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Bienvenidos a Bloomington

Artist Rogelio Gutierrez, May 2011 Herron School of Art and Design Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art and Public life candidate, presents a series of public works throughout the cities of Indianapolis and Bloomington. These works include six billboards (five in Indianapolis and one in Bloomington, made available by Clear Channel and YourArtHere.org) and a mural in the Near West neighborhood of Indianapolis. Each work reads the Spanish phrase Bienvenidos a Indianapolis (Bloomington), which translates to welcome to Indianapolis (Bloomington) in English. The imagery, reminiscent of a nostalgic post card, consists of a sprawling cactus (or nopal), an iconic symbol of Mexico and its culture.

Rogelio, a first generation Mexican-American, hails from California. These public works are meant not only to act as a metaphor for his parents’ struggles to establish a life in the United States, as well as his own transition from life in California to life in the Midwest; but also as a welcoming beacon to the ever increasing Latino/a population in the city Indianapolis and the state of Indiana in general. It is the artist’s intention to attempt to bridge the gap between this population and the general population.

These public works coincide with Rogelio’s MFA thesis exhibition that will take place throughout the month of May in Herron School of Art and Design’s main gallery

Billboard Locations 1) Indianapolis Cultural Trail, 888 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis, IN 2) Indianapolis Cultural Trail, 922 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis, IN 3) Near 1685 W. Washington St., between Reichwein and Richland Streets heading West (exiting downtown). 4) Near 1685 W. Washington St., between Reichwein and Richland Streets heading West (entering downtown). 5) Near 1185 E. Michigan St., on the corner of E. Michigan and E. Dorman St. (entering downtown). 6) At the corner of E. 6th and N. Walnut, on the square in downtown Bloomington, IN

Mural Location

La Frontera (one of the first Mexican tiendas in Indianapolis) 2401 W. Washington St., Indianapolis

Bienvenidos A Indianpolis MFA Thesis Exhibition

Opening Reception: May 5th (Cinco de Mayo), 5PM-9PM Eleanor Prest Reese and Robert B. Berkshire Galleries, Herron School of Art and Design, 735 W. New York St., Indianapolis, IN

Exhibition continues through May 26th. Gallery hours are: Monday 10AM-5PM, Tuesday 10AM-5PM, Wednesday 10AM-8PM, Thursday 10AM-5PM, Friday 10AM-5PM, Saturday 10AM-5PM, and Sunday CLOSED

Contact: gutierrez.rogelio@gmail.com

Massachusetts Ave. Billboard Project: Derek Springston


Talk Type by Derek Springston

Your Art Here presents OOPS by artist Derek Springston for the Massachusetts Ave. Billboard Project. The billboard will be mounted thru August 2009.

Artwork Statement

TALK TYPE was created somewhat as a conceited joke, it is not literal. As a graphic designer, I have been researching and studying type my whole career, throughout school and professionally. Therefore, I know quite a bit about typography and the typefaces themselves. I don’t expect everyone to know as much about letter-forms as designers do, we have an affinity for type. Trust me, I will talk to you if you cannot discuss type. But if you do want to talk about typography, you just found yourself a new friend.

Artist Bio

Derek Springston was born and raised in the small town of Holland located in southern Indiana. He is expecting to graduate in May 2009 with a BFA degree in Graphic Design from Indiana University. After school, he plans on venturing away from Indiana and try to make a living in the field of design.

Massachusetts Ave. Billboard Project: Judith G. Levy



‘He didn’t mean it’ by Judith G. Levy

 

July/August 2006
Your Art Here presents ‘He didn’t mean it’ by artist Judith G. Levy for the Massachusetts Ave. Billboard Project. The billboard will be mounted July/August 2006.

Artwork Statement

In this current body of work, I investigate public/private domains. I am interested in using sign-making making materials and processes to address content that is not usually found in commercial signs, but instead, reflects the complicated, charged nature of our psychological, social and political worlds. The images often float in uncomfortable, ambiguous spaces that mirror our own positions, as we attempt to understand both the internal and external worlds in which we live. I have intentionally refined the imagery in order to create contrast with the complexity of the content. I am also interested in examining the changing nature of public information and private concerns and the choices that individuals and groups make in these arenas. By combining low-tech (drawing with a pencil) with high-tech (computerized sign-making processes), I underscore how our experiences are simultaneously simple and complex.

Artist Bio

Judith G. Levy is a native New Yorker and lived in the Hudson Valley in New York State before moving to the Midwest in1998. She has exhibited her work in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, North Dakota, Kentucky, and in Canada.

She earned her undergraduate degree in Drawing and Painting from Hunter College in New York City and a Masters degree in Clinical Social Work from Adelphi University.

Judith lives in Indianapolis and works full time as an artist.

