When you walk into the kitchen of the cottage at White River Farm, you can’t miss the rabbit sculpture perched on the island, peering at you with ruby-red eyes.
But you might not immediately notice the small oil paintings, in neutral tones, on the shelf above the sink and on the wall next to the window. Just outside the cottage, instead of signs, a small sculpture of a girl will nudge you down a mulched path to discover more art (and a famous local writer’s studio).
That’s kind of the point of this meandering art exhibit with no labels, descriptions or prices. You’re meant to feel at home with the 55 contemporary artworks in the cottage, the gallery and the barn, outside and underneath the studio, and in and around the pond.
Some artworks, like “Water Tower,” a ceramic sculpture in the pond, feel natural, like they grew there. (It didn’t, and it took five people in waders and a ramp to get Max Trumpower’s artwork safely onto its limestone pedestal.)
Click photos in the gallery to see details. Credits: Anna Powell Denton/COMPANION and Hadley Fruits/Merritt Chase
Others are more unexpected. Maura Jasper’s “In Like A Lion: Observations” draws you deeper into the barn and gives you 38-minute movie theater experience starring the artist’s mom as she gives earnest, wacky weather reports.
Braydee Euliss curated the show, “Coordinates of Belonging,” in the same spirit that she operates her art gallery, called Companion, in the front room of her historic house at 3715 N. Washington Blvd.
“I wanted to shorten the distance between people loving artwork and imagining it in their own space,” said Euliss, who used to work in traditional galleries. “I wanted to stretch people’s imagination as to where art belongs and humanize what it means to enjoy and display artwork.”
If you go
“Coordinates of Belonging” closing reception
🗓️ Noon to 5 p.m. July 19
📍 When you purchase your tickets, you’ll receive an email with directions and more information. Private viewing appointments can be made July 17 and 18. Almost all the art is for sale.
🎟️ Tickets are $10-$15.
This is the second year Euliss has curated a summer solstice show at White River Farm, a property owned by author John Green and his wife, Sarah Urist Green, an art curator and author. Back in the fall of 2021, Urist Green had visited Companion’s first-ever exhibition. That same afternoon, Euliss toured White River Farm to learn more about the vision for the landscape.
Enough people came to the three-day exhibit in 2025 that this year’s show expanded to a month. (Sarah gave brief opening remarks at the June 18 preview night. John was reportedly watching the World Cup.)
White River Farm isn’t open to the public, so the closing reception for “Coordinates of Belonging,” from noon to 5 p.m. July 19, is a rare chance to visit the property, located within Crows Nest, a private residential area in the hills above the White River in southwest Washington Township.
The area was originally populated by a lot of crows, followed by farming families in the 1800s, and later, wealthy entrepreneurs like Eli Lilly and Richard Fairbanks. Over the decades, many homeowners have hired landscape architects to care for and enhance the area’s beauty. Merritt Chase has been working with White River Farm, and Chris Merritt will give a guided garden tour on July 19.
The 17 artists who have work featured in “Coordinates of Belonging,” or who are leading public programs, play within that natural setting, creating works with materials such as shells, freshwater pearls, rice, pressed flowers, grass and curly maple.
On June 21, the summer solstice, Shamira, an Indianapolis artist and farmer, hosted a half-day Soil to Pigment “mini residency.”
The participants learned about Indiana soils from scientist Kevin Allison, turned those soils into watercolor paints with Shamira and then prepared tea and shared their reflections with Danicia Monét Malone.
“What struck me most was how the setting invited people to slow down,” Shamira said. “People weren’t rushing from one artwork to the next. They were listening, asking questions, noticing textures, comparing colors in the soil, and spending time with one another. As an artist and researcher, that’s a rare gift.”
🗓️ Special July 19 events
12:15-1:15 p.m.: Curatorial tour with Companion’s Braydee Euliss
1:30-3 p.m.: Garden walk with landscape architect Chris Merritt
3:30-4:30 p.m.: Flag-lowering ceremony for artist Kim Beck
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Amanda Kingsbury is Mirror Indy’s managing editor of innovation. You can reach her at amanda.kingsbury@mirrorindy.org.
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