The film crew and actors for Earthwork prepare for a scene Monday in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street. The block was closed to vehicles for the day to accommodate the filming. Earthwork is about Lawrence crop artist Stan Herd; it's written and directed by Chris Ordal, a 2005 Kansas University film graduate.

The cast and crew of Earthwork approach take one of scene 15 during filming on Massachusetts Street.

One block of downtown Lawrence became a soundstage Monday to host a film crew for a movie based on a local artist.

“Earthwork” centers on a journey that crop artist Stan Herd took in 1993 to New York City, where he created a public art piece on land owned by Donald Trump on Manhattan’s west side.

But that doesn’t mean the film crew will spend much time in New York.

“We’re shooting almost everything in Lawrence, and we will be going to New York for a couple pickup shots, but we’re putting New York here in Lawrence,” said writer-director Chris Ordal, a 2005 Kansas University film graduate. “It’s pretty cool.”

Most actors on the set are based in New York or Los Angeles, so some are seeing Kansas for the first time.

“Lawrence is fantastic. It’s a beautiful town,” said Bruce MacVittie, who plays Peter B. Kaplan, a photographer. “People have been extremely friendly.”

Herd, who was on set Monday in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street, said watching the filming was surreal.

“I don’t think I’m really grasping the depths of it,” he said. “It’s a little strange. : It’s not just a Stan Herd story. It’s more about this ensemble piece with all of these different people, and I’m just one of the guys.”

Herd is portrayed by the actor John Hawkes, known for such films as “The Perfect Storm” and “American Gangster.”

Production on the independent film will finish later this month. A release date has not yet been set.

“We’re just getting through the shoot,” Ordal said. “We’re going to try and get it out the best way we can. It’s coming together nicely.”

Ordal has high hopes.

“One billion dollars in box office results,” he said. “But realistically, I just want to get the story told.”