Many of us at the IMA are working towards getting the Miller House ready to open to the public. In the spring of 2011 visitors will be able to tour the house in small groups, accompanied by a guide, embarking from the Columbus, IN Visitors Center.

Miller House living room with view out to the gardens

One of the many details to consider when designing a house tour is mapping the exact route visitors will take through the house. We want to provide an authentic experience of the architecture, interior design and gardens while protecting the original fabric of the house and its furnishings.

To accomplish this we will install custom sized carpet runners to mark a path for tours to follow. The carpet runners will be placed to create some distance between visitors and fragile furnishings, yet will allow visitors to move within the architectural space, rather than peering at it from a distance.

Kathleen Kiefer, Senior Conservator of Textiles, and Bradley Brooks, Director of Historic Resources, measure for carpet runners to mark the path for Miller House public tours.

We have been careful in considering the color of the carpet runners we will be using. In some settings, high contrast between runners and the surfaces they cover may be desirable, but in the Miller House, we have opted for the same tone as the floors. This will allow the runners to be as visually unobtrusive as possible.

Non-adhesive-transfer blue masking tape used to mark the desired distance for a runner away from a fragile living room rug.

Beyond marking the way and allowing visitors to be clear about the areas where they are welcome to walk, the carpet runners will be beneficial in trapping some of the dirt and debris inevitably tracked in on visitors’ shoes. Some historic houses issue visitors booties to be worn over their shoes, but we believe the drawbacks associated with booties would out weigh the benefits, for our purposes, at the Miller House.

For an in depth look (over 900 pages!) at approaches to preventive conservation care and stewardship of historic properties, see the National Trust Manual of Housekeeping.

What do you think is best, carpet runners or booties?

Today (yes, Friday the 13th) a couple dozen Andy Warhol look-a-likes dashed around Monument Circle to the rockin’ sounds of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Run Run Run’ for a little thing we like to call a flash mob.

That leaves two kinds of people in this town: those who saw it, and those who didnt.

You were there? Awesome! You can upload your pics and vids to using your Flickr account. Missed the action? Don’t get your wig in a twist. Stay tuned for great footage and images here.

What’s coming to take it’s place? Architecture and design fans, rejoice! Los Angeles-based design team Ball-Nogues Studio will create an immersive, site-specific installation called Gravity’s Loom.

Ball-Nogues Studio, Feathered Edge, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

The space will be filled with multicolored strings configured in catenary curves, arcs naturally assumed by the strings as they respond to the force of gravity. Trained as architects, Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues are working with the pavilion’s architecture to develop an installation related to the function of the space as a thoroughfare and meeting point for visitors.

Check out this wicked installation video from The Arts Council for Long Beach:

Explore how designers of the 20^th century shaped the direction of avant-garde fashion by using modern construction and unexpected materials to contort, conceal, reveal or mock their wearers.

This Saturday, you can experience the sounds Nick Hennies as he performs music from his forthcoming album, Psalms, as well as Objects, a new work dedicated to the exhibition Tara Donovan: Untitled and composed especially for this installation.

Drawing connections to Donovan’s work, Hennies’ piece makes seemingly familiar sounds become strange and new.

Check out one of Nick’s performances below:

New Sound Facilities #1 – Nick Hennies & Sandy Ewen from You and Yours on Vimeo.

Last Friday night’s sold-out fright fest was one to remember. I’ve never had so much fun getting pelted with toast and toilet paper. Have no idea what I’m talking about? Whatch the video below:

Tonight’s Summer Nights film is another midnight showing- this time of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. See you there… or we’ll send this guy after you.

As artists, we rely on our senses to create our forms of expression.  Many might consider sight the most important. For John Bramblitt, it’s the least.

image courtesy of bramblitt.net

Before John lost his sight, he didn’t spend much time thinking about painting.  He said, “I had thought about painting before, and it might be horrible to say, but I didn’t think I’d be good at it. When I lost my sight, I thought, if I’m not good at it, I’m not going to be able to look at it anyway, so why not give it a try.”

Painting was calming for John.  He lost his sight to epilepsy, which left him angry and frustrated.  John said, “Had I not lost my sight, I might never have picked up a paintbrush.”

John has developed a process that allows him to paint by touch.  The only difference is that instead of using his eyes to differentiate colors, he uses his fingertips.

image courtesy of bramblitt.net

John will be in Indianapolis on July 29^th to speak at the 2010 Statewide Assistive Technology Conference.  He will conduct a hands-on workshop, where he will instruct people on what it is like to paint from his perspective.

For more information on the event, go here. To learn more about John and his process of painting, visit John’s site.

And I don’t wanna brag, but I also happen to be the Mayor of 100 Acres and Nourish Cafe. Bet you didn’t know I was such a big shot, did you? Now gimme your lunch money.

You don’t recall voting, so how did I end up in office? By frequently “checking in” on the social media app. Foursquare, via my smart phone. And get this: I checked in to the IMA on Foursquare last week and to my surprise, received this badge:

I have to admit, I was slightly offended. Until I actually looked up what it meant: A zoetrope, which means ‘wheel of life’ in Greek,  is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static picture. So basically, a motion picture.

So how is it I won this badge by frequenting an art museum? Oh, well yes.  The IMA does offer quite a bit for the film buff. And I’m not just talkin’ The Toby.

