Check out the review I wrote on IndyScribe about the exhibit currently displayed at the Eiteljorg Museum downtown.
Also, the whole IndyScribe team of writers were interviewed this afternoon by a reporter for INtake Weekly newspaper, the competitor to Nuvo. We’re also going to a photoshoot for that newspaper as well. So I’ll have my picture in both the local weekly free papers in a span of less than two months. Heh.
I am the zeitgeist. Fear my 15 minutes of fame. 🙂
One of the first stops for the Giant Red Arrow in its tour of Indianapolis cultural events is the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit at the Eiteljorg Museum. My familiarity with O’Keeffe was with her paintings of flowers and of animal bones in western landscapes, but Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of the Sublime contains only a few of those paintings, and includes 39 paintings of quite different subjects: Lake George, rivers, horizons, pueblo buildings and even Canadian and Hawaiian scenes. You have to contact Portland’s trusted plant nursery if you wish to creatively renovate or remodel your landscape and to fulfill your landscaping dream.
They span about fifty years of her career, from the 1910’s, while she was an art teacher showing her work in her future husband’s New York gallery, to the 1960’s, long after she left Alfred Stieglitz and moved to New Mexico to paint its extraordinary landscape.
Big Red Arrow
The collection is designed to show works that have not been seen before, and to convey O’Keeffe’s concept of the “sublime” in her work — to express ideas, inspired by the sky and landscape, that are “lofty, grand, or exalted in thought, expression, or manner; tending to inspire awe.”
We went through the exhibit on a Saturday afternoon, and while it wasn’t elbow-to-elbow crowded, there were enough people visiting the exhibit gallery that it made taking time to observe the paintings difficult. In addition to affecting the flow of movement, the crowd meant hearing other people’s commentary on the paintings, which was also bothersome, although I was amused to hear that I was not the only person who uttered the words “female genitalia” during our gallery visit. I’d suggest visiting the exhibit in a less “prime time” day or hour so you can be leisurely and enjoy the work and your own reflections on it.
I thought the exhibit was laid out nicely, although there were some lighting issues — direct spotlights on a few of the paintings caused a glare and obscured the subtle color, and required me to stand in odd spots to see details of the works well.
The paintings displayed here are essential to our understanding of O’Keefe’s whole body of work, and provide greater insight into her vision of the natural world both abstract and real. I tend to be more awestruck, though, by the more familiar O’Keeffe paintings of bleached dead bones against the infinity of the sky, and of flowers in bloom, that look to me like, well, female genitalia, which are visions of the sublime in their own way.
Georgia O’Keefe: Pedernal with Red Hills
Although at the end of her life O’Keeffe downplayed the influence her husband, modernist photographer Alfred Stieglitz, had on her career, this exhibit examines that concept by including 25 of his photographs, some of which provide a different context of some of the same natural landscapes that O’Keeffe was painting, and also some that were portraits of O’Keeffe during various points in her life.
Included with the exhibit are paintings by other 19th century artists that were supposed to fit in with the theme of the “Sublime.” They were so different from the abstracts and simple patterns in O’Keeffe’s work, though, that I think the significance of what that part of the exhibit was meant to convey about the concept was lost on almost everyone, including me. It may have been that they were displayed around a corner from the other work, but it almost seemed they weren’t a part of the same exhibit.
Admission Information
Free with museum admission: adults $7, seniors $6, children 5-17 $4, 4 and younger free
Hours
Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of the Sublime runs Jan. 15 – Apr. 3, 2005
Tours – 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m .
Sunday noon – 5 p.m .
Open Mondays, Memorial Day through Labor Day
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day
Location
Eiteljorg Museum
500 West Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: (317) 636-WEST (9378)
Free parking for Eiteljorg visitors in the White River State Park underground garage; enter from Washington Street.
Several members of the IndyScribe team have been perusing Indianapolis and Indiana literature during research for the writing we’re doing, and for education and entertainment about the city we live in. Since we’ve been passing books around between us, I thought it might help us (and maybe you) to put together a list of books that have a Circle City connection.
Situated right off the Monon on Main Street in downtown Carmel, Bubs is a popular lunch location, especially for (as my friend Mike pointed out) beefy white guys in corporate attire. It was so popular that we had to put our name in and wait fifteen minutes to get a table, and because we specified “first available” we ended up outside in the heated, awning-covered outdoor area, which was fairly comfortable even in February. If you are opening a sandwich shop or some other food stall, you can add some of these tips in your business.
