May First Friday Porch Party Kick-Off and Gallery Opening at the Harrison Center

The Harrison Center and Indianapolis Motor Speedway kick off porching season with a community porch party including:

-Aerial performances by Suspended Animation Aerials

-500 Race-themed fashion show

-free 500 Spectacle of Homes porch decorating kits and prizes

-free refreshments

-booths featuring organizations such as NXG Youth Motorsports and Bike Indianapolis

-Herron HS Dancers Spring Showcase performance

-and more race-related activities

Also enjoy these openings:

-“Victory Lap” by Israel Solomon in the Harrison Gallery. This series of geometric acrylic paintings is inspired by the Nipsey album of the same title and pays homage to the Indy 500 at the same time. Centered around people in his life, these ‘slice of life’ scenes are an exploration of capturing feelings and the abstractions of patterns and colors from those feelings.

-“Bicycles”, a group exhibition in the Underground Gallery. Get excited about biking to the 500 this year while viewing works by numerous local artists celebrating Indianapolis’ vibrant biking community. Register to bike to the 500 here biketothe500.eventbrite.com

-“I am in No Place” by Gigi Salij in the City Gallery. This collection of screenprints and mixed-media is a valentine to, and re-interpretation of, vintage Indianapolis signs and logotypes with the hope to inspire the viewer to see these familiar landmarks in a fresh way.

-New work by Christina Hollering and Lon Hall in the Gallery Annex. The two artists combine their works of cut-paper, mixed-media, and formalist abstraction paintings to create a harmoniously juxtaposed exhibit.

-“Visual Essays Redefined” by Susan Brewer in the Speck Gallery. This series, featuring abstract acrylic paintings, is inspired by dreams and meditation. These abstracts employ color, texture, and suggested forms to evoke images that explore the human condition- one’s relationship to the environment, to others, and to oneself.

-“For Beauty’s Sake“ by Olivia Wilkins in the Hank & Dolly’s Gallery. A senior thesis exhibition that aims to be an amplifying voice for the beauty of nature that surrounds us every day. It explores the delicate and nuanced forms and colors of botanical forms primarily through the work of multilayer color lithography and black and white etchings.

All shows will open at 6 pm Friday, May 6. 

In-person gallery tours will open for visitors Monday-Friday from 9 am – 5 pm. Online galleries will open on May 7th. Make an appointment or view the online galleries at harrisoncenter.org/buy-art.

Special Senior Hours are every Friday from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. No appointment is needed.

With support from: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Arts Council of Indianapolis, City of Indianapolis, Indiana Arts Commission, Christel DeHaan Family Foundation, and Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation.

About the Harrison Center
The Harrison Center is a community-based, nonprofit arts organization that seeks to be a catalyst for renewal in the city of Indianapolis. Founded in 2001, the organization’s work is two-fold. The Harrison Center is for the Arts by hosting 36 artist studios and 8 galleries. It provides programming to foster the creation of new art, build community among artists and emerging patrons, and provide a forum for public conversation. The Harrison Center is for the City by connecting people to culture, community, and place to strengthen Indianapolis’s core neighborhoods. For more information on the Harrison Center, call 317.396.3886 or visit www.harrisoncenter.org. Connect with the Harrison Center on social media at Facebook/@HarrisonCenterArts, Instagram/@harrisoncenterarts, or Twitter/@HarrisonCtrArts.