As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Avatar is back on the move and moving towards the heart of Indiana. Naturally, he's interested in checking out the arts scene.
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| It's hard for an artist to get more "Indiana" then Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark in 1928, in Indiana). The "Love" stamp is probably his best known, and certainly his most licked, work. Mr. Indiana currently lives, disappointingly, in Maine. |
Indiana!
Size: 34,418 km2 (38th)
2016 Population: 6,633,053 (16th)
Statehood: 1816 (19th).
American Human Development Index: 4.56 (38th)
Art Mecca:
From a perusal of the usual internet sources, it seems pretty clear that the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is the big show in Indiana. I mean, no less a source than "ranker.com" has it as the 12th best museum in the United States, and perhaps more relevantly it is the "8th largest encyclopedic art museum" in the country. It has a lot of gallery space, and lots of famous paintings, including plenty by brand-name artists whose names you would recognize!
The IAT is also the museum where occasional voter Rebecca used to be associate curator! So it would be really fun to drop by and look at some art and say "Hey, we've never met in person, but I'm Michael5000!" I mean, it would be fun for me. It would just be weird if you did it. And besides, it's too late, since Rebecca has jumped ship for a place you may have heard of called the "Art Institute of Chicago."
Another thing to love about IMA -- its URL is, intentionally or no, as cute as a bug: "imamuseum.org".
The little sister to IMA is probably the Eskenazi Museum of Art, on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. Most major colleges have an art museum attached, of course, but the Eskenazi looks to be a few cuts above the average here. It's big, and it has a deep collection which looks, at a glance, like it includes a lot of pretty and interesting art objects. We like that! Plus, it's housed in a building designed by I.M. Pei, so you get some architecture cred just by stepping in the door. And admission is free, which you gotta love.
Since the Avatar is visiting Bloomington and then heading east towards Cincinnati, he's going to visit the Eskenazi and pass on IMA. But! that route will take him through Columbus, Indiana, where he can visit the Miller House, an IMA property considered a real hallmark of modernist American residential and landscape architecture! It was designed by Eero Saarinen, for all love -- the architecture cred is really starting to stack up on this tour of Indiana.
Michael 5000's Indiana
First Visited: May 24, 1994 (20th)
Most Recently Visited: July 10, 2005 (42nd)
First Run In: n/a
Best Run: n/a
Have Admired the Visual Arts In: No.
Have Slept Overnight In: Yes.
Counties Visited: 15/93 (29th)
% Complete: 16.3% (72nd)
Mrs. 5000's Counties Visited: 24/92 (14th)
% Complete: 26.1% (30th)
Mrs.5000 First Visited: Unknown
Mrs.5000 Most Recently Visited: August 1990
Atlas of All Roads Travelled
Plans and Aspirations
I'd kind of like to visit Indiana again one of these days. The place is packed with architectural heritage, apparently!
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