INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Chakaia Booker hits the street

First there was Otterness. Then there was Opie. Chakaia Booker is the latest artist to receive a major public sculpture show in Indianapolis through the offices of the Arts Council and the city’s Cultural Development Commission.

Booker has been installing 10 works around town, utilizing tires that are cut, shaped and folded, then woven into dynamic, highly textured sculptures. For the past year, Booker has been visiting and researching Indianapolis for inspiration. July 22 at 10:30 a.m., she will participate in an opening dedication ceremony with civic leaders at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, 340 N. Senate Ave.

Nine of Booker’s works are located downtown; one is on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center’s ARTSPARK. Free maps showing all the locations are available at the Artsgarden, in downtown museums, cultural venues and hotels and at the Central, College, Glendale and Haughville public libraries. Or, download a map at www.paindy.org/booker.

For those who can’t get enough of Booker, iMOCA will be exhibiting Chakaia Booker: The Making of a Public Art Exhibition featuring some of Booker’s models, wall and pedestal pieces July 22-Sept. 6.

Booker will also present an artist lecture at Herron School of Art & Design, 735 W. New York St., Tuesday at 6 p.m. Admission is free.