Indianaplolis Art Museum Sculpture Garden "100 Acres"

100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art to Open June 20, 2010

Andrea Zittel, Alfredo Jaar, Jeppe Hein, Los Carpinteros and Others Creating Site-Responsive Works Exploring the Dialogue Between Art and Nature

100 Acres will be One of the Largest Museum Art Parks in the United States

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, -- The Indianapolis Museum of Art will open 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park on June 20, 2010, with a public grand opening celebration including tours, live music, art-making workshops and a Summer Solstice program. Located on 100 acres of land that includes untamed woodlands, wetlands, a lake and meadows adjacent to the Museum, it will be one of the largest museum art parks in the country and the only one to feature the ongoing commission of temporary, site-responsive artworks. The Park will open with eight newly commissioned inaugural works by international artists, a LEED-certified visitor center and numerous walking trails that highlight the indigenous landscape. As with the IMA galleries, admission to the Park will be free.

In 2008, the IMA announced the eight inaugural commissions for the Park. Kendall Buster, Los Carpinteros, Jeppe Hein, Alfredo Jaar, Tea Mäkipää, Type A, Atelier Van Lieshout and Andrea Zittel have spent several years working closely with the IMA to develop projects that explore and respond to the varied environments of 100 Acres. The IMA's goal is to present contemporary art projects and exhibitions that provoke a reexamination of humanity's multifaceted relationship with the environment.

"Each of the artists commissioned to create works for 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park will present a new and invigorating perspective on the interaction between art and the natural environment," said Maxwell L. Anderson, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA. "They have conceived their projects with great sensitivity to this particular site, while also engaging in broad global questions about the relationship among art, nature and culture. It is tremendously exciting that 100 Acres positions the IMA as a leader in how museums can champion both contemporary artists and the environment."

The Park is bordered by the White River and runs contiguous to the IMA's 52-acre campus, more than half of which is composed of historic landscapes and gardens. Commissions for the Park will be ongoing, with additional artists' projects announced annually. The evolving aesthetic landscape will be characterized by continual renewal just like the natural landscape. Formerly a gravel pit and construction area, the Park has transformed from a disturbed site into a lush and wild natural terrain. The IMA has engaged architect Marlon Blackwell and landscape architect Edward L. Blake to develop a LEED-certified visitors pavilion and related walking trails throughout the site that emphasize native plantings.

"100 Acres offers a new model for sculpture parks in the 21st century," said Lisa Freiman, Chair of the IMA's Department of Contemporary Art and Director of 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. "Unlike most sculpture parks, which emphasize canonical artists and place their works permanently in a fixed environment, 100 Acres will feature ongoing, temporary commissions, often supporting artists who have not yet had the opportunity to work on a grand public scale. We're promoting vital, open experimentation and providing a platform for international artists to challenge themselves as well as our community by broadening current expectations around contemporary art."

For more information, here is the website for The Indianapolis Art Museum www.imamuseum.org