INDIANAPOLIS — In Indianapolis, you'll find colorful art covering the windows and walls of downtown buildings. An oil painting by artist Ashley Nora is one of them.
A painting of her daughters is titled, "Soaring Possibilities." On the surface it just looks an image of her 3 and 5-year-old daughters playing with airplanes. But Nora said the meaning is deeper than that.
"If you see in the background of them, they're imagination is going everywhere. So, it's not just them playing planes it's them being imaginative, being kids, they're creating their own reality," Nora said.
The reality that Nora has a piece of artwork on display is a dream come true itself. Hers is among the numerous works of art selected by the Swish Arts Council to be on display while Indianapolis hosts March Madness.
"I knew that it was special. I knew what it meant to me and I knew that one day people would get to see it," Nora said.
The picture is about dreaming. Nora herself is a self-described dreamer. It's what pushed her to quit her high-paying job as a chemist two years ago in favor of becoming a full-time artist.
She said seeing her art on the Circle is proof that if you dream, you can achieve it. It's the message she wants to send to her daughters, who after seeing themselves on display on Monument Circle, can understand that they, too, can be anything.
"They need to see, wow, I'm a Black woman, a full-time artist and I'm successful. You can be, too! There's no limit to what you can do," Nora said.
You can find Nora's painting on Monument Circle, on the corner of West Market Street.
