Some may see the boards covering downtown businesses as a sign of destruction. Others, like local artist Shade Bell, view them as an opportunity to rebuild.
After local business owners boarded up their shop windows — either preemptively or after they were smashed during the weekend of May 29 — the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Pattern magazine worked to begin pairing Black artists with businesses to create art out of the boards.
“We were already planning on activating a bunch of store fronts [before the COVID-19 pandemic],” Polina Osherov, executive director of the cultural organization Pattern, said. “So this is sort of in lieu of that. … With everything going on with Black Lives Matter and recognizing the injustices against Black people, we wanted to be able to draw attention and an opportunity for people in the arts community who are Black to express themselves in a very public way.”
Bell, 24, jumped at the opportunity to get involved in the project as a way to get involved in the protests.
“Seeing everything happen in the last two weeks … and seeing evil work its ways, I was trying to find my place in how to show support,” Bell said. “I don’t do well in large environments, but I was looking for a way to express myself, and I came across this opportunity, and that’s how I got involved.”
For Neal Taflinger, owner of Homespun on Massachusetts Avenue, where Bell recently completed her mural, getting involved in this project was a no-brainer.
“We were excited that they were going to be focusing on Black artists,” Taflinger said. “Like every facet of our society, the arts community is segregated. … We’re doing what we can and trying to do a better job and seeking out Black artists, whatever we can do to better engage with the people in our city, we want to do that.”
While demonstrations downtown have more or less calmed down, Taflinger said Homespun will leave Bell’s mural up for one week. After that, her mural, along with several others created throughout downtown, will be displayed on the Cultural Trail, Storefront Theater, Gallery 924 and the Indianapolis Opera Center.
Regardless of where it’s displayed, Bell hopes her mural makes people stop and think about the world around them.
“I wanted to make the painting something that you’ll have to look at and to feel and reflect on the current state of the world at the moment,” Bell said. “My message? Black lives matter. You matter. Be unapologetically yourself.”
Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.
Artist Shade Bell begins work on her mural at Homespun. (Photo/Breanna Cooper)