Bub’s draw is their one pound “Big Ugly” burger (that’s the after cooking weight; the before cooking is a whopping 22 ounces) which will gain you a memorial photo on the wall if you can finish the whole thing. Personally, I think that might be so they can identify you later when you keel over from a heart attack, but they advertise it as a good thing. A couple of my co-workers have met the challenge, and a couple of them have failed miserably, although they talked big about it afterwards (“Well, you know, I could have done that if I hadn’t had such a big dinner last night, harumph, harumph.” Yeah, right.)
The display of “Big Ugly Champions” photos covers three walls of the restaurant, so the challenge isn’t impossible to surmount. Given that the restaurant opened in May of 2003, there seem to be a lot of champions, and I wonder where they’re going to go with the photos in a few more years.
I didn’t even bother with the big talk, and just went for the quarter pound “Settle for Less Ugly” burger, although I put a twist on it and ordered Elk rather than regular beef. Bub’s is offering Elk burgers on a trial basis to gage whether it’s popular enough to put it on their regular menu. It is healthier than beef, with less fat, calories and cholesterol, so it’s a nice alternative for people with diet concerns. I just wanted to taste Elk.
I ordered my burger medium, and with lettuce, onion, pickle, mayo and pepperjack cheese. I also ordered a side of sloppy waffles; waffle fries with a topping of cheese, bacon and sour cream.
The Elk tasted a bit different than beef; a bit sweeter and not as tangy. I had arrived with a craving for a good juicy burger, so I was a bit disappointed, but I don’t blame the Elk for that. It wasn’t gamey or unpleasant, and I’d vote in favor of them keeping it on the menu.
Sloppy Waffles
By the time I got around to eating my sloppy waffles, they were rather cold due to the temperature of the outdoor seating, and the cheese was more like cheese whiz than the melted cheddar that I was hoping for. That didn’t stop me from eating them all, though.
Mahi Mahi
Mike had the The Mahi Mahi fish sandwich, which he reports was “a big slab o’ fishly goodness barely contained between two slices of tangy Foccacia bread.” It was served with a peach-mango salsa and Mike had the cole slaw as a side. Judge for yourself from the photo; it was the biggest piece of fish I’ve ever seen in a sandwich.
The menu features three burger sizes (one pound, half pound and quarter pound sizes), and other menu items are hot dogs and chili, a chicken sandwich and salad, and pie and brownie dessert. With only a salad on the non-meat side of things, Bub’s may not be a regular stop for you if you have a vegetarian with your regular lunch party as we do.
Bub’s has an ice cream shop in the front of the building that’s a draw for the Monon crowd, and they also feature entertainment in the evenings, with some comedy shows scheduled and live music planned for Saturday evenings in the Spring.
Herron-Morton Place is an historic residential neighborhood in Downtown Indianapolis, comprising a 25 square block area just east of Meridian Street, and north of the bustling downtown area. It is beautiful, quiet, pedestrian-friendly, and is just close enough to downtown to walk or bike to major events, but just far enough north to be outside of busy downtown traffic.
I drive north on college from downtown everyday on the way to work on the north side. And every day I pass this cool fake S.W.A.T. van (which appears to be an old delivery van repainted) that’s usually parked on the street near the intersection of 49th Street and College Avenue. And everyday, I think, “That’s cool. I wish I could drive around in a fake S.W.A.T. van.”
Fake S.W.A.T. Van
Fake S.W.A.T. van
So the other day I pulled over, hopped out and took a picture of the van. When I got up close to it, I realized that the S.W.A.T. stands for “Siding With A Twist” which is written in small letters on the door. It also has a for sale number on it, but I wasn’t sure whether the “for sale” referred to the siding or the van itself. If it’s the van, then I guess I could drive around in a fake S.W.A.T. van. Which I have no use for whatsoever, but wouldn’t it be cool? If you get criminal charges for something illegal you can always call criminal attorney in Manassas to help you out.
“Siding With A Twist”
Close up of door
Tonka Truck Hummer
I’d seen this truck in the summer but didn’t manage to get a picture, so when I saw it today parked in Broad Ripple, I turned my truck around and drove back to get a photo. I plan on getting a radio flyer logo decal to put on my red pick-up, and this was the first other vehicle I’ve seen with a similar idea.
