I was in stop-and-go traffic along I-70 this afternoon and spotted this very unusual artwork…read more Unfortunately, this was not a good place to park or visit as the sculpture is located inside the onramp from Madison Avenue onto the Interstate. I was able to find the description by searching https://www.indyartsguide.org/public-art/life-evolving/ and here we are. This is a 40-foot metal sculpture of a ribonucleic acid (RNA) nucleotide molecule. The location (mostly) is good because it is just south of the Eli Lilly and Company campus. The artwork was installed here in 2012. Life Evolving is the creation of Chilean-American artist and scientist Biagio Azzarelli, who lives in Indianapolis. There is a good writeup on https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/forty-foot-sculpture-symbolizes-lillys-indianapolis-commitment. [Review 17199 overall - 39 in Indiana - 716 of 2022.]

This sculpture is not in the best place to SAFELY get a good look. It is located just off of the…read moreI-70 on ramp from magazine street. The 40 foot tall sculpture was designed by Biagio Azzarelli and is made in the likeness of a ribonucleic acid (RNA) nucleotide molecule. In speaking of his sculpture, Azzarelli said "I am thrilled with the installation of Life Evolving. Its prominent location along I-70 will welcome people to downtown and, I hope, stimulate public conversation and scientific curiosity." I must be honest, I have seen it a few times and thought it was a radio tower, antenna, or a replica satellite. It is made of hollow steel spheres, beams and rings. It is a site to see, but you will better appreciate it with a explanation before your visit. The sculpture was the final installation of Indys' Green Welcome, where members of the community worked together to produce a new identity for their community. It is a collaborative effort by the Eli Lilly, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB), and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). It was made as part of Eli Lilly's 2010 Global Day of Service. The land that the sculpture is on was donated by INDOT. I do not recommend trying to stop at this sculpture. It is a drive by type attraction and the speed of which you do so is dictated by who is behind you. For some reason, I really like this sculpture. It is unique and I am sucker for road side attractions. So, anyway if you do pass this sculpture now at least you know what it is and not have to worry about getting zapped by radio waves.

Beautiful mural that wraps around the building! Butterflies, cone flowers and a shout out to the…read morestate of Indiana. Located on a church building in downtown Plainfield and really brightens up the alley it's in.

Since I sat at the Slippery Noodle watching the artists install this mural, I think I should give…read moremy 2 cents worth. Long overdue. I am one of those folks who know nothing about art and so I judge it by how it makes me feel. Generally I have three options, like, dislike and meh... This one falls into the like category mainly due to the colors used. I really enjoy this color scheme. It feels upbeat and reminds me of spring even so there are no flowers involved. It does brighten the underpass for sure. And every time i drive it makes me smile.

This mural is located in the underpass leading to downtown's Warehouse District, just one block…read moreaway from the Rolls-Royce corporate office and aircraft engine museum; It is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, but is still decent. The mural gets its name from the 100 Rolls Royce employees that created it. It was painted in 2018 with the aid of local mural group, Big Car Collaborative as part of their day of volunteering. The mural depicts a repetitive, yet colorful Rolls-Royce jet engine. The mural is not painted directly on the wall. It is actually, painted on 24 - 8' x 4' foot wooden panels making the 60 ' x 24' mural. They were installed on the walls in 2019. It is a very colorful mural. The colors surrounding the center axis of each engine randomly shift. Those shifts in color are suppose to evoke a sense of the circular motion of the engine. Unfortunately, I did not feel it. There is metered parking near the mural or if you wont be long, there are spots reserved for IMPD, that are right in front of the mural, that you could probably pull over and get out and take a quick look. Unfortunately, for this mural, I have seen a ton of public art and compared to the bulk of what I have seen, this one is ok, middle of the road for me. Anyway, as with most murals I have reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 3 minutes. You should consider planning out additional stops at many of the other wonderful murals and attractions in the area, such as the Major Taylor Mural or John Wooden statue, to maximize your time and trip.

Cool and brightly colored public art mural that sits on a exterior garage near and alley of popular…read morebroad ripple community in Indianapolis Indiana My family and I noticed this space themed and futuristic milking mural whole discovering the broad ripple area for all of its wonderful public art. We were in town from louisville for my daughters cheer comp and just had dinner at a nearby by broad ripple establishment and decided to go exploring. Overall, like an h of broad ripples public service Thai was bright, colorful and fun to check one. Good piece in a great area for public art fans.

This mural takes up all 4 sides of the small building that it is painted on. The mural is on a shed…read morelike structure off of an alley way behind a little strip mall. This mural is actually a collection of four murals by Joy Hernandez. Hernandez uses an astronaut named Bean in many of her murals. This one is no exception. The mural in the front, titled Cosmic Dance, has bean the astronaut break dancing agains a pink background with yellow polka dots. On the side, to the left (with you facing the mural) is Hernandez's Voyager mural which depicts a satellite against a black background with blue polka dots. On the side, to the right (with you facing the mural) is the piece titled Pale Blue Dot. Spoiler alert, the blue dot is Earth. That mural depicts some colorful dots among an image that appears to be the sun and some planets like Saturn and Jupiter off in the distance. You will also see fading blue polka dots against the black background, which is a theme among these murals. The final mural, which is on the back is titled Sounds of Small Creatures and depicts Bean the astronaut spinning the 1s and 2s, against a pink, red and orange background with, yep you guessed it, yellow polka dots. The murals are not artistic marvels by far, but are Hernandez's classic style. They are very color and gives off a pop art type of vibe. All the murals on the structure go very well together and are seamless. You can find many of Hernandez's work across the city. If it is a mural and has an astronaut in it, then it is more than likely her. There is metered street parking within a short walk of this mural or you can just pull into the alley that the mural overlooks and park there to get a closer look. As with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is probably not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. So, you may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other wonderful murals in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip. There are tons of murals in the alley and adjacent alleys to look at.

