Having been a lifetime resident of Indianapolis, it’s really fun to learn about my city’s history and also see where we’re headed. Which is why I love hanging out in the hustle and bustle on Mass Ave., a cultural district downtown, only about ten minutes from our house. There is something for everyone with the great restaurants, breweries, shops, pubs, tattoo parlors, businesses, and art galleries that line the streets.
To honor that history, the Indiana State Museum is opening an exhibit tomorrow that showcases the 431 Cooperative Gallery originally located on Mass Ave in the eighties and nineties. The cooperative was founded by Herron Art School graduates and became part of Indianapolis’ first arts district and drew people downtown when that area wasn’t the place most people wanted to be.
431 Gallery: Art and Impact runs from June 27 to September 14 and will recreate parts of the gallery for visitors as well as showcase two and three dimensional art by the group.
Knowing what downtown Indianapolis was in the late eighties and early nineties and seeing what an amazing place it has turned into, I can’t wait to visit the exhibit and learn about how these artists were investing in a part of our city that, at the time, was overlooked and avoided, but has now become a rich, cultural experience.
Kinda makes me proud to be a Hoosier.
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