NORTHBRIDGE - When is a letter of the alphabet both a work of art and a question? People travelling through Whitinsville have been wondering about the four 10-foot-tall steel Y’s that sprang up recently on the grounds of Alternatives Unlimited Inc.’s Whitin Mill, the Whitin Community Center and the Whitinsville Social Library.

The structures comprise contemporary artist Ralph G. Brancaccio’s travelling exhibit, the Y Project, sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts and brought to this area by Alternatives and its art subsidiary, ValleyCAST.

Each brightly colored Y has a word printed vertically on the stem, asking the questions “Y AIDS,” “Y Discriminate,” “Y Care” and “Y Think.” At the base of each Y is the project’s central question” “Why do we live so comfortably with an imbalance of human equality and irresponsibility?”

“It’s a social awareness project,” said Whitin Community Center CEO Gary R. Wood. “The whole idea is to get people thinking about social causes and social issues. People come in and ask about it. I say it’s working.”

The Y Project has appeared in New York City, Providence, Cambridge and Provincetown. According to Mr. Brancaccio, it will be in Whitinsville until next spring, and then will most likely travel to Newburyport or Hartford, where the artist grew up before moving to Paris.

Alternatives Executive Director Dennis H. Rice said that a donor, who had seen the Y’s in Provincetown, prompted the idea of brining the “Y Project” to Whitinsville. The turnaround time was short – just a matter of days- but Mr. Rice quickly lined up participation by the Community Center and the library.

“It was an interesting process to get people to say, ‘Yes, you can put it on my lawn,’” Mr. Rice said. The “Y Discriminate” sculpture is in place outside Alternatives Unlimited Inc.’s Whitin Mill. Workers unload the “Y AIDS” Sculpture. Anthony Brookhouse, owner of Koopman Lumber Co., made the project installation feasible by contributing two workers and a truck with a forklift to retrieve the Y’s from Provincetown and erect them in Whitinsville.

While Whitinsville is the smallest locale for the project so far, Mr. Brancaccio said he loves the site. “Part of my thing as an artist is to work in the public arena,” he said in a telephone interview. “To me, the public arena is everywhere. I think it’s perfect for the community.”

Mr. Wood said that people ask about the “Y care” on the lawn at the Community Center all the time, and the frontdesk staff hand out information about the project with a sheet of paper where they can write their thoughts about the question that is asked.

“Using structural art is an interesting way to get people to think about it. It’s art, but also a tool,” Mr. Wood said. “You can’t make people change without thinking about it. It’s a stepping stone.”

Marcia E. Nichols, acting director of Whitinsville Social Library, said when patrons ask about the “Y Think” on the lawn there, “I’ve tried to turn it around to get the their initial reaction first, to create dialogue here in town.”

Ms. Nichols said that first graders from Northbridge Elementary School discussed the “Y” before they came to visit the library. “It’s amazing” As young as they are, they got it,” she said.

“The thing that I love about the project is it’s very simple. It’s easy to grasp,” Mr. Brancaccio said. “I’m hoping that someday people will work harder to get rid of issues like discrimination in our communities.”

Mr. Rice said that Alternatives plans to host a public forum on contemporary art with Mr. Brancaccio when the exhibit is scheduled to leave town in the spring.

For more information about the artist and the project, visit www.yproject.org.