Many know the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art on the Fine Arts Plaza, but fewer know that just a few steps away, inside the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design, another art space thrives quietly.
The Grunwald Gallery of Art, open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and is located in the school’s Fine Arts Building is hosting “Re:Visit | Celebrating a Decade of McKinney Visiting Artists,” an archival exhibition reflecting on 10 years of international exchange between artists and Indiana University.
The McKinney Visiting Artist Series, established in 2016, was founded through an endowment by Meredith McKinney and Elsa Luise Barthel McKinney, IU alumni from the 1960s.
Linda Tien, director of the Grunwald Gallery, said the program reflects the McKinney’s vision to ensure art continues to thrive in Bloomington. The series brings artists to campus for short residencies followed by lectures, workshops and collaborative learning experiences.
The Grunwald Gallery, hosted the exhibition as part of its ongoing collaboration with the the Eskenazi School.
The gallery’s ongoing collaboration includes the “Fall BFA Thesis Exhibition,” opening Dec. 2, and extends beyond students to feature contemporary art and craft shows centered on artists from across the world.
The gallery’s ongoing collaboration includes the “Fall BFA Thesis Exhibition,” opening Dec. 2, and extends beyond students to feature contemporary art and craft shows centered on artists from across the world.
“Every year, each of the Eskenazi School’s 10 studio areas including photography, ceramics, metals and painting invites one artist to spend three to five days on campus,” Tien said. “This program also brings one international artist for a four-to-six-week residency.”
Tien said artists who stay for longer residencies often have the chance to engage more deeply with the university and Bloomington. They spend time engaging with IU’s extensive art archives or building connections with local organizations and communities across the city.
The archival exhibition features work by 11 artists who have participated in the Eskenazi School’s McKinney Visiting Artist Series over the past decade. They include Japan’s Tetsuya Noda, Ghanaian American artist Yvonne Osei and designer Martin Venezky, whose works appear in the current show.
Tien said this archival exhibition highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the program.
“Each artist represents one studio area, but the work is never just one thing,” she said. “We have a ceramicist who draws, a painter who builds sculptures, an installation artist with a metals background.”
Students also said they enjoyed the exhibition. For those already familiar with the Grunwald Gallery, the show offered a fresh reason to revisit.
“It’s a great way to bring attention to the McKinney artists by honoring their work,” said Megan Cassidy, an art administration graduate student at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “The art itself was cool, with so much variety, including modern and contemporary forms.”
The exhibition also left a strong impression on faculty members, including Maxwell Fertik, a lecturer in comprehensive design at the Eskenazi School.
“I was fascinated to see how the works of Chelsea Thompto and Roos van Haaften transcended reality and challenged how we perceive the body and the physical environment,” Fertik said.
Tien said this show is a celebration of those relationships and of what creative exchange can mean for a community.
“It is especially meaningful to bring artists from outside the region when we are at the middle of the Midwest.” Tien said. “I think these exchanges allow students and the Bloomington community to engage with new perspectives beyond the school’s curriculum.”
The exhibition is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It will run through Nov. 15.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the Grunwald Gallery includes art and craft shows centered on artists from across the world.
