I have the incredible privilege of spending four weeks at the American Academy in Rome as an Affiliate Fellow, representing the IMA. From time to time I hope to post some of my adventures and discoveries here. What a ride! (To read the rest of the posts in this series, click here.)

September 30, 2009

This morning I went on an orientation tour of the library at the American Academy in Rome. It is a beautiful library, both conceptually and physically. Imagine sitting in small reading rooms next to wide open windows (no screens) that open onto idyllic Italian gardens. Imagine several floors of stacks that go down into a kind of crypt, and also those small, ladder-like circular stairways that lead to upper-level shelving. Imagine an aesthetic of contemporary simplicity and book preservation science in harmony with warm, traditional wooden desks and chairs. The cataloguing system is unique to the Academy, neither Dewey nor Library of Congress. The fellows and residents here have wonderfully generous access after they’ve taken the orientation tour.

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Filed under: Education, Travel

If you happen to be at the Indianapolis Museum of Art later today, say 5pm, you’ll have a chance of discovering Bloggers Anonymous.  It’s our third event of BA, and something pretty different from what we typically do regarding technology.  We’re actually meeting people face-to-face.  At the IMA, we kind of dig technology and spend a lot of time developing digital projects, like this blog, ArtBabble, TAP and a million other things.  We really love our work, but I guess there would be one draw back to what we do.

Hey, you get to hang out with me.

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Filed under: Local, Technology

There are countless intriguing stories at the IMA, sometimes untold. Here is one of them.

Look like a rerun of X-Files? It’s not. If you’ve been around the Museum after dark recently, you may have spotted the new LED light installation in The Sutphin Fountain. Jeff Earl, head electrician at the IMA, replaced all the original white halogen lights, many submerged underwater, with the new technology.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Current Events, Technology

By far, my favorite season of the year at the IMA is fall.  Currently we’re right into the series of weeks where the grounds transform into this amazing color palette of reds, oranges and yellows.  I happen to start working for the IMA late September three years ago, just in time to experience the magnificence and get hooked.

Indianapolis Museum of Art Garden, Pony Bridge; contributed by Terry.Tyson

I’m not the only one captured by the seasons, as shown by the IMA Flickr Group.  As of this writing we have over 200 members and we are pushing dangerously close to 2000 images!  It’s wonderful to see the many vantage points brought together to a single point on the web.

Here’s a few photos I captured three years ago shortly after starting at the IMA.  They are not altered in any way.  I always revel in these photos and tell people about them.  So I am taking my opportunity now to share them with you.

Grab the extinguisher. This tree's on fire!

Check out the latest additions to the Flickr group and please join us by sharing your fall photos as well.

Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Horticulture

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Blog: LaundroMatinee

The idea for LaundroMatinee.com came from the creators of renowned local blog  My Old Kentucky Blog when they started inviting bands in to record small radio sessions at Pendleton Heights High School in the small, quiet town of Pendleton, Indiana.  The founders  shared an equally passionate love of independent music as well as an overwhelming compulsion to share it with others.  Watch exclusive stripped-down and intimate recording sessions in sometimes unusual locations.

ArtBabble Video: Thought Process: An Interview with Joshua Mosley

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Filed under: Art, Current Events, Local, New Media