Blog

  • A Visitor’s Guide to First Friday

    Published: February 2, 2012 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Culture & Diversity Comments: 0

    The visual art phenomenon known locally as the IDADA First Friday Art Tour welcomes First Friday first-timers and out-of-towners this Friday, February 3, from 6:00-9:00pm.  The IDADA First Friday Art Tour is a free, self-guided tour of galleries and other types of visual art venues throughout downtown Indianapolis. Start your tour at any one of the 30+ venues or begin your night at the TURF: IDADA Art Pavilion, a temporary, experiential gallery with 23 exhibits appealing to the senses of sight, smell, sound, and touch.

    To help you get around town, there is a FREE shuttle service that will... read on

  • IDADA’s Super Bold Event - TURF IDADA Art Pavilion

    Published: January 10, 2012 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Culture & Diversity Comments: 1

    At the annual Start With Art Luncheon in September 2010, Mayor Ballard asked the Indy arts community to "Be Bold." The IDADA board took that message to heart and came up with an ambitious idea, the final result of which is now just days away. All IndyHubbers should make plans to attend TURF: IDADA Art Pavilion sometime between this Friday and Super Bowl Sunday. This event is a first-of-its-kind and has never been done in a Super Bowl host city.

    The IDADA Art Pavilion consists of over 20 experiential art installations. Some of your favorite local artists (find a full list at the IDADA Turf... read on

  • Nudes in Indy?

    Published: November 7, 2011 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Culture & Diversity Comments: 1

    The nude human figure in fine art has been both celebrated and censored, with its creation and display being influenced by academia and religion and its virtue debated by everyone. This Friday night, as part of the 2011 Spirit & Place Festival – which carries the theme “The Body” – "Unclothed: Exposing the Art Nude" at StutzArtSpace will explore the question of the art nude’s place in public venues. The gallery exhibition includes 33 figurative pieces by 29 artists from Indianapolis and beyond. From 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a panel will discuss the place of the fine art nude in public... read on

  • Mass Ave Needs More Art Galleries

    Published: October 12, 2011 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Culture & Diversity Comments: 0

    Last week was Mass Ave's Harvest of the Arts (the new name for MAMA's annual Fall Gallery Walk). 7,000 Lilly employees spent Thursday cleaning, painting and lighting the Avenue to get it ready for the Harvest and they did a fine job.

    My fears regarding my neighborhood looking like Candyland turn out to have been overblown. If anything, underwhelmed was my immediate reaction at the amount of paint spread around. I expected a color explosion to rival the Upper Haight but it's really just the curbs around the tree islands that were painted. The tree lights don't evoke Vegas or Times Square... read on

  • Fall Gallery Walk in Candyland (a.k.a. Mass Ave)

    Published: September 14, 2011 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Civic Engagement, Lifestyle & Wellness, Sustainability Comments: 0

    Mass Ave has taken on a whole new look over the last few months and there's still some magic to come.  If you've been spending your First Fridays holed up in Fountain Square or out at Wug Laku's place, you need to stop by Mass Ave in October and check out all the changes. First, Ballard's DPW crew spent most of the spring and summer waking up residents at 6 AM to replace the streets and sidewalks. Now shining blue/white lights are being installed on every tree lining Mass Ave. Not scraggly Charlie Brown lights, but bright, full, professionally-installed lights. The entire avenue will now... read on

  • Art Opportunities Abound in Indy

    Published: June 1, 2011 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Culture & Diversity Comments: 0

    People cheer and people moan about the arts in Indianapolis. But the facts on the street are that there are more places now than ever before to enjoy the works of local artists. While galleries are still the top choice on a day-to-day basis if you're looking to purchase the latest and greatest art for your own collection, you can now view local art in hair salons, law offices, restaurants and more. Coupled with an increasing range of internet-based options, an artist has more opportunities for exposure than in the past. To the art patron, that means more opportunities to spot a new favorite... read on

  • Experiencing the World’s Most Expensive Paintings in Indianapolis

    Published: May 2, 2011 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Networking & Social Comments: 0

    May in Indy. There's no better place to be. Sunshine takes over, all of these April showers turn into May flowers and the racetrack kicks into gear. Anybody that has been here to experience May in Indy knows what I'm talking about and yet no amount of words can describe it properly to someone who hasn't.

    This phenomenon of "You just have to be there" is commonly encountered in the art world. For example, take a few moments to check out the five most expensive paintings in the world:

    1. No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock
    2. Woman III by Willem de Kooning
    3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer 1... read on

  • Indianapolis State of the Arts 2011

    Published: March 31, 2011 by Kenan Farrell Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Culture & Diversity Comments: 1

    I'm pleased to report that the arts are alive and well in Indianapolis.

    Although CNBC recently listed Indianapolis among "20 Cities You Don't Want to Live In ... Yet", their "Bads" were rather flimsy (okay, crime is a problem in some areas but the weather? C'mon, they're called seasons and we like them here) while the "Goods" were quite illuminating. The world is beginning to take note that in Indianapolis "there is a lot of art and culture." It may have taken Peyton Manning and Danica Patrick to carry that message, but it's out there now. As with New York, London, Paris or any other... read on