The IMA’s silent film series continues on April 12, with a rare showing of WC Fields’ So’s Your Old Man (1926), followed by its sound remake You’re Telling Me (1934).  Although Fields is well remembered for his talking pictures, his silent work is nearly forgotten today.  Most of the films are tied up in complex rights issues, none of which got more complicated than So’s Your Old Man.

Based on an award-winning story by Julian Street, the film tells the story of eccentric inventor Sam Bisbee (Fields), who has invented a shatterproof glass and wants to sell the patent in the big city.  A series of tragic and comic circumstances keep Bisbee from selling his patent, and, dejected, he boards a train bound for home.  Unable to face the shame of failure, he contemplates suicide.  Fortune belatedly intervenes and a foreign princess, traveling on the same train, comes to his rescue.

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Filed under: Film, Guest Bloggers, Public Programs, The Toby

The artwork in Graphite that really got me was Staumauer by Michaela Früwirth. The piece was seemingly larger than any other piece. I was immediately drawn to it because honestly, I did not understand why someone would create such a large and seemingly “blank” piece of art. As an educator, graphite is largely confined to pencils, number 2 pencils to be exact. These pencils, while they are instruments we use to write and express ourselves in other written formats, have come to symbolize testing to me; typically of the standardized variety. Usually, you have to have a number 2 pencil sharpened and ready for the completion of your standardized test. Technology has taken us into a digital era, however most tests are still conducted with the use of pencil and paper in some aspect. Seeing that large graphite filled piece of art in a room of many other artworks that rely on graphite made me think, “We are so wrong about how graphite can be used in schools.” Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Contemporary, Public Programs

Today, the IMA launches it’s first major refresh of its website since its initial launch in February 2010. The refreshed site includes an updated information architecture, a minimal, responsive design, and loads of new content.

The new imamuseum.org.

The redesign centers around a more structured hierarchy of information as well as a renewed simplicity around the site navigation and a refreshed appearance throughout. With mobile traffic on the rise, the responsive design makes the site accessible across a broad range of screen sizes and devices and provides a more seamless digital experience. Through the collaboration of the IMA’s digital production team, the site was built entirely in-house.

Though the refresh has been applied to most major sections of the site, some additional sections will continue to be updated over the next year, including areas devoted to the IMA’s collection and blog.

We’re excited to bring you expanded and more timely content on your favorite devices through our new website. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Filed under: Around the Web, Design, New Media, Public Programs, Technology

It may seem that this week’s Winter Nights show is a mismatched pair of films.  The films do have a few things in common. Besides the fact that they are both “visual feasts” with dramatic photography, they both contain violent images and they both were the first films made by their respective directors.

The first film that will be shown is Night of the Hunter (1955), which was directed by Charles Laughton.  He had been a successful actor in movies for some 25 years by the time he decided to direct this film.  It was not successful when released, and Laughton returned to acting.  Laughton’s blood-and-thunder opening, followed by the sensitive, dramatic approach to the ending, was a little jarring for 1955 audiences.  Robert Mitchum’s character, Harry Powell, is unhinged and creepy, a complete departure from roles he’d been playing up to that time.  Seen today, it’s an unforgettable bravura performance, but at the time reviewers found it confusing.  Mitchum is top-billed, but is the film’s villain, even though he does not appear for long stretches of screen time.

As the film reaches its midsection, the entire tone of the story changes.  Trying to escape the influence of murderer Mitchum, two children (Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce), flee down a river and continue on several adventures.  Their exploits have an almost story-book quality to them, thanks to the photography of Stanley Cortez.

Cortez (1908-1997) is the film’s true star, because Night of the Hunter literally shimmers with his dazzling photography.  He had been working in films for years, notably on The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and he had a fondness for experimental photographic techniques, often things that mainstream Hollywood was reluctant to let him do.  Charles Laughton gave Cortez a free hand to try different things, within the bounds of Laughton’s overall vision, which was to create a German Expressionistic atmosphere.  Cortez was only nominated for an Oscar twice, although he never won.  Although Night of the Hunter is perhaps his finest work, it was not nominated at all.

