OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2016. The celebration of Indiana's 200th birthday turns to the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Aug. 5 when it opens a multi-exhibition showing of works by Herron alumni dating back to the 1930s.

The exhibition is a signature project of the Indiana Bicentennial Commission and is made possible, in part, with support from the Indiana Arts Commission.

Making Indiana: A Celebration of Herron Alumni will fill the five galleries of Eskenazi Hall, one of two buildings that house the school. In addition to featuring the work of distinguished alumni who became artists, designers and art educators, the exhibition will include historical displays from Herron's 114-year history.

The school's early history includes:

  • John Herron, a land developer, dies in 1895, leaving most of his \\$200,000 estate to the Art Association of Indianapolis.
  • The Art Association opens the John Herron Art Institute in the former home of artist T.C. Steele at 16th and Pennsylvania streets in 1902. The school has five instructors and 69 students.
  • In the 1930s, Herron artists head to California to work on the world's first animated feature film, Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Making Indiana: A Celebration of Herron Alumni begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 and continues through Sept. 10.

Alumni whose works will be shown include:

Robert B. Berkshire Gallery: Venezuelan-born Francisco Souto, who earned a BFA degree from Herron School of Art and Design in 2000. His numerous honors include a special prize from the 7th Kochi International Triennial Exhibition of Prints in Japan and an award from the British International Print Exhibition. He is represented in collections from the Romania National Museum of Art to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He teaches printmaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His work is from his new Memoria y cuenta series, centered on the political, economic and social conditions in his home country. Souto will also present an artist's talk on Sept. 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the Basile Auditorium of Eskenazi Hall.

Eleanor Prest Reese Gallery:  Dane Patterson, who earned a B.F.A. degree from Herron School of Art and Design in 2002. He's been written about in publications from Hi-Fructose Magazine to "Art Plural: Voices of Contemporary Art." His exhibition, "With Adjustments…," features meticulously rendered pencil and graphite wash drawings that began with digitally manipulated photographs as a reference. Patterson overlaid the photos with "interruptions," tangential or non sequitur images that adjust the original compositions. His aim is to achieve a sense of plausibility and photorealism within the confines of the original photo, despite the arbitrary application of new imagery such as 3-D-printed handguns, chinoiserie vases or star rubies. This process juxtaposes varied cultural elements that are familiar and nonetheless unsettled as part of a disjointed whole.

Dorit and Gerald Paul Gallery:  Lorrie Fredette, who earned her BFA degree in sculpture in 1990. Fredette's exhibition, Situational Variables, explores ideas about beauty, harmony and comfort. She selects a focus area, embarks on a rigorous course of research and gathers images to alter, vet and reject. This elaborate system subverts and distorts any likeness to the original source material.

Basile Gallery: Works by Rosemary Browne Beck will be featured in an eponymous exhibition. She graduated from Herron with a BFA degree in 1951 and was one of first three students to be awarded the new Herron MFA degree in 1952. Beck is known for her paintings, which display a commanding use of light.

Marsh Gallery: The exhibition Celebrating Herron Alumni features historical notes from Herron's more than a century of educating artists and the public and works by more than 30 artists from the 1930s to today.

All programming is free and open to the public. Visit the website for parking and other information.