Two thumbs up for the Indiana State Museum's (located in the Canal District) exhibit Making it in the Midwest: Artists Who Chose to Stay. For the price of a $7 adult admission ticket you get to explore the artwork in both the Ford and NiSource Inc Galleries on the third floor of the museum.

Making it in the Midwest brings together important historical works of art along with current working contemporary artists. Stepping into the Ford Gallery I was pleasantly surprised to see a former professor of mine from my undergraduate days at John Herron School of Art, David Morrison. Working in mixed media sculptures and lithographs, Morrison has five mind-intriguing pieces that will keep the viewer thinking and looking at all the meticulous detail he incorporates into each piece. "Recent themes focus on iconic objects and the role they play in contemporary society," writes Morrison. "Some of these pieces describe beauty as it is defined by different generations and cultures, such as totemic bracelets in contrast to classic nudes."

Stepping around the corner from David Morrison's work I saw another familiar artist and one of Broad Ripple's own residents, Rob Day. Day also received his B.F.A. from Herron School of Art and Design and currently works as an illustrator. He has been known to show on occasion at the Dean Johnson Gallery and currently also has works on display at the Indianapolis Art Center. Day's work has been seen not only around Indianapolis but also has graced the pages of Rolling Stone magazine along with several other national publications. If you have seen Day's work and can't recall where, maybe you will recognize the extremely detailed feline illustrations he does for Indy Feral each year. (www.indyferal.org).

After making one round through the Ford Gallery I crossed the hall to the NiSource Inc Gallery where it housed the old school painters, yes painters. Sad not to see any photographers or sculptures from the era of T.C. Steele, but at the same time rewarding to walk through and see the work of some of Indiana's own greats of their times. Now I have to admit, as I stepped inside this gallery it was such a contrast to the opposing collection of contemporary artists that I felt like I had set foot into one of the older collections at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The art I saw in this gallery was expected and appreciated; but to cross the hall back to the Ford Gallery where I found connections with former professors, current artists in the gallery I work at and even friends I know, was something that was more intriguing and a little rewarding to see; someone I really knew, showing at the Indiana State Museum.

Now realizing that this exhibit has more connections for me than I had expected, I recognized one artist after the next as I wandered through the space. This exhibit is definitely a must see with works also by C.W. Mundy, Nhat Tran, James Wille Faust and Artur Silva.

Artur Silva's work was a little harder for me to find, but being that I saw him on this great video montage of all the artists, I started to search the gallery for his work. Silva known for his outsized collages incorporating symbolic imagery could not easily be missed so I looked again, but still nothing. Knowing that Silva's work is normally large or at the very least bright and difficult to miss, much like a current sculpture placed on the property of the Dean Johnson Gallery, where Silva spelled on the words "MASS" on the grassy lawn. Starting to give up I left the exhibits and walked toward the stairs. As I leaned over to look at the view, something from below caught my eye. Artur's artwork was there, two floors below on the ground floor of the museum for all to see and interact with as they walk across the vinyl installation of a large media graphic design. The interaction the audience has with this piece is great, I was slightly disappointed that it was not included a bit closer to the rest of the exhibit, but it could definitely hold its own on the ground floor.

This exhibit opened on Saturday June 20th, 2009, and will run through October 18th of this year.

The Indiana State Museum is located on 650 W. Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis, for more information visit indianamuseum.org.