Pulling the IMA magazine together is probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job, aside from Monday Web team meetings. And with the winter (November-January) issue, we usher in a new era of the magazine. No longer called Previews, but simply known as the IMA magazine, the cover and pages present the Museum’s new graphic identity. With a new look also comes fresh content and ideas that incorporate the intersection of art, design and nature. In this issue, we went out on a limb and decided to do our first retail holiday photo shoot–presenting items for sale in the Museum’s shops–rather than rely on product photography from the design house or manufacturers.

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From age four to 18, I lived ballet, pointe and jazz. I found beauty and satisfaction in the culture — the movement, symmetry, expression, discipline, and music. I longed for new leotards and dreaded new pointe shoes and the subsequent weeks of breaking them in.

Where did this love story begin? A swim teacher danced and suggested that I try classes for the coordination, recognition of rhythm and self-confidence it instilled. It was also one of the few activities available during the fall and winter months in a small town. I should mention that I was obsessed with Angelina Ballerina books. I met two of best friends in Creative Dance and find it impossible to forget my lilac butterfly costume from the first recital. From there, it was a whirlwind of performances from The Wizard of Oz to The Nutcracker until I was old enough to become a member of the Wabash Valley Dance Theater Company.

When I spotted an announcement about a new professional ballet company possibly starting in Indy, I broke into a set of grand battement (that’s large kicks for you non-dancers).

Indianapolis City Ballet seeks to unite and strengthen the ballet, dance, and arts community. Founded with a philosophy that more dance is good for everyone — be it professional, amateur or scholastic, contemporary, classical, jazz, ballroom or tap — Indianapolis City Ballet offers links to dance-related resources.

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At a recent dinner party, a friend expressed his fascination with provenance (Defined: the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art). He was astonished that if he bought something as a bona fide purchaser, or in good faith, that he may someday be required to return it without compensation if it was found to be a valuable cultural relic that was stolen, looted or untrue in record of ownership. I, on the other hand, was astonished that this concept seemed so unfamiliar to him.

And perhaps this is why we began a series of articles in the IMA’s magazine on the provenance of important works in the Museum’s collection, written by Annette Schlagenhauff. As the IMA’s Associate Curator for Research, Annette has spent years tracing the paths of works of art from the artists’ hands to the walls of the IMA. The stories are fascinating and not without moral ambiguities and missing pieces.  Read the rest of this entry »

Acclaimed film director Julie Dash worked with six area high school students over the course of their participation in the IMA’s Museum Apprentice Program to produce short films featured in the exhibition Smuggling Daydreams into Reality: Yesterday, Today and Forever.

The exhibition opened Saturday and runs through January 18, 2010 in the IMA’s Star Studio. I spent my Tuesday lunch in the exhibition. The students’ video works and the film documenting the process with Dash drew me in. I was also tempted to add my own daydream to an IMA Flickr set shown in the exhibition as a slideshow. But my stomach was growling so I’ll have to go back.

I was delighted to sit down with Julie for a quick chat earlier this year.

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This post was written by IMA Public Affairs intern Margaret Sutherlin. She is a senior at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, and plans to graduate as a double major in English Writing and Political Science. Post graduation she hopes to find a job before attending graduate school.

Working at the IMA for the past few weeks has only seemed to heighten this nagging observation I noticed years ago. There are two types of people when it comes to any, but especially, an art museum visit: those willing visitors and those who would simply rather not. Each side is a simple preference, like cats over dogs, or vanilla over chocolate, Cubs or Cardinals. The preference exists in our families and friends, each side representing itself at one time or another. But this ‘preference’ to go or not go visit an art museum, seems to be a bit of an annoying, elusive thing to solve or make sense of. I have rarely heard of a middle ground on the subject, nor experienced it, and it always seems to be people either do or do not want to go to an art museum. In a recent 4th of July adventure to St. Louis I experienced the two-sided argument once again.

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