In 2022, the IAC took the critical step of looking deeply at our programs, services, and operations, starting with an evaluation of the Arts Organization Support grant program. Read more about the process to review the Arts Organization Support Program.  

Image Courtesy of Indiana State Museum

A Designer Original

Article from the Indiana State Museum Blog

Katie Pourcho’s student-designed dress has been worn to the White House and displayed at the statehouse. Now, it has a permanent home in our house.

In April, Pourcho donated to the museum two dresses, shoes and accessories that she had worn to Washington, D.C., when she met President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden after being named 2020 Indiana Teacher of the Year. The clothing was designed by her K-2 students at Danville North Elementary School.

“Art is meant to be seen – and it’s not meant to stay in my closet,” Pourcho said. “And from the very beginning, as we were putting this together, in the back of my head I was thinking that after the trip to D.C., it would be just too amazing if it was actually in a museum and my at-the-time second-graders and first-graders and kindergarteners could say, ‘I have work at the museum.’ How cool is that for a child to say?”

Read the full article.

How to make your home and workspace fuel your creativity

Excerpt of an article by Stephanie Diamond, The Creative Independent

Seventeen years ago, I emailed my network of friends and fellow artists asking for leads on a new-apartment hunt. Long after I’d settled into my new place, so many incredible referrals kept pouring in that I couldn’t keep them to myself. I started sharing my trove of apartment leads with my wider network, and Listings Project—a weekly roundup of opportunities serving artists and creative communities—was born.

As Listings Project has grown, my team and I continue to correspond with each lister directly. In the process, we have collected a wealth of insights on how people who derive their income and/or fulfillment from their creativity tend to live and work, how they aspire to live and work, and what makes a living arrangement or workspace fuel a creative practice.

In this guide, I will draw on my own observations as well as the experiences of our community to offer some insights on the process of finding and reconfiguring our homes and workspaces to inspire (not zap, drain, or deplete) our artistic lives.

Read the guide.

The Summer Institute for Creative Teaching

Are you looking to find a new way to engage students? The Indiana Arts Commission is partnering with the Indiana Department of Education to present The Summer Institute for Creative Teaching, a free one-day creative training workshop for Indiana Educators.

Research shows creative teaching strategies, also known as arts integration, improve student engagement, student learning retention, and student literacy skills. Integrating the arts into core subjects is a highly effective and rewarding approach to meeting standards while reaching diverse learners, engaging students, and making a memorable and enjoyable experience for all.

Participation in the workshop will include:

• One day of immersive training in creativity and connections to standards

Call for Poets: Bicentennial Unity Plaza Legends Mural

Indiana Humanities and the Indy Arts Council seek to commission an Indiana poet to write an original poem inspired by the lives, careers, and legacies of a group of Indianapolis “legends” from the past 200 years, to accompany a new multi-portrait mural to be installed in the summer of 2023. The goal of the poem is to provide a literary perspective on the legendary status of these individuals, and to help viewers understand their enduring impact on Indianapolis and the world. Applications are due by June 18, 2023.

Learn more and apply.

Dates and opportunities to keep an eye on:

• (June 9) Kirklin Main Street Art Fair Booth Registration
• (June 15) Jazz Road Tours Fellowship Application
• (June 16) Rodenberry Fellowship for social justice work
• (June 20) BIPOC Filmmaker Grant
• (June 22) Innovate Grant
• (July 12) Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists
• (July 17) Art for Change Prize
• (July 21) Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants Cycle 19

Calls for Artists:

• (June 23) Greenwood Parks and Recreation Art on The Trail Juried Exhibit
• (Sept. 1) Zionsville Cultural District Request for Proposals for Public Art 
• (Rolling) RFQ Art This Way Fort Wayne
• (Rolling) White River State Park Visitor Center Artist Consignment

The University of Southern Indiana has named Dr. Shelly Blunt, Dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education, as Interim Provost for the University, effective July 1. She will succeed Dr. Mohammed Khayum who is retiring after four years as Provost and 32 years in total with the University.

“I would like to thank the Provost Search Committee and campus community for the time, effort and thoughtful considerations of the finalists for the Provost position, however, the process did not yield a candidate of choice for USI,” said Ronald S. Rochon, USI President. “With this in mind, I have chosen to move forward in a direction that will ensure continued stability for the University with this appointment.”

Blunt has a long track record of leadership at the University. She has served as Dean of the Pott College since June and served as the Interim Dean for the College since January 2023. Blunt has also served as Associate Provost for Academic Affairs from 2014 to 2022 and as Associate Dean for the Pott College for six years. She currently serves on the Science Education Foundation of Indiana Board, the Medical Professions Academy Advisory Board and has served on numerous state-wide committees for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

Blunt is actively involved in STEM education and undergraduate advising, has served as a University Advising Fellow for five years and received the Outstanding Advisor of the Year and the Phenomenal Women of USI awards. Other accomplishments under her leadership include the creation of first year advising centers in each of USI’s academic colleges, the successful implementation of a new general education core, the development of a University-wide first-year seminar class (UNIV 101) and the implementation of state-wide articulation agreements.

She earned her undergraduate degree at Truman State University and her doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Iowa.

The University has also named Dr. William Elliott, Jr., Professor of Geology and Associate Dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education, as Interim Dean of the Pott College, effective July 1.

Elliott became Chair of the Geology, Physics and Environmental Science Department at USI in August 2009. In October 2022, he became Associate Dean of the College. As Chair at USI, he facilitated the development and launch of the environmental science and physics degree programs. Prior to coming to USI, he was faculty member and coordinator of the Geology Program in the Environmental Studies Department at Southern Oregon University.

He has been part of several collaborative teams at USI to investigate factors impacting graduation rates and student persistence. He is a Co-Principal Investigator on a nearly $150,000 grant led by Dr. Amy Chan-Hilton, Director of Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, to transform STEM Education through the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and his master’s and doctoral degrees in geology from Indiana University.

The interim appointments are through fall 2024 at which time the University will begin a national search to permanently fill the Provost position. “Our University is on an upward trajectory,” said Rochon. “We have strong support from the state as is evident through our partnerships and recent appropriations, we have amazing faculty and staff who are doing great things for our students and this institution, and we are implementing a number of new processes and tools that will assist us as we continue to serve our students and campus community. We have much to be thankful for, and I am confident these interim appointments will position USI for an ongoing path of success.”