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Douglas David Fine Art has had some great "press" the past few years. From the winning Indiana license plate design to his help with the Indianapolis 500 Festival. A few of the noteworthy articles follow . . .
ARTIST DOUGLAS DAVID HAS
HIS 1ST SHOW IN A MUSEUMIndianapolis artist Douglas David’s first museum show opened Aug. 26 at the Richmond Art Museum, 350 Hub Etchison Parkway, in Richmond.
The show, called “Douglas David Paints His Favorites,” is the well-known artist’s first museum show and one that he considers a major milestone in his career as a painter.
Gov. Mitch Daniels brought some of David’s work with him as gifts to share during his trade visit to Japan.
The show will be up until Oct. 14. David said he hopes it’s a reason for Indianapolis residents to head to Richmond’s art museum, which is thought to be the only art museum in the country housed within an active public high school.
RAM’s museum/high school setup started in 1898 and has been operating that way for 109 years, according to its executive director, Shaun Dingwerth. It houses a permanent collection of works within the categories of American Impressionists, Taos School, Hoosier Group and Richmond School, along with other regional artists.
More information is available at www.richmondartmuseum.org.
–Susan Guyett/Indianapolis Star 9/6/07
EXHIBITION PAINTS PORTRAIT OF ARTIST’S HEART His work has been seen by nearly every Hoosier; by people across the country and around the world.
Yet the new show “Douglas David Paints His Favorites” opening Sunday at the Richmond Art Museum is Douglas David’s first museum exhibition.
David’s most recognizable artwork regularly can be seen in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It is the “Back Home Again” Indiana license plate. He won the state license plate design contest in 2001 and the plate featuring his scene of rural Indiana began appearing on cars in 2003. It is slated to be replaced in 2008.
The license plate is an example of how David, a 50-year-old Kokomo native now living in Indianapolis, has found varied, and sometimes non-traditional, ways to share his art.
“He really has built his career in such a way that he really has become one of Indiana’s favorite painters,” said Richmond Art Museum executive director Shaun Dingwerth.
FIRST IMPRESSION David’s work first caught Dingwerth’s eye when he was attending an Indianapolis art fair:
“I was impressed with his work. I actually purchased two small pieces for myself,” Dingwerth said.
At that time, Dingwerth invited David to apply for a museum exhibition and three years later, 78 floral, landscape, seascape, still life and cow paintings by David are about to go on display.
As the show title implies, the works are some of David’s favorites – his favorite subjects and favorite paintings.
“It is a little bit of a step into my heart, so to speak,” David said. “...This is a lot about me, my personality and my heart and soul.”
David said many of his customers have told him his paintings are calm, tranquil or peaceful.
“What really makes me happy is that comes from within me,” David said.
David said the reality of the exhibit set in last week as he drove to Richmond in his big yellow truck to deliver the paintings for the exhibition.
“I got a little teary. I thought, ‘Oooh, this is big.’ So much of me went into this,” he said. Yet, he also recognized the advantages. “It’s going to open doors, new opportunities.”
Among those new opportunities was creating a 64-page book as a companion to the exhibit. The books, which were compiled and printed in Indiana, will be for sale at the art museum.
“I let go of (the paintings) when we printed the book. It was hard,” he said. “You’ve got to let it go for it to come back.”
All of the paintings in the exhibition will be for sale and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the art museum.
CREATIVITY, CAREERS, CONNECTIONS David is eager to work with the museum and to enhance the bond the museum has with Richmond High School, where it is housed.
Art education is important to him and he will work with several RHS classes in conjunction with the show.
“It’s about our time together, learning from each other,” he said. “A lot of times, the arts are put up to a lofty, out-of-reach area. (With Richmond Art Museum) it’s really in reach.”
He is concerned about how the arts often get cut from budgets because they aren’t as measurable as math or English scores. Yet there are many careers that use the arts.
“I’ve always known I’d be an artist,” he said. As a young man, he was inspired to continue after his artwork was a finalist in the 1979 state license plate competition and that honor gave him a chance to meet Gov. Otis Bowen.
