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indianapolisrecorder.com Arts & Culture AfiSection Friday, July 11, 2025chloegm@indyrecorder.comBy CHLOE McGOWAN%u00a0Hoosiers in Indianapolis experience art every day.The variety of murals gracing the city%u2019s 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.%u201cI think the significance is that anybody can see it, anybody can enjoy it, it%u2019s like a bold statement,%u201d Gary Gee told the Recorder. %u201cIt%u2019s accessible; you don%u2019t have to pay an admission; you don%u2019t have to duck in. I mean, you might have to turn a corner sometimes, but you don%u2019t have to go in the door. You don%u2019t even have to get out your car.%u201dGee, a teaching artist and artrepreneur, has been in the field since the early- to mid-2000s, but has claimed the title of %u201cartist%u201d his whole life. He started creating murals around 2016 but wasn%u2019t hired to do one for the city until %u201cThe Masterpiece%u201d on 37th and Sherman Drive in 2019.Every mural is different, especially if it%u2019s 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 %u201cgallery aesthetic.%u201d Gee%u2019s work follows a cartoon/comic format blended with a traditional gallery art feel. When it comes to murals, he likes to make sure there%u2019s a story or narrative within the art that viewers can piece together.%u00a0%u201cThe Masterpiece,%u201d which used a combination of aerosol paint cans and paint brushes, was a catalyst for Gee being hired to create other outdoor murals.%u201cIt%u2019s kind of like a mixed media mural, and I hadn%u2019t heard anyone doing it like I did before, so I did that,%u201d Gee said. %u201cIt was a learning curve because the surface was textured; there%u2019s grooves in it, so the design didn%u2019t go on seamlessly. Sometimes some of these challenges are what make it great because you learn from that.%u201dGee 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 %u201cBlack Lives Matter%u201d mural on Indiana Avenue.For Tasha Beckwith, being a muralist is about being able to represent her community %u2014 the Black community %u2014 visually, whether that%u2019s 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 %u201cwhat feels the best to her.%u201dBeckwith 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.%u201cI%u2019m hoping that most of my murals can provide a source of inspiration and hope,%u201d Beckwith said. %u201cAlso, if I have the opportunity, I can place some history in it %u2014 like with the Madam Walker (mural), it was a way for people to learn about Madam C.J. Walker.%u201dInitially, 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 %u2014 whether it%u2019s just flowers and birds, or a historical figure or addressing social or political issues %u2014 is valuable.%u201cRepresentation matters, and I think it%u2019s important for us to be visible,%u201d Beckwith said, %u201cbecause 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.%u201dGee 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 %u201cbe reflective of the people in the community,%u201d including voices and perspectives beyond a Black or urban setting.%u00a0%u201cA lot of us are qualified to do the work,%u201d Gee said. %u201cI haven%u2019t 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.%u201dA handful of the last few mural projects went to out-of-state artists, and Gee said he%u2019d love to be given one of the %u201cbig mural jobs%u201d anywhere in the city %u2014 just to be offered the opportunity to create a work of significance for his community on %u201ca nice set of walls.%u201dThe Riverside neighborhood has %u201csome really good walls%u201d for potential murals, Beckwith added. Although she placed her first mural there in 2012 and has since returned to do the Cleo%u2019s Bodega mural, Beckwith said she wants to continue giving back to the area artistically.%u201cI wish I could do another mural over there,%u201d Beckwith said. %u201cReally 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.%u201dContact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.indianapolisrecorder.com Arts & Culture AfiSection Friday, July 11, 2025REPRESENTATION AND ACCESSIBILITY: HOW BLACK MURALISTS ARE PAINTING THE CITY(Photo/Gary Gee)Tasha Beckwith has created a handful of vibrant murals on walls throughout the city, including at Cleo%u2019s Bodega. (Photo/Tasha Beckwith)(Photo/Tasha Beckwith)Gary Gee%u2019s panel in the Garfi eld Park Patio Murals, created in September 2021 as part of the Lilly Global Day of Service. (Photo/Gary Gee)