Big Car

First Friday Night Market
2023-04-07 18:00 - 22:00, 2023-05-05 18:00 - 22:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join us again for this upcoming First Friday for a wonderful evening in Garfield Park. We are celebrating local artists, musicians, food trucks and vendors by featuring them in our night market.
Come check out our creative endeavors here around Cruft Street, where you will have the opportunity to purchase local goods from amazing artists and food vendors here at the Tube.
During the winter months, the Night Market is held inside Tube Factory artspace. In the fall, spring, and summer months, vending is located outside.
If you are a local artist or maker, please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required for more information.

em elise: aegis(us)
2023-04-07 18:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
aegis(us): a moving image refuge for feminine endurance and holistic body reclamation
While her present artistic practice grew roots in classical cello and midnight poetry, Em Elise has always been fascinated by the body and its languages. She sees patterns of birth and death as ever present: from ephemeral relationships between lovers to the synchronicity between menstruation and la luna. In an age of shallow social media presentation and the dissociative “new normal” induced by a global pandemic, Elise has become obsessed with a search for depth which she often finds in grainy film, candid renderings, and recollection of guttural feelings. Featuring moving image projection, performance, immersive sound, and remnants of ritual, aegis(us) intertwines somatic experience, emotional perception, and spectral influence to mesmerize and purify.
aegis(us), Em Elise’s undergraduate thesis and debut solo exhibition, serves as a psycho-spiritual testament to feminine endurance and holistic body reclamation. Aegis, /ˈējəs/, being an emblem of protection, and us, a community bound by collective belonging. How does the body act as a conduit? When might the mundane become mystic? What happens when we slow down and surrender to the intuitive rhythms of the (super)natural world? Fueled by Elise’s tender affinity for sacred corporeal movement, nostalgic image making processes, and the liberation of rebirth, aegis(us) invites viewers to bathe in contemplation of the relationship between physical and energetic phenomena.

Artist Biography:
Em Elise approaches art making as alchemical therapy: a vessel for self embalming, transmuting grief, and holistic body reclamation. Driven by the heart pangs, moments of remembrance, and spiritual visitations she frequently encounters in transit, on the cusp of sleep, sky gazing, or when peering into the soul of another, Elise’s artwork provides an anchor for those that feel as alien in this world as she often does. Elise creates to embrace emotional excavation, reintegrate traumatic experience, and root in tender vulnerability. Whether immortalizing feelings of intimacy on instant film, divulging ancestral and gender-based wounds using analog video, or purging pain during ritual performance, Em Elise’s work fuels collective healing and vital authenticity in the face of oppressive social conditioning. Em Elise is native to and currently based out of Indianapolis, Indiana but frequently practices in Copenhagen, Denmark.
contact + connect: email hidden; JavaScript is required / @sin__atras / https://emelisecreating.tumblr.com/
Located in the Guichelaar Gallery, this exhibit is part of a Herron School of Art and Design Photography Senior Thesis series curated by Jane Sun Kim, a visual artist in our long term residency program, APLR.
The Guichelaar Gallery and Residency House located next door to Tube Factory at 1135 Cruft St. is a contemporary art space operated by Big Car Collaborative APLR artists. It also serves as a home for visiting artists.

Jason Gray: Cthutopia
2023-04-07 18:00 - 2023-05-21 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
“I remember sitting in church one Sunday near Easter, trying to pay attention to the sermon but failing. I was six or seven, maybe. My mind wandered as I looked around the sanctuary. I started to think about these two hallways that led away from the main room. The one to the right was familiar to me; the choir room was down there and I found myself there often, waiting for my grandparents to hang up their robes after service. The hallway to the left was a mystery. I had never been down it, nor seen many people go in or come out. This particular Sunday I started to imagine what was down there. I pictured the hall itself to be similar to the other side, with white walls and a white door. Opening this white door would lead you somewhere else, though. It led to a cave of sorts, with gray stone walls and a dusty floor: Jesus’ tomb. Jesus was in there too, frozen in carbonite like Han Solo.

As we get older, there seems to be less time for our imaginations to wander. We get bogged down with responsibilities and thoughts about what we need to do next. Our sense of wonder diminishes as we learn more about the world; we know the chances of discovering monsters or hidden worlds are slim. A lucky few get to live in their imagination, like writers and filmmakers, but most of us are stuck, grounded by real life.