His career path has included working as creative director for the Simon Property Group, which owns many malls, and teaching at his alma mater, the Herron School of Art.
“What they really need to know is while our lives are in evolution, our careers are in evolution,” David said.
Sometimes that means finding new ways to share one’s creativity.
“Doug is a tremendous marketer of his work and understands the importance of self-promotion and getting out there and making connections,” Dingwerth said.
It was a small connection when late Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon admired one of David’s works hanging in the governor’s mansion on loan from David. A discussion led to the discovery that at that time, there was no permanent governor’s mansion art collection, and David began working with the administration to create one. After O’Bannon’s death, Gov. Joe Kernan, his wife Maggie and Gov. Mitch Daniels embraced the effort.
That connection led David to be commissioned to complete 23 works of various sizes that were given as gifts by Daniels during his trade mission to Japan and South Korea.
Daniels gave one of David’s large paintings to the president of Honda North America on the day that ground was broken for the new Honda plant near Greensburg.
All of that led Daniels to present David with the Distinguished Hoosier Award in 2006.
For David, the honor is as much about cultivating his Hoosier roots as it is about growing creatively and professionally.
“I say it’s about the next 100 paintings. It’s about the process,” David said.
–Rachel E. Sheeley, Paladium-Item, Richmond, IN 8/25/07
DOUGLAS DAVID ART BOOK AVAILABLE Whether you know a lot, a little, or nothing at all about Indianapolis artist Douglas David, I can almost guarantee you’ve seen his most famous work. In 2001, his entry was selected out of 1400 others for his Indiana landscape that we now see on our Back Home Again license plates. Though this nationwide roaming road exhibit is most famous, David prepares in the days ahead for what he’s really been traveling towards.
His first museum show, “Douglas David Paints His Favorites,” began at the Richmond Art Museum (RAM) on Sunday, August 26, and remains on exhibit until October 14. The RAM is open Tuesday through Friday 10am to 4pm and Sundays 1 pm to 4pm.
In conjunction with the RAM exhibit, David celebrates another first. Aided by his education and experience in graphic design, he has published a self-titled book printed right here in Indy by St. Clair Press. He had, “always wanted to do a book, but was waiting for the right time.” Well, that time has arrived. You can currently pick up “...His Favorites” (landscapes, florals and seascapes) at Posh Petals, The Indianapolis Art Center, Big Hat Books, Hoosier Salon, Fine Estate Art and Rugs, Northside Glass, Surroundings and Sullivan’s Hardware (at both the 71st and Keystone location as well as the 49th and Pennsylvania Street locations.) The book is also available online at www.douglasdavid.com and at Douglas David Fine Art at 71st and Keystone (open by appointment only).
Both his show and book were announced in the nationally published Art Review magazine. David has hangings in numerous Hoosier Salons, Indiana Heritage Arts, the Kokomo Art Association, Sullivan/Munce Art Center, IU Kokomo Art Gallery and the “In Indiana” Gallery at the IMA. In 2006 he was presented with the Distinguished Hoosier Award from Governor Daniels and recently received a Creative Renewal Grant from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, which will fund his study of figures abroad.
Come to the opening and see for yourself what all the press is about. If you can’t make the Richmond Art Museum show, be sure to catch Douglas David at the Penrod Art Fair on Saturday, September 8. He will also be holding a book signing at the Indianapolis Arts Center from 6pm to 8pm during the Broad Ripple Fall Gallery Tour on Friday, September 14.
