There are a lot of projects in our Education Department that often go unnoticed by the general public. We quietly (OK, if you’ve been in our offices, it’s not really all that quiet) strive each day to make a significant difference in the lives of the people with whom we’re working, but once in a while I’m really inspired to speak out and share our work with everyone.

Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial is one of those times. The exhibition opens in February of 2011, and I know it will present multiple opportunities to engage members of our community in thoughtful, productive discussions about current events and relevant social issues. Through a grant we received from the NEA, we have been able to form a partnership with students and faculty at Lynhurst 7th and 8th Grade Center in Wayne Township.

Thornton Dial, Sr., "Don't Matter How Raggly the Flag, It Still Got to Tie Us Together"

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Filed under: Art, Education, Local

The IMA MAP employs high school sophomores and juniors during the spring and summer to explore what’s happening behind the scenes of the IMA, while working on projects alongside Museum staff. This year, the MAP teens are learning about 100 Acres, its inaugural artists and planning creative experiences that will encourage Park visitors to engage with nature, art and with one another.

Hello, my name is Donte. My thoughts about the museum are just all positive. It is a beautiful and resourceful place to be. It is way more than a museum to me and I’m sure it is to others.

My MAP experience thus far has been great. Just simply art informational and filled with opportunities. As an artist, I always look forward to being or working at the IMA.

In this experience I look forward to coming out of here with way more art knowledge than I had, overcoming mental obstacles, understanding more about nature, and getting the experience to work with a group.

Filed under: Education, Guest Bloggers

What I would have given for the opportunity to work in an art museum as a teenager—to have had access to such beautiful settings and stimulating interactions. Rather, like a lot of young first time job seekers; I wound up in the slippery kitchen of the fast food industry.

But this blog is not about me. Instead, I’d like to introduce to you the teens of the 2010 IMA Museum Apprentice Program (MAP). The IMA MAP employs high school sophomores and juniors during the spring and summer to explore what’s happening behind the scenes of the IMA, while working on projects alongside Museum staff.

This year, the MAP teens are learning about 100 Acres and planning creative experiences that will encourage Park visitors to engage with nature, art and with one another.

Check back as the MAP teens will be blogging about their experiences with art, nature and other things that catch their interest.

Hello, I’m Jakob, a junior at Herron High School and a member of the IMA Apprenticeship Program. This is my inaugural blog post, the first of what I hope to be many this summer. We’re still in training, but all signs are pointing to this summer being outstanding, and I’m really enjoying the atmosphere of the museum and its staff. I’ve always had fun at the museum, but now that I have the time to really take a look at things around here in detail, I’m finding more and more to admire.

It’s a great place for me considering how often I think about aesthetics anyways (I’m planning on going to art school), and I’m very happy to work at a place where everything I look at, from what’s on the walls to the design of the building and its grounds, is instructive and worth studying.

I’ll leave with an example of what I mean:

Filed under: Education

The current Star Studio exhibition, More than Four Legs: A Closer Look at Chairs asks visitors to think carefully about and look closely at chairs. Of course, since this is a Star Studio exhibition, visitors are also encouraged to translate these thoughts and observations into practice by creating a model chair to display or take home.  I thought it might be fun to share images of a few of the chairs that visitors have left in Star Studio.

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Filed under: Art, Design, Education

Early next year, the exhibition Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals opens at the IMA. It tells the story of a group of renowned Hoosier artists who painted murals for the benefit of patients at Wishard Memorial Hospital in 1914. The IMA conservation department has been working to bring these murals back to their original condition since 2004. They have completed the conservation of works by such Indiana artists as T. C. Steele, Clifton Wheeler, J. Ottis Adams and Wayman Adams.

This exhibition details the journey of conservation and hints at the power of art to heal. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of art therapy. While the halls and galleries of a Museum are my temple of healing, I would like to experience art’s power to heal in other settings such as classrooms, hospitals or shelters.

I recently had a conversation with two dear friends–one of whom is an art therapist/art teacher at a school for emotionally troubled kids in Virginia and the other of whom has experienced the healing of power of art at a local Indiana treatment center called Selah House. Their insights are shared below:
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Filed under: Art, Education, Interviews