Depending on direction their adventure takes, guests may find themselves experimenting with Surrealist drawing techniques, creating a mood board to decorate an imaginary room, making their own letterpress posters, dyeing a bandana, giving the pottery wheel a spin, or trying to navigate an obstacle course in a wheelchair while wearing vision-impairment goggles. Over the evening, participants can accumulate punches in an Open Studios passport for a reward.
Exhibitions by internationally renowned artists will be on view at the Grunwald Gallery of Art during the event. Also in the Fine Arts Building, the student-run Tangent Gallery will invite guests to view its current student exhibition and to create and install their own artwork. Open Studios also offers the first glimpse of the school’s brand new ArtShop, a source for art supplies, unique gifts, student work for sale, and light snacks, on the first floor of the Fine Arts Building just off the Showalter Plaza. Veterans of the Super Bowl XLVI half-time show, IU-based a cappella ensemble Ladies First will roam among the three venues to provide live musical accompaniment.
Open Studios offers a dive into the culture and landscape of the Eskenazi School on IU’s flagship campus. Faculty and students from the school’s 15 areas will be on hand throughout the night to share information with prospective students, whether high school seniors or current IUB students considering an Eskenazi School major or minor.
This family-friendly event is free and open to the public. Light snacks will be provided at each of the three buildings, and a food truck will offer food for purchase in front of the Fine Arts Building. Free parking is available in the East Garage on Eagleson Avenue after 5 p.m. Each studio building is fully accessible, and a free shuttle bus will be making regular rounds among the buildings during the event and from the Arts Annex to the East Garage at the end of the evening.
