Indiana Waterways: The Art of Conservation

Note: This exhibition will be closed to the public February 28-March 3.

The Indiana Waterways project is the innovation of five Hoosier artists, born from the desire to use a historic lockdown caused by a worldwide pandemic to capture–in art and words–the growing urgency of environmental inattention. Painting began in the late summer of 2020 and continued through spring 2022. This traveling exhibition, an accompanying 200-plus page art book featuring 100 paintings, along with community forums and civic discussions in underserved communities, is designed to draw attention and build awareness of the need for increased conservation and restoration. The project strives to provide scholarly standards through deep analysis, creative reflection, and historical insight of indigenous and other ethnic communities along Indiana waterways. The artists, John Kelty, Curt Stanfield, Avon Waters, and brothers Dan and Tom Woodson often painted the same waterways, but each found different inspiration and results using three different mediums–oil, watercolor, and pastel.

The multi-year painting project is funded by grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, Indiana Humanities, Izaak Walton League of America – Indiana Division Foundation, and contributions by more than 100 individuals through the non-profit Art Nature Consortium. After its Fall 2022 debut in Indianapolis its early 2023 showing in Fort Wayne, the exhibition will tour other venues until its close in December 2023 at the Hoosier Salon, New Harmony, Indiana.

This exhibition is made possible by the support of the Izaak Walton League of America – Indiana Division Foundation. Additional support provided by Butler University, Indiana Arts Commission, Indiana Humanities, and JMG, the Metzger Group. Support for this exhibition at FWMoA is provided by the Edward D. and Ione Auer Foundation and the Edna Foundation Fund.