What’s going on this week at the IMA? I’m glad you asked!

1. Ball-Nogues Studio: Gravity’s Loom - Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues have been the guests of the IMA for the last week installing their site-specific work made of multicolored string. This week, don’t miss your opportunity to get up close and personal with the artists and the IMA’s design and installation crew as they install the work in the Efroymson Entrance Pavilion.  The team will be working throughout the day and in open view of visitors, so stop by and check out how this exhibition comes together. The show opens to the public this  Friday, but if you’ve got time, come by Thursday evening for a preview and artist talk.

2. Distance closes this Sunday. Kids and adults alike have been mesmerized all summer by Jeppe Hein’s rollercoaster-like track in the Forefront Galleries. Stop by this week for your final chance to follow a white, plastic ball as it rolls through 3 different rooms on the IMA’s fourth floor. This exhibition is a can’t miss, but hurry…you’ve only got 6 more days to see it!

3. Bring your family and friends to 100 Acres this weekend. I just checked the forecast and the weather looks perfect for a picnic! Bring a frisbee or a football and play around in the Park’s meadow. Interested in a tour? Every Sunday, there is a docent-led walk around the Park from 11 a.m. to noon.

(Don’t forget the Museum is closed on Mondays, but 100 Acres is open 7 days a week, including Labor Day.)

OK, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, but those are 3 good reasons for our friends in and around Indianapolis to come to the IMA this week.

Want more? Visit our calendar to see a full list of programs and exhibitions.

Filed under: Current Events

Richard getting ready to crush it to left

This year, with Jim Walker’s help from the Big Car Gallery, we resurrected the Indy Cultural Softball League.  We’re fortunate to play on a handsome stretch of grass just behind the Garfield Park Arts Center, and have the park’s historic 1903 pagoda as a backdrop.

League Logo designed by Joel Dale

The teams in the league are:
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
Herron School of Art & Design
Big Car Gallery
And this other team, from this other museum here in Indianapolis. What’s their name? I always forget… oh, yeah, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Our softball nemesis!  The Newman to our Seinfeld.

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Filed under: Current Events, Local, Musings

The design and fabrication collective Ball-Nogues will be installing a site specific work in the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion through September 2. Founded by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues in 2005, the Los Angeles based collective creates installations that are situated between design, art, and architecture. Using adapted raw materials such as string or steel, and everyday objects such as tables, shirts, or clothespins, Ball-Nogues’ installations evoke a sense of wonder as they innovatively engage public spaces. See more of their work here.

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Filed under: Art, Current Events, Exhibitions

I decided to keep this volley a bit less cluttered than my “space pirates” version. I had made some vector bug outlines a long time ago and this seemed like a good time to use one. I used ants silhouettes to style the word “nature”. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Praying Mantis. I changed the mood by making it much darker. It’s starting to look like a scary/sci-fi movie poster to me now. Stay tuned for @jmscottimd’s final volley in this round coming soon.

See the other two round 2 serves before mine:

Also, see all four volleys from round 1 here.

Also, be sure to check out Aaron’s latest graphic design battle shenanigans over at at the official site of Layers Tennis. An epic battle of the beards sure to make you say wow.

Filed under: Art, Design, Local, Technology

Insects as most of us know come in a vast array of forms. Still one can be truly amazed at what they come upon. Patty was recently working on the SugarTyme crabapples along the drive in front of Newfield when she came across a pair of odd creatures – wheel bugs, Arilus cristata.

They are related to assassin bugs and as that name implies I guess, they eat other insects. The old “inject you with toxins that dissolve your soft tissue then I suck you dry” routine. More or less. Wikipedia has a bit on them here. Here you will find lots of info on assassin and ambush bugs at UK. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Horticulture