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

Hey,

Haven’t blogged in a while. Strange. Am a bit detached at this point with the opening of 100 Acres this weekend. But, that kinda makes sense. It’s the culmination of a long endeavor on my part, Type A’s part and, of course, the IMA and everyone who works (and has worked) to make the Art & Nature Park a reality. It’s at times like these that I get a bit detached. It’s a method of approaching exciting and nerve-racking times. Since there are so many ways in which this event can be “ruined,” it makes sense to take the good with the bad, as they say.

For example, the weather forecast for the opening weekend has been, how shall I say this, horrific. Maybe some people don’t mind 90 degree weather. But, add in storms and flooding…

Lisa Freiman says bring it on.

I could just get all upset and ask how could the weather gods let this be. But, it’s just a (bad) coincidence: crappy weather for an outdoor opening (paging Alanis Morissette). In any case, I could get upset or just take it in stride (I am throwing in a lot of cliches for some reason). It is as it is.

Strangely enough, this tactic of not taking things personally has led to quite a bit of introspection. Basically I go through a laundry list of the things that have happened in the time it’s taken to create and complete the project. Was Team Building successful? I’m gonna say yes. Will people notice? What kind of an effect will it have on my career? Come to think of it, where is my career now? There’s good momentum from 100 Acres. And we have a monograph out! But what’s next?

And, while we’re at it, how’s my personal life? It’s certainly different than when this project started. Well, for starters, I’m no longer married. Single dad time for me! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg (cliche alert #37). That I claim to let things go is not entirely true. It’s not true at all. In fact, it’s all personal. What to do? I can elevate the importance and get all prima donna about it.

Or…

I can think back to the whole point of the Team Building project, the whole reason for being involved with the IMA and 100 Acres in the first place.

Team Building with Type A

The experiential education elements shine through. I remember how experience occurs without an inherent value attached. Once through the experience, then all the thought processes and value placing begins. And it’s here that releasing the experience from all of that can be liberating. It makes it harder to sum up and convey, especially without the positive or negative elements that help turn the experience into anecdote. But it’s not about conveying; it’s about letting others have their experience and, if desired and possible, sharing in some way.

That’s what Type A attempted to capture in Team Building (Align). And it’s that sentiment, that modus operandi, that I am trying to apply to my pre-opening weekend jitters.

So, the park will be muddy and humid and hot and everyone’s hair will be frizzed out. Okay. And it will be stormy over the weekend and on the Summer Solstice, and clouds will block the sun from casting the ring’s shadow. Okay. In any case, the opening will continue and will be marked in a myriad of ways by everyone there. Hopefully we can share the experience communally and retain what’s important personally.

Life imitating art. Or is it the other way around?

Adam
Type A

Filed under: Art, Art and Nature Park, Current Events, Guest Bloggers

IMA TV chats with Sarah Green while installing Atelier van Lieshout’s Funky Bone Benches in the 100 Acres Art and Nature Park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Joep van Lieshout, with his studio Atelier van Lieshout, will present a group of 20 benches with drawings of large bones that will together form the shape of an enormous, stylized human skeleton.

The work grows out of ideas about native heritage and cultural development, with bones iconically referring to artifacts and remains from previous occupants. The artist, who encountered visitors sitting on rocks and other natural perches on his visit to Indianapolis, wanted to create benches as sites for resting in 100 Acres.

Filed under: Art, Art and Nature Park, Current Events, IMA TV, Interviews, New Media

Come to the IMA for a pairing of great documentaries about people driven to make music. This program is closed captioned and ASL interpreted.

The details: Double-Shot Music Documentary Day at the IMA
Saturday, March 13
1-5 pm
The Toby

Wug Laku, local artist and member of ArtsWORK Indiana fills us in on the events taking place this weekend as part of Disabilities Awareness Month at the IMA:

Filed under: Current Events, Film, IMA TV, Public Programs, The Toby

Acclaimed film director Julie Dash worked with six area high school students over the course of their participation in the IMA’s Museum Apprentice Program to produce short films featured in the exhibition Smuggling Daydreams into Reality: Yesterday, Today and Forever.

The exhibition opened Saturday and runs through January 18, 2010 in the IMA’s Star Studio. I spent my Tuesday lunch in the exhibition. The students’ video works and the film documenting the process with Dash drew me in. I was also tempted to add my own daydream to an IMA Flickr set shown in the exhibition as a slideshow. But my stomach was growling so I’ll have to go back.

I was delighted to sit down with Julie for a quick chat earlier this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Art, Education, Exhibitions, Interviews