Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

Of the top 50 metropolitan cities in the United States, Indianapolis ranks 41st in the number of working artists as a percent of the state’s labor force.

According to the report from the National Endowment for the Arts, there are about 29,300 professional artists in Indiana. This number is comprised of 13,000 designers; 3,300 fine artists, art directors and animators; 3,000 musicians/singers, 2,000 architects, 600 dancers/choreographers and 100 actors. These growing numbers are recognized by the local arts community.

“We saw Harrison Center sales rise, more of our artists living off their art and more community support in general,” observed Joanna Taft, Director of the Harrison Center for the Arts at 16th and Delaware.

These numbers were part of a new report from the NEA called “Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005″. The report, considered the first nationwide profile of professional artists, is a compilation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other arts organizations that chart the location and impact of the country’s 2 million artists. Artists are broken up into 11 categories including actors; announcers; architects; fine artists, art directors and animators; dancers and choreographers; designers; entertainers, musicians, photographers, producers and directors; writers and authors. The report also notes gender, minority and major metro area trends:

“The time has come to insist on an obvious but overlooked fact — artists are workers. They make things and perform services, just like other workers, and these goods and services have value — not merely in lofty spiritual terms but also in dollars and cents,” the report states. “Without denying the higher purposes of the artistic vocation, this report shows that artists play an important role in America’s cultural vitality and economic prosperity.”

The nearly 2 million artists in the U.S. earn about $70 billion annually. This is an important statistic. The report considered only people who identified their primary occupation as artist for the American Community Survey (see page 138 of the report). The first observation we can make is that this is a large number and surely has an important impact on our culture. According to The New York Times article on the study:

“If every artist in America’s workforce banded together, their ranks would be double the size of the United States Army. More Americans identify their primary occupation as artist than as lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker.”

A significant trend found in the report shows that the majority of artists are “designers”, made up of commercial and industrial designers, fashion designers, floral designers, graphic designers, interior designers, merchandise displayers and window trimmers, and set and exhibit designers. This makes sense in our digital world and one in which designers tend to resist globalization. It’s difficult to outsource this type of work. Copy editing may be done overseas, but you don’t often see U.S. Web sites or magazines designed halfway across the globe.

And it’s interesting to see how spread out these artists are geographically. While still focused in major urban areas in New York and California, artists are taking up residence in diverse cities across the country.

“It’s the impact of a kind of decentralized electronic culture,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia in an article by The Associated Press. “… Artists are no longer confined to living in the three to four metropolitan media centers. You can now live in Santa Fe and email your New York agent every day.”

While the number of Indianapolis artists is on an upward trend, why is the city ranking so low on the totem pole? Indiana ranks 15th on a list of U.S. states by population. Maybe it’s because our overall workforce is much smaller relative to other metro areas. Perhaps it is because the Indianapolis community does not have as many patrons of the arts as other cities? Or in part because of Indy’s tax policies? Please give us feedback if you have any insight on Indianapolis’s low ranking in this survey and share with us your ideas to make the city a more attractive home for artists.

How does Indiana stack up to our neighbors?
(total artists as percent of state’s civilian labor force)

• Illinois: ranks 22nd
• Michigan: ranks 24th
• Ohio: ranks 34th
• Indiana: ranks 40th
• Kentucky: ranks 45th

Is anyone else thinking of Kurt Vonnegut today? I am. You probably know why.

I picked up a copy of Breakfast of Champions many, many, many years ago. I read it on a train traveling across Europe – drinking wine, meeting new people and exploring cities. It made me feel far away from Indianapolis and in a way, it felt good. He was unlike any author I had ever read.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Kurt Vonnegut was from Indianapolis. From that point on, I took immense pride in associating Indianapolis with Kurt Vonnegut. Indiana can stake claim to some pretty famous people – Steve McQueen, James Dean, Florence Henderson….but come on, Kurt Vonnegut! Pretty cool.

Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Scattered across the great Midwest exist outdoor novelties some of us are so lucky to grow up with. Opened in 1950, my hometown of Wabash County has the state’s largest single screen drive-in theater, playing double features each summer night, with 700 parking spaces, traditional speakers with FM radio feed and a retro concession building. My friends and I would borrow dad’s truck on a Saturday night, throw a bunch of sleeping bags in the bed and make a pizza stop before pulling into “13/24 Drive-in” just before dusk.

Indiana is one of America’s top 10 drive-in states. There are 23 theaters currently in operation, according to DriveInMovie.com. There used to be five times that many until rising land values started shutting them down. But lately, it seems people have become tired of the pricey multiplex tickets and have decided to opt for a more affordable (and in my opinion more fun) route of heading out to experience the nostalgia of the drive-in. Tickets go for about $7 for adults and $4 for children.

With the comeback of drive-in theaters comes the idea of an indoor drive-in cinema. Check out Manhattan’s DRV-IN, at the performance venue Grand Opening, which features a movie screen hung in front of a single vintage Ford Falcon convertible. Groups of six can rent the one-car drive-in starting at $75 per screening, with a choice of films. A Carload at a Time may be in the pricey future.

The American icon lives on this summer at the IMA. Not exactly your middle of the cornfield drive-in, or the indoor “cars under the stars” walk-in cinema experience, but it captures some of the thrill of both.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: Kicking off the Summer Nights film series at the IMA on June 6 will be Grease (PG 1978), directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Drive-in, walk-in or bike-in — I’ll see you there!

(Stay tuned to imamuseum.org for the full Summer Night’s film line-up.)