The Athenaeum ArtSpace is a rotating art gallery that features independent artists from Indianapolis and the surrounding communities. Our ArtSpace is located in the lobby of the Basile Theatre and is currently open to the public seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Exhibits typically rotate every two months, and each new exhibit opens with a First Friday reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Please direct all ArtSpace inquiries to info@athenaeumindy.org.
Idol Eyes
Artist: Courtney Elizabeth Elston
My work, Idol Eyes, is inspired by Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe portrait portfolio, not only visually but also in meaning. The color variations he created symbolized the glamorization of Marylin Monroe and the image she created of herself. The amount of portraits he made symbolized the redundance of celebrities and how, through repetition, this glamor becomes their identity. His goal was to show that portrait, that image, so many times that it became just that, an image.
The title, Idol Eyes, is in reference to how, as a society, we idealize people who appear to have it all. Whether it’s influencers, celebrities, or our peers, what we see is what we believe. The issue is that a lot of the time the image we see of others is just a carefully crafted version of themselves. My self-portrait is a posed and polished image, a viewer wouldn’t know what’s going on in my life just by looking at it. The image on the wall is all some people will ever know of me. The viewer may never know my thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or struggles. They will only know and think of the image I present to them. People seem to always have Idol Eyes for everyone they see, and idealize the person they could be.
For Now I Am Enough
Artist: Abi Raine Mirro
The artwork in this collection tells a story of my past, present and future self and experience as a neurodivergent woman. I aim to explore the beauty of femininity and its connection to identity as well as neurodivergence and how they connect and intertwine for an ephemeral experience of self love and acceptance through exploring this duality.
The artworks in this collection were created by veterans in art therapy groups. Some individuals represented in this exhibition have been practicing art for years, and some picked up a paintbrush for the first time this year. However, every art piece represents a part of someone’s healing journey. The collected artworks are displayed here in order to share the perspectives, stories, and skills of local Indianapolis veterans and artists.
Art therapy challenges individuals to abandon the idea of what is “good” art or “bad” art, and rather encourages clients to engage in self-reflection and psychotherapeutic exploration through the use of art materials. Art therapy is focused on the process of creating art rather than the final art product. Many of the works in this collection are deeply personal and represent moments of self-discovery, awareness, and healing.
This exhibition provides a space for art therapy clients to share their stories and transform the personal and public narrative about the veteran population. Art is a form of communication. Think of the artwork as a conduit for connection through time and space. As you engage with the art in this space, tune into what thoughts and feelings arise from interacting with the work, as well as the dynamic, complex, and deep humanity behind the artists that created the work.
This exhibition is part of the graduate thesis research of Brooke Neubaum, Herron School of Art, IUPUI.
Shared History Project: 1700 Years of Jewish Life in German-Speaking Lands
Traveling Exhibit: Leo Beck Institute
The year 2021 marked the 1700th anniversary of a Roman imperial edict authorizing the municipal authorities of the Roman colony at the site of modern-day Cologne to recruit Jews to serve on the municipal council. This document, preserved in the Vatican Library, is the earliest evidence of a Jewish presence north of the Alps, and institutions in Germany and beyond marked the occasion with a year-long festival of exhibitions, events, and commemoration.
The Leo Baeck Institute (LBI), a New York-based library and archive, joined the commemoration with its Shared History Project, an online exhibition of 58 objects drawn from dozens of institutions and accompanied by essays from leading scholars. This traveling exhibition presents a selection of those objects organized according to recurring themes of Jewish life with links to further reading on the “Shared History Project” Website. A German-language version of the exhibition traveled to German State Parliament buildings in 2021 and 2022, and the English-language exhibition has been displayed in several locations.
Artists: Indy’s LGBTQ+ Community
I am an artist; I am a creative and I am chasing my dreams.
My dreams live through my art and my art through my dreams.
Through my ethereal abstract work, rich in texture and color, this never-ending creative chase is often depicted. And while this exhibit is entitled “The Chase”, there are subtle reminders to slow down and reconnect.
