Hoosiers in Indianapolis experience art every day.
The variety of murals gracing the city’s walls adds color and vibrancy to Indianapolis for those willing to stop for a moment. However, when it comes to art and access to it, representation among Black artists is just as important.
“I think the significance is that anybody can see it, anybody can enjoy it, it’s like a bold statement,” Gary Gee told the Recorder. “It’s accessible; you don’t have to pay an admission; you don’t have to duck in. I mean, you might have to turn a corner sometimes, but you don’t have to go in the door. You don’t even have to get out your car.”
Gee, a teaching artist and artrepreneur, has been in the field since the early- to mid-2000s, but has claimed the title of “artist” his whole life. He started creating murals around 2016 but wasn’t hired to do one for the city until “The Masterpiece” on 37th and Sherman Drive in 2019.
Every mural is different, especially if it’s a commissioned piece or being designed for a client, but Gee said he always tries to create murals that toe the line of street art and “gallery aesthetic.” Gee’s work follows a cartoon/comic format blended with a traditional gallery art feel. When it comes to murals, he likes to make sure there’s a story or narrative within the art that viewers can piece together.
“The Masterpiece,” which used a combination of aerosol paint cans and paint brushes, was a catalyst for Gee being hired to create other outdoor murals.
“It’s kind of like a mixed media mural, and I hadn’t heard anyone doing it like I did before, so I did that,” Gee said. “It was a learning curve because the surface was textured; there’s grooves in it, so the design didn’t go on seamlessly. Sometimes some of these challenges are what make it great because you learn from that.”
Gee was then hired to do a series of neighborhood murals in the same area, and in 2020, he was one of the eighteen artists commissioned for the “Black Lives Matter” mural on Indiana Avenue.
For Tasha Beckwith, being a muralist is about being able to represent her community — the Black community — visually, whether that’s simply providing a source of inspiration and hope or educating and empowering the community through historical or political elements.
Beckwith has been a professional visual artist since 2006. Although she works with a variety of mediums, including digital art she primarily focuses on painting because it is “what feels the best to her.”
Beckwith created her first mural in the Riverside Neighborhood, where she grew up, in 2012 and made a few smaller murals in 2019, which led to her being selected to create the Madam C.J. Walker mural in the Indiana Avenue Cultural District in 2021.
“I’m hoping that most of my murals can provide a source of inspiration and hope,” Beckwith said. “Also, if I have the opportunity, I can place some history in it — like with the Madam Walker (mural), it was a way for people to learn about Madam C.J. Walker.”
Initially, creating murals was not something Beckwith was interested in; in fact, she was hesitant to even try creating public art on such a large scale. However, once the opportunity arose, Beckwith became fond of her art being public and accessible to anyone in the community.
Murals, street art and other types of public installations are crucial when it comes to accessibility and exposure to the arts beyond the four walls of a museum or gallery, Beckwith and Gee both told the Recorder. Accessibility to art — whether it’s just flowers and birds, or a historical figure or addressing social or political issues — is valuable.
“Representation matters, and I think it’s important for us to be visible,” Beckwith said, “because we have stories to tell as well, and I think that it can be a way to inspire future generations to want to use this medium as a way to visually tell stories as well.”
Gee created murals in two neighborhoods he grew up in and has work in a gallery space in another neighborhood he lived in. He said art should “be reflective of the people in the community,” including voices and perspectives beyond a Black or urban setting.
“A lot of us are qualified to do the work,” Gee said. “I haven’t always had the opportunity to showcase the work or even the opportunity to be in the same room for conversations, so to expand that is to truly be inclusive.”
A handful of the last few mural projects went to out-of-state artists, and Gee said he’d love to be given one of the “big mural jobs” anywhere in the city — just to be offered the opportunity to create a work of significance for his community on “a nice set of walls.”
The Riverside neighborhood has “some really good walls” for potential murals, Beckwith added. Although she placed her first mural there in 2012 and has since returned to do the Cleo’s Bodega mural, Beckwith said she wants to continue giving back to the area artistically.
“I wish I could do another mural over there,” Beckwith said. “Really just to be an inspiration to the neighborhood and the kids growing up there, to see someone who grew up there doing something positive and being successful in the arts.”
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
