“Grams’ art was freedom for her. It helped her get through some of the tough parts of life. She was free to express herself through it and she was truly passionate about it,” said Robin Mangus, the artist’s granddaughter. “This show is a chance for her to continue living. She might not be here to speak her message anymore, but her art is.”

An expanded showcase of Mangus-Hopkins’ work will help fill the newly built extension to Full Circle Nine, set to open on the same evening. The cooperative member artists have been working hard to turn a concrete factory room in to a bright and clean gallery space, adjacent to the main gallery room.

“Barbara had intentions of joining us, before she passed,” said Joy Hernandez, Full Circle Nine president. “I promised her that she would be the first artist in what we were calling ‘Phase 2,’ and so this only feels fitting that she will be our inaugural artist when we open the space. She has been a part of Full Circle Nine since the very beginning, and it really feels like she’s with us now. She’s smiling and offering us wine and stories. We can feel it.”

About Barbara Mangus-Hopkins

A social magnet from the very beginning, Mangus-Hopkins was sent to Arsenal Technical High School by her parents in an attempt to get her to focus more on her studies and spend less time socializing with her friends. But Barbara Mangus-Hopkins knew no strangers. “Everyone always loved her,” said Mangus. “She had a way of pulling out the best in people.” After realizing the futility of their efforts, Mangus-Hopkins’ parents encouraged their daughter’s art passions and she graduated from the John Herron Art School.

She began to work primarily with watercolor after her young sons used her oil paints to paint on the walls of her house, and for health reasons. A diabetic for most of her long life, in the later decades, she began to lose her sight and had to use magnifying glasses as well as scent to create her artwork.

“She loved capturing the freedom and beauty of landscapes,” Mangus said. “To each person, a landscape can represent something different. Her work always found the beauty in things that most people didn’t see. One of my favorite paintings is a house with busted windows. Even though it’s broken, deteriorating, and seen better times, it is still beautiful.”

Barbara Mangus-Hopkins died August 3^rd, 2018, on the First Friday of that month. As word spread around Art Tour venues, it almost seemed fitting, as Mangus-Hopkins looked forward to to the monthly festivities. “Everyone describes here the same way: She was a vibrant, passionate, and caring woman. She had the best laugh,” Robin Mangus said.

About the Full Circle Nine Gallery

The Full Circle Nine Gallery operates as an artist cooperative gallery, with each of the member artists and the board dividing gallery duties and artists roles. The artists will work together to help each other advance in skill and practice, as well as to bring success to the gallery.

It held its grand opening during First Friday February 3^rd, 2017. The gallery currently occupies two rooms within the CCIC, one acts as the entry and feature space, the other was renovated by the artists from a concrete and cinder block factory room into an industrial-styled gallery. With the additional space opening, the cooperative is looking to grow from a current number of 16 artists to approximately 25 member artists.

Full Circle Nine Gallery is located at 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, in the South Studios section of the Circle City Industrial Complex. For more information, or for artists interested in joining the Full Circle Nine, please visit www.fullcirclenine.com