The Public Collection : Panel Discussion, October 13 th, 2015

6:00-7:00pm Ayres Auditorium

Reception in Auditorium Lobby immediately following

 

The Public Collection is a public art and literacy project developed by Rachel M. Simon to improve literacy, foster a deeper appreciation of the arts, and raise awareness for educational justice in our community.
 

Through a curated process, Indiana-based artists were commissioned to design unique book share stations or lending libraries that are installed in public spaces around Indianapolis. Each book share station holds a varied selection of books for diverse audiences and age groups. The Public Collection stations are free and available to everyone. Passersby can borrow and return books at their leisure. Books are supplied and stocked by the Indianapolis Public Library.
 

Rachel M. Simon is an artist, community leader, and investor. A graduate of Herron School of Art and Design, she is a dedicated advocate for the arts, education, and social justice.
 

The panelists and moderator will be:

 

- Rachel Simon, The Public Collection & Herbert Simon Family Foundation

- Mindy Taylor Ross, Art Strategies LLC

- Josh Coggeshall, S+CA architecture studio, and member of the collaborative design team on Table of Contents at Horizon House

- Teresa Wessel, Executive Director, Horizon House

- Brian McCutcheon, artist who designed Monument on Monument Circle and co-owner of Indianapolis Fabrications

- Laura Johnson, Director of Public Services, Indianapolis Public Library

- Moderator: Scott Stulen, Curator of Audience Experiences and Performance, Indianapolis Museum of Art

 

 

 

Cathy Robohm Watkins , October 19th, 2015

Upper School Art Studio : Day Workshops 

 

Catherine Robohm Watkins has been a resident artist and teacher at the Peddie School since 1989.  At Peddie she teaches a range of studio courses, including Painting, AP Studio Art and AP Art History.  Among her other roles, she served as department chair for 10 years, curated the Mariboe Gallery, coached volleyball, and now teaches yoga and runs the Peddie Culture Bus, taking students to nearby plays, lectures, exhibits, and concerts.

 

Watkins received her B.A. in art at Yale University and has a M.A. in journalism from Syracuse University.  She did graduate work in painting at the Maryland Institute, College of Art and the Vermont Studio School.  She exhibits her artwork in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

 

 

 

Forrest Formsma, February 18th, 2016

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Lecture Hall

6:45-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Forrest has been passionate about creating art his entire life.  After completing his BFA and MA at Miami University, he taught all genres of art at the high school level.  Now dedicated as a full-time artist, Forrest's style ranges from varying degress of realism to abstraction. Relying on intuition and emotion, he uses rich color and texture to capture energy in his oil paintings.

 

Forrest has been incredibly honored to recieve the prestigious 2010 American Impressionist Society's "Best of Show" of their national juried exhibition..  He has also been honored to receive the 2015 Indiana Heritage Arts Best of Show, their 2014 Ada Shulz Memorial Award and in 2009 their "Award of Excellence". He is also please to have received the following recognition from the Hoosier Salon - 2015's "Outstanding Oil Paiting", the 2014 "Outstanding Contemporary" award, 2013 "Jury Prize of Distinction for Impressionistic Landscape", "Outstanding Traditional Oil Paiting" in 2009, after winning their "Best of Work, First Time Artist" award in 2008.

 

 

 

J. B. Rogers, September 26th, 2014

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:45-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

J.B. Rogers (Assistant Director, Producer, Director, Screenwriter), a Park Tudor Alum, J.B. attended Emory University, and then moved to Los Angeles and honed his skills as a first assistant director working with the filmmakers The Farrelly Brothers on such comedy classics as Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, There's Something About Mary and Me, Myself & Irene (he also served as a co-producer on all but Dumb and Dumber).

 

He made his directorial debut with Say It Isn't So, the 2001 comedy starring Chris Kline and Heather Graham. J.B. directed the enormously popular American Pie sequel, and was Assistant Director on Hall Pass, The Three Stooges, Dumb and Dumber To and My All American.

 

 

Dr. Freddie Kelvin, October 14th, 2014

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:45-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Dr. Freddie Kelvin (Park Tudor Artist-in-Residence), is a freelance photographer for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Dance Kaleidoscope, has exhibited in many Indianapolis galleries and is currently represented by Kuaba Gallery. 

 

Dr. Kelvin grew up in England, where he attended medical school and was a resident in radiology before coming to the United States in 1975. From 1975 to 1985, he was Assistant and then Associate Professor of Radiology at Duke University Medical Center. During this time, he was involved in teaching and research as well as patient care.  In 1985, Dr. Kelvin came to Indianapolis where he was on staff at Methodist Hospital of Indiana as well as Clinical Professor of Radiology at Indiana University School of Medicine. He retired from active practice in 2008.

 

Dr. Kelvin attended numerous photography workshops in the American West and has a particular interest in landscape and abstract work, as well as the photography of dance and musical performance.  During the fall semester, Dr. Kelvin is currently working with intermediate photography students as the Artist-in-Residence in the Fine Arts Department.

