Maxwell Anderson, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA, hosts Earl A. “Rusty” Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., for an on-stage conversation about issues facing art museums internationally, from ownership claims to exhibition exchanges to global partnerships.

The thought of actually cutting away parts of the trees and shrubs in gardens can be intimidating and frustrating. This class aims to put the home gardener at ease. Join IMA horticulturist Katie Booth for a presentation followed by some hands-on practice. Basic tools, techniques and timing for pruning small trees and shrubs will be covered. Topiary and bonsai will not be covered. If you already own pruners, bring them (though some will be available to borrow) and dress for working outside. Class size limited to 20.

Frans Hals, a 17th-century Dutch artist from Haarlem, The Netherlands, is considered one of the greatest portrait painters in the history of art. His ability to render his sitters—Haarlem citizens, burgomasters, attorneys, wealthy merchants, ministers, pastors, doctors and scholars—in a lifelike manner changed the tradition of portrait painting in the 17th century. Join Dr. Pieter Biesboer, retired curator of Old Master paintings at the Frans Hals Museum, for a talk on the painter’s techniques and an introduction to the cast of Haarlem characters painted by Hals.

Break out of your winter doldrums at a fast-paced and fun afternoon with the IMA’s talented horticultural staff. All will be on-hand to present information on choice new (or old) plants, innovative designs, spectacular color combinations, and favorite gardens to visit around the country. Informative and inspirational, this afternoon is a great way to get to know the folks who help make the IMA one of the most attractive art museums anywhere. Tea and refreshments will be served following the talk. Supported by the IMA Horticultural Society.

Thornton Dial is a keen observer of the human spectacle and its narratives of corruption and moral strength, folly and triumph. As an artist, he has spent the last two decades exploring the truth of American history and culture in all its complexities and contradictions. This exhibition presents a major survey of Dial's work, an epic gathering of over fifty large-scale paintings, sculptures, and wall assemblages that address the most compelling issues of our time.

Come to the IMA for a pairing of great documentaries about people driven to make music. Shown as part of Disabilities Awareness Month. Presented with promotional support from Indiana School for the Blind and ArtsWORK Indiana.

Genghis Blues
(dir. Roko Belik, 1999, 88 mins.)
A blind San Francisco blues singer’s journey to becoming a master of Tuvan throat singing is the subject of Roko and Adrian Belic’s Oscar-nominated documentary. The film presents the extraordinary power of music as a communication tool and connector of people.

Taking Bruce Nauman’s Dance or Exercise on the Perimeter of a Square (1967-68) and Richard Serra’s Frame (1969) as points of departure, this exhibition brings together for the first time recent video work that documents artists’ bodily confrontation with the frame of the camera and boundaries delimited within. Through a variety of movements, procedures, and performances, the artists in Framed investigate the space between self and environment, self and other, and the divide between what is recorded by a camera and the indefinite expanse of unmediated life.

Jeppe Hein is a site-specific installation that consists of a dynamic indoor rollercoaster track for a series of white, plastic balls. When a visitor enters the space, a sensor reacts and releases a ball that is set in motion and runs the length of the track, passing loops, sharp curves and other dynamic sections within the circuit. Hein will also create a new outdoor experiential artwork on the Museum grounds for the inaugural exhibition in 100 Acres: the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park.

Body Unbound will examine the many ways designers have manipulated, transformed, and liberated the female form since 1960. The exhibition will feature iconic pieces, many recently added to the IMA’s growing fashion collection, including designs by Rudi Gernreich, an American visionary whose unisex ensembles, topless bathing suit for women, and unstructured knitwear challenged the traditional rules of construction and shape dictated by the couture establishment.

New York-based artist Heather Rowe is known for her innovative sculptures that engage with the space around them in surprising and often poetic ways. Using architectural fragments, Rowe creates compositions that are abstract yet offer richly suggestive narrative allusions. For the IMA's Efroymson Family Entry Pavilion, Rowe is creating a site-specific installation that provokes viewers to move about and engage in the space in new ways.

Support provided by a grant from The Efroymson Family Fund, A CICF Fund.