The philosopher Michael Foucault used the term “heterotopia” to describe places that deviated from the normal world. A greek word meaning “other place”, a heterotopia is neither a utopia nor a dystopia, but something in between, a parallel world that is contrary to expected society and that can, at times, be disturbing. Foucault cited examples such as prisons, hospitals, and religious sanctuaries, where one is expected to perform certain rituals to enter. These spaces are an accepted part of society, places we deem necessary in order to exclude those that can disrupt our attempt at a utopia. What if there were places hidden from us that go beyond societal expectations and exist outside of our rules of physics and nature as we understand it?

In this body of work, I am exploring the dream that there are still places and things we have not discovered, things we may not even comprehend. Inside of familiar volumes such as instrument cases and terrariums, I am creating spaces that give a glimpse of some other world, somewhere weird and wrong. This is Cthutopia.”

About the artist
Jason Gray is a furniture maker residing in Indianapolis. Wood is the medium most often used, but he also dabbles in slip cast ceramics and looks for inspiration in found objects. He earned a BFA at Herron School of Art and an MFA at The University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Gray is the Lead Builder at Big Car Collaborative. He is the designer behind campus projects such as The Chicken Chapel of Love, The Chicken Palace, and Wandering Grove.

This exhibit is made possible by The Arts Council of Indianapolis, The City of Indianapolis and Allen Whitehill Clowes Foundation.

Jeremy Efroymson Gallery
Opening events April 7, 6-10pm & May 5, 6-10pm

Yeabsera Tabb-Tezeta
2023-04-07 18:00 - 2023-06-25 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
tezeta (teh-zeh-tah): an Amharic word that roughly translates to memory, nostalgia, or longing
This body of work is an exploration of the physical and figurative aspects of “place.” On one hand, the word “place” refers to our built environment, choices of design, and our interactions with the physical world. On the other hand, it refers to a sense of belonging that is cultural and emotional–still deeply tied to the physical world, but able to exist without it through memory. I invite the viewer to step into the threshold separating “here and now” from”‘then and there.”
Physical spaces such as markets, homes, and schools are where most of our memories are made, and the physicality of a space is significant in shaping our upbringing. I am deeply influenced and inspired by the colors, textures, and sounds that surrounded me during my childhood in Ethiopia.
When I came to the U.S. from Addis Ababa as a teenager, I found myself existing in a liminal space. I longed for the outdoor markets, casual coffee gatherings, and kids kicking soccer balls on narrow streets. This was where my sense of place rested and suddenly it was nowhere to be found. I had to completely reframe my understanding of place. By acknowledging the importance of place in shaping our identity, I explore what happens when we are separated from our places by distance and time. – Yeabsera Tabb
About the Artist
Yeabsera Tabb is an interdisciplinary visual artist with a focus in printmaking and textiles. Her work explores the intersectionalities and liminal space contained within one’s personal identity.
As an artist, Yeabsera often struggles to reconcile her pain, bewilderment, and anger with societal expectations to create beauty. Acknowledging anger, joy, and resistance, her work exists in a complicated middle ground, invoking the recognition and appreciation of disparate feelings and experiences.
After graduating with degrees in both Design for Social Impact and Fine Arts, Yeabsera held multiple solo and group shows in Indianapolis including a group show at Newfields. Additionally, she was one of 10 Black woman artists named as an Emerging Visionary Artist by Shea Moisture.

Main Gallery
VISIT US
Wednesday -Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tube is also open until 10 p.m. each First Friday.
Closed Holidays

This exhibit is made possible by The Arts Council of Indianapolis, The City of Indianapolis and Allen Whitehill Clowes Foundation.

African Dance with Uzuri Asad
2023-04-12 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-04-19 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-04-26 19:30 - 21:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join Uzuri Asad, artist in Big Car’s Public Life Residency, for a dose of culture, self-care, and community as we explore rhythms from West Africa and other parts of the Diaspora. Give your body and soul a moment to reflect and progress all at once, meet Asad on the floor!