With the passing of Dolly Parton, I had to stop by Amelia's to check out Muckrock's 2019 mural…read morelocated at the back of Amelia's in the Fletcher Place/Fountain Square area. The mural is of Dolly in her younger days, glammed up and tattooed with the tattoos reflecting a couple of Dolly's iconic moments - the award-winning film "9 to 5" and her famous song Jolene. It's hard to imagine anyone in Indy not knowing about MuckRock, aka Jules Muck, an England born street artist now based in Venice, California. Muck created the mural during an informal artists' residency here in Indy in 2019. Even with all the traffic issues in this area, it's pretty easy to be able to stop and check this out. It's a quick visit, of course, but this area has quite a few other places (including Amelia's) worth a stop. There are a handful of murals in Indy that really make me stop and smile when I see them. Dolly Door is most definitely one of them, and stopping today to check it out made me remember so much about her history and also a long ago interview I got to do with her during my college days. An iconic mural for an iconic artist and human being.

Dolly door is a Indianapolis garage mural of Americas sweetheart Dolly Parton with lots of her hit…read moresongs tatted on her face in a trendy Indianapolis neighborhood. My family and I was in town from Lousiville on a weekend getaway while my daughter has cheer comp. Her competition was a few miles down the road at the convention center when we decided to take a post comp lounge at the popular Bluebeard and check out the public art in its surrounding area. On the rear of Bluebeard where the public parking is we seen this amazing piece. The artist did a wonderful job painting her likeness and the hit songs being tatted on the face was a fun and unwise touch very contrasting to Dolly herself. Overall we loved this piece. We seen a lot of public art while in town and this one will undoubtedly be our favorite and most memorable piece. I laugh every-time I look at it. Good stuff!

Driving south on Harding Street, you may notice a light blue fence painted with sunflowers and a…read morestylized lettering of "West Indy". The mural was part of the Great Indy Cleanup for the area and provided by volunteers and the Department of Public Words. Together with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, the mural shows a giant sunflower on the east fence, and a sunflower plant with multiple flowers: each flower represents a neighborhood in the near west side of Indy. Indy has been having neighborhood cleanups to remove discarded trash from public spaces in neighborhoods. This one was done right after Earth Day. There is a plaque on the north fence that tells more about the mural and activity. Review #1790

This is another of world renowned artist Jules Muck's murals that she painted while she was in Indy…read morein 2019. Muck is known as MuckRock in the art world. The mural depicts a skeleton, a character that has popped up in a few MuckRock's murals, sitting in the sukhasana position. The skeleton has 6 roses (3 on each side) in an arch around its body and has the artist's signature "MuckRock" tag in a pop up box coming from the skeleton's mouth. I am not sure of the murals meaning, but I am sure it is deep. The mural is located on the side Tinker Coffee overlooking a little alley. I just pulled into the alleyway, parked, got out and took a closer look. You can get an ok view driving by, but I recommend getting out if you are going to see it. This is artistically a nice mural. The detail on the skeleton is nice and I like MuckRock's use of shading. As with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other wonderful nearby downtown attractions.

One of Jules "MuckRock" Muck's more whimsical murals can be found on the east wall (along the…read morealley) of Tinker Coffee. Painted during August of 2019, the mural shows all that remains after finding the ultimate meditation...bones. The skeleton is seated in the lotus position and apparently, became so deep in meditation that it forgot to eat. The skeleton is surrounded by six roses and the thought balloon "...Muck Rock ...". While in the area, check out some of the local businesses in this up and coming Tech 16/Riverside area. Changes are coming to the area quickly and you won't recognize it in a few years. Review #2892

I really enjoy when various groups around Indy get together and come up with a way to add color and…read moreunexpected art to what may otherwise have been a "rundown" area like an underpass where cars travel under elevated train tracks or another highway. They clean out the trash and commission an artist to create something more inviting and more hopeful for the neighborhood. Such was the case in 2020 when the underpass for the railroad that crossed English Avenue between Rural and Sherman got a tremendous make over. It was cleaned, some repair work was done and local artist Kristopher May did large murals on both sides of English. The mural uses silhouetted figures depicted in activities that fit the neighborhoods surrounding the area. Biking and hiking, soccer and other activities make the place seem more family friendly than just leaving the underpass dark and unattended. I have added a link to the Arts Council of Indianapolis if you want more information about the behind the scenes organizations or the artist. Note that the blue ribbon of color that unifies the mural on both sides of the street represents the Pleasant Run creek that runs through the neighborhood. Fyi, if you are in the area and want to take a look, my wife found some parking at one of the local businesses (southwest of the mural) that allowed me to get very close to the mural without having to risk parking on the street and oncoming traffic. This is a very nice addition to the neighborhood! Review #3837