Community Resources Available to Support Black Artist Engagement in Temporary Murals & More
Art has long been a powerful way to express ideas, process anger and grief, and bring people together to confront injustices. But any sincere dialogue, and real change, starts with listening.
St’ArtUp 317, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and PATTERN are collaborating to bring local Black artists and Downtown business owners together to help our community listen and move forward. The goal is to support local business and property owners in hiring Black artists to express their perspectives and experiences via temporary murals on boarded-up buildings (or other formats) as a community canvas.
Funds are available through the Arts Council to support stipend payments to artists for temporary murals.
We understand the murals/artworks may only stay on the building fronts for days, or a few weeks, before repairs are completed. But they will serve as an immediate platform for understanding and inspiration for longer-term community dialogue. As building repairs are conducted, we ask property/business owners to carefully remove any temporary artworks and contact us to store them for later display along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick or in other public locations. We also encourage property/business owners to create and share with the Arts Council photographic and video documentation of the process of creating the murals and the finished artworks. The artwork and documentation are important assets and artifacts of this moment in our history. It is our intention that this collaboration will evolve into semi-permanent and permanent works as well.
These are the guiding principles and recommended best practices for artists and building/property owners wanting to show their support through these artistic collaborations. These are also qualifying requirements for use of Arts Council funding.
WHO WE ARE SEEKING TO SUPPORT
SUPPORT PROVIDED BY THE COLLABORATORS
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Artists: contact Julia Moore, jmoore@indyarts.org or (317) 332-8382
Businesses/Property Owners: contact Catherine Esselman, cesselman@indychamber.com
Other options--including referrals to artists for more long-term commissions or art purchases--are possible if this format is not appropriate for your location.
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