This mural is located in the front of CityWay II. It is on the wall between the apartments and the…read moreshops on Delaware street. There is a small parking lot there where you can park and get out and take a closer look. The mural was created by Kelsey Montague, a Denver based artist, in 2019. The mural was commissioned by Buckingham Companies for CityWay. It depicts a swarm of firefles taking off over a yellow background. a few fireflies escape the yellow background and bleed over to the wall. I really like that fine touch. This picture is intended to be Instagram ready and will make some awesome social media pictures. As with most murals, this is probably not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. So, it is best to plan out additional stops at many of the other wonderful murals in the area to maximize your trip.

It's hard to review a mural. How do you review something as subjective as public art? In any case,…read moreif you need a review, I give this mural five stars! It's pretty and the colors are nice and it's visually pleasing. This mural is located in CityWay, on the back of a building, adjacent to a parking area where cars drive, so be careful when you're visiting! At the bottom of the mural is the hashtag #WhatLiftsYou, so I'm not sure if that's the title or what.

I'm not sure why I've never reviewed "Love Conquers All," a CityWay II public mural created by…read moreBritish artist Nick Walker. If you've never seen this mural (and you should), this is an eight-story tall mural featuring Walker's popular "Vandal" character. He's a proper English gent with suit and bowler hat. You can picture him dangling from a yellow ribbon with the words "Love Conquers All." The ribbon is wrapped around a red heart that seems to be breaking into pieces. Beyond the beauty of this mural, I love that it's open to interpretation. Is the artist trying to repair the heart? Is there another message at play? Who knows? I will admit the first time I saw this mural I thought it was either a Banksy creation or inspired by Banksy. In fact, Walker has an artist preceded Banksy as he first popped up as an artist in the 80s and Banksy in the 90s. Walker originally added murals to CityWay in 2013. This mural on CityWay Tower came along in 2019. I will never not love Indy's public murals. This is one of my favorites. It's beautifully designed, thoughtfully structured, and instantly turns this building into one of Indy's iconic spots. I've never stopped to photograph this mural, however, whenever I'm in this area I always make sure to stop and appreciate it.

I passed this mural many times but have never seen it. It is because I am always coming into…read moredowntown via Delaware Street. The mural is on the tallest apartment building in CItyWay II but on side opposite Delaware Street. The mural is 8 stories or 140 feet tall. In other words huge. I have no idea how he was able to paint that high and maintain his consistency. It can be seen from far away. It was created by English artist Nick Walker and commissioned by Buckingham Companies, specifically for their CityWay II property. The mural depicts one of the artist's favorite characters known as "the Vandal" as he dangles from a yellow ribbon bearing the words "Love Conquers All." The ribbon is wrapped around a red heart that appears to be breaking into pieces. I am not sure but I am going to go on a limb and say that the man is trying to mend the broken heart with his love ribbon. It is a nice, eye catching piece that is very detailed. It is very impressive and I really like it. The color pop and it is almost 3D with the pieces of teh heart coming at you. If you are not going to be long, you can park in the CityWay apartments parking lot and get out and take a look. As with most murals, this is probably not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. It is best to plan out additional stops at many of the other wonderful murals in the area to maximize your time and trip.

During my visit to nearby Fishers, Indiana I was excited to see a new youth-inspired installation…read morethat is to become a regular feature located at Brooks School Park. It's called the Fishers Art Wall, an idea that was first inspired by the 2018-2019 Mayor's Youth Council (now known as the Mayor's Youth Academy). Inspired by Mayor Fadness's question ""What are creative places doing to create creative spaces?," the youth council began looking at Venice, California's public art walls and how they'd become a local tourist attraction while creating a public for public art and place-making. The result is that such businesses as Hagerman Construction, Sagamore Concrete, Gilliatte General Contractors and Faegre, Baker, Daniels among others agreed to donate their services and a Fall 2019 date was set to begin creating the Fishers Art Wall that is now in place. The Fishers Art Wall is a two-sided 40' x 5' wall with 4 1" reveals creating up to 8 separate panels. It can be divided multiple ways allowing for variation during each art rotation. There's to be four revolving periods of art throughout the year. Two of the periods will feature local artists, while the other two will be devoted to Hamilton Southeastern Schools. The emphasis is on creation of either a 2-D mural or graffiti style artwork with acrylic or spray paint or as directed by staff. The emphasis is on celebrating diversity and inclusion within Fishers and the guidelines note that the art work should align with the vision of the Fishers Arts & Culture Commission that goes - "To reflect both what the community is today and what it hopes to be in the future... a smart, vibrant, and entrepreneurial city energized by and experienced through arts, architecture and culture." For local artists, there's no fee to submit work and no permit required for the painting. There's also an allowable reimbursement of $250 per panel ensuring that artists are compensated for their work. The wall is to be maintained and prepared by the City of Fishers before/after each rotation. I fell in love with the Fishers Art Wall, which is located along the Mud Creek Watershed and adjacent to the parking lot. It's a beautiful option for local art and the current installation emphasizes what is really an Indiana theme right now - the idea of being "All IN." I initially eyeballed the exhibit and just assumed it was a cute art thing similar to the rainbow bridge in Broad Ripple, but closer inspection revealed it was a formal and permanent installation with signage explaining the project. To be honest, I drove by it four times just soaking it in. If you're by Brooks School Park, I'd definitely check it out. If you're a local artist, you might also think about submitting for future installations.

