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
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