Visit- www.JudithGLevy.com

Benton Project — A World Affair: Regionalism after Globalization


through the Sycamores by Caleb Weintraub

 

View additional photos on Flickr

At the center of Regionalist ideology is the search for truth through painting. Thomas Hart Benton sought to create a window into society, revealing both the unflattering and the taboo, while some of his contemporaries chose to depict bucolic images of the American landscape. Rather than shy from political and controversial subject matter, Benton faced these themes head on, forcing his audience to address the unsettling reality of an industrialized America.

Inspired by the social and public aspects of Thomas Hart Benton’s work, Your Art Here will launch a contemporary work by an Indiana-based painter, Caleb Weintraub, who shares Benton’s large-scale, head-on approach. YAH will bring Caleb’s work to the public sphere through a public display and performance, in collaboration with events related to the Benton symposium, “Thomas Hart Benton’s Indiana Murals at 75: Public Art and Public University,” sponsored by the Indiana University Art Museum in Bloomington.

Your Art Here has commissioned Caleb Weintraub, Assistant Professor of Painting at Indiana University, to create a new work vested with Benton’s confrontational spirit. This painting will be converted into a billboard and displayed in several locations throughout the state of Indiana. Additionally, suitable public architecture will be identified for a temporary public display of the original painting. Finally a third public component along the lines of a pageant-performance art piece related to Weintraub’s painting will take place.

  • July 2008: Artwork on display on Billboard 101, 101 East 6th Street (Walnut/6th Street), downtown Bloomington
  • August 2008: Artwork on display on Massachusetts Ave Billboard Project, 922 Massachusetts Avenue, downtown Indianapolis
  • September/October 2008: Painting storefront display at Michael Lindsay Photography & Video Studio as part of the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, 110 East 6th Street (Walnut/6th Street), downtown Bloomington
  • Fall 2008: Painting Performance TBA

The Your Art Here Benton Project, “A World Affair: Regionalism after Globalization,” is supported by the Efroymson Family Fund, a Central Indiana Community Foundation Fund and by partners such as the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival and Michael Lindsay Photography & Video Studio.

Billboard Generation VI


If I Were President by Daniel, St. Charles School, Bloomington, IN, March 2008

 

Announcing the Winners of Your Art Here’s 6th annual youth art billboard competition, Billboard Generation VI, beginning March 1st!

Your Art Here (YAH) is pleased to announce the winning entries of the sixth annual youth art billboard competition, Billboard Generation VI. In celebration of National Youth Art Month, YAH asked kids to make art on the topic “If I Were President…” Seven entries made by grade school through high school students will be on display on billboards in Bloomington and Indianapolis during the month of March.

The Billboard Generation project provides kids the opportunity to express themselves to the community through visual dialogue. This year’s theme, “If I were president …,” is inspired by the upcoming 2008 presidential election. We hope that this topic will encourage kids to understand the multi-dimensional roles and responsibilities of the presidency and how they can impact, if they were president, their community, their nation and nations abroad. Through visual expression, they will be able to explore current events and issues that affect them at a personal and community level. The topic is meant to encourage reflection on what qualities, characteristics, skills and experiences are critical in leading a large and diverse democratic nation. Lastly, this year’s theme will also instill at an early age the significance of voting for elected representatives and officials.

By providing public advertising spaces for youth art we hope to encourage thought on how to enrich our community through visual dialogue. Through this project we want to instill in kids the desire, knowledge, and confidence that will allow them to engage their community and world throughout their lives.

Winning Entries for Bloomington Billboards:

  • If I Were President by Daniel, St. Charles Borromeo School, Bus. St. Rd. 37, 0.75 miles north of 45/46 Bypass
  • The War in Iraq Will Be Stopped by William, Arlington Heights Elementary School, 3rd St. and College Ave., northwest corner
  • STOP WAR by Sara, Jackson Creek Middle School, 17th St., 0.4 miles west of College Ave.
  • EFS (Enforce Free Speech) by Jordan, Pinnacle School, 101 E. 6th St. [map]

Winning Entries for Indianapolis Billboards:

  • New Flag by Alexa, St. Matthew Catholic School, 922 Massachusetts Avenue [map]
  • The Hungry by Michael, St. Matthew Catholic School, 888 Massachusetts Avenue [map]
  • Voice by Kelsey, Broad Ripple High School, 1206 East 16th Street [map]

Important Dates


Funding for this year’s BBG VI is provided by the City of Bloomington, the Bloomington Community Arts Commission, and the donations of friends of Your Art Here. Billboard Generation VI is sponsored by Your Art Here and supported by these fine organizations: Bloomington Community Arts Commission, City of Bloomington, Harrison Center for the Arts, the Monroe County Library and the John Waldron Arts Center.