Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

Well it has been quite a week! Since my last post there has been all kinds of attention being paid to IMA technology efforts. Richard is still flying high on the blogosphere success of his Wikipedia hijinks, journalists have been in touch with us and Daniel and I even passed on our sage wisdom to a group of IUPUI Museum Studies students last Thursday night. All in all, it feels great to be in conversation with a variety of different audiences and honestly, it feels good to have fans! Though, we have really only just begun.

I think it should be a Nugget Factory goal to someday inspire the same fervent fandom that generated the film project Fanboys.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was recently given the book River Grace by Makoto Fujimura, a contemporary artist whose art and life changed with the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001. The book was a frank autobiography by a popular living artist who described his walk of faith and the influence it has on his art. This was a first for me. You might think being behind-the-scenes of exhibitions, artists interviews and the creative process, the topic of faith would come up more often.

I am a Christian. I am also an artist and creative, and what I do is driven by my faith experience. — Makoto Fujimura said in a 2007 article by Associated Press reporter Eric Gorski

One might argue that the origin of art is religion and that the two have been interconnected throughout history. We certainly have a fair share of religious art. So why is it that today art has become a secular topic? It seems strange in my opinion that someone’s career in art doesn’t merit a discussion of beliefs or nonbeliefs or their inspiration or guiding force. In a time where people in film and music, and even sports and politics openly discuss faith, why do the visual arts shy away from sensitive questions and stick to the “creative process”? Perhaps it’s because it makes us uncomfortable? Read the rest of this entry »

Hi. I’m Phillip, and I work in the museum’s Education division. I’ll be posting periodically about exhibitions in Star Studio. Star Studio is a gallery where work by an artist is paired with an opportunity for visitors to respond to the exhibition by creating artwork of their own in a drop-in studio. Our current exhibition is Squares-Folds-Life: Contemporary Origami by Robert J. Lang. The artist is a former laser physicist who applies his knowledge of mathematics and science to the development of extremely complex and realistic origami sculptures. One of the works featured in the exhibition is Maine Lobster, opus 447.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve taken the concept of bringing work home with me to the extreme. Last week, I traveled to my hometown with the IMA’s assistant curator of contemporary art, Rebecca Uchill, and the artist Allison Smith. The three of us (as well as many others) are all currently immersed in the final stages of planning and implementation of the IMA’s upcoming exhibition, On Procession. As the artist in residence at the Herron School of Art and Design, Allison has been working with dozens of students on her piece for the parade and exhibition. Here’s the official description of her work:

Smith’s project for the Indianapolis Parade, The Donkey, the Jackass and the Mule, will feature equestrian pull-toys with attendants in historical dress. Smith is currently collaborating with students from the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis to create three large wooden pull-toy donkeys mounted on wheeled carts. To bring her donkeys to life, Smith is partnering with local Living History group, Freetown Village.

As fellow fans of history and living history museums, months ago Allison and I discussed with Rebecca the possibility of taking a weekend trip to the historic town of New Harmony, Indiana. Settled in the early 19^th-century, the community of New Harmony is an amazingly rich historic site complete with its own Richard Meier building. Just 20 minutes from my family’s farm in Southern Indiana, my parents were generous to offer their house for our accommodations. The dates were confirmed and my homecoming trip with the curator and artist was booked. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, that went off with a resounding and hushed thud. I was sure my last blog entry would garner heaps of new Wikipedia entries, a personal lunch celebration from the IMA’s Director, and an interview on the Today Show; but instead I got some publicity from other bloggers.

Though I appreciate the pub, I would have preferred people take me up on the idea of creating Wikipedia entries about IMA outdoor sculptures. And, no, I’m not crazy enough to think we would have an IMA wikimarathon to rival the art wikimarathon, but I really thought my post would have generated at least one entry by now.

Read the rest of this entry »