Last modified: Monday, January 25, 2010
SoFA, ArtsWeek and Your Art Here to present billboard art throughout Bloomington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 25, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Environmental art hits the billboards of Bloomington starting Feb. 1, when The School of Fine Arts (SoFA) Gallery at Indiana University, Your Art Here and ArtsWeek join forces to present "Forgotten and Future Landscapes," a series of billboards meant to draw attention to environmental health and the idea of landscape in the immediate surroundings.
"Donnadio," by Megan Abajian will appear on one of four billboards placed around Bloomington for the public art exhibition "Forgotten and Future Landscapes." The works were inspired by the environment and the various interpretations of landscape.
The four billboards will be on display at the following locations:
- The South Walnut Street/Miller Drive intersection;
- State Road 37 North, South of Bales Road;
- State Road 37 North, 3.6 miles north of the College Avenue exit; and
- State Road 46 at King Road northeast corner.
"Forgotten and Future Landscapes" features artwork by Bloomington residents Megan Abajian and Shelley Given, Sage Dawson of Missouri, and Max Heller of North Carolina. The billboards will be displayed throughout the month of February.
"My painting seemed to fit the call that Your Art Here, the SoFA Gallery and ArtsWeek put out," said Abajian. "I think of this piece as an internal cosmology being both large and small in the same moment. The abstractions in this piece also speak to traditional landscape, having horizon line and an aerial view, tributaries and topography, flora and fauna."
The four pieces were selected for the billboards by Betsy Stirratt, director of the SoFA Gallery, and Martha MacLeish, assistant professor of Fine Arts at IU.
"The project itself is a way for visual artists to address the idea of the concept of landscape in either representational or imaginary means," said Stirratt. "The title 'Forgotten and Future Landscapes' allows for either a historical and romantic idea of landscape or a proposed idea of what the landscape can potentially be in the future. The images that were selected offer a wide range of interpretations."
Your Art Here is an Indiana-based nonprofit public art organization created to provide local communities with an opportunity to engage in visual, public dialogue through the use of billboards and other public spaces. Its mission is to extend visual expression beyond traditional museum and gallery spaces in order to create a public venue where art and ideas can be expressed freely.
"Forgotten and Future Landscapes" was funded by ArtsWeek and coordinated by the IU Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
ArtsWeek is an annual winter festival that has been around for more than 26 years. The festival extends artistic expression with the participation of Indiana University, the city of Bloomington and the surrounding communities. For more information, see https://artsweek.indiana.edu/.
For more information on Your Art Here, see https://yourarthere.org/projects/index.php.
For more information on the SoFA Gallery, call 812-855-8490, e-mail sofa@indiana.edu, or visit https://sofa.fa.indiana.edu online. The SoFA Gallery is accessible to people with disabilities. Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.
