Quantum Leap artist reception

In partnership with Indiana Humanities, the Harrison Center is pleased to present Quantum Leap, a First Friday artist reception. (Quantum Leap is an Indiana Humanities initiative that encourages Hoosiers to explore and celebrate the spirit of possibility and problem-solving that occurs when we bridge the humanities with science, technology, engineering, math and medicine.)

The Harrison Gallery features the work of Owens + Crawley, the artistic team of Quincy Owens and Luke Crawley–two artists who combine arts and science into their work—a perfect link to Indiana Humanities’ Quantum Leap program.

In 2018 Indiana Humanities is facilitating a statewide read of the book “Frankenstein,” in celebration of its 200th anniversary. Neither Owens, nor Crawley had ever read Mary Shelley’s classic novel, but the artists thought this would be a perfect starting point for this exhibition.

The Speck Gallery features MANmade: a Frankenstein show. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, we have gathered a group of artists who, after reading and discussing the book, have created art in response. This group show includes work by Matthew I. Allen, Lydia Burris, Andrew Perry Davis, Elyce Elder, Elizabeth Guipe Hall, Kipp Normand, Emma Overman, Merle Pace, Kyle Ragsdale and Benny Sanders.

In keeping with the evening’s theme, the gym will be transformed into the Franks-n-Steins beer garden with food and beer available for purchase from King David’s Dogs and Sun King.

In City Gallery, which features work celebrating urban Indianapolis, photographer Darrell Staggs presents Captured in an Instant: Abstract Views of the City. “ It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.’ The colors, shapes, contrasts, flows…are all around us, every day, everywhere we look. But, we need to train our minds to not only look, but also see, as Henry David Thoreau taught us. The City of Indianapolis offers plenty to see – a day on the Canal, a city landmark, the Motor Speedway…everywhere.”

Painter Stephen Yarbrough’s work “focuses on mundane objects and explores their expressive potential.” His show, Bits and Pieces: Symbols of the New Reality, hangs in the Gallery Annex.

Writer and photographer John Sherman presents Nigeria on My Mind. Again. in Hank & Dolly’s Gallery. Sherman was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria in 1966-67, but was evacuated due to the onset of the Nigeria/Biafra Civil War. He returned in June, 2017 for an Igbo Studies Association conference (of which he serves as secretary of the advisory board). This exhibit will features dozens of historic and current photos, excerpts from his book, “War Stories: A Memoir of Nigeria and Biafra,” and other writings, a tape of the performance of the opera “Biafra” and copies of rare war-time ephemera Sherman collected in the war zone during the conflict.

The work hangs through February 23.