The First Friday art tour is getting spooky for October! You can kickoff the month with a Spooktacular feature from out friends at the Full Circle Nine Gallery.
Mike Meares, organizer for the show, joined us today to show off some of his art and share more about the Halloween-themed group show.
This event is part of the First Friday art tour, and it’s happening 6pm – 9pm on Friday, October 1.
This group show will see member artists expressing their love for the holiday, portraying their favorite parts about it in their art.
“Halloween is a holiday that celebrates us challenging and changing the perception of who we are,” Meares said. “It invites us to embrace our whimsy, our humor, and our darkness. It celebrates the need to escape from daily life. When you think about it, art serves a lot of the same purposes and desires.”
About Mike Meares
Mike Meares is an Illinois native, arriving in Indianapolis via San Francisco in late 2019. He joined Full Circle Nine Gallery in search of artist camaraderie, a few months before the pandemic shut down much of art gatherings and social life in 2020.
“We have a talented group of artists here at the gallery,” Meares said. “When you look around, you see a diverse mix of art, both stylistically and by medium. This show provides us an opportunity to showcase that diversity within a specific genre. Prior to the pandemic, we would typically have one featured group show each year. The last group show was in December of 2019, and there has been some turnover in artists since that time, so we thought it would be fun to bring back that community spirit of doing a group show.”
About the Full Circle Nine Gallery
The Full Circle Nine Gallery operates as an artist cooperative gallery, with each of the member artists and the board dividing gallery duties and artists roles. The artists will work together to help each other advance in skill and practice, as well as to bring success to the gallery. With over two dozen artists occupying a large, three-room space of the more factory-reminiscent portion of the Circle City Industrial Complex, Full Circle Nine offers a wide variety of art forms, media, and approaches.
The gallery has resumed weekend hours, 12-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Full Circle Nine Gallery is located at 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, in the South Studios section of the Circle City Industrial Complex. For more information, or for artists interested in joining the Full Circle Nine, please visit fullcirclenine.com
“Indy races, Indy shoots hoops… and INDY ARTS.”
The inaugural Indy Arts Festival is coming to Indianapolis on Monday, September 6. It’s taking place at 3130 Madison Ave. from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Indy Arts Fest has the goal to highlight Indy art talent. 2021’s event will focus on showcasing Indy muralists, street performers, artist vendors, and musicians. 6 muralists will each live paint a 8x12ft mural. Koda Witsken, lead muralist of Hue Murals, will have painted over 100ft of murals on the main building before the event.
She joined us today along with, Madi Williams, fiber artist, to share more about the event.
A General Admission ticket ($10) includes entry into Indy Arts Fest for one person, regardless of age, between 11am and 7pm. GA tickets give you access to view 6 muralists at work, a live body painter, a chalk artist, and more. You also get enjoy live music all day. You will be able to purchase food, drinks, and refreshments from our vendors and shop our artist vendor alley all day.
PLEASE NOTE: Kids 12 and under are FREE. Parking is limited and is NOT guaranteed. There will be limited parking at the event. We highly encourage you to Uber or Lyft for your safety and convenience. If you would like guaranteed parking, please consider upgrading to our VIP ticket option.
You can purchase tickets here until 6pm the day of the event.
WAMMfest is a festival of wine, art, music and microbrews, and it’s happening on Saturday, August 21 at Craig Park in Greenwood.
Russ Dodge, media consultant for WAMMfest, and Nate Johnson, owner of Johnson’s BBQ Shack, joined us today to share what kind of food and fun you can expect at this year’s 12th annual festival.
For more information and for tickets visit, WAMMfest.com.
THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY WAMM.
Are you ready for a “Culture Punch” this weekend!? Get your lawn chairs and beach blankets and get ready to chill, vibe out and enjoy live music, food and surprise performances!
CULTURE PUNCH (n.) – 1. a refreshing blend of cultures, art and music, mixed together to create an experience for the HUMAN FAMILY to enjoy. 2. An annual festival where 2-4 high schools will be selected to collaborate and produce; forming connections and expanding perspectives.
Indianapolis natives, Najah Tai and Brittny “No.E” Williams, known as the production duo “No Limits”, along with Eric Moore are teaming up with Harrison Center for the Arts, Lawrence North High School, Herron High School, Taste of Indy, Alexander Coleman Dance Company, the Empowherment Daily Devotional Corporation and several other Indianapolis based businesses and sponsors to bring central Indiana together at the 1st Annual Culture Punch Music and Art Festival.
Both women saw the need to unite communities from different parts of the city to strengthen the human family and give the people of Indianapolis a night to make new connections and enjoy art and music. The event, on Saturday July 17th, will feature local music artists, visual artists, businesses as well as a surprise headlining performance with Mrs. Indiana 2020- Justus Kelley and the Lawrence North Fierce Felines Dance Team.
“We are doing this for the community!” said the team of two.
All event proceeds are going right back to the organizations involved.
“Our passion is giving back! We wanted to support the youth and art organizations in the city. It is so exciting to host an event this size to support causes near and dear to our hearts.”
The team is accepting sponsors until July 10th. No Limits Productions is a production company centered on strengthening the human family by providing opportunities for communities and cultures to collaborate and create without limits.
If you would like to donate or become a sponsor of the 1st Annual Culture Punch Art & Music Festival, please contact Brittny Williams at (317) 987- 5140 or send an email to info.nolimitsproductions@gmail.com.
ATTN: Bring your lawn chairs, beach blankets and be prepared to chill, vibe out and enjoy live music, food and surprise performances!
Date and time
Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 6:00 PM EDT
Location
Greenwood Park Mall
1251 U.S. Highway 31 North
Greenwood, IN 46142
For more information visit:
Website: bw4524.wixsite.com/culturepunch
Facebook: Culture Punch
Eventbrite: eventbrite.com/e/culture-punch-tickets-160219421603
If you thought porcelain painting was a lost art, think again. Patty Spitler of Great Day TV joined us today with Ellen Wilson-Pruitt, the Director of the Porcelain Art School of Indiana. She teaches classes on this very subject.
For more information visit, Porcelainartschool.com.
The Full Circle Nine Gallery (FC9) will feature Robert Neat and “Celebrate History in Color,” a commemorative show on impactful figures, for First Friday, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. on Friday, June 4th. He joined us today to share more about the event. Here’s more from him:
“As a young man I always loved art that pushed the boundaries of social issues,” Neat said. “I believe art can be used for social change, and to bring attention to social issues. This show is meant to make you think. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Either way would be a success! It caused you to have an emotion. But the biggest significance is that we never forget those amazing individuals that sacrificed so much.”
Highlighted historical figures, events, and symbolism include Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anne Frank, as well as Stonewall and the Pink Triangle, as Neat hopes visitors remember and reflect.
About Robert Neat:
Robert Neat is an Indianapolis-based mixed media artist, combining acrylic and oil paints, pencil, ink and glitter to capture his imagery. Neat says he can utilize all media in the quest to create his art, and loves to play and explore what those media can do and has practiced since he was a young child.
“I have always been attracted to colors, shadows, lights, and anything that sparkled,” Neat said. “When I was younger, I would accept commissions, but soon became bored with creating what others thought was ‘art.’ I now only do work that I enjoy and find pleasing or interesting. As my art evolves, I find myself creating art that address the social issues we all face. I also find myself wanting to capture great moments in history, memorialize famous figures in history.”
About the Full Circle Nine Gallery:
The Full Circle Nine Gallery operates as an artist cooperative gallery, with each of the member artists and the board dividing gallery duties and artists roles. The artists will work together to help each other advance in skill and practice, as well as to bring success to the gallery.
With over two dozen artists occupying a large, three-room space of the more factory-reminiscent portion of the Circle City Industrial Complex, Full Circle Nine offers a wide variety of art forms, media, and approaches.
To better work within the COVID-19 shutdown and restrictions, the Full Circle Nine Gallery has hosted Virtual First Fridays, on the gallery’s Facebook page, @fullcircleninegallery, as well as on its Instagram, @fc9gallery, during the typical First Friday hours. During that time, the artists will host live streams, post videos, or showcase photos of their latest work, in an effort to continue to connect with fans and patrons. The gallery has also resumed weekend hours, 12-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with health precautions, such as required masks.
Full Circle Nine Gallery is located at 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, in the South Studios section of the Circle City Industrial Complex.
For more information, or for artists interested in joining the Full Circle Nine, please visit Fullcirclenine.com
Katrina Murray, artist & graphic designer, joined us on Indy Style today to tell us all about her current projects, including the work she’s doing in honor of March Madness being in Indianapolis this year. Here’s more from her:

