2008 Woodie Awards
Local artists serve "Strange Fruit" for Indianapolis Youth
Shane Keller
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Local Indianapolis artists showed their artwork at the Wheeler Arts Community building in Fountain Square Saturday night. The exhibit, called "Strange Fruit," was a collective of different forms of art including wearable, performance, sculpture and hangable pieces. A percentage of the proceeds from the show and masquerade ball benefit AYS, Inc., formerly known as At-Your-School child services.
Doors opened at 6:30 p.m. and people sifted in slowly, meandering through the hallways of the building, checking out the local Indianapolis art scene. More than 40 artists and art groups displayed everything from traditional wall art to video performance art.
Director of Arts Education for AYS, Inc. Keith Monfreda was there to greet patrons and explain the program. According to Monfreda, AYS hires local artists to work with community children on art projects that are highly interactive and that align with Indiana state standards. One upcoming project is creating African tribal masks to help explain African heritage.
Currently, the organization is working with nearly 1,500 children.
"The goal is not to train artists, but to provide positive art experiences so they grow up to be people that appreciate the arts," Monfreda said.
According to the AYS, Inc. fact sheet, AYS is a not-for-profit child and youth services agency serving Marion, Hamilton, Northwest Hendricks, North Montgomery and Johnson Counties.
Although proceeds went to a valuable cause, it wasn't the only reason that people came. With the amount and variety of artwork, there was plenty for the art enthusiast to enjoy.
Stuart Sayger, a local comic book artist, who draws for the "Bionicle Ignition," a comic book based on a Lego toy line and published by DC comics, was one of the first artists people came across when walking through the main doors of the exhibit.
Most of his pieces were pencil sketches of what later became the "Bionicle Ignition" comic book. Included among those were two inked renditions of "Batman."
Doors opened at 6:30 p.m. and people sifted in slowly, meandering through the hallways of the building, checking out the local Indianapolis art scene. More than 40 artists and art groups displayed everything from traditional wall art to video performance art.
Director of Arts Education for AYS, Inc. Keith Monfreda was there to greet patrons and explain the program. According to Monfreda, AYS hires local artists to work with community children on art projects that are highly interactive and that align with Indiana state standards. One upcoming project is creating African tribal masks to help explain African heritage.
Currently, the organization is working with nearly 1,500 children.
"The goal is not to train artists, but to provide positive art experiences so they grow up to be people that appreciate the arts," Monfreda said.
According to the AYS, Inc. fact sheet, AYS is a not-for-profit child and youth services agency serving Marion, Hamilton, Northwest Hendricks, North Montgomery and Johnson Counties.
Although proceeds went to a valuable cause, it wasn't the only reason that people came. With the amount and variety of artwork, there was plenty for the art enthusiast to enjoy.
Stuart Sayger, a local comic book artist, who draws for the "Bionicle Ignition," a comic book based on a Lego toy line and published by DC comics, was one of the first artists people came across when walking through the main doors of the exhibit.
Most of his pieces were pencil sketches of what later became the "Bionicle Ignition" comic book. Included among those were two inked renditions of "Batman."
Be the first to comment on this story