Ball State University is showing off its landscape architecture skills at the Indiana State Fair in a building now sponsored by the university itself.
In its third year at the fair, the Ball State Backyard exhibit is being showcased in the Agriculture Horticulture Building. Unlike past years, the building displaying the exhibit is sponsored by Ball State, Al Rent, director of university marketing, said.
By sponsoring the building, Ball State is able to have a larger presence at the fair, comparable to Indiana University and Purude University, he said.
"The state fair gives us an opportunity to have a presence and be in front of a lot of Indiana residents in a different way," Rent said.
The university spent $10,000 on sponsoring the building, which came out of Ball State's marketing budget.
"For about 12 days and about a million people, it makes sense to be down there," he said. "It gives us a chance to really showcase what we're all about."
The exhibit that is being displayed is prepared by the department of landscape architecture.
Malcolm Cairns, Ball State Backyard coordinator, said faculty from the department design the exhibit and students help to build it.
"It's a pretty good sized garden and serves as Ball State's welcome center," he said.
The elements of the exhibit are similar each year, but it continues to have the feel of someone's big backyard. New this year are white trellised gateways and a reconfigured mock pond.
"It's very comfortable for the fair," Cairns said. "I'd say people find a place to get in out of the heat."
Scattered around the 7,000 square-foot exhibit are bits of information about Ball State. Fact books are available, and there are showcases of landscape architecture students' works.
Cairns said hundreds, maybe thousands, of people walk through the exhibit each day of the fair.
"The garden is sort of a centerpiece for the Ag Hort Building," he said.
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