I’ve taken the concept of bringing work home with me to the extreme. Last week, I traveled to my hometown with the IMA’s assistant curator of contemporary art, Rebecca Uchill, and the artist Allison Smith. The three of us (as well as many others) are all currently immersed in the final stages of planning and implementation of the IMA’s upcoming exhibition, On Procession. As the artist in residence at the Herron School of Art and Design, Allison has been working with dozens of students on her piece for the parade and exhibition. Here’s the official description of her work:

Smith’s project for the Indianapolis Parade, The Donkey, the Jackass and the Mule, will feature equestrian pull-toys with attendants in historical dress. Smith is currently collaborating with students from the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis to create three large wooden pull-toy donkeys mounted on wheeled carts. To bring her donkeys to life, Smith is partnering with local Living History group, Freetown Village.

As fellow fans of history and living history museums, months ago Allison and I discussed with Rebecca the possibility of taking a weekend trip to the historic town of New Harmony, Indiana. Settled in the early 19^th-century, the community of New Harmony is an amazingly rich historic site complete with its own Richard Meier building. Just 20 minutes from my family’s farm in Southern Indiana, my parents were generous to offer their house for our accommodations. The dates were confirmed and my homecoming trip with the curator and artist was booked. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »