Where did this love story begin? A swim teacher danced and suggested that I try classes for the coordination, recognition of rhythm and self-confidence it instilled. It was also one of the few activities available during the fall and winter months in a small town. I should mention that I was obsessed with Angelina Ballerina books. I met two of best friends in Creative Dance and find it impossible to forget my lilac butterfly costume from the first recital. From there, it was a whirlwind of performances from The Wizard of Oz to The Nutcracker until I was old enough to become a member of the Wabash Valley Dance Theater Company.

When I spotted an announcement about a new professional ballet company possibly starting in Indy, I broke into a set of grand battement (that’s large kicks for you non-dancers).

Indianapolis City Ballet seeks to unite and strengthen the ballet, dance, and arts community. Founded with a philosophy that more dance is good for everyone — be it professional, amateur or scholastic, contemporary, classical, jazz, ballroom or tap — Indianapolis City Ballet offers links to dance-related resources.

The Indianapolis City Ballet hopes to establish a 12 person professional company in Indianapolis (as opposed to a larger regional company) under the artistic direction of John Meehan, maintaining a performance regime of both classical and contemporary ballet. You can listen to an interview with Meehan on WFYI “The Art of the Matter”: Download audio file (AOTM_4-17-09.mp3)
To gauge and raise community support, the City Ballet is holding a gala performance this Saturday at the Murat Theatre with dancers from around the world. This probably isn’t news to you. The gala is getting quite a bit of publicity. You can meet the dancers in this Indianapolis Star article, or get a glimpse into the lives of a married couple from the American Ballet Theatre who will be performing at the gala in Glamour magazine. The story of the City Ballet is also featured in the latest issue of Dance Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, and NUVO.

As much as I hope the company is successful and the gala is a sell-out, I am not sure that Indianapolis is ready to support this venture. It has some major supporters and sponsors behind it, including both individual donors and companies like Saks and Tiffany & Co. But is the Midwestern ballet audience ready to be revived? I had friends in Ballet Internationale when it went under four years ago and that history makes me nervous. City Ballet includes its background online, but makes no mention of focus groups or surveys conducted to test the market, although they imply that the gala is the actual test. Also, I wonder if Indy has an audience with an eye for classical ballet? Dance Kaleidoscope is a contemporary company and often draws large audiences because of the approachability of modern dance. It seems the City Ballet recognizes they have to do more than classical ballet to draw people in — their ad in the Indy Star reads “A one-of-a-kind performance featuring acclaimed dancers from major international companies; neo-classical and contemporary ballets; fog machines, strobe lights and a cow in a pink tutu!”

In addition to a substantial amount of press, the City Ballet is doing an nice job stating their cause through tranparency on its Web site. The site also contains an educational section with theatre and ballet terms for newcomers, and the City Ballet is on Facebook with more than 230 fans.

Consider trying something new this Saturday night and supporting the Indianapolis City Ballet at An Evening with the Stars. It may be the beginning of your love story. Or share your thoughts — is Indianapolis ready for a new professional ballet company? I am.

I sat down with IMA Senior Graphic Designer Matthew Taylor last week in the Design Studio to take a hard look at our current IMA membership magazine (Previews) and talk content and design. A bit of history: The magazine has been around since 1988 with its current name.  (Before that, it was called the Quarterly Magazine. A bit of an improvement?) Matt was kind enough to hang out with me for a few minutes after our redesign brainstorming session to answer some questions:

Do you have a design philosophy?
I feel like George Bush in the movie “W.”. You know, when he was asked what he would consider to be his biggest mistake…I’m kidding.  As a designer, you can’t help but put something of yourself into every project. But I think the less of yourself you put into it the better. A piece can be clean and beautiful without shouting “Matt Taylor did that.” My philosophy is stay true to the project.

How does the design department at the IMA work?
The environment of the Design Studio is truly collaborative. We have exhibition designers, graphic designers, a lighting designer and a technical designer. It’s a multifaceted team. Everyone has a specialty, but we work together on projects that aren’t necessarily in our own area of expertise. We work with every department in the Museum to make well-designed, cohesive exhibitions.

What are the challenges of designing in a museum setting?
The biggest challenge we face is over-designing. You are working with a museum brand and an exhibition brand. Everything here is an art form and design itself is art. The challenge is to find a balance in your work. Part of my job is to get people to come see an exhibition, but at the same time know when to pull back and not overshadow the art with my design.

What upcoming design project are you most excited about?
Redesigning Previews magazine, of course. I’m excited about incorporating the new IMA brand that we are rolling out now into the magazine. The old magazine doesn’t live up to our new mission of art, nature and design. I would like the new design to be true to that mission and the new brand, as well as be more engaging and exciting than it is currently.

Can you describe the new IMA brand? (above)
The new IMA brand was designed by Indiana native Abbott Miller and his team at Pentagram in New York. We discussed our needs with them and why the old brand wasn’t working. They came up with something conversational, welcoming and inclusive. Using two new typefaces, Taz and Brioni, the brand has the flexibility to say the right thing at the right time. It’s got personality. We’re doing a soft roll-out of the logo to be green, economical and smart.

What’s your favorite magazine?
I.D. (The International Design Magazine)—The design is beautiful.  Great layout, typography etc. The magazine as a whole (from design to content) is always fantastic from cover to cover.

Design Inspiration

And so the conversation continues… With a content strategy that’s mission-consistent, flexible and collaborative and two full boards of design inspiration, we will bring you a new and improved quarterly IMA magazine this winter. Your thoughts and title suggestions will be considered—please add them below!

I love it when you hear people from the dessert southwest say “Yeah, it was a 108 today, but it’s a dry heat”.  Dry heat my foot. At a 108 you can damn near start baking cookies. I just don’t think I’m a dry heat person or even a low humidity person anyway no matter how much I complain. I remember going to the Denver area for PPA a few years back. While there I didn’t notice the difference in climate and vegetation being all that dramatic. But on the way home? My lands! The farther east we traveled the more green and lush the world became. I could almost feel my skin becoming elastic again as it absorbed moisture right out of the air. So it puts me in quite a perplexing situation what with wanting heat but hating heat, wanting humidity but hating humidity, wanting to eat right but hating anything not made with butter, brown sugar, and salt. Ooops. That last one really has little to do with horticulture.

So what does one do when summer truly arrives? Well, we horticulturists and gardeners eventually take it all in stride and settle on a battle plan. Regardless of the actual temperature some sunscreen is a pretty good idea. I have a hard time remembering to put it on let alone reapply in two hours. Even the greaseless formulas make me feel sweaty already at 7:30 in the morning, a feeling that, believe it or not, is not the least bit pleasurable. But that’s the way it is. I was listening to Fresh Air yesterday and the guest said we need at least a teaspoon just to do the face and neck. If I’m like most people (I know, not likely) then we are way under applying. So now I will put it on thicker ‘cause I dread the thought of ending up with little chunks cut out of my nose or jagged pieces of my ears missing. Now isn’t that a pretty picture?

Sunglasses are essential anymore. When I finally bought my prescription Ray-Bans my eyes practically moaned in ecstasy. I swear I forget I even have them on. I try to remind myself to remove them when talking to visitors. I do not wear them at night. Nor would I wear them to indoor events the way so many idiotic celebrities do. It is unacceptable to wear sunglasses while presenting or accepting at the Oscars, Tonys, GRAMMYs, etc. All of you stop immediately.

A wide brimmed hat is handy for shading the eyes and face. Just ask Scarlett O’Hara. It’s not as good as an oak tree but unlike an oak tree it can move with you.

Water, for me, is like the sun block. I don’t think about it. Don’t get me wrong. Anybody that knows me knows I drink pretty much nothing but water. But I don’t carry a bottle out into the gardens often. When I do it usually comes back to the office full or nearly so. When it gets really hot, close to mid-90’s, then I will consciously drink more water making sure every half hour or so I take the time to open the bottle.

I can’t say enough about the relief of working in the shade in hot weather. Weeds abound in the shade same as in the sun, plants in the shade need mulch too, and since every garden looks better with a good edge, there is never a shortage of work needed in the shaded areas of the gardens. In the summer months shade work is saved for the afternoons when the sun is at its meanest.

And if the areas that need the most attention are in the sun – well, fiddle-dee-dee, that’s life. As God as my witness, I’ll never go without sunscreen again.

As the IMA website indicates, we have taken official possession of the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana. This will make the second National Historic Landmark property the IMA has in its collection (Oldfields-Lilly House and Gardens being the first). How’s that for bragging rights! As a practical matter however, home ownership is not all fun and games in this situation. Ahead lies a road of challenges for the staff working on MHG teams.

Columbus is an hour’s drive south of Indy, which makes it difficult to explore the house and conduct business with the current local staff. Director of Lilly House Operations Bradley Brooks, head of our team of six, has spent a lot of time on the phone and making the trek south in the run-up to taking possession of the property. He has interacted with everyone from members of the Miller family to a nephew of  Eero Saarinen. Bradley has been, and continues to be a very busy beaver.

The task of converting a residential property into a museum showcase has been an educational experience for our team, so far. It has forced us to look at all the things we do here at the museum, a lot of which we take for granted, and formulate how to adapt and transplant these practices to a former family home fifty miles away.

Chief Registrar Katie Haigh and Conservator-in-Charge David Miller (along with more staff down the road) will need to inventory, evaluate, photograph, and catalog the entire contents of the house. Katie and David are currently working with Buildings guru Bert Reader to determine what can be done with the climate control systems to best preserve the house and its contents. And don’t forget, the house itself is a piece of art–made primarily of steel, marble and glass—so David will have to develop a list of acceptable cleaning supplies, and a schedule for keeping the house spic and span. Structural drawings, building materials, maintenance records and other information on the house and other buildings on property will need to be collected and researched to assist with preservation efforts.

Bert, Safety Manager Mindy Summers and I have been looking at the safety and security needs of the house. Needless to say, there are some interesting and quirky aspects to MHG.

It’s been an Easter egg hunt at times to find some of the security devices hidden in the many nooks and crannies, and Bert has had to deal with the Complex Issues Dept. at the phone company. Who knew? In addition to proposing some upgrades to the existing security and fire systems, we have met with Columbus fire and police personnel to discuss access issues and response procedures to ensure smooth cooperation with local agencies.

Mindy and I will take our existing procedures from the IMA, such as access lists, on-call lists and key control, and adjust them to fit the Miller House environment. We will eventually have to add other safety procedures, such as a disaster plan and a hazardous chemical inventory, to the many books that will reside at the house. After the house is reconfigured to our satisfaction (or budget limits), we will determine staffing levels, work schedules, the inventory process, lockdown procedures and other security duties to be performed.

In the meantime, Director Max Anderson, Sr. Curator of Design Arts R. Craig Miller, Director of Environmental and Historic Preservation Mark Zelonis and others will devise the plan for how to present the house to the public.

The to-do list is endless, but having another landmark property like the Miller House adds a huge feather to the IMA’s cap and broadens the art experience that we can offer to our visitors.

The Wikipedians, Max, and I.

Pictured from right to left are: Max, Aaron (aka The Urbanophile), Jasmine, Christina, and myself.  Not pictured here are Jenny and Joelle.  While I know that Jenny had a scheduling conflict that day, we never did get a response back from Joelle (where’d you go, Joelle?).

Here’s a list of the articles they created:

Christina’s Sutphin Fountain

Jasmine’s Numbers

Aaron’s Mega-Gem

Joelle’s LOVE

Jenny’s SnowPlow

I’ve been watching these articles since they were created and noticed each one has been added to by other Wikipedians – even if just a little.  The article on Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture has really taken off.  It’s started to grow into an article about all of Indiana’s LOVE sculptures, not just the one at the IMA, which of course was the first sculptural version that he made.  Wouldn’t it be cool if it became the place for information about that sculpture!