–Heidi Huff, Broad Ripple Gazette, 8/24/07
ARTS COUNCIL OF INDIANAPOLIS CREATIVE RENEWAL ARTS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM In 1999 the Arts Council of Indianapolis, with generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc., established the Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship program. Originally conceived as a renewal opportunity similar to an academic sabbatical, this groundbreaking initiative offers artists and arts administrators the opportunity to renew and refresh their creativity. Since the program’s inception, 200 artists and administrators have been awarded fellowships through this program. DOUGLAS DAVID, RECIPIENT 2007-2008
...OF WHICH DREAMS ARE MADE
When the Arts Council of Indianapolis launched the Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship program in 1999, it had a single, ambitious goal: bolstering the potential of art in central Indiana. But to do that the fellowship would have to bolster artists first. Most who choose an arts career face long hours. Spiritual reward far outweighs financial gain. Sensitive to these challenges, the Arts Council designed the fellowship program to help artists and arts administrators renew themselves by helping them rediscover the dreams that inspired their work and made it meaningful.
Career fatigue threatens the work of many professionals. Deadlines must be met. Bills must be paid. Others come to rely upon us and in turn, we rely upon them. Life becomes hard. And work becomes even harder.
But the effects of this fatigue are perhaps uniquely detrimental to everyone involved in the creation – and consumption – of art. In time, it reduces the vibrancy and emotional impact of the art itself. And the community that depends upon art and all its colored expression suffers.
Though similar grants or fellowships for social workers, educators and others were available, none existed to met the specific needs of those who work in the arts. Other fellowship programs offered sabbaticals affording an extended break from the rigors of the job. But arts professionals needed rediscovery, not just relief.
With the support of Lilly Endowment Inc., the Arts Council developed the nation’s first artist renewal program. Two hundred recipients have been awarded fellowships from this ground-breaking program since its inception. They include writers, painters, sculptors, actors, dancers and administrators. The process of rediscovery and renewal has been different for each but it begins with the same direction. Each fellow receives a $7,500 grant and a single instruction: the stipend must be used to support the rediscovery of the creative process.
This rediscovery is rarely easy or obvious. But the dividends benefit many.
Recipients use the grants to explore. Some travel. Others unravel longstanding mysteries at home and abroad. They study their families, their ancestors, other cultures and countries, and they study their art. Instead of succumbing to the pressures of everyday life, they indulge in the luxury of destroying inferior work rather than presenting it for consumption. But all learn about themselves. In the process, they develop a renewed sense of purpose, and rekindle the confidence it takes to overcome previously insurmountable creative barriers.
The service of artists is to provide an interpretation and expression to life when we cannot. Their work is alchemy without science, only soul and heart and the unyielding ability to discover and then create ideas that otherwise would not exist – in short, to dream and to realize. And through them we see the possibilities for our own aspirations, and have hope.
Look around central Indiana and you’ll see their dreams realized – and in them, you will discover the possibilities for your own.
— Arts Council of Indianapolis, 6/13/07
STATE OF INDIANA
DISTINGUISHED HOOSIER AWARD
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNORGiven to Douglas David on the 23rd day of August, 2006 for his contributions to the Indiana Governor’s Residence.
— Governor of the State of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, 8/23/06
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
DANIELS WILL GO TO ASIA WITH GIFTS FOR HOSTS. HE HOPES FOR SOME INDIANA JOBS IN RETURN.
When Gov. Mitch Daniels heads to Japan and Korea next month on his second trade mission in as many years, he will bear gifts for his Asian hosts – nature paintings by an Indiana artist.
The gifts may seem incidental, but they point up the need for American business travelers to acknowledge the culture and customs of their foreign counterparts – if they hope to be successful abroad.
East Asian countries – particularly Japan and Korea – emphasize ritual and hierarchy. Giving gifts is an everyday part of business there and communicates respect, which is fundamental to building business relationships.
Such details could make a difference as Daniels hunts for jobs amid a surging Japanese economy. The stakes could run particularly high on this trip because it comes as Indiana is trying to beat out Ohio for a Honda Motor Co. assembly plant that would cost $400 million and employ 1,500 workers.
“You don’t want to show up without any gifts,” advised Greg Hundley, director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at Purdue University.
A gift that’s unique and shows thoughtfulness works best in Japan and Korea, he said. “An original piece of artwork from an Indiana artist really establishes that uniqueness.”
