The different artistic styles of two brothers from Decatur, Ind., are on display throughout downtown Valparaiso in the form of eight steel structures that capture both the eye and the imagination.

“The key to me with public art is not to tell them what they’re looking at, and they can come to their own interpretation,” said Greg Mendez, who with his brother Alex helped place their works around downtown on Thursday.

The art displays are an extension of the art walk on Cumberland Crossing on the city’s north side, said Kurt Gillins, administrator of the art advisory committee for the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission.

The art walk started in 2012, he said, and the advisory committee followed four years ago. “We’ve been growing the program ever since.”

Sixteen statues installed last month grace Cumberland Crossing, representing the work of different artists. Greg Mendez, Gillins said, has had his work on display there before, and Gillins reached out to him to see if he and his brother wanted their own showing downtown.

Each brother has four statues. Alex Mendez has two guitars, including one at Central Park Plaza that he said represent his musical background and studies in classic guitar in college, as well as abstract sculptures, including “Square 1” in front of the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce office on Lincolnway.

Works by Greg Mendez include “Eternal Spring,” a dancer with hair and limbs swinging that’s placed between the Memorial Opera House and Porter County Museum on Indiana Avenue, and, at Washington and Jefferson streets by Elements Wine Bar, a statue inspired by the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne.

Public art programs were just getting popular when Greg Mendez was in college, he said, so he started creating larger bodies of work that could be displayed outdoors. Greg Mendez, 37, said Alex, 28, started helping with installation and delivery when he was in his early teens and, after a few years, developed an art career of his own. There are a few rules public sculptures have to follow, Greg Mendez said, including being big enough to be noticed from 20 or 30 feet away.

“It needs to be something acceptable to the public and not controversial. Most important, it has to be safe for the public to interact with,” he said, adding that means no sharp edges or other potential hazards to people who touch the artwork.

The pieces also have to be sturdy and able to withstand the elements, he said.

The placement of each statue isn’t coincidental. Gillins said after reviewing the brothers’ catalog, he selected the eight works and where they would go. Some, like a tree by the Porter County Courthouse at the corner of Washington Street and Indiana Avenue, almost blend into their surroundings. Placing the pieces downtown required permission from the Valparaiso Park Board and Board of Works, as well as the Porter County Board of Commissioners.

“Nobody said, ‘No, let’s not do this,’ but it was a lot of steps,” Gillins said, adding the statues also had to be placed where they wouldn’t impede sidewalks.

The statues, in place for a year, will be on the downtown map put together by Valparaiso Events, Gillins said. They also for sale, ranging in price from $3,000 to $12,000, with any proceeds going back to the art program and to purchase permanent pieces for the community. The prices will be listed on signs that will soon accompany each work of art.

As he and his brother put the statue into place by Elements Wine Bar, Greg Mendez talked about that piece of artwork.

The Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne, in which Daphne turns from a wood nymph into a laurel tree to avoid Apollo’s advances, inspired the piece, Greg Mendez said, one in a series as Daphne turns into a tree.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s a mermaid,” he said, adding he purposefully doesn’t write an artist’s statement to go with his pieces. “The moment I do that, it defines it for the viewer. If I don’t do that, it allows the viewer to come up with their own narrative for the piece.”

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.