Indy Airport Expands Arts Program to Showcase More Local Artists

INDIANAPOLIS (March 4, 2019) – Three Indianapolis-area artists will showcase their creative work at the Indianapolis International Airport (IND) via two new, semi-permanent art installations and a new video. The pieces serve to highlight the artists’ interpretations of everyday reality.

“We believe in creating a culture for art to thrive here at the Indy airport, and this addition of new semi-permanent exhibits compliments our rotating displays – allowing us to showcase more artists and more diverse creativity,” said Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority.

New semi-permanent murals

A panel of local arts experts and IAA representatives have selected Jen Broemel and H. Ward Miles to exhibit their works as murals through December 2020 at the Indy airport. The panel reviewed more than 200 artworks from 70 artists submitted via an open call.

Jen Broemel is a former architect who has chosen to explore alternative creativity through improvisational quilting. Her piece, Getting Centered, was originally created as a quilted textile. Finding order in chaos is a recurring theme for the artist, who developed the design as a stitched grid overlying improvisations of shape and color. The piece represents freedom and the ability to hold everything together, yet still exist in the moment and try new things as they come along. She exhibits her work in numerous fine art and quilt shows, including this year’s international exhibitions QuiltCon and quilt national and most recently was selected to exhibit an element of one of her quilt works as part of the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ High Art billboard project. Broemel lives in Indianapolis.

H. Ward Miles’ work is influenced by a childhood in Noblesville, Ind., experiences living in Kenya, and explorations as a graphic artist, printmaker and educator. The piece, Mass Ave., provides an impression of a local hot spot and reminds viewers of the interconnected elements of life. “Great joy as well as great sorrow can be found in the artist’s work, as part of a big, messy, fragile, and ultimately beautiful existence,” Miles explains about the work. Miles’ work has been exhibited at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, Penrod Art Fair, the Carmel International Art Fair, and Bloomington’s Art on the Square. The artist’s work also is currently featured in the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ High Art billboard project.

New video on view

The IAA and the Arts Council of Indianapolis have also selected Indianapolis-based filmmaker Charles Borowicz to show a new one-minute video piece through June 30, 2019, as part of the airport’s regularly rotating temporary art exhibits.

Road Portraits will play several times each hour on the large screen above the main escalator/stair down to baggage claim. The piece gives airport travelers a “forbidden” glimpse into the private bubble of other peoples’ cars.

Borowicz’s personal film experiments revolve around his fascination with everyday reality and the monumental moments within it. His work has been screened at festivals nationwide including at the Black Point Film Festival, the Frederick Film Festival, the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival and at Gateway Film Center’s Documentary Week. Locally, his work has been exhibited at Ruckus Makerspace, the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Indy Pride and with NoExitPerformance. Borowicz lives and works in Indianapolis.

“While travel allows us to experience alternatives to our own reality through the lens of place, these artists package their individual perceptions of everyday reality into artistic expression,” said Julia Moore, Director of Public Art at the Arts Council of Indianapolis. “It is the sum of these individual perceptions that collectively make up our world – the result of a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, and ways of thinking.”

Click here for additional information on the artists and their work.

Click here to access a media kit with images of the artwork.