To that end, Daniels called on Douglas David, an Indianapolis oil painter whose best-known work is the impressionistic farm field that decorates Indiana’s current license plate.
David produced 22 framed paintings for Daniels’ trade mission, at a cost of $3,800. The works are a mix of peonies in still life and Indiana landscapes.
Daniels’ staff shipped the paintings last week to Indiana’s trade offices in Japan and South Korea. Daniels will pick them up there when he reaches Japan on June 18 and Korea on June 24.
The governor will present the paintings to the top official he meets at each of his stops. His mission will camp in Tokyo and Seoul, with visits to such firms as Toyota, Sony, Aisin and Universal Bearings.
Lower-ranking state officials will give smaller gifts – such as cuff links, business portfolios and business card holders, all embossed with Indiana’s state seal – to their counterparts at each meeting.
Similar gifts were given on last year’s trade mission to Taiwan and Japan. But Daniels gave mostly sports memorabilia – framed photographs and slivers of brick from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and framed, autographed Peyton Manning jerseys.MAKING GIFTS A HABIT
Gifts aren’t just for government delegations. Hoosier businesses also make a habit of giving them as they do business internationally.
Harold Force, president of Force Construction Co. in Columbus, has been presenting gifts to his Japanese customers since he first traveled there in 1979.
Force has built up his company erecting factories, offices and other buildings needed by the wave of Japanese manufacturers that began to locate facilities in Indiana in the last quarter-century.
“While the details are different, the fundamentals of business are the same no matter where you go,” Force said.
Gift-giving is part of business the world over.
American companies print up pens, notepads and mugs with company logos and give them to clients. American firms also spend time and money to entertain clients – with golf outings and parties in suites at professional sports venues.
Cummins Inc. takes that approach in Asia, particularly in China, where the firm has operated for more than 30 years.
John Watkins, vice president and general manager for Cummins East Asia, said the company opts for hosting enjoyable experiences rather than expensive gifts. To its most important customers, Cummins gives a bottle of western wine that is hard to find there.
“The ‘unique’ factor, together with the fact that Chinese like to ‘toast to success,’ makes the gift memorable and special without having to spend a lot of money.” Watkins wrote in an e-mail from China. “Sometimes the value and how much money you spend is not the most important thing. What counts is how ‘unique’ and how much ‘thought’ you put into the gift.”PREPPING FOR THE TRIP
Daniels’ staff has worked closely this year and last with the Japan-America Society of Indiana to prepare itself culturally for the trade mission. It has invited all mission attendees to a Japan primer put on by the society. It also is working to stage a similar crash course on Korean culture.
For instance, members of the delegation will learn the proper way to give and receive business cards – with both hands and a slight bow. They will learn a business card should be read carefully at the moment it’s given and never shoved in a pocket.
In addition, Daniels’ staff has prepared mission booklets with basic historical and cultural information about the places Daniels is going and the people he is meeting.
So far, neither Daniels nor his staff is saying whether he will meet with Honda executives in Tokyo. But the timing would be fortuitous. Honda is expected to make a decision about its new assembly plant just weeks after Daniels returns home from Japan and Korea. The leading sites appear to be near Greensburg, IN, and Van Wert, Ohio.
Landing the Honda plant would be a huge win for Daniels, who garnered a meager 37 percent approval rating in March in an Indianapolis Star poll.
The poll was conducted before Daniels officially announced his biggest win from last year’s trade mission. Daniels’ staff credited that trip in part for persuading Toyota to build Camry sedans in Lafayette and employ 1,000 workers there.BUILDING ON EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS
Daniels won’t be in Asia simply to bring home jobs. He has emphasized that his trips to Japan are also an opportunity to thank the Japanese companies that now employ more than 40,000 Hoosiers.
Strengthening those bonds through personal visits and genuine gestures is the key to success, said business executives and experts.
Business folks get in trouble if they arrogantly ignore cultural norms or expect their foreign counterparts to do things just like an American, said Hundley, the Purdue professor.
