Inside the artist's process

by Lisa Freeman

As curator of the JCC Art Gallery, I’m constantly on the search for new artists and photographers who are looking at the world around us in creative and visually stimulating ways.

courtesy of
shawncausey.com

This search sends me and Director of Arts and Education, Lev Rothenberg, up winding staircases and into artists’ nooks all over the Indianapolis area.

The smell of oil paint is an intoxicating draw as we walk into studio spaces all over the city. Paintbrushes, palettes, used-up paint tubes and canvases welcome us into the artist’s world.

The artists we have been honored to host in the JCC gallery imagine and create in a myriad of styles and mediums as varied as oil, gouache, cut paper, watercolor, mosaic, photography, and two and three-dimensions, just to name a few.

This diverse group looks for inspiration in music, literature, current events, conversations with a colleague, nature or something totally random that may have caught their interest in passing.

We’ve been very fortunate to explore and learn about the artistic process by sitting and asking questions in the studios and work spaces of great creative minds, such as Lois Main Templeton, as well as her partner and friend, Phil O’Malley. We’ve met Jerry Points, who is one of the pioneers of the Carmel Arts and Design District, and Kyle Ragsdale, who also serves as curator of the Harrison Center for the Arts gallery.

This week at the JCC, there is an opportunity for you to gain insight into the processes of another talented artist.

Shawn Causey, whose exhibit entitled Only That is currently at the JCC Art Gallery, is inspired by the intersection of music and painting, which informs her artistic life. Her love for the solitude of the painting studio parallels the pleasure she takes in the music practice room.

Come join us for light refreshments when Shawn briefly discusses her process on Thursday, January 17, from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m.

More about Lisa Freeman