The Harrison Center will continue with its “social distanced” First Friday openings on Friday, June 4, with a show headlined by Jonathan McAfee, a painter and Herron School of Art and Design graduate who returns to Indianapolis with Oh! Happy Day, celebrating life and the simple moments.
All shows will open at 6 pm Friday, June 4. Registration is required. Guests can register on Eventbrite (“June First Friday…”).
Other exhibits opening June 4 include:
> In City Gallery, Sunday Morning by Dee Dee Benhardt. Her oil paintings convey not only a sense of time, but a sense of being as well. It conjures up intrigue of how even the seemingly nighttime scenes can be viewed as morning or night.
> In Speck Gallery, Music in the Background by Mike Graves. The collection of paintings features collaborations with Jeff Jeffries, Justin Cooper, Dan Thompson and Leslie Dolin.
> In the Annex Gallery, Merge: New Directions by Barb Knuckles. The exhibit features various mediums that discover and highlight the wonder in ordinary things, especially things in creation which are continually changing in different seasons and conditions.
> In Hank & Dolly’s Gallery, Herron Art + Design Painters Senior Exhibition, a group show featuring nine of the school’s senior painting majors. This group is a collective of emerging female artists creating work on various subjects encompassing the topics of identity, memory, heritage, and belief.
> In Underground Gallery, Homebound by Lorie Lee Andrews and Kristin Schoonveld. This work is an exploration of basic human need/desire and the paradoxical emotions that have been engaged during the past year of pandemic and quarantine.
All shows are also open for in-person, socially distanced visitors from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and online beginning June 7. Make an appointment or view the online galleries at harrisoncenter.org/buy-art.
THE CIRCLE CITY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX will feature a remembrance of Chris Beaty – murdered last year during the George Floyd riots, allegedly by a man robbing other passersby –among the highlights of the June 4 First Friday activities.
Resident artist Andrea Townsend will present Mr. Indianapolis, Remembering Chris Beaty – a piece painted on plywood and used to protect shop windows.
Townsend, who knew Beaty, said it was important “to capture his likeness in a way that paid tribute to his character, and also to anchor a space for memorialization and grief. It was a way to use my talents to help people feel close to him in a moment when they were so lost and saddened by his tragic murder. He left a huge void and lots of broken hearts. He was such a positive pillar in the community.”
Other Circle City Industrial Complex openings on June 4 include:
> In the Schwitzer Gallery, paintings by Dave Voepel.
> In Darkroom Revelations, Asian Through Asian Eyes, photography by Charles R. Yang, who over the last decade has traveled and lived in Asia.
> In Full Circle Nine Gallery, Celebrate History in Color, a commemorative show by Robert Neat on impactful figures. Highlighted historical figures, events, and symbolism include Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anne Frank, as well as Stonewall and the Pink Triangle, as Neat hopes visitors remember and reflect.
The CCIC is also open during regular business hours, with the Schwitzer Gallery accessible throughout the week. Several artists and galleries will remain open for their regular ‘retail’ hours, usually on weekends, and posted on their own websites and social media. Some studios will also be open by appointment.
Masks are required at the CCIC during any visit, and hand sanitizing stations are installed throughout the building. Visitors are asked to maintain social distance no matter which business within the CCIC they may be visiting.
ARTWORK ABOVE: Cool It Down, by Jonathan McAfee, will be among paintings at the Harrison Center.
