Exhibition Philosophy

The Indianapolis Art Center’s exhibitions program is dedicated to providing its constituents with a broad range of perspectives on contemporary art and art education. The Art Center has both indoor and outdoor gallery spaces and utilizes them in various ways throughout each exhibition season. Informed by the Association of American Museums’ code of ethics the Art Center presents more than 45 exhibitions a year ranging from student work and group exhibitions to internationally recognized artists. A variety of media, techniques, and approaches are shown in a typical season and exhibitions are on view from six to eight weeks.

The Exhibitions department works closely with the Art Center’s Education and Outreach departments to create mission-based programming as an educational supplement to our exhibits. Some of these programs include workshops with the exhibiting artists, hands-on activities, and tours for specialized audiences.

The Art Center sends out a general call for proposals each year and receives more than 200 proposals in response. The Art Center also receives many unsolicited project proposals throughout the year. The Director of Exhibitions & Artist Services evaluates these on an annual basis. The Director of Exhibitions also visits exhibitions and artists based in the region, and may invite some of these artists to exhibit. Artists are chosen based on the quality of their work and their ability to provide a diversity of viewpoints over the course of the season. The Art Center acknowledges our commitment to our students and faculty by having an Annual Student Show and an Annual Faculty Exhibition.

Many works in the exhibitions are for sale and profit from the sales benefit the exhibiting artists and support the Exhibitions Department of the Indianapolis Art Center.