Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

I’m such a sucker for good advertising. If a billboard catches my eye, a commercial makes me laugh, or an ad (gasp!) compels me to buy something, I can’t help but smile,  shake my fist at it and say ‘Ahhhh…ya got me!’

I mean, you can’t help but gawk at this guy as your driving down the street, right?

So we’ve seen how effective art on a billboard can be, but what about a billboard as art? Next time you’re driving south on Keystone on Indy’s north side, you can’t miss the two large billboards flanking the busy street. They feature murals with saturated colors and a loose, urban/graffiti vibe.

They are striking, artistic, and only subtly an ad.

from Flickr user DieselDemon

What’s kind of shocking about them is that they’re advertisements for Pabst Blue Ribbon. I thought they didn’t advertise? I thought that was their thing, their shtick.

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I’ve got a few traditions I follow when I’m in New York – find the best possible cannoli, visit Chinatown to buy non-violent toy robots, see friends, drink $10 beers and now…always, always meet with Shelley Bernstein from the Brooklyn Museum.

Despi and I headed to Brooklyn to have lunch with Shelley at Juniors. [Quick side note: do you realize I ate cornbread, a fried chicken breast, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy?] The food was absolutely delicious and it was a chance to catch up with Shelley about museums, technology and our projects. It’s rare to spend time with someone that is so honest and open and willing to collaborate or share experiences. That is what Shelley has done at Brooklyn and it’s that same spirit that we try to follow in Indianapolis.
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I have the infamous bug that’s been going around offices across Indianapolis; the sore-throat-stuffy-head-headachy -feverish-hacking-cough bug to be more specific. I’m hardly ever sick, and I never take sick days. Yesterday, however, was an exception. I was too sick to be at the office, so instead, I worked from my bed. Snug under the covers with my two cats at my feet, I knocked out all kinds of emails and even wrote a couple of small marketing plans .

This got me thinking. I often times work more efficiently outside my office. Maybe it’s the lack of distractions, maybe it’s the creativity produced by a new environment, but there’s something about getting away from my desk that fuels productivity. In this day-in-age of laptops, wireless internet, and remote access to networks, I’m convinced that working from bed (or at least from outside the office) is good for business.

So, because I’m still pretty sick and don’t really want to talk about serious work-related stuff, I’ve decided to put together a list of my favorite places to work that aren’t my office. (For the record, I really love my office. It’s comfortable, colorful and a bit messy, and that suits me perfectly.)

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