As the lights go out in the MAP students’ summer homeroom for the last time, I’m once again left with that mix of emotions that comes at end of a summer when a new group of teens have left their imprint on the program and on me. It never gets old to see the transformation in how students begin the program quiet, reserved and unsure, but leave confident, bonded and lamenting the program’s end.

As with every year, the program takes on a slightly different feel. This summer, the MAP students’ objective was to welcome and encourage 100 Acres visitors to interact with the Park’s natural environments, and its installations through games and activities which they facilitated. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Education

The Circle was anything but square today.

Today (yes, Friday the 13th) a couple dozen Andy Warhol look-a-likes dashed around Monument Circle to the rockin’ sounds of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Run Run Run’ for a little thing we like to call a flash mob.

That leaves two kinds of people in this town: those who saw it, and those who didnt.

You were there? Awesome! You can upload your pics and vids to using your Flickr account. Missed the action? Don’t get your wig in a twist. Stay tuned for great footage and images here.

Filed under: Current Events, Exhibitions, Marketing, New Media

I’d like to take a moment to celebrate some often overlooked superheroes on every museum’s staff.

Security Guards.

Okay, so security guards might seem ubiquitous, keeping guard over every gallery room from sea to shining sea. How could I consider them overlooked? I’ll even admit; I’ve never seen a security guard leap a tall building in a single bound.

Yet, if you’ve ever been lost in a maze of galleries in a huge museum, searching in desperation for the loo, I think you’ll agree that those ever present staffers can be life savers.

We can all appreciate their role in preventing little hyper Johnny from drawing mustaches on the poor Serruys Sisters

. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Art, Exhibitions, Guest Bloggers

This Friday night, the IMA showcases a spectacle that no curator could wrangle and no corporation could sponsor.  It’s called the Perseids meteor shower.

You’re invited to bring a flashlight and blanket, to make your way out to 100 Acres, and settle in for a free light show.

The shower is called the Perseids because it appears that it emanates from the constellation Perseus, the original tough guy of Greek mythology.  What you’ll see, barring clouds or rain, is a trail of cosmic boogers left by the streaking Comet Swift-Tuttle.  This comet is the largest object known to make repeated passes near the Earth. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Current Events, Education, Public Programs

You may notice a little ‘pardon our dust’ beginning this week in the Efroymson Entrance Pavilion of the IMA. Heather Rowe’s installation, Tenuous Arrangements has left the building. In case you missed it, check out her talk on ArtBabble below:

What’s coming to take it’s place? Architecture and design fans, rejoice! Los Angeles-based design team Ball-Nogues Studio will create an immersive, site-specific installation called Gravity’s Loom.

Ball-Nogues Studio, Feathered Edge, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

The space will be filled with multicolored strings configured in catenary curves, arcs naturally assumed by the strings as they respond to the force of gravity. Trained as architects, Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues are working with the pavilion’s architecture to develop an installation related to the function of the space as a thoroughfare and meeting point for visitors.

Check out this wicked installation video from The Arts Council for Long Beach:

Filed under: Art, Current Events, Exhibitions