Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery

First Friday at the Stutz to feature open studios and more

November 25, 2013 by April Abernathy

The Stutz Artists Association is offering a holiday version of its annual open house on Dec. 6 with 30 open artists’ studios, an exhibition featuring art for gift-giving and the second annual bicycle selection for artists participating in an upcoming competition.

For the first time ever on a First Friday in the evening, visitors will be able to roam the massive building to find approximately 30 studios in which artists will be hosting receptions from 6 to 9 p.m.

The “Splendid Menagerie” exhibition will be in part of the Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery on the first floor. It will feature small and large works created with gift giving in mind. Art will include paintings and graphics, jewelry of many different styles and materials, greeting cards, photography, and fabric arts including quilting and hand-dyed wall art.

Another part of the gallery will feature the “IDADA First in Line” show featuring snapshots of the people who bought artwork. IDADA will hold a reception and sale on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. Visit www.idada.org for more details.

Finally, the evening will be complete with the second annual bicycle selection for reCYCLE pARTS II, a juried art exhibit and competition in May 2014. One by one, participating artists will pick an entire bike starting at 7 p.m. Artists will draw a number at registration that determines the order of bicycle selection. All art in the show will be created using at least three pieces of the selected bicycle.

WHAT: First Friday at the Stutz featuring 30 open studios, “Splendid Menagerie” exhibition and artists’ bicycle selection for the second annual show featuring bicycle parts
WHERE: The Stutz Business Center, 212 W. 10th St. (Enter from 10th Street via alley)
WHEN: Dec. 6, 5-9 p.m.
COST: Free and open to the public
INFO: www.stutzartists.com or (317) 503-6420

New Stutz Gallery Director Launches First Show

January 10, 2013 by Mel McMahon

New to the Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery in January is “Landscape: Structural, Ethereal” with work from Wug Laku, Ginny Taylor-Rosner and Marna Shopoff. In the exhibition opening Jan. 17, artists consider how man-made structures affect landscapes and how landscapes affect a culture’s written language, art, and craft. That night, the artists will each give a brief talk beginning at 6:30 p.m.

“We’re reinventing the gallery,” said Elise Schweitzer, a painter and the new director of the Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery. “Our guiding direction is three-fold: to promote Stutz artists, engage the community, and inspire ourselves. We’ll also have a voice behind each show.”

Ginny Taylor-Rosner explores this topic through photography that highlights the connection of wind mills to the land on northern Indiana’s wind turbine farms. “As the seasons, weather, and light change, the turbines take on new relationships with the land,” she said.

Marna Shopoff’s oil paintings use abstractions of architecture to explore the structural landscape where we live. She focuses on a topical event and reinterprets it, using architectural structures as a means for overlapping time and memory.

Wug Laku digitally manipulates photos so the landscape reflects itself. As he worked, he noticed how repeating patterns in landscape influence a culture. “Chinese calligraphy seems to look like China’s landscape, Arab script flows like the desert, Nordic runes echo the fjords and mountains, Hebrew the cliffs, valleys, and plains,” he wrote in his artist’s statement. “The American language, like so much of our culture, is borrowed and adapted. If we had an American language, what would it look like, and what would it say?”

The exhibition runs for six weeks, with an opening reception on Jan. 17 and a First Friday reception on Feb. 1. Cost is free. Enter the Stutz from 10th Street via Bearcat Alley.

For more information, visit www.stutzartists.com or call (317) 503-6420.

“First in Line” and “Splendor, Mirth and Good Cheer” at The Stutz

November 30, 2012 by Brian Groce

Splendor Mirth and Good Cheer in bronze by Emily Budd 2011

The holiday spirit will flow at the Stutz on December 7, as visitors shop for affordable art and help to kick off a holiday-themed group exhibition.

For the sixth annual “First in Line” exhibition and sale, artists from throughout the city will offer original works in various sizes that are perfect for gift giving at $100 each. Buyers not only walk away with a truly original gift, but they also become a part of the exhibit: When a work is purchased, a photo is taken of the buyer with the work. This photo is then displayed in the place of the artwork, allowing the show to steadily morph into a documentary snapshot show.

Half the proceeds from the First in Line show will go to the artist and half to IDADA, the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association. A nonprofit organization, IDADA will use the funds for its operation fund so it can directly serve the local Indianapolis visual arts community.

The evening will also see the opening of “Splendor Mirth and Good Cheer,” a holiday-themed show by Stutz artists, in the newly expanded gallery. Works in this exhibit will be available for viewing through Dec. 21.

“First in Line” is Friday, December 7 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“Splendor, Mirth and Good Cheer” will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment through Dec. 21

Both exhibitions are at the Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery, (Please enter from 10th street via Bearcat Alley) and are free. For more information go to www.stutzartists.com or call (317) 503-6420.