(photo courtesy Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.)

The cherub is back in downtown Indianapolis.

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The statue, created in 1947 by the L.S. Ayres company, sits atop the landmark clock in downtown Indy.  Julia Watson with Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. says the arrival of the cherub is a magical process.  "Each year, the cherub does take watch over the shoppers on Thanksgiving Eve and maintains that post all through the holiday season until Santa visits and the cherub then leaves on Christmas Eve."

The cherub made its first appearance in an Ayres catalog in 1946.  The following year, to mark the company's 75th anniversary, the statue was made by David Rubins, an instructor at the Herron School of Art, and placed at the top of the clock at the corner of Washington and Meridian Streets.  

There was a period in the early nineties when the cherub did not appear downtown after the May Department Store Company purchased Ayres and moved the cherub to its headquarters in Saint Louis.  After a major outcry from Central Indiana residents, the cherub was returned to Indy in 1994.