But cultural gaffes are bound to happen, and no one but a native will get all the protocol right.
Even an announcer at the White House meeting in April of President Bush and China President Hu Jintao mistakenly referred to China by Taiwan’s formal name, Republic of China. China, known as the People’s Republic of China, does not officially recognize Taiwan as a separate nation.
Experts said patience and politeness will cover a multitude of cultural sins with Asians and other foreigners, experts said.
“They have come to expect certain things from Westerners. Nothing shocks them,” said Anurag Gupta, senior vice president of global strategy at Brightpoint in Plainfield, who has traveled frequently and lived abroad in his career.
“Such things don’t make or break a deal,” he said. “Such things just help in getting to know each other better, which obviously helps in making progress faster.”
— J.K. Wall, The Indianapolis Star, 5/28/06
SPECIAL ART EDITION OF THE GAZETTE
KICKS OFF WITH AN INDIANA CLASSIC –
DOUGLAS DAVIDEvery Spring many Broad Ripple yards are rewarded with sweet fragrance and color when peonies and lilacs bloom. These flowers carry poignant memories of Grandma’s garden and lush bouquets of pinks, reds and violets.
Unfortunately, the season is too fleeting. To recapture Spring any time of year, savor the floral paintings of Hoosier talent Douglas David. “I spend a lot of time and effort on peony – our state flower and one I could paint every Spring for the rest of my life and never tire of it – and lilac paintings.” David prefers to paint in oils because of their effects and the blending that can be achieved. As a result, his loosely painted florals splash and tumble over the canvas. In addition to peonies and lilacs, his other subjects are based on simple classical beauty. Summer favorites include sunflowers, fruits, farmer’s markets and watermelons. When the coolness of Autumn arrives, he focuses on hydrangeas.
Similar to the artists of long ago, David creates multiple paintings of the same subject. He explained, “I usually paint still life and floral subjects in “series,” using the same water pitcher and cloths and flowers for a season. They are all one of a kind and each one original, but the “series” allows me to work on variations of light and shadow and different arrangements.” His studio shelves are lined with pitchers he collects and uses in his work.
During the spring and summer, he is outdoors creating landscapes and seascapes in a soft, cool palette. To capture the essence of a landscape where the light is constantly changing, the plein air painter needs to work quickly. In a short time, David must capture the mood and feeling of light, and this Hoosier succeeds. If you picture that instant when you reach a crest during a hike and are awed by the view of verdant rolling hills or the romance of the ocean at sunset, you can feel the emotion of a David canvas. And every time you pull behind a car with an Indiana plate, you are looking at a Douglas David landscape. His 2003 entry was the winner by popular vote.
Sometimes Indianapolis areas are subjects. In 2004, he painted a series on the Red Key Tavern. Customers slump over their drinks, and the neon sign glows on a murky night in David’s depictions of the famous watering hole.
Perhaps these statements hold a key to why his work speaks to others. “I strive to keep my work fresh and far from overworked. I like painting a traditional subject which focuses on beauty and highlights the romance of nature. I enjoy creating and selling work that makes people feel good. Many of my patrons state that they just love living with my work as it makes them feel calm and at peace.”
Strongly influenced by his parents’ involvement in the arts (his mother was involved in the painting of the governor’s residence state china service), David always wanted to be an artist. Educated at Herron, he spent 20 years in graphic design and advertising. After several years with Melvin Simon, he opened his own firm, Douglas David Design, in 1988. That same year, he started painting again by taking a refresher class at the Indianapolis Art Center. He remembers starting at the Broad Ripple Art Fair in 1994 or 1995, and says the fair just gets better every year. Since that time, he has continued painting while accumulating numerous awards. Fine art kept beckoning, and in 1998 Douglas David Fine Art was born, and the Hoosier talent transitioned from graphic design to fine art.
David shows at numerous art fairs in the Midwest. Experience his peonies at the Broad Ripple Art Fair. He also hosts an annual holiday studio show in early December. You can also visit his studio by appointment. Studies start at $65. Multiples are $50 each. His stretched canvas works vary from $195 to $4750.