Miera Thoroughgood: Through My Eyes: A multimedia archive
2023-04-14 18:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
I’ve lived in Indianapolis for almost 4 years, it’s my home. I’ve explored many depths of this city. It’s a blur to me now. I see the same buildings and people every other day.
With my work, I explored the streets of Indianapolis that feel as if they were anywhere else in the world. It’s my escape. Time and space are limited in the photos. Indianapolis has been a lovely home, but I’m ready to leave and find other places, people, and spaces. —Miera Thoroughgood
Located in the Guichelaar Gallery, this exhibit is part of a Herron School of Art and Design Photography Senior Thesis series curated by Jane Sun Kim, a visual artist in our long term residency program, APLR.
The Guichelaar Gallery and Residency House located next door to Tube Factory at 1135 Cruft St. is a contemporary art space operated by Big Car Collaborative APLR artists. It also serves as a home for visiting artists.

Selena Ward: Sentida- A visual memoir
2023-04-21 18:00 - 22:00 | IN
Sentida is a collection of Selena Ward’s recent installation pieces that serves as a visual memoir for her surge in personal reflection and self discovery within recent years. Bookmaking, quiltmaking and image making all feature to dissect her feelings of displacement within her own Chicana identity, explore her obscured ancestral history, and question conflicting ideas on beauty, womanhood, love, domesticity, and loss.
Selena is an undergraduate photographer and artist who uses multi-media image making, video, and installation as a way to look within and ground herself. From embroidering quilts with childhood memorabilia to creating colorful and indulgent images, she is inspired by her own emotive life experiences and intricacies of life as a Mexican-American woman in this generation, and seeks to discover and slowly reveal herself through her work. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Find her on Instagram: @selenaward
Located in the Guichelaar Gallery, this exhibit is part of a Herron School of Art and Design Photography Senior Thesis series curated by Jane Sun Kim, a visual artist in our long term residency program, APLR.
The Guichelaar Gallery and Residency House located next door to Tube Factory at 1135 Cruft St. is a contemporary art space operated by Big Car Collaborative APLR artists. It also serves as a home for visiting artists.

Benji Dorocke:Matters in E-6- Drawings From The Well
2023-04-28 18:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Drawings From The Well explores sources of individual creative spirit and drive. Within the well lies all parts of the self; from the surface we draw from daily, to depths seldom acknowledged. At the point of overflow, the depths begin to rise allowing those motives and feelings to become visible. I find these periodic wellings to be helpful in self understanding, and important to growth. Every well contains all of our influences, memories, and perspectives; the fibers of the self held at varying depths. Multifaceted in our nature; humans take on more interests, roles, and traits than we are often aware of. Trips to the depths of the well can feel treacherous, however with exploration comes clarity upon surfacing.
Benji Dorocke is an Indianapolis based artist currently working in photo, audio, and video. They have been working in digital imaging since early childhood, largely focusing on photography and design. In 2019, they began attending the Herron School of Art and Design, majoring in photography. Much of their work deals with themes of identity and documenting their experiences, presented typically with a hybrid analog-digital process.
Find them on Instagram: @stp.lte
Located in the Guichelaar Gallery, this exhibit is part of a Herron School of Art and Design Photography Senior Thesis series curated by Jane Sun Kim, a visual artist in our long term residency program, APLR.
The Guichelaar Gallery and Residency House located next door to Tube Factory at 1135 Cruft St. is a contemporary art space operated by Big Car Collaborative APLR artists. It also serves as a home for visiting artists.

DUKE'S INDY + NORMAL Burrito Brunch
2023-04-30 10:00 - 15:00 | IN
Meat and Vegetarian burritos made with Tube Factory Artspace Art Chicken eggs. A Vegan option too! 10am until we run out.

Current State
2023-04-30 15:00 - 18:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Featuring more than 20 performers, Current State is a live concert event putting the talent of IUPUI Music students on full display. Students from the undergraduate music technology program at IUPUI will present original works drawn from a wide array of musical styles including electronic pop, house, hip-hop, noise, experimental, and beyond.

Mina Keohane- Lunch Break Live Tuesdays presented by Lake City Bank
2023-05-02 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Join us for the soft return of SPARK Monument Circle with live music from Mina Keohane! Food trucks, Bearded Bagel and Treats by Fee, will be onsite starting at 11am. Music performance 12-1pm.