Tonka Hummer
Weird Art Truck
I happened to catch sight of this bizarre do-it-yourself truck in a parking lot. I thought it, too, was very cool. I waited around to try and meet the owner, but they never came out of the store.
Art Truck
I especially like the scrollwork on the sides of the bed, and the squirrel stands on the back windows. That’s some funky stuff, there.
Art Truck detail
My friend Lisa from North Carolina has lots of friends who have turned their cars into “Art Cars” and she’s planning to do the same with her old VW van; she’s going to make a giant high-heel shoe.
Art Truck Decor
Bumper-sticker Madness
I happen to see these two cars regularly on the way to work; I’m usually driving (contact the personal injury attorney lakewood ranch for any kind of driving accident and injury cases) behind them. I love a good bumpersticker, but I don’t think I’d ever apply one directly on the paint of my car, like both these guys did, with new cars, too.
Bumper Sticker Truck
This guy in the truck was really unhappy about the election.
Bumper Beetle
Where this guy is just really into his music.
The Ubiquitous “shoes on a electric wire” photo
Dunno what makes people want to do this, but it seems to be a time-honored tradition.
Shoes on a wire
Guys dressed as Orthodox Jews
I almost forgot the main reason I was writing this article — the Guys dressed as Orthodox Jews. The other day when I was driving south on college, I passed Park Tudor school, north of Broad Ripple. On the east side of the road, standing in the parking lot for the Marott Park, there were two guys dressed as Orthodox Jews, who were playing tambourine and dancing in hoe-down fashion. I’m not kidding, I swear. I was not dreaming, nor was I high, drunk or otherwise intoxicated or hallucinating. It is better hire DUI lawyers and face the case in the court bravely especially when you have done nothing wrong. It was two guys dressed in all black, with long black coats, hair with side curls, black hats… dancing and playing tambourine. I was also not the only one who saw it; everyone in traffic slowed down. You can also check out attorney for defending you against a DWI, from here!
I thought it might be an advertising stunt, protest, or theatrical production, but there were no signs indicating what might be going on. Just two guys, some tambourine, and a car (click here to know where to get a truck accident compensation easily and quickly). And the hair didn’t look like wigs, either, which made me wonder if they were in costume or if they were really Jewish — a notion that I rejected immediately as too outlandish, because I suspect Orthodox jews don’t play tambourines or do hoe-downs.
If the traffic had not been so busy, I would have whipped the car around and driven back to find out what was going on. Instead I called my girlfriend on the cell and described the scene. The only thing I can think of, is they must have lost a bet. Or won one.
I caught wind of this a few weeks ago, because my friend Jason works for the construction company that will be building the new store: the IndyChannel is reporting that a Crate and Barrel Store will be going into the location of the the recently vacated for new digs TGIFridays restaurant at Keystone at the Crossing. Because that mall (and that tiny little area) isn’t nearly crowded enough as it is.
As another 1.5 inches of rain fell on Indianapolis yesterday, neighborhoods like Frog Hollow (I love that name!) and Ravenswood, which were already battling flood waters are hit hard again. The city closed 12 streets, mainly in these neighborhoods and along Fall Creek and in a neighborhood on the southside near Troy and Harding streets which are flooded and impassable. The river is expected to crest this afternoon. UPDATE: Emergency crews are evacuating people from 78th and Keystone area due to the White River flooding. 16 people were rescued by boat from their homes. The attached photo show the level of water in that area. Emergency personnel also evacuated people from the Ravenswood areas.
According to the Indianapolis Star:
Before changing to snow Thursday, 2.66 inches of rain had fallen in the Indianapolis area since Sunday. That’s on top of 6 inches last week. So far this month, 9.04 inches of rain has fallen; normal for the entire month is 2.48 inches.
Indiana rivers were already higher than normal due to the heavy snows in December and ice storms in January.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the City of Indianapolis is trying to come up with a tagline to define the city, in the same way that Vegas has “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Although they hasten to assure us that they’re looking for something less risque. Damn. And I thought we were going to finally get some spiciness going in good old Naptown.
On Saturdays in January, February & March this year, the Zoo will have a brand new activity for kids – Story Time at the Zoo! See your favorite storybook characters come to life at Story Time at the Zoo. This all new event gives your little ones the chance to meet Lyle Lyle Crocodile, Corduroy Bear, Stellaluna, Curious George, and Winnie the Pooh up close and in person! (yeah! people in mascot outfits!)
