It’s hard not to notice the colorful acrylic and oil paintings and pen-and-ink drawings on display along the walls forming hallways at the Garfield Park Arts Center on Indy’s south side.
In the main exhibition hall on the third floor — at one time a basketball gym — Gothic figures and macabre black-and-white paintings of skeletons share wall space with drawings of panthers, tigers and snakes. Mixed-media sculptures, a display of tattoo designs and even Victorian-like head-and-shoulder figurines also greet visitors who take the time to notice.
There’s even a larger-than-life artwork of a praying mantis who has become somewhat of a mascot.
Beside each work of art, created by Indiana artists, is a discreet white card with the title of the piece, name of the artist and price to purchase it.
Bryn Foreman, hired in September by Indy Parks and Recreation to manage the arts center, wants to use this resource to bring more attention to the diverse artists calling Indianapolis home. Foreman understands the vital role the arts center, located in the city’s oldest park, has played in the past — and they want more people to know about its many offerings.
The center’s website wasn’t functional for a while but is now back up and running.
“The thing holding us back the most is just a lack of awareness as to what we have going on here,” Foreman said.
Who is Bryn Foreman?
Foreman is an Indianapolis native who played soccer and field hockey at Earlham College in Richmond. Their interest in art brought them to IUPUI’s Herron School of Art and Design to finish an undergraduate degree in art history. Foreman returned there two years later to earn a master’s degree in museum studies.
They are an artist, too, with exhibits of their collage artwork at the Hoy Polloy art gallery, 3125 E. 10th St., as well as several solo shows at Cat Head Press, a print shop and artist cooperative at 2834 E. Washington St. Their current collage exhibit about grief is at Cat Head until Sunday, Feb. 11.
The immediacy of collage — and its ability to craft a political message — appeals to Foreman, who said “all art is political.”
“I consider it the people’s art,” Foreman said of collage. “It requires little to no training and uses media that’s readily available.”
Who should the Garfield Park Arts Center serve?
Foreman is interested in developing more branded programming, opportunities for art instruction and collaborations highlighting the work of local artists, especially those from communities of color.
“It is our responsibility as the only public art center in the city to turn our attention toward marginalized artists and that includes providing art classes that are affordable and includes having community-driven, submission-based art exhibitions that are inclusive. That includes seeking out Black artists, women artists, trans artists — anyone who maybe wouldn’t have the greatest time at a traditional gallery but whose voice still deserves and is necessary to be heard, not just for the artists’ own benefit but for the benefit of Indianapolis as a whole.”
What is the Garfield Arts Center planning for Black History Month?
Last month, the arts center featured designs from tattoo artists.
For Black History Month, Foreman sought local Black artists to feature for “Love,” a month-long celebration of the heritage of the Black community, which opened Feb. 2. It features mainly visual arts, including two-dimensional paintings, drawings and photographs.
Foreman said they wanted to do something a little different this year.
“Basically everywhere does a Black history exhibition,” Foreman said. “But we wanted to come at this from a Valentine’s Day angle and still be celebrating Blackness and celebrating Black identity but celebrating the joy inherent in Blackness and Black identity. It’s truly a show about Black history and love and the different ways that can look.”
Foreman admitted having more difficulty getting submissions for the “Love” show. But that allowed for a chance to reach out directly to artists.
Are there events planned for the LGBTQ+ community?
This is a subject that Foreman cares deeply about, even sharing a personal story about the arts center having to close down for a day last year after the center received online threats — apparently from people who lived outside of Indiana — because of Foreman’s pronouns.
Foreman said a big hope would be to schedule an exhibit focusing on LGBTQ+ artists sometime in the future, although nothing is being planned just yet.
“It’s something I’d like to be a little bit more thoughtful about and historically rooted,” Foreman said.
How is the arts center serving children and their families?
Foreman plans to bring back the popular Arts for All program, which in the past has allowed the center’s art classrooms to be used for free arts activities for children and their families. Starting this month, there will be three months of programming as well as art-creation kits available for the public, Foreman said, with the hope of expanding the program in the future.
Indianapolis artist and designer DAVe TOO held a class called the Urban Toy Workshop at the arts center in December, where he taught children and adults how to make toys out of modeling clay. He hopes to do more workshops there in the future, perhaps about sticker making, screen printing or other art forms.
“The art center is an excellent resource for the community to come together and create,” DAVe TOO said. “It’s incredibly valuable for many reasons but mainly because a lot of kids aren’t getting chances to make art in school.”
Too, who also has taught art at the Indianapolis Art Center and Indianapolis Public Library, is complimentary of what’s happening in Garfield Park.
“There’s something really great going on at the Garfield Park Arts Center,” DAVe TOO said. “It’s small enough that everyone gets to know everyone else but big enough to do a lot of different things.”
How did the Garfield Park Arts Center get started?
The building where the arts center is located, built in 1922, was originally called the Shelter House, said Ed Perry, a board member of the Garfield Park Neighbors. It housed many of the athletic and administrative functions for the park. It included a swimming pool and basketball court filled with kids who competed in the Police Athletic League basketball program. The Shelter House also hosted dance programs and music recitals.
In 2006, nearly $3 million in grant funding helped transform it into the arts center. In addition to the exhibition hall, the center now houses a performing arts space, classrooms, a recording studio and a literary arts library.
The arts center is open to the public from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday but classes sometimes run until 8 p.m. Admission to the exhibition gallery is always free. People can contact Foreman or the center’s assistant manager, Melanie Lachowicz, at 317-327-7135 for information on exhibiting in the gallery space as well as renting classrooms or the studio.
What does the future hold?
Some upcoming exhibits include ones on photography in April and modern quilt-making in May.
Foreman also wants to do something in conjunction with Indy Parks’ own Garfield Park Art & Music Festival, which is entering its seventh year and will be happening again this summer.
And then in November, Foreman is planning a month-long exhibition of art in conjunction with Dia de los Muertos, the annual Mexican-inspired celebration to honor the ancestors and remember deceased family members.
“Hopefully, soon, I will start turning some attention toward 2025 programming,” Foreman said. “I have a lot of energy and a lot of ambition and a lot of hopes for the space.”
When asked about broadening citizens’ horizons regarding art, the center’s new manager appears to be up to the task, even if admitting to occasionally feeling as if the wheels of progress could turn more quickly.
“There is more appetite for art and particularly art from marginalized individuals than has previously been acknowledged,” Foreman said. “I think the role of art and community centers is to feed an appetite that should be fostered. There is the presence of queerness, there is the presence of an immense amount of racial diversity and ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, and if we feed those appetites, the things that foster tolerance and love and care and beauty, then I think we’ll see more of it.
“There is care here.”
Dwight Adams is a contributor for Mirror Indy. Contact him at hdadams0621@gmail.com.
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