You would think David would rest on his laurels, but this painter has a hunger for learning and growth. He has studied the old Hoosier group painters and is seriously studying the palette of Frank Vincent DuMond, who was instructor to Indiana’s famed painters Marie Goth and V.J. Cariani. In the winter, he participates in the Indianapolis Art Center’s open studio figure class. The open studio classes are set up as it was a century ago: no instructor, just a model and a class monitor.
David gives to the community as well. He supports the IAC as much as he can because “This is the type of facility you’d find in a much larger city.” He was also mentioned by others interviewed for this series for his mentoring of other artists and support of art events around the city. He worries that the cuts in arts education will deny a child finding his talent, and he has no problem with voicing his concerns to the State House.
Douglas David, an artist in the classic tradition is one class act. He is well on his way to becoming a Hoosier tradition that future generations will emulate.
—Candance Lasco, The Broad Ripple Gazette, 5/13-26/05
INDIANA GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE Painting Favored By O’Bannon
Will Stay At Governor’s ResidenceTwo years ago, Gov. Frank O’Bannon mentioned that he thought a cityscape of Downtown Indianapolis called, appropriately enough, “A Glimpse of Indianapolis,” seemed right at home hanging over the fireplace at the governor’s residence, 4750 N. Meridian St. At the time, the 30-by-40 original oil painting by Indianapolis artist Douglas David was on loan for a temporary exhibition.
Both Judy O’Bannon and the current first lady, Maggie Kernan, were on hand Wednesday for the announcement that David had donated the painting to the residence in honor of O’Bannon, who died last year.
Gov. Joe Kernan had commissioned a painting by David of pink-and-white peonies for his and Maggie’s 30th wedding anniversary in April, so work by the artist already was on display in the governor’s residence.
You also can see David’s handiwork every day on the street: He created the “Back Home Again” license plate.
—Susan Guyett, The Indianapolis Star, 8/27/04
ARTIST CALLS CHARLEVOIX SHOW
ONE OF THE BESTFresh as a breeze, Douglas David’s calming impressionistic sea and landscapes and warm peony still-life compositions will once again grace the scene at the 46th annual Charlevoix Waterfront Art Fair this weekend.
David, of Indianapolis, Indiana, is notable for having received many awards for his work including the design of the 2003 Indiana State license plate, the Individual Artist Program Grant of the Indiana Arts Commission (2000, 2002), the Merit Award granted by the Hoosier Salon of Indianapolis, Indiana (2001), The Kokomo Art Association First Place, First and Second Place (2002-2003), and the TERA/Teaching Excellence Award in 1998 from the Herron School of Art, Indiana University.
David only presents his work in five art shows annually and considers this art fair to be one of the best. He has shown at the Charlevoix Waterfront Art Fair for the past eight years.
“I love the Waterfront Art Fair. There is a quality of artists who show here, and educated, well traveled buyers, many with multiple homes, who aren’t afraid of price points,” David said.
His loose, spontaneous brush strokes and palettes of blues and violets in the spirit of the Monet school of impressionism capture the moments he paints.
“You have to know when to quit so it doesn’t look labored or overdone.” David said. “I strive to make my work calming, so people can get lost in it. There are color harmonies in everything. When I paint, I am painting an atmosphere with light and its effect.”
Participating in art fairs gets artists out of their studios and out to meet the public. Artists, like David, keep abreast of the trends in interior design, in order to maximize saleability. The peonies have been a new interest for the past five years. They are cheery above-the-fireplace pieces that have proved quite popular. And of course, there are the lovely scenes that meld warm sun into cool atmosphere.
The biggest compliment for David, he would admit, is when “someone buys a piece and then comes back for more.”
He is looking forward to being revisited by returning patrons at this year’s Waterfront Art Fair.
