INDIANAPOLIS — Nine years ago, the Indy Arts Council started a program with the hopes of bridging outdoor advertising and public art in a big way.
"We have the usual audience of people that go to art galleries and go to museums, but we wanted to engage people that maybe don't do that as often," Lindsey Lord, the director of Artist Services at Indy Arts Council and Gallery 924, told WRTV.
The Arts Council partnered with Reagan Outdoor Advertising to expand and place the work of Indiana artists on available billboards in Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
"We came together very organically and developed this program that puts ten artists' work on billboards," Lord said of how the "High Art" project came together. "They rotate around the city as advertising spots open up in Reagan's inventory."
The High Art program takes the project further by asking the community to engage. The public can vote for their favorite billboard through Sunday, Feb. 13. All of the selected artists are paid a licensing fee for their participation, but the People's Choice competition winner gets an additional $500.
"We always want to hit home that artists should be paid for what they do," Lord said. "Over the years, artists have been contacted by [people in] the public who has seen their work, and there's been a few sales because people have seen an artwork, liked it, and wanted to reach out to the artists to buy it."
The Arts Council received about 100 submissions this year. Christina Hollering, a cut paper and mixed media artist, is one of the ten people the Arts Council selected for the 2022 High Art program.
Hollering says that she enjoys finding ways to make art accessible to the public as an artist.
"It's changing our landscape; changing your daily commute," Hollering said. "You get to see something other than advertisements. You get to see art and gain awareness of local artists."
Hollering's art mostly focuses on the environment. So when people see her art piece "Obsession," she hopes it encourages them to invite more biodiversity into their lawns.
"This one, in particular, is about suburban ecology and our obsession with grass lawns," Hollering explained.
All ten of the artists and their selected artwork for the 2022 High Art program are:
- Peggy Breidenbach, Heart in Hand: 4328 56th St., west of Guion Rd.
- Justin Cooper, Echinacea Fields: 5437 Washington St., west of Lynhurst Dr.
- Christina Hollering, Obsessed: 2601 46th St., west of Allisonville Rd.
- Mary Mindiola, Kukenán Tepui: 2223 Lafayette Rd., south of Kessler Blvd.
- Stefan Petranek, We Watch From Here as the West Burns: 5608 Massachusetts Ave., east of Emerson Ave.
- Madiha Siraj, Fez: 1927 Michigan St., west of Lynn St.
- Neal Soley, Buttons: 3512 Madison Ave., south of Sumner Ave.
- Kristin Whitney, Miracles: 1800 38th St., east of Millersville Rd.
- Micah Wilson, Abundance: 2501 Hanna Ave., west of Keystone Ave.
- Shane "Fitz" Young, Paint Palette: 3523 Arlington Ave., north of 34th St.
WRTV Digital Reporter Shakkira Harris can be reached at shakkira.harris@wrtv.com. You can follow her on Twitter, @shakkirasays.