In Autumn of 2020, the Artist group known as Blice Edwards was hired to paint a 3D mural on the…read moreparking lot side of the Live Proscenium in Carmel. The Yellow building sits on the block on the northwest corner of Carmel Drive and Rangeline Road. Since the mural is on the west side of the building on the north end of the parking lot, you can actually get access to view the mural from both Rangeline and Carmel Drive. I drove around quite a bit before realizing it wasn't viewable from either road. Since there is still construction in the area, be very careful of workers and equipment. I also suggest going on a somewhat overcast day because the mural is several stories high and to get a full view, you may be looking into the sky and the sun may wash out your photos. What the artists have done is create the illusion of a small, brick alley that leads towards some additional buildings. In fact, it is simply a large flat wall that the artist used perspective (remember the "vanishing point' from art class?) to create a realistic illusion of an alley. One of the give aways that it wasn't real was that the artists added clouds in the sky but since I went on a cloudless day, it seemed a little odd that clouds were only viewable in the alley! ha! The artwork is nearly perfect and I can't imagine how they knocked the mural out in such scale and detail in just a couple weeks. They did have an assist on handpainting all the individual bricks in the roadway part of the alley. Still, it is an colossal addition to the Arts District collection in Carmel. If you are a fan of art or have an aspiring artist in your family, drive by and check out to see if you can determine where the vanishing point was for the artists to maintain their perspective. Blice Edwards operates out of a studio in Broad Ripple next to the Gallery Pastry shop off 54th and the Monon. See their website link for more info about them. Review #3810

I happened upon this piece of public art when I was at the Hi-Fi Annex for a Broken Social Scene…read moreconcert. You need to enter the Annex from the back of the Murphy Arts building, and that's where Fountain Square Larry is located, up on a brick wall. I wouldn't say that this is a mural, because it's a painted wooden piece that's set up in the wall. But if you're walking quickly past it, it kind of looks like a mural. It's not, though! Nevertheless, it's pretty neat. According to a quick internet search, Fountain Square Larry was Larry Mires, a local who owned a record store and who passed away in 2019. According to a website, he was also hard of hearing, which is ironic. Anyway, I love that Indianapolis honored a resident of this great city by giving him a little space upon a wall.

This mural is not painted on the wall directly. It is on a wood backing that has been mounted to…read morethe wall. It has a kind of Marlboro Man feel to it. The mural is a long time Fountain Square resident Larry Mire, who passed away after a battle with cancer in 2019. He spent his entire life in Fountain Square and owned a record store in the area. He was beloved by many. Well, son many that they erected a mural in his honor. The mural depicts Larry with his signature large gold belt buckle, with jeans and cowboy boots. The Murphy Arts Center commissioned artist Dan Cents to paint the 2-story mural and it was unveiled as part of the 2019 Art Squared festival. So now Larry is forever a part of the area that he so loved. Anyway it is a nice piece and somewhat of a memorial. Definitely worth a look.  There is street parking available right in front of the mural or you could probably not even have to leave your vehicle and do a slow rolling drive-by. As with most murals that I have reviewed, though, this is probably not a very long stop, even you may reflect a bit more on this one. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other wonderful murals in the area, two are right next to it, to maximize your time and trip.

In 2020, several local artists were selected to create window panels in their studios (I believe…read morethey were all painted on wooden panels approximately 6' wide by 4' high) which would be placed over the downtown Noblesville Gordon Building. The plan is that each of the panels would be set in place for 2 years and then be sold at auction to help raise money to pay for new local art to be purchased for installation. Just northeast of the county courthouse, the panels can be found on a couple sides of the building approximately 12 to 15' above the street level. The height does make it a little difficult to look at from the sidewalk, and because the sizes are smaller, it isn't as easy to make out the details from across the street. But other than that, it seems like the artists, though working individually, must have coordinated because the colors and murals seem to blend nicely. I believe the guidelines may have stipulated that the murals were supposed to be Noblesville themed or at least family friendly. Four artists were selected for the panels. Travis Neal painted two music related panels. Megan Jefferson (whose works I believe can be found along the monon trail also) created a pair of Heartland themed murals. Terre Haute artist Becky Hochhalter was selected to do three water panels to tie into the popular Morse Reservoir in the area, and Nekoda Witsken did three dog and vehicle murals as well as two star brick panels. The cool thing about those is that you can see the inspirational bricks lining the sidewalk in front of the murals. Though the actual bricks are monochromatic (bronze tones), the murals are vibrantly colored. If you are dining or exploring the downtown area of Noblesville, be sure to look up when you reach the Gordon building to check out these colorful additions to downtown. Review #3790