“…full of surprises. She possesses a songbird’s voice, a wisdom beyond her years and a delightfully smooth way of gliding across the piano keys. Everything from mournful sonic sculptures to crisp, lightweight ballads carried the day — always in celebration of the moment, whether it be the memory of something long gone or the freshness of something new.” –Nuvo Newsweekly
Mina Keohane is an Indianapolis based composer/performer. Her music is a piano-driven cross-pollination of singer-songwriter, indie rock and a hint of jazz using lush chords and impulsive lines to create a distinctive sound. Her songs have been described as “if Joni Mitchell and Aimee Mann had a baby with Charles Mingus.” She spends most of her time writing music for commercials and short films, as well as playing keyboards and accordion with Public Universal Friend, Sarah Grain & the Billions of Stars, Nashville-based recording artist Brandon Whyde, The Dopacetics, Teresa Reynolds and the Slicktones, and her own band Mina & the Wondrous Flying Machine. She has had the opportunity and privilege of opening for many wonderful artists including Becca Stevens, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats, Blues Traveler, Dwight Yoakam, Esme Patterson & Robby Krieger.

We at Big Car are teaming up with Downtown Indy and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission— to spark Monument Circle with human-scale activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. We’re based in the southwest quadrant.

Power Plant Grants are back!
2023-05-05 - 2023-05-06 | IN
Applications for Power Plant Grants open Friday, May 5. These are $10,000 project grants for visual artists residing in Indianapolis for new public-facing art projects with a strong visual component.
APPLY HERE
The Power Plant Grant program for 2023-24 will provide grants in the amount of $60,000 total. Six individual artists, art collectives, and/or artist-run spaces will receive cash grants of $10,000 each, for the creation and presentation of new work/projects with a strong visual component. Artists with ongoing projects or practices are welcome to apply, providing the application proposes significant evolution or adaptation that will open up new directions in the work – even if for only one year.
Applications for this round are due by July 10, 2023.
Click the apply button above to get started. And see our FAQs for more information.
TIMELINE FOR Power Plant Grants 2023-2024:

Friday, May 5 – Application opens
Monday, May 29, 7-8 pm — Virtual information session. Register here.
Monday, June 26, 7-8 pm — Information session (in-person)
Monday, July 10 – Applications close online, at 11.59 PM EST
Friday, August 11 – All applications notified if they will proceed to the final round
Saturday, August 26, 9:30 am – 6 pm — Artists’ presentations at the Selection Panel meeting in Indianapolis*
Monday, August 28 – Award recipients notified
Monday, September 18 – Public Announcement of 2023-24 Awards

Supported projects may include visual art, performance, film screenings, video, new media, writing, public programming, social practice and interdisciplinary projects. Performing artists and writers are eligible to apply, but all work should include a compelling visual component, and performers/authors are encouraged to form collaborations with visual artists to achieve this end.
You can view the guidelines, FAQ’s, and previously awarded projects on www.powerplantgrant.org

Power Plant grants are facilitated by the nonprofit arts organization, Big Car Collaborative and are made possible by funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Liz Gomez-Lunch Break Live Tuesdays presented by Lake City Bank
2023-05-09 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Join us for the soft return of SPARK Monument Circle with live music from Colombian singer and guitarist, Liz Gomez.

Food Trucks, Chef Dan’s & Paul’s Kitchen, will be onsite starting at 11am.
Music performance 12-1pm in the SW Quad of Monument Circle.

We at Big Car are teaming up with Downtown Indy and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission— to spark Monument Circle with human-scale activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. We’re based in the southwest quadrant.

African Dance Class with Uzuri Asad
2023-05-10 19:30 - 21:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join Uzuri Asad, artist in Big Car’s Public Life Residency, for a dose of culture, self-care, and community as we explore rhythms from West Africa and other parts of the Diaspora. Give your body and soul a moment to reflect and progress all at once, meet Asad on the floor!
$10

