Is IMA chief Venable visionary or misguided?
For some, Venable is facing the IMA’s fiscal challenges by making the museum relevant to more people. But to critics, he has turned the IMA into a members-only club, de-emphasizing art.
Arts Funding
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Downtown theater to go on hiatus as it evaluates fundraising, programming
Leaders at struggling Theatre on the Square say they need to step back and plan needed repairs, audience development, and marketing and programming strategies.
LOU’S VIEWS: Art for art’s sake–while helping the community, too
What would happen if, say, a playwright, a video artist, a sculptor and a musician got together for a few weeks to try to create something without concern about who would see the final product … or even if there were a final product?
DINING: Mass Ave newcomer Garden Table is fine spot for a fresh, midweek brunch
The airy spinoff of its farm-to-table Broad Ripple namesake stresses simple dishes with natural ingredients.
Toil and trouble brew behind IUPUI’s Shakespeare Project
Shakespeare scholars worldwide are heralding the arrival of “The New Oxford Shakespeare,” but the project is at the center of a battle between the professor who brought it to Indy and IUPUI.
Arts organizations count on holiday shows to subsidize riskier programming
In the not-for-profit arts world, the bottom line is dependent on earned income, grants, philanthropic donations—and tried-and-true Christmas offerings.
Phoenix Theatre casts $1M gift for new downtown complex
The gift from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation gets the theater closer to its $8.5 million goal for funding construction of a new home on North Illinois Street.
Developer of Pulliam project will be first to back new city art program
As the recipient of a $1.1 million city loan, TWG Development has agreed to include public art in its mammoth project on the site of the former Indianapolis Star headquarters.
IU Art Museum to use $15M Eskenazi gift for major renovation
The Indiana University Art Museum in Bloomington has received a $15 million naming gift from Indianapolis-based philanthropists Sidney and Lois Eskenazi, in addition to an art collection of nearly 100 works.
City-County Council approves ‘percent for art’ program
A similar measure was vetoed by former Mayor Greg Ballard last year, but this one is likely to stick.
Eiteljorg’s chief fundraising executive set to retire
Suzanne "Susie" Maxwell, who has overseen strategic fundraising efforts at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art for the past seven years, is stepping down, the museum announced Thursday.
Center for Performing Arts in Carmel runs surplus for second straight year
The organization ended fiscal 2015 with a surplus of $260,445 as revenue from building and room rentals and individual donations increased.
Lilly Endowment unleashes $100M in Indiana arts, cultural grants
Fourteen not-for-profits will receive funding, including $10 million each for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Zoo.
Big Car’s Jim Walker uses creativity to lift neighborhoods, public spaces
Walker heads Big Car, which he describes as an “art-based, creativity-based not-for-profit that’s focused on community development.” Put simply, it uses art to jump-start neighborhood involvement and development.
Eiteljorg to enhance canal side with $400,000 upgrade
A new structure will allow for more canal-side programming for the museum, including concerts, storytelling, art projects, poetry readings and interactive activities.
Clowes chief’s retirement clears path for realignment
Executive Director Elise J. Kushigian replacement will oversee not just the 2,200-seat performing arts landmark, but three additional theaters as well.
Warhol Foundation soups up Big Car’s budget with 2-year grant
The local arts group is planning on beefing up its projects and collaborations with artists.
Symphony reports surplus on big crescendo in ticket sales
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's leaders played an upbeat tune Monday, reporting a second-consecutive operating surplus fueled by a 16-percent increase in revenue from ticket sales and a near-record year for fundraising.
Ball State-birthed musical aims for Broadway
If the team behind “The Circus in Winter” has its way (and if enough money can be raised and script kinks worked out), the Ball State University-incubated musical might be the first Tony award winner conceived as a collaborative class project.
Devotion to arts, education earns Rollin Dick 2014 Carroll Award
Rollin Dick’s old-school pocket calendar is crowded with meetings for the various not-for-profit educational and artistic boards on which he sits, along with start times for the plays, musicals and concerts he attends at venues ranging from the Indiana Repertory Theatre to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra to the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.