This is a mice somewhat abstract mural that was commissioned by the Livery restaurant. It overlooks…read moretheir parking lot which was a bit problematic for me because the cars parked there partially blocked my view of the mural. The mural is the work of Justin Olson, the owner of Olson Paint Studios and was completed in 2016. It is huge, spanning 84 feet. The mural is in excellent shape and depicts a silhouette of cowgirl (some say its a cowboy, but it looks like a cowgirl to me) on a horse in the woods and holding a lantern. You see silhouettes other animals in the woods like a fox, a deer and a rabbit. The cool part of the cowgirl silhouette is that it is reversed and the silhouette is not filled in. It is just a bare brick outline. Further down the mural you will see a large whale that is upside down and splashing in blue waves. You will see the silhouettes of some yellow fish on that end as well. This part has another cool addition, that I initially missed. You will find a a fisherman looking down at the whale and holding a pole that has a lantern at the end of it. The really cool part is that the lantern hangs out from the wall and is 3D. I really like it. It is almost as if there are two completely separate murals just sharing the wall, the common blue background and the yellow fish silhouettes that you will find on both sides. It is interesting to note that the wall that the mural was painted was so delicate, that sandblasting the old paint was not an option and Olson had to hand paint every single brick to make it appear to be original brick colors. Talk about time consuming. I wish I could have had an unobstructed view of the mural. The parking lot that it overlooks is small and always has cars in it, even when the restaurant is not open. I was able to pull into an alley on the opposite side of the restaurant so that I could park and get out 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 and attractions, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

Love this mural along the Cultural Trail as it cuts through the alley. The mural is on the side of…read moreThe Livery restaurant on College, just south of Mass Ave. The exposed brick with the horse and rider is my favorite aspect. I bicycle through here regularly and enjoy the mural.

I came across this public art piece near Mass Ave and I thought, "What kind of degenerate is going…read moreto push the button and make the sign say 'Don't Care'? And why give people a choice? Just make it say 'Care' and don't give anyone an option, and everyone will be happy." Before I walked away, I made sure that the sign said "Care," and I felt satisfied. But I've been thinking about this piece a lot since I saw it about a week ago. I've been thinking about it especially in relation to my yoga and meditation practice. One of the things I've been working on in my life is something in yoga that's called aparigraha, or non-attachment. It boils down to not caring about things so dang much -- especially things that are out of your control or things that are impermanent. So, I've been pondering this concept of non-attachment, and then I come across this artwork. My initial response -- "The sign needs to say 'Care'! Everyone needs to care about everything all the time always!" -- is a noble response and probably most people's response. But now that I've had time to think about this art piece, I've come to a different conclusion. Maybe "Don't Care" isn't a "bad" thing? Why ascribe judgement to the idea of caring or not caring? One isn't better than the other -- they are just concepts that are fluid and can mean different things to different people in different situations. Not caring can sometimes be freeing, and caring can be stifling. And conversely, caring can be beneficial, and not caring can be ruinous. Good art makes people think, and this one really made me evaluate everything. So the next time I come across this piece of art, I might just press the button to make it say "Don't Care," and I'll walk away happy.

This is one of my favorite, if not my actual all-time favorite, public art installations along the…read moreCultural Trail. I am biased because I live so close to it, so it feels like a neighbor welcoming me home. I really get such a self-righteous kick out of punching the button to "CARE" whenever I pass. Even if it's the only Leslie Knope thing you do that day, it still feels like you've done something good for the community. Especially with the pandemic and all other else colliding into our social problems this year, this piece has taken on a new, elevated meaning for me. People walking by on the Mass Ave pedestrian corridor this summer, at least 6 feet apart and wearing masks? CARE. A good citizen picking up litter as they go by? CARE. Hundreds of protestors marching past in opposition to racism and police brutality? CARE. Being careful to press the button with your elbow or through a rolled down sleeve instead of your bare fingers? CARE. People biking by using Pacers Bikeshare bikes instead of driving their commute in response to climate change? CARE.