The IMA MAP employs high school sophomores and juniors during the spring and summer to explore what’s happening behind the scenes of the IMA, while working on projects alongside Museum staff. This year, the MAP teens are learning about 100 Acres, its inaugural artists and planning creative experiences that will encourage Park visitors to engage with nature, art and with one another.

Hello, my name is Donte. My thoughts about the museum are just all positive. It is a beautiful and resourceful place to be. It is way more than a museum to me and I’m sure it is to others.

My MAP experience thus far has been great. Just simply art informational and filled with opportunities. As an artist, I always look forward to being or working at the IMA.

In this experience I look forward to coming out of here with way more art knowledge than I had, overcoming mental obstacles, understanding more about nature, and getting the experience to work with a group.

Filed under: Education, Guest Bloggers

The IMA MAP employs high school sophomores and juniors during the spring and summer to explore what’s happening behind the scenes of the IMA, while working on projects alongside Museum staff. This year, the MAP teens are learning about 100 Acres, its inaugural artists and planning creative experiences that will encourage Park visitors to engage with nature, art and with one another.

Hi, my name is Kazeerat, I’m 15 years old and a junior at Northwest High School. I work at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the job is very awesome. I get to work with great people and I have fun everyday. I love the art.

The art [in 100 Acres] is so huge and beautiful. Anyone who sees it is going to love it. We also have some famous artists coming to the Museum [for the 100 Acres Opening] so it’s your time to see them. I urge you to come.

You have no idea how fun all this is because as soon as you see [the art] you just fall in live with it. I think the Museum is like no other one.

Filed under: Education, Guest Bloggers

This summer I am fortunate to have two dedicated and hard-working interns working with me to help take care of the IMA’s many outdoor sculptures.  Here is a post by Jessica Ford and Katherine Langdon discussing their experiences treating the Sewall Memorial Torches which are on loan to Herron High School. Katherine and Jessica take their work very seriously and are pursuing careers in conservation.

Historic photograph of Sewall Memorial Torches

“Hey, I have a new project for you guys,” Richard greeted us as we came into the conservation lab one morning. “The museum owns a pair of bronze lampposts that have just been loaned to Herron High School and installed at their original location at 16^th and Deleware. The school is really excited to have them back. Since they are IMA property, we are responsible for taking care of them. That’ll be our job, so start researching bronze. Chop, chop!”

Thus began our first adventure into the world of outdoor bronze treatment and our blossoming knowledge of the subject. Our research fell into two categories: the history of the Sewall torches themselves, and the characteristics and treatment of outdoor bronze sculpture. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Conservation, Guest Bloggers, Local

The following blog post was written by Sara Croft, former Print Room Intern. She worked out of the Registration Department which is part of the Collection Support Division of the IMA. While she not longer works inside the IMA, she’s still got her fingers on the pulse of the Indianapolis art scene.

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.

Filed under: Art, Current Events, Guest Bloggers, Local

Here’s a post from Ben Valentine, who’s volunteered with me for the past year. He’s not interested in a career in conservation, but rather an artist who shows frequently and has designs on a MFA. He also runs the blog Contemporary Art Truck.

For the past 16 weeks I’ve been volunteering my Monday mornings in the Variable Art Conservation Lab to clean and maintain the 6 room-size installations in the Tara Donovan exhibition, Untitled, which closes in less than 2 weeks on August 1st. Back in March I volunteered to help construct these complex installations under the guidance of Tara, her assistants, and alongside 15 other volunteers. The initial installation took this team more than 60 hours over the course of 8 intense days.

On the night of the opening party I remember walking through the exhibition with a friend and proudly pointing to certain areas of installations in which I worked the most. I talked about the specific areas in Untitled (Plastic Cups) where I sat and stacked cups in order to execute Tara’s plan. And then, after Tara and her assistants returned to New York, I became Richard’s go-to guy for cleaning and maintaining the installations.

Untitled (Plastic Cups) 2006, Courtesy of Artie and Millie Glimcher

Looking back I think I had a false sense of agency on opening night, a false sense that my aesthetic had entered the installations in some way. Now, after spending all this time with Tara’s artworks, I’ve thought a lot about her process, and along the way regained perspective on the minor role I played in Tara’s work. Tara’s art is the unique process she discovered for each instance. Tara’s ideas have the artistic merit; I was simply a means to help realize them here in Indianapolis. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Art, Conservation, Exhibitions, Guest Bloggers