 

 

Steve Nyktas, November 13th, 2014

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:45-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Steve Nyktas (Assistant Professor of Art, Butler University), is an artist whose work begins conceptually and culminates in a wide range of media including photography, sculpture, installation and video. Preoccupied with opportunities to better understand the everyday world, his art reveals places that were never meant to be seen, and encourages viewers to see things in new ways.

 

Nyktas earned his MFA from Northwestern University in 2007, an MA from Purdue University in 2004, and his BFA from Albion College in 2002. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at galleries, museums, and alternative spaces including Dorsky Gallery (New York, NY), Gallery Four (Baltimore, MD), Rowland Contemporary Gallery (Chicago, IL), FLAT (Chicago, IL) and The 22nd International Festival Sarajevo (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina). 

 

Gautum Rao, February 27th, 2015

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:45-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Gautum Rao (Associate Professor of Art at Butler University), is an artist and designer based in Indianapolis. Born in Washington D.C. in 1977, he lived in Bangalore, India for five years. He earned a BFA at Boston University in 1999 and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002.

 

He is particularly interested in the intersection between art and design and exhibits his artwork both nationally and internationally. His distinctions include a Susan Coslett Cromwell Traveling Fellowship, and awards from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He founded Indy Type: The Indianapolis Typography Society. As an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, he is a member of the Illustrious Clients of Indianapolis.

 

His most recent solo exhibit was “Unblocked” at Gallery 924 in Indianapolis in September, 2013. His painting, Color Sentences, was selected for the High Art Billboard Project which displays works by 10 artists on billboards throughout central Indiana. His next solo exhibit entitled Graphing Rainbows will be at the Stutz Gallery in Indianapolis in the fall of 2014. Also in 2014, his design work will be featured in Typeforce 5 in Chicago.

 

 

Melissa Parrott Quimby, March 16th, 2015

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:45-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Melissa Parrott Quimby is a contemporary visual artist from Indianapolis.  She graduated from Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI in 1995 with a BFA in ceramics and 2003 from the University of Delaware where she received her MFA.  She has been actively creating and exhibiting her work both regionally and nationally. 

 

She uses a wide range of media including clay, paper, canvas and wood to express her ideas intuitively as a response to her environment.   She is inspired by pattern, color, line, shape, texture and form and is motivated by the nature of the material.  Through an instinctual impulse of combining these concepts she creates abstract images and objects.

 

While pursuing a career as a professional artist she has taught numerous workshops and received a variety of awards including a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis in 2007.  In addition to pursuing her own work, she teaches at Herron School of Art and Design, IUPUI, and maintains a studio at the Stutz Business Center downtown.   

 

 

 

 

 

William Snyder, January 10th, 2014

6:00-7:00pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

7:00-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

William Snyder, a four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, is from Henderson, KY, attended Evansville Day School and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with highest honors and a BS in Photography.  Snyder is currently the Chair of the Rochester Institute of Technology Photojournalism program.  In the 15 years he was a photographer at The Dallas Morning News, he covered the first democratic elections in Haiti and Romania, the explosion of the Shuttle Challenger, the ’91 coup attempt in the Soviet Union, the re-unification of Germany, healthcare in the US federal prison system, AIDS orphans in Romania, AIDS in Uganda and Thailand, illegal immigration in Russia and the Czech Republic, cotton farmers in Nicaragua, seal hunting in Newfoundland, Summer Olympics in Barcelona and Atlanta, Winter Olympics in Calgary, Albertville and Nagano, two NCAA Final Fours, two Super Bowls, two Republican Conventions and the re-emergence of religion across Russia while traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

 

Tasha Lewis,  November 8th, 2013

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:30-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Tasha Lewis, attended the International School of Indiana and graduated from Swarthmore College with High Honors in English and Studio Arts.  Lewis’ current work is focused on re-imagining taxidermy and other methods of preserving life.  Tasha explains the work by saying, “my process centers around a cyanotype coated fabric. The cyanotype process dates from the 1870s and is one of the earliest forms of photography. The blue of these pieces represents a mineral lens on nature. The cyan blue of these pieces feels like life in a way, but it also feels frozen. I am attempting to catch life, to preserve it in motion, and to allow it to transcend the usual forms of human conservation.”

 

Rachel Bleil,  September 20th, 2013  

6:00-6:30pm Artist Talk in Upper School Wood Room

6:30-8:00pm Artist Reception in Leffler Gallery

 

Rachel Bleil discovered ceramics at Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and decided to follow her bliss. She received a BFA in ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and her MFA in ceramics from Indiana University, Bloomington. She was the recipient of the Roger Lang Award for Student Excellence at NCECA’s Regional Student Juried Exhibition in 2008. In the same year she received a Kiln God award for a summer residency at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. For the last two years Rachel has taught courses in the Ceramic and Foundations departments at Herron School of Art & Design in Indianapolis, Indiana.  
 

 

GALLERY HOURS:

Work will be on view in the gallery by appointment only. 
Please call 415-2939 or 415-2705 to schedule a viewing appointment, M-F from 8-4pm.

 

FORMER VISITING ARTISTS:

​Rachel Bleil, Tasha Lewis, William Snyder

​Cassie Jones, Anila Agha, 

Casey Roberts, Lesley Baker, Emily Clark