Women's Assembly for Production & Sound
2023-05-12 19:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
The event will begin with a Q&A panel moderated by DJ Space Bunz. Our panelists include, Lex the curator of No Rap on Sunday, DJ Gabby Luv, DJ Jess Little Town, DJ Annie D, and DJ Non-Compliant. All of these women are leaders in the local music scene in Indianapolis and seasoned in their craft. Following the Q&A, each panelist will break off into their own station and participants will be able to visit each station and get their hands on gear! The idea is to lower the barrier of entry for DJing and allow participants to experience all different types of DJing gear including CDJ’s, Turtables, Controllers, and production software. Participants will have an opportunity to learn from our panelists and network. Following the break out, there will be a quick Back-To-Back DJing session from our panel of DJ’s and guests will be encouraged to dance!
The event will be broadcast on Listen Hear Radio WQRT 99.1 and is in collaboration with Tube Factory Art Space, Red Bull, Deckademics, Girls Rock Indianapolis and Indy.fm.
The event is 18+ and beverages will be available for purchase for the 21+ crowd.
We are excited for you to join us!
Below you will find more information about our moderator and each of our panelists!
DJ Space Bunz @brianachele: DJ Space Bunz is 5 years in the craft. She currently spins an open music format at various clubs and events in the city & is a part of a local DJ collective, Club Plex. She believes that music has the power & potential to transform the energetic field of any environment.
DJ Little Town @djlittletown: Indianapolis born with dual citizenship belonging to Brazil, Little Town is an eclectic music selector that has been DJing for nearly a decade around the world. She is highly adaptive to her audience; playing multi-genre dance parties, Top-40 venues across the city, underground techno clubs, all vinyl DJ nights, and private events.
DJ Annie D @anniedulhanty: A true open format DJ, Annie D has cultivated a brand based on her love for all music genres, her western and edgy style, and her motivation and passion to maintain the party at any venue. Her ability to weave through and touch all genres of music during her party driven sets has molded her club/event driven career. DJ Annie D has residencies at Metro Nite Club and Tini on Mass Ave, Burn by Rocky Patel, and Union 50 to name a few – and has played events including Bi/Pan Pride and Chicken and Beer Fest.
DJ Gabby Love @djgabbylove: DJ Gabby Love is Indianapolis-based & has become one of the most sought after DJs for Clubs and Events in the city. She has played club gigs & festivals in NYC, London (UK), Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Louisville, Denver. She has DJ’d prestigious events for clients such as Gatorade, Sak’s 5th Ave., Heineken, Red Bull, and the Indiana Pacers. Her passion & knowledge of the craft can be heard & felt in her sets, filled with seamless blends & creative lyric/sample associations that get the party going!
Lex @ibetuwanta_lexus: As a girl growing up, I would sing in church & a part of choirs. Singing never was my true passion, although I loved music, bringing ppl together has always been my strongest gift so that’s why I started No Rap On Sunday! In the beginning it was just a hashtag I used on Twitter! Every Sunday I would do the hashtag & ask ppl what they were listening to! That started in 2015 & I slowly turned it into an event that I host on the last Sunday of the month during the summer! It was organic & something that I dreamt about constantly, so to see it come into fruition is a blessing.
DJ Non-Compliant @_noncompliant_: Raised in small town Indiana on a musical diet of 80s synth pop and punk rock, Noncompliant soon found barnyard raves and warehouse techno parties and (as DJ Shiva) quickly became a fixture of the fabled 90s Midwest USA rave scene.
Two decades and a name change later, she is at the top of her techno game. Mixmag named her one of 2017’s Top 20 Breakthrough DJs. She owned a packed and sweaty Boiler Room during Movement Detroit, turned in mindblowing mixes for Slam Radio, Discwoman, and Resident Advisor, and quaked some of the world’s most respected dance floors like Smartbar Chicago, Amsterdam’s DeSchool, Concrete in Paris, and Berlin’s legendary Berghain. Her festival appearances include Unsound, Red Bull Music Festival Paris, Movement Detroit, and Whole United Queer Festival.
As a producer, her releases and remixes on labels like Valence, Argot, Flash, and Dark Entries have pounded sound systems worldwide, with her tune “Women’s Work” landing on Fiedel’s official Berghain 08 mix and on his label Fiedeltwo.

World Collage Day
2023-05-13 11:00 - 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
World Collage Day is an annual, international celebration of collage on the Second Saturday of May. Join artist Beth Hall in making collages in Indianapolis!
Initiated by Kolaj Magazine in 2018, we invited artists and art venues to hold events on that day to celebrate collage. World Collage Day is about artists connecting across borders against a global context of entrenchment and separation. And the day is about an art medium that excels at bringing different things together to create new forms and new ways of thinking. Ric Kasini Kadour, the editor of Kolaj Magazine, writes, “We created World Collage Day because we wanted to honour this community of artists and to remind the world what a spirit of cooperation, mutual support, and creativity can look like.”

African Dance with Uzuri
2023-05-17 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-05-24 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-05-31 19:00 - 21:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States

Lunch at Lockerbie featuring Live Performance by Kristen Bales
2023-05-18 11:30 - 13:30 | Lockerbie Marketplace, 320 N New Jersey St, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Join us on Thursday at Lockerbie Marketplace — a lovely downtown greenspace next to Needler’s Fresh Market. Ping pong, foosball, and giant Jenga are always available for additional entertainment.
This week enjoy live music by Kristen Bales, Numerology readings by Ellen Robinson, and wood-fired cuts of meat, poultry, seafood & vegetables by Guacho Fire.

