ARTS

March's First Friday roars in

Janet Schneider
janet.schneider@indystar.com

March signals the true start of IDADA First Friday Art Tour season. With daylight lingering longer, people start to come out of their bunkers like creatures too long underground.

While we were burrowed this winter, artists in town got creative, and March 7 is the time to see the fruits of their labors. First Friday open houses are from 6 to 9 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) and are free, fun and often include wine. For more information and a map of participating galleries and studios, go to idada.org.

Cole Noble Gallery

451 E. Market St., (317) 602-7171;www.artistryindy.com

The newest member gallery in the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association is Cole Noble Gallery, 451 E. Market St., located in the Artistry, a new mixed-use apartment development. GK Rowe, creative director for Q7 Associates, a group that does marketing for Milhaus, the developer, pushed for an art gallery as an amenity for Artistry clientele. He recently enlisted IDADA and the Arts Council of Indianapolis to provide art and curatorial expertise of the shows, which will be quarterly.

Cole Noble Gallery opened in December with a show of works by Walter Knabe. It also has a permanent art collection made up of some of the city's brightest stars, including Quincy Owens, William Denton Ray, Tasha Lewis and Polina Osherov. This month, the exhibit will preview the Stutz Artists Open House, April 25-26, with works by several artists who have studios at the Stutz Business Center.

Harrison Center for the Arts

1505 N. Delaware St., (317) 396-3886; www.harrisoncenter.org

The Harrison's theme "India Garden" is called a "triple whammy" by Pam Allee, arts coordinator. The show of Quincy Owens' paintings, inspired by a trip to Delhi, is in the main gallery. The artist showing mixed media and collage in Gallery 2 is India Cruse-Griffin, and the India Garden restaurant is providing food at the open house.

Owens was given a bolt of orange velvet by a friend at Roland Design. It became the warm substrate for a series of new abstract paintings in oil and acrylic. "It was the color of India," said Owens, who knew he was meant to paint on it.

Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery

212 W. 10th St., Suite B110, enter from 10th Street via alley. (317) 503-6420;www.stutzartists.com

It's open studios night starting at 5 p.m. at the Stutz Business Center. Not all of the 60 or so studios are open – save that for the annual open house in April – but about 20 are participating to give you a taste for wanting more. Drew Etienne is showing in the Stutz Art Gallery on the main floor. His abstract and surreal paintings "acknowledge the influence that interactive media has had on our modern culture."

Long-Sharp Gallery

At the Conrad, 50 W. Washington St., (866) 370-1601;modernmastersfab.com

"Indiana Icons" is an exhibit of pencil portraits by Constance Edwards Scopelitis of Madame Walker, James Dean, Amelia Earhart, Julia Carson, Wes Montgomery and many others with Indiana connections. Twenty percent of the sales of these works will go to Gennesaret Free Clinics, which provide medical care for homeless men.

Funkyard Coffee Shop & Gallery

1114 Prospect St., (317) 822-3865, artist reception 7 to 10 p.m.

This colorful Fountain Square emporium of art, crafts and coffee is featuring a Fountain Square artist this month. Lee Ann Parrotte lives and works out of the Wheeler Arts Center. The works displayed here use mixed media, collage and found objects in their compositions. Live music by Joel and Amy can be enjoyed with the best coffee milkshakes in town.

Circle City Industrial Complex

1125 Brookside Ave., free parking in lot across the street;facebook.com/pages/Circle-City-Industrial-Complex-Artists

This big blue warehouse of businesses, social service organizations, a recyling center and more than 20 artist studios always provides the thrill of the hunt. If you didn't get enough Russia from the Sochi Olympics, see Todd Matus's new "Gorby!" collages in the Litmus Gallery located in the South Studios. Don't miss Aak Lengkeek's great studio upstairs in the North Studios. Lengkeek paints crumbling sidewalks and cracked concrete, remnants from his childhood in the Netherlands during World War II. The large paintings evoke a sense of time, loss and decay but manage to be beautiful.

Other don't-miss studios are Nancy Lee Designs studio showing the photo work of Rad Drew and Katrina Murray Studio showing paintings from her "The California Series Yet to Be Named."

Art Bank

811 Mass Ave., (317) 624-1010; artbankgallery.com

An old bank building was repurposed in 2007 as an exhibition space in the heart of the Mass Ave. Cultural District. More than 30 artists show their work there alongside the teller room, vaults and drive-up window. The featured artist on IDADA First Friday is Zuimeng Cao in a show titled "The Glance of Chinese Painting."

Gallery 924

924 N. Pennsylvania St., ( 317) 631-3301; www.indyarts.org

The gallery of the Arts Council of Indianapolis often presents challenging contemporary work, and that's a very good thing. In "Stills: Recent Paintings by Phillip Lynam," we are promised "an immersive, dislocating experience." Layered color and seemingly internally lit imagery create the effect that Lynam seeks.

Contact The Star's Janet Schneider at (317) 444-6264 and follow her on Twitter @JanetFSchneider.