A collection of cybernetically-enhanced beings longing to reconnect with that which makes them human: emotion. This series of acrylic paintings on canvas is a portrayal of a spectrum of feelings that utilizes experimental color theory and the contrast between rigid and organic forms to instill a sense of connection within its viewers. I hope to inspire a sense of empathy within you that translates to a stronger sense of empathy for those in the world around you.
Evident Truths: A photojournal of Trans Indianapolis
In December of 2018, I was approached by two Trans activists, Kit Malone with the ACLU, and Tyne Parlett, who works towards eliminating Trans homelessness, to collaborate on a photography series highlighting the pride, vulnerability, and beauty of the Trans community of Indianapolis. The project was to capture three to four pictures of each subject, one of their face, full body, favorite body part, and something on them that made them feel visible or most like themselves.
May 2021 at the Athenaeum sees the full return of in-person First Friday receptions! With art from three very talented painters, we welcome you back to the Athenaeum and to discover all the beauty that is our ArtSpace. Located on the second floor of the west wing of the building, the gallery is in the lobby of our Basile Theatre and is open daily from 8am to 2pm.
Once the dreams of a child in Chicago wearing The Sacred No. 23, Nick Conlon’s dreams are being realized as a sundry artist. But one thing, he says, has stayed the same: Ball is life. “I don’t think I’m going to make it to ‘The League.’ I’m an artist now, so I’m turning these pieces of forgotten equipment—and the dreams they signify—into beautiful sculptures.”
Conlon says his show is about the equipment used to play basketball, “…and by used I mean overused, worn out, ripped apart, broken, torn down, tethered, recycled, and repurposed. I’m talking about rims that have been beaten up and dunked on, shot on 100,000 times.”
He likens the backboards on which he paints as if they were canvases, to people. “I feel they’re just like human beings. They are all the same, yet different. They all need love. They all need to be encouraged and lifted up and sometimes cleaned up a little bit, just to feel alive again.”
Basketball is a pastime of all Midwestern kids, or more so, part of our cultural baptism. For Nick, creating these pieces brings back memories, a sense of nostalgia, stories long forgotten. Viewing this work might come with a bit of sadness or regret for the dreams one had as a child and never realized, or the toll life takes on all that suffer it. It should also remind us, however, of happy and carefree times with friends when anything in the world felt possible, and the possibility of these well-worn and forgotten pieces of equipment becoming something new and beautiful again can attest to our abilities to discover new passions and make new dreams come true.
On the art of the game, Conlon says, “Basketball is sometimes called ‘poetry in motion’ because of how beautiful the sport is – the colors, the players, the movements, the arenas.” In this way, life too is a sort of poetry in motion. Really, this sport is inextricable from the idea of life itself – at least for a kid from the Midwest. As Conlon says, “Ball is life.”
Allisa Frazier’s imagination and creativity have always been far more vast than the small-town lifestyle she was brought up in.
After graduating from Ball State with a degree in design and focus in illustration, Allisa’s first showcase exhibition was with RAW Underground Artists in the summer of 2017. Her evolution into collage art and then digital collage followed.
“With collage, my ideas flow most freely and naturally.”
Allisa currently does contracted design work and freelance projects, and is looking towards a future as a progressive and ethical artist working on personal projects as well as in collaboration with creative artists of all mediums.
“The goal is to focus on creating art that stands to provoke, be it through thought, inspiration, or opposition.”
Learn more about Allisa and her work on her website @ potentgraphics.xyz
Aaron Scamihorn is a designer, illustrator, and artist from Indianapolis. His business, Ronlewhorn Industries, works in a variety of industries but specializes in beverage packaging, portrait illustration, and poster art.
Scamihorn’s exhibition – The Ronlewhorn Political Circus – will open with a reception on Friday, October 2 from 5pm to 8pm with a very special beer from Indiana City Brewing in support of the exhibit and the Athenaeum’s upcoming Spirit & Place event, The Origin of Fascism. Sales from this fruited, hazy pale ale will benefit the S&P event.
These works address the current climate of electoral politics in the United States. Aaron states, “As we look forward to the upcoming election, the most soul-crushing and mind-boggling situation has been watching people vote directly against a majority of their core values as human beings who care for other people.” Scamihorn will donate all profits from the sale of his work.
You can find his work on all social channels @RONLEWHORN
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