About Kristen Bales
Kristen Bales is an indie-alternative/rock artist out of Indianapolis, Indiana. With a voice that at times appears relaxed and pristine, like the sweet crooning of Norah Jones, but at times crashes against the heavy, soul-filled tones of Janis Joplin, Kristen turns to roots of jazz to exemplify genres of blues, rock, and soul.
About Ellen Robinson
I am an Indiana native and started painting in 2007 when my business coach at the time handed me canvas, paints and brush and said: PAINT. I initially resisted, saying to my coach: I DON’T PAINT. After a few minutes I realized I was not getting off the hook and so I begrudgingly began to paint. I felt a feeling that was unfamiliar at the time … the feeling I know now to be FREE. I’ve been painting ever since.
I believe we are all uniquely wired to live our true expression in the world. Me for me and you for you. And that THIS is the greatest act of service. I do not paint a specific thing or have a specific technique. I paint when I have something to say. Sometimes this is literally with words and sometimes not. All of it is me expressing my lifeforce energy on canvas.
Each piece I paint is for someone, whether I know who that is at the time I paint it, or not. I love when people ask me to paint something just for them and I also love it when someone sees as piece of mine online or at a show and feel so drawn to it, that they know they must have it. I think this is the best way to buy anything, including art, if it feels good in your bones, it’s for YOU.

All events are free at 320 N New Jersey Street in the greenspace right off the Cultural Trail.

Super Sunday Showdown 2.0
2023-05-21 14:00 - 20:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Super Sunday Showdown Returns!!
Join us for this music, food and fun event organized by Clint Breeze and hosted by Tenna.

Food Trucks: That Vegan Joint and Weiner Dreams

Set times:
2:30-3:00 – Emma Hall
3:15-3:45 – Breeze Funk and Joel
4-4:30 – Gritty and Craftsman
4:45- 5:30 – Joshua Powell
5:45 – 6:15 – Mandog DJ Set
6:30-7:00 – KIDDO
7:15-8 – Drayco

Jay Elliot-Lunch Break Live Tuesdays presented by Lake City Bank
2023-05-30 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Join us for the soft return of SPARK Monument Circle with live music from Jay Elliot! Food trucks, Gauchos Fire and Wild Boar BBQ, will be onsite starting at 11am. Music performance 12-1pm.

Since fronting acclaimed Indianapolis-based rock outfit Stereo Deluxe, J. Elliott has become known for his riveting and dynamic solo live performances, both with just acoustic guitar and full band. With the release of his new single, “How To Be A Man”, he is again revealing to the world his ability to deftly create smart, insightful songs about his life and observations… while growing a devoted audience that is fully aware of how special and unique his voice and songs truly are.

We at Big Car are teaming up with Downtown Indy and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission— to spark Monument Circle with human-scale activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. We’re based in the southwest quadrant.

Nasreen Khan: Cic·a·trix
2023-06-02 08:00 - 2023-07-23 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
The narrative of femininity is pain.
Cicatrix: the scar of a healed wound. In botany, cicatrix refers to the keloid mark left on a tree after a piece of it has been removed. In this body of work, I am exploring the personal maternal scar of being taken away from the only real parental figure I had until that point in life, the complex scars of colonialism and immigration, and the physical scars of my own body.

I spent the first part of my life in Senegal, West Africa. I was raised by my nanny, a Senegalese woman named Saly. In Senegal there is a practice called diamou, or gum tattooing and burning. A hot needle is repeatedly poked into a woman’s gums. Then a mixture of burnt oil and shea butter is rubbed into the wounds to darken the space around the teeth. This is supposed to make the woman more beautiful, but also to train her to tolerate pain. When I was 9, Sali began tattooing my gums to blacken them. She was never able to finish. I spent the second half of my life in Indonesia. Saly died the year after we left Africa.

The architect and urban planner, Le Corbusier, wrote about humanity as born in a state of insufficiency, therefore needing “auxiliary organs.” For Le Corbusier, our built environments, including building architecture, become prosthetic extensions of our insufficient human bodies. His thoughts form the basis for contemporary prosthetic theory, often cited in the world of AI and tech innovation. For example, a computer mouse pad becomes an extension of our internal understanding of reality, as it is the “limb” we use to create changes in our virtual realities.