Though I don’t think I’ll be offering lunch with Max anytime soon for making more articles, I do encourage you to make an article about an artwork in the IMA’s collection.  Maybe it’s just because I’m a believer in Wikipedia, but I think it’s important work.  It could be a student project either at the college or high school level – really, anyone can make an article once you get the hang of it.

Because I’m interested in exploring and developing the idea that Wikipedia articles can serve as a place to document public artworks by hosting images, referencing other published information, and allowing the public to have first-hand involvement in the history and preservation of public art, I started working a while ago with a two other conservators Crista and Daniel to make Wikipedia articles about a few public artworks.

Here’s a list of the articles that we created:
In Indianapolis:
Ann Dancing

Depew Memorial Fountain

In Wabash, IN
The Lincoln Monument of Wabash, Indiana

In Washington, D.C.
Always Becoming

While we found that hosting images can be a little tricky (clearing copyright, etc) there’s clearly a lot that can be achieved through this work.  Take for example the Ann Dancing sculpture here in Indy by Julian Opie.  While it was installed in January of this year, it had some display issues and was recently taken down for repairs.  How do I know this?  I found out when someone made an edit to the article.  In a matter of days an image was uploaded and links were made to the local newspaper coverage.

I had never been so interested to see an artwork not working.  It was an example of history being written almost as it happened!

Who knows what will come of all of this but I believe there’s great potential for Wikipedia to help raise awareness about the preservation of artworks through documentation and keeping an up-to-date history – something that print publications simply can’t do.

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

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.

Breakfast of Champions was the first Vonnegut book I read, but the rest of his work followed quickly. I’m happy to recommend many of them to you, but I still consider Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse-Five and The Sirens of Titan as my favorites. I would love to hear yours.

This post isn’t really a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut. Lots of people have written better tributes, and a quick google search will reveal plenty, but here is a pretty nice video tribute.

I really connect with a lot of Vonnegut quotes (see blog title). And in terms of kindness, I wanted to once again thank my office neighbor at the IMA (and future IMA blogger), Anne Laker, who was in the middle of organizing an event with Kurt Vonnegut and his artist collaborator Joe Petro last spring. The program instead became a tribute event that was touching and thoughtful. Anne, knowing I was big fan, gave me Kurt Vonnegut’s signed IMA contract as a gift. It hangs in my office and serves as reminder to many things – picking up Breakfast of Champions for the first time, being a humanist, his humor, insight, and creativity and, that he made Indianapolis proud.

Blogs are supposed to be about participation – so what I really hope happens here, is that in the spirit of online participation – you will share some of your favorite Vonnegut books, stories, or quotes.

I really would love to read them and I’m sure others would too.

And finally, has anyone heard Tock Tick? If not, you should!

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.

My job is absurd some days. From finalizing print brochures to entertaining artists, the scope of my work is broad. This is due in large part to my enthusiasm and willingness to do almost anything for the sake of art. (In fact, just last week I was asked to procure a helicopter and a donkey for On Procession’s opening event.) While I love my work, I never expected to bring it home to meet my parents. Pancakes with Mom and Dad and Rebecca and Allison somehow seemed a bit bizarre.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I loved every minute of the trip to Southern Indiana and just like my mom’s pancakes, I found the entire experience sweet and comforting. I enjoyed the time that I spent with my parents. I enjoyed the time that I spent with Rebecca and Allison. In the end, however, it was my parent’s interaction with my colleagues (and friends) that I loved the most. It was an idyllic blending of personal and professional, past and present.

Ironically, “taking work home with me” was a nice break before the hard work of April begins. In the next few weeks leading up to On Procession, the exhibition team will be rushing to complete tasks and finalize details.

Stay tuned…My next few blogs will be updates on the progress of the exhibition. You might also see a couple of guest bloggers tackle the subject as well. In the meantime, mark your calendar for April 26 at Noon. That’s when On Procession takes to the streets of Indianapolis.

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.)