Westfield Blooms visually signifies and portrays the City of Westfield, IN’s past, present and future.  Westfield was founded on May 6,1834 by three Quakers: Asa Bales, Nathan Parker and Ambrose Osborne. They laid out the original plat containing 48 lots in the area that is now downtown. Founded on their values of education, simplicity, responsibility and equality for all people, this town was a positive force in the Underground Railroad, and the people of the town gave refuge to those seeking freedom. The citizens of Westfield were the progressive thinkers of their time.

The interpretation of specific imagery is as follows:

• 1. The QUAKER STAR (the light within) is the center of the flower, the yellow and black star.
• 2. NUMBERS—Westfield was founded on May 6th, 1834.
• 3. The raised right HAND symbolizes honesty.
• 4. BUTTONS represent simplicity and self sufficiency.
• 5. Two Baseball DIAMONDS represent the new sports park coming to Westfield. It will be the home of Westfield Youth Sports and LIDS Indiana Bulls, Indiana’s premier youth baseball organization.
• 6. The football shaped BASEBALL (sports park).
• 7. The football FOOT (sports park).
• 8. The TOWER—Union High School founded in 1892, became Union Academy and is now the Union Bible College, the oldest continuously operating High School in the State of Indiana.
• 9. CORN—This is Westfield INDIANA—Americana at its best!
• 10. The numbers 31 and 32—The “GRAND JUNCTION,” the convergence of these two highways.
• 11. BEANS—These are not jelly beans, the first Van De Camp’s packing plant was here.
• 12. BOOKS, symbolizing education and knowledge.
• 13. The LIONS CLUB, organized in 1930.
• 14. AXES—Westfield’s only saloon, hated by the community, was eventually destroyed by a group of townswomen wielding axes!
• 15. DOILEY—Sewing craft and quilting was an important part of Westfield’s history.
• 16. SHAMROCKS—The Westfield High School Shamrocks ROCK!
• 17. The RIBBON and the light RAYS represent the crossroads that are Westfield.
• 18. The purple STEM represents the future overpass and off ramps planned for the intersection of US 31 and SR 32.
• 19. The newly designed LOGO for the City of Westfield rises above the roofline!
• 20. FOOTPRINTS—This is a hypothetical path of a person changed by the city. This person came to town barefoot and ignorant, became enlightened or educated here, and symbolically began wearing shoes, changing into dress shoes, and morphing into the jogging shoe and work boot that walk the sidewalks today and into the future.
• 21. The most significant depiction in the entire piece is the LANTERN, representing the supportive role that Westfield played in the Underground Railroad.
• 22. The lantern is being carried by the hand of a FREEDOM SEEKER, fleeing slavery imposed by the Confederate South.
• 23. The HELPING HAND of the Quaker gestures leading in the direction of
• 24. the NORTH STAR. This important star guided slaves to the free north at night.

Blice Edwards is a design partnership that includes principals Christopher Blice and Jon Edwards.  They established the business in 1993 after a collaborative project that brought the talents of each together. Before joining forces, Jon Edward’s educational focus was on Graphic Design and Fine Arts, receiving a BFA in graphic design from the Columbus College of Art and Design. Christopher Blice has long been interested in painting, mixed media sculpture, fine crafts including metal weaving and art glass. Christopher studied venetian plaster and gilding techniques in New York City. Read more about the artists at http://bliceedwards.com/

(photos courtesy of Ken Norris)