—Ann T. Kelly, Charlevoix Courier, 8/11/04
INDIANAPOLIS 500 FESTIVAL Gasoline Gallery
The city celebrated the Indianapolis 500
with artistic models of racing cars.By now, you’ve probably seen them. If you’ve spent any time Downtown in recent days, or at the airport, or in Broad Ripple, or at the Fashion Mall, you’ve seen them.
Indy cars. Some as big as the real thing, others the size of kiddie cars, all of them hand-painted or festooned with feathers, mosaic tiles or Lite Brite pegs.
They’re three-dimensional studies of motion in art.
Or more specifically, they’re the products of Art in Motion, the 500 Festival’s artistic celebration of the auto race that made Indianapolis famous.
Modeled on such successful public exhibitions as artist-decorated cows in Chicago, pigs in Cincinnati and alligators in Naples, Fla., Art in Motion is using one of the city’s most recognizable symbols to help promote cultural awareness and tourism.
We’re the racing capital of the world,” said Deborah Koons, chief marketing director for the 500 Festival. “But we also have a flourishing community of talented artists here. This project was a way for us to combine two of the city’s strengths.”
There are 81 Art in Motion cars – 34 full-sized “show cars” and 47 half-sized “starting grid” models. The show cars are made of plastic foam, coated with high-density polyester plastic, and reinforced with wood and steel supports. The starting grid cars are made of fiberglass.
All were decorated by artists, ranging from well-known professionals to high-school art students.
Three of the cars were created by Douglas David, a local artist who is renowned for his impressionistic landscape and still-life paintings. He painted the first Art in Motion car last year, dubbed “Back Home Again in Indiana,” at the behest of 500 Festival officials who wanted to generate awareness of the project. The car was displayed at the Penrod Arts Air in September.
Shortly thereafter, David was asked to create a second car for a 9/11-commemoration day on Monument Circle. This time he created “AmeriCar,” which is covered in the stars and stripes of the American flag.
In October, he was invited to do a third car. This one, “Peonies,” was based on the plump flowers that spangle the Indiana landscape every summer. It was displayed at the airport throughout the winter.
“To work on such a big scale,” said David, “I really had to push myself. As a painter, I’m primarily working in two dimensions, but this was a 3-D project. It was more like creating a piece of sculpture. I wanted to do it because it was so much fun.”
Like David, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford enjoyed himself while painting his show car. Using the yellow-and-black color scheme of the Marmon Wasp driven by Ray Harroun, the winning car in the first 500 race in 1911, Rutherford spent several days working on his Art in Motion car in the lower-level storage area of the Speedway Hall of Fame and Museum.
“This thing is so rough that it’s like trying to paint a football.” said Rutherford, an amateur painter who’s more accustomed to working on canvas than Styrofoam. “But it’s kind of fun, because you never know where it’s going to go when you hit a bump. If it was too smooth, it would be too easy.”
In addition to David and Rutherford, nearly 300 artists from through the country submitted designs for Art in Motion cars to the 500 Festival. From those submissions, a panel of art professionals and collectors selected 100 finalists.
Festival officials then made the finalist’s designs available to corporate and individual car sponsors, who paid $6,000 to sponsor show cars, and either $3,500 or $5,000 to sponsor starting grid cars. At the $5,000 and $6,000 levels, sponsors will own the cars at the end of the exhibit, and can choose to either keep them or donate them back to the festival. At the $3,500 level, the cars automatically belong to the festival.
From the sponsorship fees, artists working on show cars received $1,000, those working on starting grid cars $750. The stipends helped pay for the cost of the materials used to decorate the cars. The rest of the sponsorship money went to the 500 Festival.
All the cars belonging to the festival will be sold at an invitation-only auction on May 23 (though the cars will remain on display through June 1). Proceeds from the auction will be split between the 500 Festival Foundation and Herron School of Art.
The fact that Herron will benefit from the project was one reason that James Beaver and Stephen Garstang decided to take part. The creators of a starting grid car covered in 21,000 Lite Brite pegs, Beaver and Garstang liked the idea of doing something that would support local artists.
