I didn’t realize until recently that most Hoosiers under the age of 60 didn’t know that the original Indianapolis Museum of Art was built in 1902 at 16th and Penn — known as Herron High School now, formerly John Herron School of Art. I graduated from Herron School of Art and the year I started (1967) was the year it became part of IUPUI to assist with accreditation. The art school was in the two brick buildings behind the Indianapolis Art Museum and we used the museum’s auditorium as a lecture hall. I spent many a lunch hour roaming the art museum so I am very familiar with many pieces of the original collection. (I’ve read that collection now consists of 54,000 pieces.)
The Art Association of Indianapolis was founded by the suffragist May Wright Sewall in 1883. Wealthy Indianapolis resident John Herron left monies for the school and museum to be built.
In 1966, great grandchildren of Eli Lilly, J.K. Lilly III and Ruth Lilly, donated the family estate, Oldfields (152 acres), to the Art Association of Indianapolis. In 1970 the art museum was relocated to Oldfields, with the new Krannert Pavilion opening to the public in October 1970 (as the first of four buildings). The name was also changed to Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Over the years many expansions have combined the museum buildings with the beauty of the outdoor landscape.
Rembrandt’s self-portrait and pieces by Gauguin, Seurat, Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, Hopper, Homer and Calder are just a few of the well known artists in the Museum collection. Probably the most recognized piece is the LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana. Probably few realize he graduated from Tech High School. (I’m an alum too — it has always had one of the best art departments anywhere.)
They have a large Asian art collection (5,000 pieces) and while at Herron, my sculpture professor Paul Spheeris (who became the museum’s first full-time conservator) had my Japanese friend Meiko (also a Herron student) and I do tea ceremonies to groups helping raise funds for that section. We used a 12th century tea bowl and wore the tradition kimonos.
If you haven’t been to the art museum in a long time or ever, then you need to make a point of it. The cost has gone up, but they do have a free evening 4-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month and Friday May 31st is free. The name is now Newfields as of August, 2017. They have added an Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, a Beer Garden and you can see the Lilly Mansion and gardens. During the summer they have a film series outside. Recently I attended several films during the Indy Film Festival in their Toby Theatre.
The last few years I’ve given a family pass to my daughter for her birthday. My grandchildren take art classes there and attend a week of summer camp — my nine-year-old granddaughter loves the contemporary collection best.
Herron Art School is now on the campus of IUPUI as of 2005 in Eskenazi Hall. The enrollment was 400 when I was at Herron in the late 60s and now it’s over 800. Currently Herron High School occupies the original building and is a college preparatory school with a very good reputation.
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