The next stop on our Midwest Road Trip was Indianapolis. We started with a walk (that turned into a walk in the rain) to visit the Kurt Vonnegut Library. Since the rain really started pouring about halfway there, we ducked into Alcapulco Joe's and had some killer tacos (3 huge tacos for $5 plus chips and yummy salsa).
When the rain let-up, we continued our walk to the Library.
It's a rather small space (two rooms), but is filled with Kurt's art, art done about Kurt, collections of his books and a re-creation of his writing space including his rooster lamp. We loved watching all of the videos available, especially the one by Morley Safer talking about his dear friend and picked-up a few things from the small gift store (unfortunately, they were out of So It Goes stickers … not sure how you let that item run out).
Next we walked around downtown along the Cultural Trail. One of the things mentioned in one of the Vonnegut videos was that Kurt was always looking-up to see things around him … which made me even more aware of the downtown beauty above me than I usually am.
The State Capital Building was beautiful too.
We stayed at the Omni Severin Hotel (seriously, how could we not stay at a hotel named after us?) and had supper at the Severin Bar. They had $2 mini hot dogs and sliders … and upon our waitresses recommendation, we also had some Bacon on a Stick (unfortunately due to high convention volume, they were all out of their custom popcorn flavors).
The next morning we headed out by car to meet a friend for lunch at Cafe Patachou where we dined on delicious Broken Yolk Sandwiches.
After that, it was off to the Indianapolis Museum of Art … first surprise … it was FREE. Always love when a community makes its art available to everyone. The rain was still following-us, so we didn't get to explore the outside art & gardens, but we did love wandering through this fantastic museum.
There was a fantastic exhibit by the Indiana Artists' Club … our favorite was called Celadon Dragon by Kari Black.
On the first wall we saw was the amazing painting designed by Sol LeWitt done only with various combinations of the three primary colors and gray called Wall Drawing No. 652, with numbers by Robert Indiana in front.
Next we walked-up to the Contemporary wing where I was absolutely thrilled that the first thing I saw was a Sound Suit by Nick Cave (it was the third one I had seen in person … first in NYC, second in Arkansas). This fantastic creation was covered in beads and lots of birds. The colors on the costume were so vibrant and fun.
We were also thrilled to see another Anatsui piece.
Even the escalators were turned into art.
We also enjoyed this interactive art piece called Floor by Do-Ho Suh which is hundreds of tiny men and women holding-up a Plexiglas Floor that you can walk on.
Here I am standing on top.
We also enjoyed this amazing piece made from folded sheets of Mylar by Tara Donovan.
We would highly recommend this museum if you are in the area … such a fabulous layout and such great variety of art (they even have a gallery of Contemporary Design featuring furniture and kitchen items).
I’ve only stayed in Indianapolis once, for a conference so we were downtown and didn’t have time to see any sights. Looks like a great place to visit!