Traven Pelletier, self-proclaimed "environmental artist," says his love of nature and the arts was sparked by a childhood spent in Cape Cod.

"I grew up in a lot of nature — I grew up by the ocean, the sand dunes — and developed really early on that love of nature," said the Ann Arbor man, whose two, 11-foot-tall steel sculptures are now part of the landscape of West Park.

Traven Pelletier says he wanted to give a fun, playful feel to the sculptures he designed for West Park.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

Pelletier, co-owner of Lotus Gardenscapes Inc., said he applied for the job of creating art for the park after the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission put out a call for an area artist.

The project, with a $10,000 budget, was funded by Ann Arbor's percent for art program and is part of the city's renovation of the park, according to a Public Art Commission news release.

"TREEform" consists of two vibrant, copper-colored steel sculptures that, with their tall trunks and curved "arms," as Pelletier refers to them, resemble trees. The sculptures are surrounded by stone work.

He said the curvature of the arms and bright paint were critical in giving the cold, heavy steel sculptures — each weighing about 1,000 pounds — a "light, playful" feel.

"(It was a challenge) to make something light, elegant, playful, attractive, fun, out of structural steel," he said.

The sculptures, which from conception to fabrication took Pelletier about 200 hours over the course of several months, were installed in October. The project is part of the city's renovation of the park, including improvements to access and parking, new pathways and "concrete seat walls built into the hillside to accommodate better viewing of events at the park band shell," according to the news release.

The city is to dedicate the artwork in a grand opening ceremony for West Park in the spring.

Connie Rizzolo Brown, chairwoman of the projects committee for the Public Art Commission, said Pelletier was one of about 13 applicants. She said the commission "interviewed a number of talented people" but selected Pelletier for the job because of his experience in the field of environmental art and his creativity

She called the sculptures a "lovely addition" to the park.

"It doesn't just sit there as a painting on a wall," Rizzolo Brown said. "(TREEform) is very aware of the context of the site."

Ray Detter, chairman of the Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Council, said he is "very pleased" with the changes to the park he has seen so far.

Detter said he hopes the park's new look will encourage more people to use it. And he expects the new pedestrian HAWK signal nearby will help increase foot traffic to the park.

"In the past, (the park) had not been used a lot," he said. "We hope that we can make more use of it."

Pelletier said it felt "great" to see his conceptual drawings turn into sculptures that are now a part of the park.

"You never know as an artist. I did my drawings, I had my idea," he said. "But you never really know until you make it."

When asked how he came up with the idea, Pelletier said, "Usually something just kind of pops in my mind and then I develop it."

When designing the sculptures, he knew he "wanted something vertical" that would complement the horizontal lines of the park's bench and hill.

"I wanted to do something that stood out in the space," he said.

Bob Dascola, owner of Dascola Barbers, 304 1/2 S. State St., and a founder of Friends of West Park, is working on a proposal to rename the park Central Park West.

Dascola said he thinks the name change is "doable" because the park isn't named after a person. He said he plans to present the proposal to the Ann Arbor Park Commission after Jan. 1.

He said the addition of Pelletier's sculptures to the park are a step in the right direction.

"Having some art to the park is a good thing," he said.

And as for he renovations overall, Dascola is overjoyed.

"You have no idea how pleased I am," he said. "I almost had tears in my eyes to see this thing really happening."

Pelletier said he hopes park-goers will interact with his art as part of the park — sitting beneath his sculptures or incorporating them into the park's theater space.

He said "TREEform" was an "ambitious'' piece for the budget and was made possible, in part, by help from area businesses and local artists.

Pelletier said Lotus Gardenscapes Inc. donated equipment and stone for the project. Dave Palermo, of Palermo’s Collision LLC, in Whitmore Lake, created the copper fade color scheme and painted both pieces, and Rich Cox, of Orion Automotive Services, in Ann Arbor, and artist Tad McKillop helped fabricate the piece. Nick Lawler, of SDI, in Ann Arbor, provided structural design and drawings for fabrication and A-1 Roll Co., of Mount Clemens, provided rolling facilities and expertise to create the bent tubular steel for the piece.

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Heather Lockwood is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at heatherlockwood@annarbor.com or follow her on Twitter.