FORT WAYBE, IN -- The Fort Wayne Museum of Art has broken ground on the site for its next major addition to its permanent collection, a stone sculpture by the artist Darrell Petit, an international figure based in Connecticut whose work is included in public and private collections across the globe. The sculpture will be installed on June 8, 2016.

The 25-ton sculpture, entitled Continuum, will be placed on the south patio of FWMoA, which faces Main Street. It was created from a block of granite and features rough edges that contrast with a smooth, curving center. Its graceful but commanding minimalist form is closely related to the natural world and its many forms. Peter Selz, the noted art historian, has said that Petit's sculpture "animates the environments of nature and the post minimalist context that contemporary sculpture now inhabits."

The sculpture was designed to appear as though it is hovering over the ground. Its installation will include concrete footers that will support the sculpture, yet be unseen by onlookers.

This latest investment by FWMoA is not merely an addition to its permanent collection—it’s an investment in the downtown arts campus and a response to the growing interest in creating a cultural nucleus in downtown Fort Wayne, IN. Continuum joins six other FWMoA-owned sculptures on the grounds of the arts campus, including Helmholtz, the largest and most valuable work of art in the FWMoA collection.

The FWMoA chief curator and CEO, Charles Shepard, first met Pettit in New London, CT, when he was executive director of the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. The two were introduced by the former director of Minneapolis' Walker Art Center, Martin Friedman. Friedman, who recently passed away, was known as a visionary who transformed the Walker into one of the country's premier art museums. Friedman also created the Walker Sculpture Garden.