Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

I AM A FASHION ADDICT.

It all started at an early age. As a young girl growing up in Southwestern Indiana, my Aunt Donna was far and away the most fashionable person I knew. She owned a few designer handbags, quite a few pairs of Ferragamo shoes, and an extensive jewelry collection. Always an impeccable dresser, she was the height of fashion in my young world.

20 years later, my passion for fashion has expanded significantly, but my Aunt is still at the heart of it all. I have inherited her shoes, her handbags, some of her jewelry, and most importantly, her appreciation for all things chic. I work hard at emulating her style. I’m not going to lie…I subscribe to 5 different fashion magazines. I also do my fair share of internet reading. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Web sites and blogs dedicated to fashion and I probably read about half of them.

Until recently I felt guilty about my style addiction. I only read www.style.com behind closed doors, because I felt it was frivolous and indulgent. However, with the opening of the IMA’s latest exhibition, Breaking the Mode: Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the tutorial of the IMA’s curator of textile and fashion arts, Niloo Paydar, I have learned that my love for fashion is another variation of my passion for art. PHEW!…I’m not nearly as shallow and superficial as I thought I was! Read the rest of this entry »

Hi. I’m Phillip, and I work in the museum’s Education division. I’ll be posting periodically about exhibitions in Star Studio. Star Studio is a gallery where work by an artist is paired with an opportunity for visitors to respond to the exhibition by creating artwork of their own in a drop-in studio. Our current exhibition is Squares-Folds-Life: Contemporary Origami by Robert J. Lang. The artist is a former laser physicist who applies his knowledge of mathematics and science to the development of extremely complex and realistic origami sculptures. One of the works featured in the exhibition is Maine Lobster, opus 447.

Read the rest of this entry »

Scattered across the great Midwest exist outdoor novelties some of us are so lucky to grow up with. Opened in 1950, my hometown of Wabash County has the state’s largest single screen drive-in theater, playing double features each summer night, with 700 parking spaces, traditional speakers with FM radio feed and a retro concession building. My friends and I would borrow dad’s truck on a Saturday night, throw a bunch of sleeping bags in the bed and make a pizza stop before pulling into “13/24 Drive-in” just before dusk.

Indiana is one of America’s top 10 drive-in states. There are 23 theaters currently in operation, according to DriveInMovie.com. There used to be five times that many until rising land values started shutting them down. But lately, it seems people have become tired of the pricey multiplex tickets and have decided to opt for a more affordable (and in my opinion more fun) route of heading out to experience the nostalgia of the drive-in. Tickets go for about $7 for adults and $4 for children.

With the comeback of drive-in theaters comes the idea of an indoor drive-in cinema. Check out Manhattan’s DRV-IN, at the performance venue Grand Opening, which features a movie screen hung in front of a single vintage Ford Falcon convertible. Groups of six can rent the one-car drive-in starting at $75 per screening, with a choice of films. A Carload at a Time may be in the pricey future.

The American icon lives on this summer at the IMA. Not exactly your middle of the cornfield drive-in, or the indoor “cars under the stars” walk-in cinema experience, but it captures some of the thrill of both.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: Kicking off the Summer Nights film series at the IMA on June 6 will be Grease (PG 1978), directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Drive-in, walk-in or bike-in — I’ll see you there!

(Stay tuned to imamuseum.org for the full Summer Night’s film line-up.)

On Friday, June 6, the IMA will start its 33rd season of the Summer Nights Film Series. For more than 3 decades the IMA’s outdoor film series has been a fan favorite. Every Friday night from June through August, crowds have brought picnic blankets and coolers and filled the IMA’s outdoor terrace to see classic movies like Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz, modern hits like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Princess Bride, and offbeat cult films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Shaft.

The tradition continues in 2008 with one twist. This summer we want your help in choosing the films. 3 of the 13 films screened for Summer Nights will be selected based on an audience vote.* That’s right, we’re doing this American Idol style, and we need your help…

Below are four categories of films with 5 choices each. Vote for your favorite film in each of the categories. Vote once, vote daily, vote hourly, it’s up to you. In the IMA’s version of American Idol, not only do you get to vote, but you also get to be Simon, Paula or Randy (but not William Hung). Feeling like you can diss it Simon Cowell style? Leave a response to this blog entry. Tell us what film you voted for and why. (If you need to learn more about the films listed below, I suggest visiting my favorite online film resource imdb.com.)

Oh, and to make this even more official, the polls will close at midnight eastern standard time on February 8. You’ve got 10 days to make your voice heard.

America, the choice is yours! Liffick out.

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE END OF FEBRUARY. STAY TUNED!

*Licensing fees and restrictions may prohibit certain selections from being screened. However, the IMA will do all that is possible to secure and show all winning films.

I’m disappointed. Really disappointed.

Last night I was very excited to go to Herron School of Art on the campus of IUPUI to see a lecture by Allison Smith. Smith is a generous and talented artist who in the spring of 2008 will undertake a major sculpture project with students and faculty at the Herron School to be featured in the “On Procession” parade and exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Almost 100 eager students and art lovers showed up for the lecture in the Basile Auditorium. Unfortunately, all of us were sent home without hearing from Smith. No one was more upset by this than the artist. She was forced to cancel the lecture because her 17″ silver Macbook was stolen from the auditorium after she set up her presentation, but before she began. It happened between 5:40 and 6:00 PM. Read the rest of this entry »