Director Laughton also went un-nominated, another undeserved slight.  Most directors tend to be either technical experts, overseeing the photography and editing, or acting specialists who compose sloppy films.  Laughton handled both tasks well.  Children are particularly difficult to direct, and Laughton lavished extra time on them to get the performances he needed.  Elsa Lanchester, Laughton’s widow, donated 80,000 feet (over 13 hours) of footage showing outtakes and behind-the-scenes shots, enough that UCLA historians were able to make a documentary about Night of the Hunter that lasts longer than the film itself.

Like Night of the Hunter, the second film on the program Un Chien Andalou (1929) also starts off violently.  Un Chien is the first film directed by Luis Buñuel, who, unlike Laughton, went on to a long career directing movies.

Inspired by dream logic and surrealistic art, Buñuel and collaborator Salvador Dali made a film comprised almost solely of stunning images without a thread of plot to connect them.  Their hope was that it would annoy and upset patrons looking for a conventional narrative, and they were slightly disappointed when the film caught on with audiences and got decent reviews.

The film’s opening shot is not for the squeamish, and is one of the most iconic in all cinema.  Actress Simonne Mareuil apparently has her eye slashed open with a razor (actually done by intercutting with a dead calf’s eye being cut).  This image is juxtaposed with a cloud, also shaped like a razor, “cutting” across the surface of the moon.

Un Chien Andalou continues at a breakneck pace throughout its brief 16-minute running time, with images of ants crawling out of a hole in a man’s hand, dead donkeys strapped to pianos, and, well, a lot of other things.

Overall, it makes no sense, but it isn’t supposed to make sense.  Like all art, it’s supposed to make the audience think and feel, which it still does.

Both films will be screened Friday night in the Toby, starting at 7pm. 

Filed under: Film, Public Programs, The Toby

Yesterday we (the Environmental & Historic Preservation Division of the Indianapolis Museum of Art) held our inaugural Emily N. Daniels Horticulture Symposium. Titled “Shade Savvy,” the symposium brought together five highly respected speakers, both national and local, to the IMA to discuss the many possibilities that shade provides when planning or working in a garden.

Every kind of plant was presented as a potential partner in helping the amateur and professional gardener achieve success. A very large plant palette was presented to attendees, from small native spring ephemerals to large exotic trees, dappled shade to dense dark shade, and stunning tender tropicals to tough as nails perennials. We were thrilled to have 175 people from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio join us for this wonderful event.

A quick note on each of the speakers, who not only educated but entertained the audience (you need to have a sense of humor when you deal with nature every day).

Dan Benarcik of Chanticleer Gardens opened our program with a visually stunning review of many wonderful plant combinations used in this highly respected public garden. Chanticleer is rightfully considered one of the finest gardens to visit. I always leave there inspired nearly beyond measure.

Karen Perkins was our one specialist, you might say. She covered the incredibly diverse world of epimediums. Her mail-order business, Garden Vision Epimediums, carries an amazing selection of plants with fragile looking flowers and exotic leaves that are in reality some of our hardiest perennials. Expect her to be online soon but in the meantime you can request a catalogue at by emailing her here.

Munchkin Nursery & Gardens, LLC in southern Indiana has been a destination and mail-order nursery for some time. Husband and wife team Gene Bush and JoAn Riley run the nursery and garden but Gene is the one that gets in front of audiences. Always knowledgeable and entertaining, he presented many tough shade tolerant perennials.

As the interest in using native plants in our gardens has increased, so has the research. This covers not only new colors and forms, but also less obvious things like selection for more robust plants that reproduce faster. Faster reproduction can mean more folks can add natives to their home gardens.  It also generally means lower cost so we can afford more of them. Brian Jorge of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s Native Plant Program presented a program highlighting the diverse possibilities of Trilliums and other native woodland flowers. Always remember this zoo is also a botanical garden. You can get your flora and fauna fix at the same time.

Our final speaker, Paul Cappiello of Yew Dell Gardens, concentrated on woody plants for the shade garden whether they were for growing in the shade or creating the shade. Actually, most of the trees he mentioned did both. He could not resist presenting some prime herbaceous plants as well. Heuchera parviflora is in our future. Yew Dell is a young dynamic public garden only about 1 ½ hours south of Indianapolis and well worth the easy drive.

Before this first symposium started, we were already wondering aloud about next year’s possibilities. With the wrap up of “Shade Savvy” nearly complete we will soon sit down to evaluate the program and toss around ideas for 2014. We hope you will be able to join us in the future and contribute to our next savvy success.

Filed under: Horticulture, Public Programs, The Toby