I am an artist located on the 2nd floor of the Circle City Industrial complex. I have been running my art and design business there for 9 years. We are having a virtual First Friday on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Additionally the artists take visits by appointment and there will be a show in the Schwitzer gallery (open to the public all month).
I am currently working on a commission through the Arts Council of Indianapolis for March madness. It will be a new, temporary, site-specific art intervention in vacant downtown windows. Essentially, I will use vinyl adhesive to create an outdoor collage for two sets of double doors at the Former Ike and Jonesy’s at 17 West Jackson Place).

I won the creative renewal grant for 2021 that I had planned to use for travel to Greece and study ceramic making there. But The shut down due to the coronavirus made it impossible to travel abroad as I had planned in April last year. Those plans changed to: purchase a kiln, take a class at the Indianapolis Art Center and a drive-to museum visit. These things are In place of the original grant plans.
I did get a small PPP loan and some small stop gap grants to help keep my business afloat during the shutdown and subsequent months of lean business.

For more information, visit KatrinaJMurray.com and KatrinaMurrayDesign.com.
Studio open first Fridays and by appointment: 1125 Brookside Avenue, S 03B, Indianapolis, IN 46202.
The local arts community has been hit hard financially by the pandemic, and that includes visual artists.
WISH-TV photojournalist Joy Hernandez profiles Nancy Lee, Metalsmith artist, who’s getting by, thanks to an emergency relief fund.
This story was brought to us by our partners at Great Day TV with Patty Spitler.
Watch Great Day TV Saturdays at 10 am on WISH-TV.