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  Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutFacebookEmailTwitterGoogle+LinkedInPinterestMari Evans, colorful doors and thoughts of unityYou wouldn't think an art exhibit about an acclaimed poet and one about recycled doors would go together, but at Big Car's Tube Factory, these exhibits complement each other.Nov.Post to FacebookMari Evans, colorful doors and thoughts of unity You wouldn't think an art exhibit about an acclaimed poet and one about recycled doors would go together, but at Big Car's Tube Factory, these exhibits complement each other.Nov. Check out this story on IndyStar.com: http://indy.st/2fhixY5
  Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQsSubscribe TodayLog InSubscribed, but don't have a login?Activate your digital access.Mari Evans, colorful doors and thoughts of unity
  Bekah Pollard, IndyStar correspondent
  Published 12:02 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2016 | Updated 6:30 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2016Big Car exhibits underscore efforts to bring people togetherBuy PhotoThe "Mari Evans: Carl Pope" exhibit at the Tube Factory.(Photo: Bekah Pollard/IndyStar)Buy Photo
  COMMENTEMAILMOREYou wouldn't think art exhibits about an acclaimed poet and recycled doors would go together, but at Big Car's Tube Factory, these exhibits complement each other.Nov. 4 marked the First Friday exhibit opening of "Mari Evans: Carl Pope," a project by artist Carl Pope, poet Mari Evans and curator Shauta Marsh; along with the opening of "Perception: What's Behind the Door," a collaborative project put on by community-based education initiative The Learning Tree."Mari Evans: Carl Pope" aims to draw attention to the impact Evans has made on the Black Arts Movement and Indianapolis in general. Evans is an acclaimed poet and writer living in Indianapolis, yet many residents don't know who she is. This show evolved after Shauta Marsh, chief curator at the Tube, discovered Evans' writing several years ago. "I read her books and wondered why I had never heard of her," Marsh said.Evans' writing discusses being a black woman and how race relations affected society during the 1970s when she began getting recognition for her writing. Although Evans' writing first made an impact decades ago, her words are still relevant today. Words like "Are we as African-Americans on a mission?" "What does the present require of us, and what does the future offer?" and "Who will show me myself in this white-faced world?""What Mari brings attention to is relevant with what is happening in our country today," Marsh said. "As a city, we have not given her the recognition she deserves."Pope also was moved by Evans' words. A self-described "socially engaged artist" whose large-scale public artworks strive to create a public dialogue, he said Marsh approached him about making an art piece inspired by Evans' writing."Shauta handed me Mari's book," Pope said. That was all the direction he was given, and after reading Evans' words, that's all the direction he needed."I grew up seeing Mari, Gwendolyn Brooks, experiencing the Black Arts Movement in Indy," he said. Reading Evans' words brought back memories of Pope's heritage and inspired him to create.INDIANAPOLIS STARHip hop anything but routine at The DojoPope's resulting artwork is a large mural-like white sheet covered in quotes from Evans' book: "Clarity as Concept: A Poet's Perspective." The quotes vary in size and font, some bold while others are washed out and encourage viewers to take a closer look. The piece sits on the west wall of the main gallery space and is the first thing viewers see upon walking into the room.Pope said Evans' writing, including what he featured on his mural, questions the reader in a significant way. "The questions she poses are still relevant today," he said. Questions about race and "political and economic subordination." "Black literary writing is so important because it's the consciousness of America," Pope said.Other works in the exhibit include a wall of photos Pope found at the historical society from the early days of the Black Arts Movement in Indianapolis. Another piece is a shelf set up to emulate books Evans has in her own personal library. These books included her own book that Pope's artwork was based off, as well as an anthology of black writers she edited and some children's books. The final two works feature a series of portraits of Evans with objects representing her placed in front of the photos and video footage of Evans being interviewed about her poetry and writing.Buy PhotoPoet Mari Evans reads her poem "Celebration" during the Aug. 13 dedication of Evans' Massachusetts Avenue mural, painted by Michael Alkemi Jordan at the Athenaeum. (Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)After taking a look around inside, visitors to the Tube can walk outside and follow a path of painted doors to the lower part of the parking lot where the second exhibit, "Perception: What's Behind the Door," is exhibited.The Learning Tree, headed by DeAmon Harges, put on "Perception." After finding a handful of doors dumped in an alley, neighbor and artist Gary Sharp came up with the idea to repurpose these doors into works of art. Not only did Sharp want to recycle the abandoned material, but he saw a significance in using doors specifically."Doors represent a lot of things in life," he said. "They represent coming and going, a continuous life cycle."Much of the work The Learning Tree does is about revitalizing the neighborhood it is in and building community.A neighbor known as WildStyle, aka Keith Paschall, also had several of his photographs hung as part of the show. He wrote a grant proposal to grassroots neighborhood initiative Reconnecting to Our Waterways.The grant money allowed The Learning Tree to pay participating artists for their work. Although people were eager to help with the project, some were hesitant. "People thought it was far-fetched that they would get paid to make art," WildStyle said. "A lot of the people that participated had never been paid for their artwork."INDIANAPOLIS STARCan Big Car turn Garfield Park into next hip neighborhood?The end result consists of about 64 doors produced by 20 to 35 artists throughout the neighborhood. Some doors were made by individuals, while others were made by families. "We told people to do whatever they wanted to the doors," Harges said. "There's no wrong answer." The result: a room full of colorful, meaningful doors.For Marsh, these two exhibits opening on the same night was a significant coincidence. "DeAmon is friends with Mari, and there are many great connections between his work and hers," Marsh said.Buy PhotoThe "Mari Evans: Carl Pope" exhibit, a project by artist Carl Pope, poet Mari Evans and curator Shauta Marsh. (Photo: Bekah Pollard/IndyStar)More importantly, Marsh sees the common thread between these exhibits as a display of the strength and significance of black culture and art in Indianapolis. "With these exhibitions we celebrate Mari and her amazing contributions, and we celebrate the artists working every day to share beauty and brilliance and help bring people together to make our world a better place," she said.Bekah Pollard is a 2016 Arts Journalism Fellow. The fellowship is a partnership between the Arts Council of Indianapolis and IndyStar. Download the IndyStar Things To Do AppThe exhibitsWhen: "Mari Evans: Carl Pope" will be on display in the main gallery until Jan. 22. "Perception: What's Behind the Door" will be on display until Friday. Where: The Tube, 1125 S. Cruft St.Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday (until 10 p.m. on First Fridays) and 11 a.m to 3 p.m. Saturday.Cost: Free.
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