The idea of covering a car in the translucent Lite Brite pegs was Garstang’s. “Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to put Lite Brite pegs on everything,” said Garstang, who owns a New York-based art production company. “It was a labor of love.”
It was definitely labor, said Beaver, a free-lance TV art director. “We had to drill 21,000 holes through one-quarter-inch fiberglass. We had to wear protective masks, goggles, suits and gloves. We used 50 drill bits, because the fiberglass dulled them really quickly.”
But the result was worth the effort, the two artists agreed. When the pegs are back-lit, they glow like stained glass, said Garstang. “It’s not about racing stripes and numbers. It’s about random coloration.”
For local painter Becky Hall Fehsenfeld, it was about humor. Fehsenfeld dubbed her starting grid model “Lettermanlapolis,” in honor of late-night talk-show host and Indianapolis native David Letterman.
“It’s hard to make an inanimate object funny,” said Fehsenfeld, “but I wanted my car to be funny. That’s when I thought of David Letterman.”
With the blessing of Letterman (and his attorney), Fehsenfeld created a red car that utilizes such famous letterman links as his mother’s pies, his famous gap-toothed grin, a New York Yankees baseball cap, and I-465 (which Letterman lobbied to have renamed in his honor last year).
Besides having fun creating her car, Fehsenfeld said that she wanted to take part in Art in Motion because of her belief in the value of public art.
“Artists have a different way of looking at the world, and that can bring a lot of pleasure to the general public. There are things that are so joyful that they need to be part of the city.”
—By S.L. Berry, The Indianapolis Star, 4/20/03
WINNING INDIANA LICENSE PLATE DESIGN Hoosiers Sing Out For Lyrical Plate
“Back Home Again” is clear winner in state poll
to select the next Indiana license plate.“The new mown hay sends all its fragrance from the fields I used to roam. When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash, then I long for my Indiana home.”
The people have spoken.
The state’s next license plate will carry the theme “Back Home Again” and a design based on the 1917 ballad’s famous lyrics.
“That song was a classic piece of work, and I think this design covers all of what Indiana means . . . all of our heritage,” said Douglas D. David, an Indianapolis artist who created the winning plate.
Hoosier drivers will wear that image on their vehicles beginning in January 2003, except for those who buy special plates with different designs. The state’s main plate will not change again until 2008.
David’s design was the overwhelming favorite among the 158,364 votes cast – mostly via the Internet – in the first-ever popular vote for a license plate design, conducted by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Here is how people voted:
• Back Home Again, by David, 66,879.
• World Center for Racing, by Ross McGloshen of New Albany, 38,703.
• Just Feels Like Home, by Sara Berger of Brownsburg, 32,055.
• Hoosier Heartland (state image), by Michael Macik, Munster, 10,483.
• Hoosier Heartland (state seal), also by Macik, 10,244.
An estimated 130,000 people cast their votes using the Internet. The rest voted at license branches.
About 1,400 different designs were entered by Hoosiers throughout the state. Major themes such as basketball, auto racing and farming were apparent in most of the entries.
Tiffany Ford, a high school sophomore from Centerville, submitted a racing design. At 16, she was the youngest semifinalist invited to the Statehouse ceremony.
“I did it as part of an assignment for art class,” Tiffany said. “I only turned it in because I had to. I was surprised to get this far.”
David tried not to be specific with his winning design. Instead he focused on the song.
“I didn’t want it to be too themed,” he said. “Indiana is a beautiful state, and this just happens to be my impression.”
Although the design is certainly different, the theme of Back Home Again will be used for the second time in license plate history. It was first used in the late 1980s.
Back then, plates were approved by the governor or his appointees. This is the first time the public has been allowed to choose by popular vote.
“We were just overwhelmed with the response,” said BMV Commissioner Gary Gibson. “It’s truly a reflection of how many Hoosiers feel about their state and their heritage.”
—By Dan McFeely, Staff Writer, The Indianapolis Star, 6/1/01
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