Indianapolis Got it Right

Enthusiastic reviews for the Indianapolis Museum of Art's "100 Acres" park that opened on Sunday. Here's Judith H. Dobrzynski in the Wall Street Journal:

In search of something new, the museum abandoned its 1996 plan to create a traditional park with monumental sculptures by, say, Alexander Calder, Richard Serra and Louise Bourgeois. Instead, it commissioned works by emerging and underappreciated midcareer artists—Kendall Buster, Alfredo Jaar and Los Carpinteros, among them—and will keep most of them on view for only a few years. It will add at least one new work a year, financed by drawing from the park's $15 million operations and art endowment.

And one more thing: The museum asked the artists to study the parkland and to create "site-responsive" works. Far from being a manicured lawn, the property—officially "100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park"—includes woodlands, meadows, a lake and wetlands, giving the artists plenty of potential inspirations.

From Time Out Chicago:

When Freiman joined the museum eight years ago, she decided 100 Acres should engage the public in two unusual ways: Unlike most sculpture parks, it would commission site-specific works and define those works as “temporary,” lasting a few years to a decade, to tempt visitors back to Indianapolis. “[100 Acres] hinges on the notion of change,” Freiman says. “We wanted to introduce a sense of surprise and wonder into this park.” The park’s free (like the IMA’s permanent galleries) and open from dawn to dusk.

Apparently, the funding, including an operating endowment, for the project was in place before the economic downturn. It's heartening to see a major institution be so forward-thinking and be able to raise money for that vision. It is, of course, depressing to think about all the amazing ideas that will be dead-on-arrival in this current economic climate.