Public Art in Indy exhibit

This exhibition of images and historical documents explores the City of Indianapolis’ early forays into public art during the 1970s. Although Indianapolis’ “sports strategy” for urban renewal has drawn significant attention, at the same time, city leaders began employing the arts as a means to create attractive public spaces and promote downtown redevelopment.

Spotlighted in the show is the work of Roland Hobart, designer of one of the city’s first substantial public art projects: a towering outdoor mural along Delaware Street commissioned for the Indianapolis Urban Walls Project in 1973. Other featured works include Milton Glaser’s “Color Fuses” mural at the Minton-Capehart Federal Building and James McQuiston’s mural “The Runners” at 11 S. Meridian St., both dating to 1975.

The materials on display come from various sources, including UIndy’s Mayoral Archives and Department of Art & Design, which recently acquired Hobart’s personal collection, and from the collection of local preservationist Richard McCoy, who led the curation of the exhibition. Also included are five new commissioned photographs of local public art projects by Indianapolis-based photographer Hadley Fruits.

Public Art in Indy is showing in conjunction with this year’s Richard M. Fairbanks Symposium on Civic Leadership, presented Feb. 5 by UIndy’s Institute for Civic Leadership & Mayoral Archives in partnership with Indiana Humanities and the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Under the theme Building Vibrant Cities Through Art, local and national arts leaders will discuss the past, present and future of public art in Indianapolis and elsewhere. 

More information is available at uindyfairbankssymposium2016.eventbrite.com.