Posts Tagged ‘Mass Transit’

Another Success at P.U.P.

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

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Detail of “The Onset of Decline”

Last night, I was lucky enough to display three new works at the P.U.P studio located inside the Murphy Building. This was my second time displaying some of my art there and once again it was a great time. This time around, I wanted to do something different than last month’s opening. I wanted to create works that conceptual related with P.U.P.’s transit initiatives.

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Detail of “Great American Streetcar Scandal: Part Two”

After reading a small fact on their website about how Indiana is ranked 43rd for mass transit ridership in the nation. I also knew from first hand experience that Indiana doesn’t have sufficient mass transit choices. After doing more research, I learned that along with Ohio, Indiana was the leader in the interurban rail system. I wanted to learn how Indiana’s public transit system came from such a different place from where we are now. So after reading more about this topic, I was inspired by the rise and fall of the interurban transit system and these works were a result of that. I want to purchase a book called “Indianapolis Railways” and continue to learn more about the history of Indiana’s rail systems.

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“The Onset of Decline”, “Great American Streetcar Scandal: Part One”, & “…Part Two”

Back to last night. Once again, I had a wonderful time. I was actually able to take my wife and son around the Murphy Building and check out some of the studio/gallery openings. We didn’t see it all unfortunately but I hope to make it a more regular event. I had some great conversations with people as always. The topics ranged from Indiana’s rail systems to the lack of accessibility of some ‘high art’ and the pretentiousness that comes along with it. It is always interesting to hear other people’s opinion about topics that I am inspired by and truly care about.

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Inside the P.U.P. Studio

I think the whole First Friday event at the Murphy Building was a success. There were a ton of people! It was IMOCA’s first night in the building and with that they drew a huge crowd. P.U.P. had an awesome night as well and sold a ton of Dome wallets, purses, messenger bags, and Dome Flakes. You should check out P.U.P.’s website to see these. They are all made out of the RCA Dome roof material which is Teflon-coated Fiberglass. They saved it from being thrown in a landfill and are now putting it to good use. Silver In The City also carries some of these. They are a great gift idea that with your money gives back to the community. 60% of the profit is donated back into Indianapolis parks which is definitely needed. Grab a one of a kind gift and a piece of history!

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Another view of the People for Urban Progress Studio

Don’t forget this Friday Dec. 11 I will be at the Artsgarden all day from 10am-9pm selling original works of art for super cheap! I am talking $20 cheap. These will be great holiday gifts for anyone. I will have a wide range of work so come on down and check it out! There will be 20+ artists booths to check out. The Artsgarden is connected to Circle Center Mall so it is easily accessible as well.

Then Saturday night Dec. 12, I will have some of my work hanging at the Indy Hostel during the “Both Sides of the Beat” hiphop/spoken word show. It should be a blast! I hope to see you there.

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Who’s that guy? Oh yea, I’m wearing a name tag….

Mass Transit Works

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

I have been lucky enough to be a part of December’s First Friday event at the P.U.P. Studio. For those of you that came out on November’s First Friday event, I want to say thanks once again. It was a great experience and only you guys showing up makes it worth it all. Maryanne and Michael are doing great things to make Indianapolis a better place so come out and show them some love! They have t-shirts, Dome Flakes, Dome Bags, and other goodies for sale so help support one of Indy’s great non-profits by purchasing something. Also, tell your friends! Word of mouth makes a bigger impact than you think. You can learn more about People for Urban Progress HERE!

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A WIP (work in progress) shot of 2 of the 3 new pieces

I will be creating three new works for December’s FF event. They were inspired from a small paragraph I read on P.U.P.’s website actually. I was reading up on what they were doing about the transit initiatives and was kind of blown away by a statistic. From there I did some more research on some other sites. You should check out the site to see what I mean. It involves the past successes of Indiana’s mass transit rail system and the state’s current lack of sufficient public mass transit system. Indianapolis is a great city and it could be taken advantage of and appreciated more if the city was more easily accessible, not just by car. I know we have IndyGo and Amtrak but those are very limited as far as routes especially to and from the suburbs. We can do better than that.

After digesting this information and pondering about it, I got to creating. The works will not be a story board or a time line of Indiana’s rail system history. It is definitely a more abstract approach to the idea and the work. And with subtle representational images, I hope to bring the viewer in and possibly start an internal dialogue about transit solutions in Indianapolis. I don’t want the works to be exclusive but I also don’t want them to seem like a Jr. High poster board assignment either. I think I will stick to my witty titles to help bridge that gap and get the conversation started.

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A WIP (work in progress) shot of 2 of the 3 new pieces

One of the works is on a reused canvas mounted in an old frame. The other two are on wood which will be mounted in older found frames as well.

You can see these three new works on Friday Dec. 4 at the P.U.P. Studio (Studio 213) which is located in the Murphy Building, Fountain Square. The studio will have it’s door open from 7-10pm. I hope to see you out there and we can talk more about trains because trains are awesome.