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Page last updated on January 24, 2020 at 12:08 pm

For more information, please contact

Sean Starowitz

Assistant Director for the Arts

City of Bloomington

starowis@bloomington.in.gov

(812) 349-3534

 

Caroline Stephens

PR and Communications Manager

Graduate Hotels

cstephens@graduatehotels.com

City and Graduate Bloomington Welcome Artist Nina Chanel Abney to Present Mural, Lead Youth Art Project

WHAT: The City of Bloomington and Graduate Bloomington invite the press and public to a community gathering in celebration of the newly installed mural on the hotel’s western facade. After a brief welcome from City officials and the introduction of the artists who created the mural, artist Nina Chanel Abney will lead a group of local students in an interactive art stencil project utilizing a technique similar to that used in the mural’s creation. 

WHO: City of Bloomington Assistant Director for the Arts Sean Starowitz and Bloomington Arts Commissioner for Public Art Nick Blandford will offer remarks, and introduce artists Nina Chanel Abney and JJ Curis of the Library Street Collective

WHEN: Friday, January 24, 9:30 a.m. (photo opportunity at mural); 10:00 a.m. (welcome and remarks); 10:10 a.m. (art project begins)

WHERE: Graduate Bloomington, 210 East Kirkwood Avenue. Photo opportunity and remarks will take place outdoors beside the mural on the hotel’s western facade; an interactive art project for students will take place in the lounge event space inside the hotel.    

WHY: The City worked with AJ Capital Partners, the developer, owner, and operator of Graduate Hotels during the process of the hotel’s development to establish a public art component.  Created by nationally renowned artist Nina Chanel Abney, the 1,300-square-foot mural drawing inspiration from popular culture and the Bloomington community’s love for basketball was installed by the Library Street Collective on the hotel’s western facade in late fall 2019.  The Graduate selected Abney based upon the recommendation of the Bloomington Art Commission. Among her many public art commissions, Abney’s work has recently been installed in the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cavaliers’ arena in Cleveland.  Earlier this winter, Abney’s paintings were on view in 30 Americans, an exhibition of painting, sculpture, and photography by influential contemporary African American artists at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. 

 

Mural