Part of the 40^th Annual Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration, the IBE Film Fest features the artistry of established and emerging filmmakers creating non-Hollywood productions on subjects relevant to the African-American experience.

Indianapolis International Film Festival

July 15-July 25: DeBoest Lecture Hall & The Toby

The 2010 Indy Film Fest partners with the IMA to host another world-class selection of independent films, actors and directors from around the globe. This year’s line-up includes films from both award-winning professionals and emerging filmmakers, ranging from short-subject documentaries to full-length feature films.

Summer Nights Film Series

June 4- August 27: IMA’s Outdoor Amphitheater

From June 4 to August 27, the IMA will be screening films every Friday in its outdoor amphitheater, located on the west side of the Museum.  The 2010 series includes films from six different decades. This week’s film is Alfred Hitchcock’s suspenseful classic North by Northwest.

So whatever you are: film-buff, videophile, movie-junkie or zoetrope… we’ve got what you need. And we promise not to call you any names.

Miller House

I was moved by I.M. Pei‘s sleek lines. Seduced by Eames‘ furniture design. Amazed by Harry Weese‘s understanding of light. But in all this courtship, something unexpected happened. An unmistakable tug at my heart strings and a tummy full of butterflies. I fell madly in love with landscape architect Dan Kiley. Well, to be exact, I fell in love with his landscape architecting skills.

Kiley knew the landscape a structure sits on is just as important as the structure itself. It’s a balanced, complementing relationship. A gentle dance across a crowded floor. Swoon.

I wandered through Kiley’s shaded clean grid patterns, well-trimmed shrubs and meticulously placed trees. All were in linear harmony with the horizontal and vertical lines of the structures at their center.

Kiley's work outside Saarinen's North Christian Church

I know what you’re thinking: “He’s so not your type!” Those who know me are aware “linear” and “well-trimmed” are rarely associated with my aesthetic approach. I’m more of an asymmetrical, scruffy and slightly overgrown kinda gal. So what was it about Kiley that stole my heart?

Mark Zelonis captured it in this post detailing the reverent experience he and Ed Blake (landscape architect for the IMA’s 100 Acres) shared while visiting the Miller House garden, designed by none other than my new beau, Dan.

Ed first witnessed the site decades ago while on a work assignment in Columbus. He was then only able to peek through the already tall arborvitae hedges guarding the property’s east side, but knew the place was indeed very special. After all, one of the 20th century’s masters of landscape design, Dan Kiley, had worked his magic here. For all of us in the field, this is a place for reverence.

Miller House garden

Columbus is adorned with Kiley landscapes, both public and private. Perhaps the most cherished are the grounds surrounding North Christian Church, the last building architect Eero Saarinen designed before his death in 1961. It is the last of three buildings in Columbus that Saarinen and Kiley worked on together. The building is woven into the fabric of the site like a fine Girard textile. I was lost, and found there.

Lucky for you, I won’t keep my Danny Boy all to myself. I’ll share him in the form of a Dan Kiley tour I put together  just for you (with the help of the Columbus, IN Visitors Association):

- North Christian Church: The entry sequence consists of a long curving drive that runs through open woods of old native hardwoods, to a series of parking lots formed into courtyards and camouflaging vehicles by high hedges and perimeter trees. Maple allees define much of the perimeter of the property. A small meadow bounded by woods, allees, magnolia grove, and hedges affords the single unobstructed view of the building.

Eero Saarinen's North Christian Church (1964)

- Irwin Union Bank: The 1954 Irwin Union Bank building was an early collaboration between architect Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley. The building is flat-roofed, made of steel and glass in the International Style. Kiley wanted an office building within a garden. Kiley surrounded the base with thick groundcover and place it inside a grove of honey locust trees to connect inside and outside.

Irwin Union Bank (1954)

- Miller House and Garden: “A “classic of modern horticulture, unsurpassed in the United States…” — The Magazine Antiques. The IMA recently acquired the landmark Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana. One of the country’s most highly regarded examples of mid-century Modernist residences, the Miller House was designed by Eero Saarinen, with interiors by Alexander Girard, and landscape design by Daniel Kiley.

Miller House and Garden

Miller House is slated to open to the public next year, but don’t sit around waiting til then to dive deep in to all the design goodness Columbus has to offer. Who knows, maybe you’ll fall head over heels too.

Peewee’s Big Adventure was made in 1985. I was born in 1985.

We both have signature fashion accessories:

Him: red bowtie

Me: roller skates

We both like Cyndi Lauper. (The show’s theme song is by Cyndi Lauper. But she was credited as Ellen Shaw.)

Okay. So. We don’t actually have anything in common. But I could dress up like him if I wanted to. For, you know, fun. And so can you. On June 25, we’re showing PeeWee’s Big Adventure as part of our Summer Night’s Film Series outdoors at the IMA, and we’re encouraging everybody to come in dressed as their favorite PeeWee character.

To get your mouths watering, we decided to hop around the museum and snap some “look-kinda-alike” photos of our very own IMA staffers. (Click here to see the full Flickr set)

Heh. Let’s just say some were more willing than others.

Rob Stein, CIO

So tonight: “Get outta bed, there’ll be no more nappin’! ‘Cause you’ve landed in a place where anything can happen.” Oh, and don’t forget your red bowtie.