students and faculty. Visitors can enjoy this installation through October 2009.

According to Reichard, this installation is her satirical view of suburban life. “Sentimentally, we can be intrinsically connected to specific objects, colors, sounds and smells,” she says. “Even though many of these triggers seem unremarkable to most, everyone can think of an object that reconnects them to a memory.”

Reichard is a former visiting assistant professor of sculpture at the Herron School and has also taught at the University of Washington and the University of Colorado. She is known for creating unique sculptures and ceramics. “I want to change normal,” she says. She works in metal, wood and ceramic, found objects, castable polymers, and sound.