The city of Westfield has unveiled a new sculpture at the entrance to Asa Bales Park.

Called "Passaggio," it features three 13-foot columns strategically designed and placed by artist Katey Bonar, a senior sculpture major at the Herron School of Art and Design.

Westfield's Grand Junction Task Group commissioned the project through the school's Basile Center for Art, Design and Public Life.

The sculpture is already up, but the public is invited to a Meet the Artist event at 6 p.m. July 27 at the sculpture, which is located at the park's east entrance, 211 N. Union St.

According to city officials, the columns are fabricated from steel tubing covered by polyurethane foam with a fiberglass skin and joined by concentric rings of steel tubing, suspended inside the columns at the top. Near the columns are two ring groupings made of thermoplastic, flanking a sidewalk.

So what does the sculpture reflect?

The name Passaggio references a passageway or turning point in a journey. The ring patterns mirror the growth rings in trees. The columns' ridges and grooves are like "eroded land masses or stratified geologic forms."

"I feel like opening an art piece like this in Westfield gives an opportunity for residents to reflect on the past, as well as to examine where they are now and where they want to be in the future, both collectively and personally," Bonar said in a prepared statement.