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During the spring of 2008 I was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art to produce a project for an exhibition and art parade titled "On Procession." I worked with the sculpture department of the Herron School of Art and Design to create three large-scale wooden pull-toys: The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule. In order to bring these sculptures to life, I partnered with Freetown Village Living History Museum, an organization whose mission is to educate the public about African American lives and culture in Indiana through living history performances.
Reenactors at Freetown Village depict a symbolic community of composite characters representing African Americans living in Indianapolis in 1870--five years after the American Civil War ended. For the parade, they performed a protest against the exclusion of women from the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave free black men the right to vote in 1870. Participants rallied at Fountain Square, then took to the streets, chanting and carrying placards with slogans such as "Sojourner Truth for President", "Amend the 15th", and "Marching on to Victory". This was a reenactment of a reenactment performed by Freetown Village during Jesse Jackson’s presidential election campaign in the 1980s.
Conceived as fiction-based-on-fact, this project was meant to provide a pocket of history within the parade, with signage connecting the past to the present through references to the Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, and the current presidential primaries. As it turned out, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were campaigning in Indiana on the day of the parade.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
Parade performance, dimensions variable.
Three performative sculptures
commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum
of Art for the exhibition "On
Procession," curated by Rebecca Uchill.
Made in the context of an artist
residency at the Herron School of Art
and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008) by
Freetown Village Living History Museum.
Photo credit Lisi Raskin.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
Parade performance, dimensions variable.
Three performative sculptures
commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum
of Art for the exhibition "On
Procession," curated by Rebecca Uchill.
Made in the context of an artist
residency at the Herron School of Art
and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008) by
Freetown Village Living History Museum.
Photo credit Lisi Raskin.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
Parade performance, dimensions variable.
Three performative sculptures
commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum
of Art for the exhibition "On
Procession," curated by Rebecca Uchill.
Made in the context of an artist
residency at the Herron School of Art
and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008) by
Freetown Village Living History Museum.
Photo credit Lisi Raskin.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
15x10"
Photo by Allison Smith and Michelle
Pemberton. Commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Portrait of Guinea
"Blue" Farnsworth, street peddler,
played by Kevin Johnson, who performed
in the museum's "On Procession" parade
(April 26th, 2008) with Freetown Village
Living History Museum. Photo exhibited
in the IMA's "On Procession" exhibition.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
15x10"
Photo by Allison Smith and Michelle
Pemberton. Commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Portrait of Matilda
Addison, school teacher, played by Tina
Harris, who performed in the museum's
"On Procession" parade (April 26th,
2008) with Freetown Village Living
History Museum. Photo exhibited in the
IMA's "On Procession" exhibition.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
15x10"
Photo by Allison Smith and Michelle
Pemberton. Commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Portrait of Allison
Smith, who performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008)
with Freetown Village Living History
Museum. Photo exhibited in the IMA's "On
Procession" exhibition.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Photo by Allison Smith and Michelle
Pemberton. Performative sculpture and
wooden placard commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Made in the context of a
residency at the Herron School of Art
and Design. Portrait of Ophelia
Wellington, Founding Director or
Freetown Village Living History Museum,
who performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008).
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Photo by Allison Smith and Michelle
Pemberton. Commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Portrait of Atlee Cook,
who performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008)
with Freetown Village Living History
Museum. Photo exhibited in the IMA's "On
Procession" exhibition.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Photo by Allison Smith and Michelle
Pemberton. Commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Portrait of Thomas
Streit, who performed in the museum's
"On Procession" parade (April 26th,
2008) with Freetown Village Living
History Museum.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
Installation view, dimensions variable.
Three Performative sculptures, twenty
wooden placards, and a series of
photographs commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Made in the context of
an artist residency at the Herron School
of Art and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008) by
Freetown Village Living History Museum.
Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis
Museum of Art.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
Installation view, dimensions variable.
Three Performative sculptures, twenty
wooden placards, and a hand sewn banner
commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum
of Art for the exhibition "On
Procession," curated by Rebecca Uchill.
Made in the context of an artist
residency at the Herron School of Art
and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008) by
Freetown Village Living History Museum.
Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis
Museum of Art.
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The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
Installation view, dimensions variable.
Three Performative sculptures, twenty
wooden placards, and a series of
photographs commissioned by the
Indianapolis Museum of Art for the
exhibition "On Procession," curated by
Rebecca Uchill. Made in the context of
an artist residency at the Herron School
of Art and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26th, 2008) by
Freetown Village Living History Museum.
Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis
Museum of Art.
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The Mule
2008
Laminated wood, paint, horse hair, glass eyes, leather, brass tacks, oak boards, steel, rubber, hemp rope
approx. 102" h x 96" l x 41" w Please click on image again for more detail.
One of three performative sculptures
commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum
of Art for the exhibition "On
Procession," curated by Rebecca Uchill.
Made in the context of an artist
residency at the Herron School of Art
and Design Sculpture Department.
Performed in the museum's "On
Procession" parade (April 26, 2008) by
living history organization Freetown
Village (www.freetown.org). Photo credit
Allison Smith.
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