Indianapolis Museum of Art

I came with a purpose. No, it wasn’t to get in trouble for taking pictures on the wrong floor – which I didn’t mean to. Honestly, I didn’t see any sign. I came because I was interested in something – something I dream of learning to do: beadery.

I’ve seen Native American beaded bags and moccasins, and I love it. I really wanted ideas on patterns, so what place to go to get patterns from different cultures was to start with the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

One of the best things I love about my art museum is that it’s free. FREE!! Can you believe that? (And parking is free too.) They say you can’t put a price on art, and I guess they didn’t. To me, it’s one of the best art museums around. That’s probably not completely fair to say, since I haven’t been to a ton of art museums to make an accurate comparison to, so maybe I’m just a little partial to it. (In my defense, my husband and I did spend the day – just the two of us – at the Art Institute of Chicago on our wedding day in lieu of having a wedding ceremony with tons of people who would just stress us out.)

Anyway, in 1883 Mary Wright Sewell, a local school principal, came together with 17 other individual to found the Art Association of Indianapolis. John Herron, namesake of the John Herron Art Institute, donated $225,000 with the sole purpose to start an art school and gallery, with the one stipulation that it bears his name. It moved to its permanent location, a building designed by the firm of Vonnegut & Bohn. (This Vonnegut is the grandfather of famed author Kurt Vonnegut.) Throughout the years, many local dignitaries donated funds to expand the art galleries and its exhibits. But in 1966, things become harry, and the Herron School of Art lost its accreditation, later becoming part of IUPUI, and the art museum moved to its current grounds (donated by Ruth and Josiah K. Lilly, called Oldfields.) The Art Association then changed its name to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1969. The new area made way for a lot of expansion, and they were able to gain many renowned collections. In the past few years, the Indianapolis Museum of Art renovated and opened the Oldfields-Lilly House and Gardens as well as the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park.

It’s nearly impossible to see everything in one day. We headed inside for today, and wandered around for 10 minutes trying to find a bathroom (I wonder why a 4-year-old’s bladder never seems to respond to the probing question “Do you have to go?” until 10 minutes after we leave an available washroom). But after that unscheduled adventure, we found Native American Art, where I finally got to take my pictures of beaded artwork. We headed over to parts of Asian Arts, which always leave me mesmerized how well-preserved many of the pieces are, considering the age of these pieces are older than the U.S. is as a country.

And finally, my daughter wanted to see the dresses in the Textiles and Fashion Arts. She claimed that she was scared when we walked into the wing, mostly because the manikins without heads seemed creepy to her. I was scared mostly to think that someone might have actually worn these dresses. Or worse yet, that someone was anorexic enough to fit in to these dresses.

I really wanted to visit the Fairbanks Art and Nature Park, but my kids were too tired by that time. Perhaps that is left for another day. Perhaps in the fall: that would make for some really nice pictures. But altogether, it made for a nice day out. Even if I didn’t see everything I wanted. I think they designed the museum like that on purpose, to entice me to come back. As if I needed any more enticing.

[Resources: www.imamuseum.org]

Fringe Fest 2010 – August 21, 2010

The weird, the lights, the fire, the exotic, the drama. It’s all found at Indy Fringe Fest, which hosts 280 shows in 10 days all along the Mass Ave corridor in downtown Indianapolis. This was my first time attending Fringe Fest, even though the idea to bring the Fringe Fest to Indianapolis was proposed in 2001.

Actually, the whole idea of the Fringe Fest idea was started in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947. There was a cultural and theatre festival that was intended on uniting Europe through cultural arts after the war ended. There were way more applicants than expected, so not being deferred by such trivial things as space, they set up camp outside of the main festival and performed anyway. They all performed tirelessly and drew almost more of a crowd than the main festival itself, and thus created a new following. It spread to Canada in the 1980s, and then spread to the U.S., where there are now more than 20 Fringe Fests happening annually.

I took my family down to Mass Ave on Saturday night, and we literally set up chairs right on the sidewalk next to the Dean Johnson Art Studio. Some friends of mine are part of Phoenix Fire Productions and were performing with Indy Hoopers and Carenza’s Caravan, and of course we went to show our support for all of them.

Phoenix Fire Productions is a group of fire-spinners (sometimes called fire dancing) that performs with a variety of props, usually staffs, juggling, poi (wicking material in the shape of a ball on arm-length chains), whips and fans. Fire-spinning has its roots in Polynesian arts, mostly originating in New Zealand’s Maori culture and Samoan traditions, but it’s crossed over to include traditions related to pagan fire ceremonies and Middle Eastern belly dancing. I was really impressed with the fact that they took safety precautions very seriously – they weren’t just a bunch of pyros messing around, leaving me to fear for my life. While they’ve only been performing together for a matter of months, they each have many years of experience, and it shows. There are a variety of fuels, but they tend to use white gas (also known as petroleum ether) because it is highly volatile and burns clean, doesn’t really smoke or leave much of a residue on the wick. (However, word on the street is that thanks to jerkwad meth-heads, it’s becoming harder to find.)

But they weren’t the only ones there to entertain us: Indy Hoopers showed us that hula hoops weren’t just the fad of the ‘50s. It was graceful, and reminded me of Cirque du Soleil. Hoop dancing is actually part of a broader artform called “flow arts.” And this is nothing new: hooping goes back to 1000 BC in ancient Egypt, and also referenced in 14^th century England when physician’s notes included treating people who threw out their backs due to hooping. It was later when British sailors visited the Hawaiian Islands and merged the hula dance with hoop dancing. Native Americans in the southwest U.S. also have hoop dancing traditions as well. Definitely, the coolest part of their performance was when they used hoops equipped with flashing LED lights after it became dark. It made for some really cool pictures.

And last but not least, Carenza’s Caravan, a group of four belly dancers enlightened us with their sensuous movements. Belly dance, a literal translation from the French “danse du ventre,” refers to a type of Middle Eastern dance known as “raqs sharqi.” There are many styles ranging from all over the Middle East to northern Africa and into parts of Europe. Some historians believe that the origins of belly dancing lie in ancient fertility rituals in pre-Islamic Arabia. There are many different traditions in types of dancing and costuming depending on which country you’re in. They do use a variety of props, such as finger cymbals, canes, veils, fans, and even swords. I was personally amazed at the sword dance. I can only imagine the incredible amount of control it takes to master this. I can also see definite consequences to screwing this up. I’m not sure if I could do that. Well, maybe I could. Maybe.

The whole evening was a blast. Definitely something I’m glad that my kids got to come out for. My daughter got the chance to try belly dancing, and she also got a lesson in juggling. Granted, we didn’t get to see any of the numerous theatre groups that were set to perform, but there were many of the actors walking streets in costume promoting their plays by handing out advertisement cards. It was one night where I felt like I was in my element, surrounded by fellow artists, musicians, and people truly loving what they do.

[Resource credit goes to various articles on Wikipedia]