Indiana Artist Features

Artur is a visual artist and filmmaker, originally from Brazil and residing in Indiana since 2002. He received his BFA from the Guignard School of Art, Belo Horizonte, Brazil and his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He is a Visiting Assistant Professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, but he has also taught at the Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI; CalArts, and Franklin University. He has pursued numerous residencies, including at Mass MoCA. Artur’s bold digital collages combine drawn, photographed, and found images into dynamic and exciting compositions. 

Born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana, Becky Gropp Hochhalter is a self-taught, lifelong artist who has been creating art since childhood. She spent 17 years working for a flexible packaging company, and now creates large-scale dynamic public works of art in a wide range of styles, but always with an emphasis on storytelling and community connections. Her work frequently includes hidden elements, giving the artwork an interactive quality and a personal touch.

Beth hails from Peru, Indiana, where she performed with the Peru Circus from age 9 until she moved to Muncie, Indiana, to study at Ball State University. A former actress and model, she began seriously studying art in 2012 with renowned Indiana artist C.W. Mundy. After several years’ residency in the Stutz building, Beth now has her own gallery/studio space in Irvington, where she spends her days painting and meeting new clients. She has been a featured artist on the HGTV series “Good Bones.”

South Bend (born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; grew up in Chicago) Chris’ creative pursuits are firmly rooted in Chicago’s urban culture. Chris was an innovative figure in Chicago’s early graffiti and skateboarding scenes and from that foundation proceeded to play a significant role in the development of what is now commonly referred to as “street art”. Chris splits his time between working on large-scale commissions, producing gallery oriented work, and leading community-based public art projects. As a self-taught sound artist with roots in DJ culture, Chris also produces music under the alias, LC Rivers.

Dan Handskillz (aka Invisible Hometown, aka Dan Thompson) studied fine art at the Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI and began his career with illustration and board game design. Moving into digital content, he spent several years in illustration, concept art and storyboarding for a respected creative studio specializing in advertising and interactives. He is currently a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. Dan’s street-informed style and sense of color and character will lovingly recreate the experience of the stands.

Derrick attended The Art Institute of Indianapolis and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. Turning more towards fine art, today he is a mixed-media artist specializing in the unusual technique of painting with colored sand to tackle contemporary themes and scenes from his own imagination.

Erik, an illustrator and cartoonist, graduated from DePauw University as an oil painter but turned to illustration shortly afterwards. Focusing now on graphic novels, illustrated educational content, and one-off comics, he also creates commissioned murals.

India earned her B.S. in Art Education from Ball State University and has taught public school art ever since. In addition to teaching, she creates boldly layered collage work with overlays of different materials and paints. Her bold colors, shapes, and patterns interact with her figural style to illuminate stories of love, pride, and family inspired by her Indiana childhood. She exhibits frequently around the tri-state area and her work is held in prominent museum collections (including the Indiana Governor’s Residence) and civic venues like Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis and Reid Hospital in Richmond. 

Ish is a self-taught artist who splits his practice between graffiti-inspired abstract expressionism and public murals. He is the force behind the CISA (Crazy Indiana Style Artists) graffiti crew, and curates exhibitions of their work and that of other street artists. Ish’s work is in many public collections across Indiana and the Midwest.

Israel, an Indiana native, studied art education at Ball State University and taught middle-school art before turning full-time to his studio practice and teaching college-level drawing classes. He maintains a studio in the Harrison Center and creates large-scale, ambitious paintings and murals using sharp geometry and brilliant colors to infuse his subjects with energy and power.

Willie earned his BFA in Sculpture from the Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI, and his MFA in painting from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Born in 1949, he grew up on a farm in rural Lapel, Indiana. Wille has been a professional artist since 1978, and his award-winning artwork has been exhibited in galleries, universities and museums, locally, nationally & worldwide. His work is well known for its brilliant color, illusionistic effects, and compact, iconic storytelling.

JD graduated from the Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI, and spends his time doing commissioned work for various commercial and residential clients. He exhibits his pop-art-inspired work locally at art fairs, restaurants, and other community-based venues, and teaches Painting at Ivy Tech Community College.

Jingo is a commercial illustrator, art educator, and fine artist. In addition to his commissioned work, Jingo teaches at the Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI and at Butler University and is associated with Urban Sketchers and Arts for Learning as a teaching artist.

Kevin learned to draw by studying comic book characters as a kid and selling his drawings to neighbors and classmates. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a BS in Graphic Design, initially taking up painting before realizing design and illustration allowed him to express himself more freely. His design and illustration work draws from his own childhood experiences and the absurdities of daily life. His work often travels between personal, hand- drawn pieces to linear and refined executions, but all contain a hallmark of an artist at play.

Kyle grew up in Texas and New Mexico, witnessing from a young age a mix of vibrant cultures and large wild spaces. Since earning degrees at Baylor University (BFA) and Southern

Methodist University (MFA), Kyle has been painting full time, working periodically as a decorative painter and stage set designer, and making fine art. He has served as curator for exhibits in Texas and Indiana and currently is curator for the Harrison Center in Indianapolis, where he is part of a synergistic community of 36 working artists who share ideas, tools, and life.

Kyng has been in love with creating art his entire life. He attended college to obtain a degree in graphic design, but his true love is embedded in illustration, street art, and fine art. During the pandemic of 2020, Kyng made the decision to become a full-time creative. His work uses saturated colors and a technique of visually combining photograph-like figures and graphic imagery into compositions that are as much conceptual-symbolic as narrative. He is a member of The Eighteen arts collective.

Prior to launching his own freelance graphic design firm, Invictus Designs, Matt Filer attended Ball State University for his BFA with a focus in Visual Communications and Digital Media. His highly identifiable style combines text and accurately drawn portraiture to highlight the life, character, and accomplishments of his subjects.

Equally accomplished in visual art and music, Mike, co-founder of the locally based BRIDGE Collective, combines text, images, and cultural references into works that pack many layers of sub-content into their unique designs.

Koda studied art at Purdue and Duke Universities and then navigated a career in corporate sales in the travel industry at TripAdvisor and Travelzoo. Her love for travel and tourism will always remain, but she ultimately found her true calling in opening her own mural business, Hue Murals. Hue now completes mural and art installation projects nationally, with projects in Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, New York, California, and more. Her signature motto is “best energies and bright colors.”

Pamela studied studio art as an undergraduate and also received a master’s degree in arts administration. Working almost exclusively on commission and specializing in realistic portraiture using a traditional oil painting technique, she is best known for her large-scale mural work, as is aptly illustrated by her five-story Reggie Miller mural in downtown Indianapolis.

Tasha is a graduate of Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI, where she studied painting and drawing. She works in both digital design and traditional hand techniques, using a kaleidoscope of patterns with a recognizable figurative style. Her current fine art works are Afrocentric with hints of Afrofuturism.

William is an artist and designer based in Indianapolis, but working nationally. He received a scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design where he focused on Ad Design, later transferring to the Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI where he concentrated on painting and drawing. He has had solo shows in Indianapolis and Boston as well as numerous group exhibitions throughout the country. His quirky and funky, almost abstract illustration style has graced paintings, sculptures, murals, stickers, and even beer cans.