Immigration is both an amputation and a taking on of prosthesis through cultural assimilation in a new built environment. The relationships we leave behind are an extension of ourselves. Their separation leaves a wound, then a scab, then a callous on which the new ones rest like a prosthetic limb.

I draw on concepts of scarification and prosthesis in this body of work. The collections of dots and lines that form many of the backgrounds are translated from traditional African scarification patterns. I choose to work burning on wood, mirroring the tattoos on my gums. The tree limbs and bark are functionally akin to scarred skin and flesh.

The cultural narrative of femininity I was taught as a child was –to be woman was to endure pain–and to be a good woman, was to endure pain quietly. Once I immigrated to America, the messaging about what it meant to be a woman changed only slightly. I am in pain. The pain I experience is often dismissed, by the immigration and medical systems, by male partners, by respectability culture.These works are manifestations of the silent scaring and re-wounding that many women experience. They challenge and subvert these narratives through their size and emotionality. The use of a once living medium is a metaphor for womanhood and immigration.
Run your fingers on the raised welts in the wood. Touch pain.

About the Artist
Nasreen Khan (she/her) is a writer, visual artist, teacher, and mother. She grew up in West Africa and Indonesia and has recently made a home in Indianapolis. Her teaching and artistic practices, rooted in questions of equity and earth-based spirituality, grapple with questions of belonging; celebrate cultural margins; and confront colonization, racism, and misogyny.
IG: @heyitsnasreen
Website: https://nasreen-khan.com/

June 2-July 23
Jeremy D. Efroymson Gallery
Wednesday -Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tube is also open until 10 p.m. each First Friday.
Closed Holidays
Made possible by The Arts Council of Indianapolis, The City of Indianapolis, Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation and more.

First Friday Night Market
2023-06-02 18:00 - 22:00 | IN

Haykidd &Thee Black Card-Hey Black Kidd
2023-06-02 18:00 - 2023-07-23 18:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
“Hey Black Kidd” is a collaborative body of work created by painter, Haykidd (Greg Rose) and mixed media artist, Thee Black Card (Sarah Jene). The exhibit is a celebration of self, full realization and acknowledgement of who you are, where you are and what you have– from their perspectives.

Pairing Thee Black Card’s rich cultural mixed media work and Haykidd’s imaginative approach to storytelling, these artists tell a story of resilience, joy and virtue in 14 pieces.

The exhibit is inspired by this poem written by Useni Perkins:
“Hey Black Child
Do you know who you are
Who you really are
Do you know you can be
What you want to be
If you try to be
What you can be
Hey black child
Do you know where you are going
Where you’re really going
Do you know you can learn
What you want to learn
What you can learn
Hey Black child
Do you know you are strong
I mean really strong
Do you know you can do
What you want to do
If you try to do
What you can do
Hey Black child
Be what you can do
Learn what you must learn
Do what you can do
And tomorrow your nation
Will be what you want it to be”

This exhibit opens in our Listen Hear Gallery located at 2625 Shelby St.

Boo! A knitting/graffiti project with Mary Jo Bayliss
2023-06-03 13:00 - 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
A free gathering where knitting and graffiti collide! Simultaneously inspired by traditional knitting and graffiti, this ever-evolving piece combines fiber adjacent activities, coloring sheets derived from graffiti and knitting motifs, and opportunities for participants to share their creative path stories.
You are invited to come join the fun, because without YOU, Boo, this project can’t happen.
About the artist
Mary Jo Bayliss specializes in creating environments that help people feel at ease using space, light and color to achieve these goals.

Power Plant Grant Webinar
2023-06-05 19:00 | IN
If you are interested in applying for a Power Plant Grant, please consider attending this virtual information session on Monday, June 5 at 7pm. Register here.

The Power Plant Grant program for 2023-24 will provide grants in the amount of $60,000 total. Six individual artists, art collectives, and/or artist-run spaces will receive cash grants of $10,000 each, for the creation and presentation of new work/projects with a strong visual component. Artists with ongoing projects or practices are welcome to apply, providing the application proposes significant evolution or adaptation that will open up new directions in the work – even if for only one year.
Applications for this round are due by July 10, 2023. For more information go to www.powerplantgrant.org
