Yesterday Bob and I went to Newfields, which was just a short drive from the house, to explore this place for nature and the arts. It was a bit steep (for us) $25 a piece,but we definitely loved it. It was both great art and beautiful nature.
Newfields USA is a 152-acre cultural campus featuring the Indianapolis Museum of Art, gardens, two historic homes, performance spaces, a nature preserve, and a (in development) sculpture park.
We spent most of our time in the area
in the lower right-hand side as you look at the map,
but did get to the nature preserve as well.
as we walked up to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA).
is for the 250th anniversary of the US, but it is taken
from the “Numbers 1-0” work by Robert Indiana
on one of the building’s terraces.
Since I have just mentioned Robert Indiana, let me do a bit of a sidebar on him, as his most famous work is the entrance to the many exhibition halls within the museum. Robert Indiana was born Robert Clark in 1928 in New Castle, Indiana. He was recognized at a young age for his artistic talent and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to New York. It was during his time in New York that he adopted Indiana as his surname to distinguish his identity in the New York art scene,
His most famous work is his LOVE sculpture, the original of which resides at IMA. See below.
in front of “Wall Drawing No. 652” by Sol LeWitt, 1990.
It made for an impressive start to the museum.
The IMA has an impressive range of collections from African art to Asian art to Impressionism, Pointillism, Pop Art, glasswork, and even a design studio and fashion exhibit. I took too many pictures, but have mostly included my pictures of works that have some connection to Indiana.
First things first though, Bob did find a couple of big heads, both in the African art section. I have included the one where we remembered to get the information about it.
an Indianapolis native who later moved to France
Brucker was a faculty member of the John Herron Art Institute, the predecessor of the IMA.
active in the late 19th to early 20th centuries,
known as The Hoosier Group for their work in Indiana.
This was a commissioned work for the IMA.
It is 32 glass panels with hundreds of PVC figures
with their arms outstretched as if holding the weight of the glass.
It is located on one of the terraces of the building.
Note that the 2, 5, and 0 have been removed to sit out front.
and manufactured by Miller & Tucker, Inc, 1938.
Harry Miller was one of the most celebrated creators
of racing cars and engines. Between 1923-28, Miller’s designs accounted for 83% of the cars in the Indianapolis 500.
Halston spent part of his youth in Evansville, IN,
and briefly studied at Indiana University Bloomington.
who eventually donated their home and land
to the Art Association of Indianapolis to build an art museum.
In order to get to the nature preserve and sculpture garden, we had to get back in the car and drive about 5 minutes up the road. Sadly, while the Virginia B. Fairbanks Nature Park is lovely, the sculpture park is still a work in progress. There were a couple of sculptures on site.
In happy family news, we learned today (06/16/26) that we have a new great niece. Jane Margaret Rohrbeck was born earlier today, and baby and parents are apparently doing well in Iowa.
Peckish Travels 