This is such a great example of surprise and delight community placemaking. This was our second…read morevisit to the alley and both times it filled our family with a sense of wonder and delight. The slow swinging lanterns in the breeze accompanied by the small red bridge and mural painting of Koi fish are such a lovely experience. Big kudos to the town of Franklin for making this magic happen. You will stumble upon this alley as you walk your way around the square. It's wedged between coffee shops and bakeries. Definitely worth a little pitstop.

I love this alley in downtown Franklin. Dedicated to the sister city in Kuji Japan, you will find…read moregorgeous koi fish murals on the walls of the buildings on either side, a new Japanese Cherry Tree installation, hanging lanterns and a bridge. Enjoy coffee or lunch at the tables and chairs in the alley and be sure to read the plaque with the information about the sister city and relationship with Japan. Location is between Benjamin's Coffeeshop and the City Hall.

You will find this mural on the side of Richard's Brick Oven Pizza. It is very bright and vivid and…read moredemands your attention. It runs along the entire wall and depicts a couple of guitars and features the words "Good Vibes". I like the way the mural incorporates everting on that side of the wall including doors, awnings, garage doors, lights and electric meters. The colors used in the mural really compliment each other and pop. It is the work of Shannon McKeon and was painted in 2019 as part of the Color the County Mural Program. I love that program. It brings the community together, under the direction of a local artist, to bring a mural to life. And to top it off, the mural gives off a positive message, "Good Vibes". Getting a closer look at the mural is easy. It overlooks Richard's Brick Oven's parking lot. I just pulled into the lot, got out and gazed at the mural. As with most murals that I visited, this is not a long stop. I was there maybe 5 minutes tops. I recommend visiting here on your way to somewhere else or making this part of a larger itinerary. The Franklin Art Garden and Young's Creek Park are very close by.

As part of the Johnson County Community Foundation's "Color the County" program, artist Shannon…read moreMcKeon was selected to paint a mural in 2019. This mural in Franklin, is on the south wall of Richards Brick Oven Pizza. The mural is huge and covers the entire wall. Done in deep colors of yellow, orange, violet, and pink, the mural takes on a music theme with the words "Good Vibes" written in cursive to the left of the handicap access door. Music notes also emphasize the good vibes along with images of several guitars. Review #2854

My spouse and I went on the Columbus architecture tour. The Miller House and Garden is the focal…read morepart of the architecture of Columbus. The architect Saarinen developed plans for only three houses all for the Miller's. Almost all the doorways are handicapped accessible and the house is one level. Although built in the 1950s many of the design concepts are still seen today. if you are going for the architecture tour, this is a must

loved the aesthetic of this house. first saw it on Kogonada's film Columbus and just had to go see…read moreit. the one thing though is the movie makes it seem like you can walk freely through the house, you cannot. it's an informative guided tour. and you're only allowed to take pictures on this particular rug. I'm fine without getting anymore photos, but I would have loved to spend some more time outside exploring the grounds. also I saw pictures of the couch with red cushions, it was definitely more eye catching with those. (big thing: read your confirmation email and show up at the visitor center first)

You will find this mural near Taxman Brewery, right across Johnson BBQ. It was painted in 2020…read moreJohnson County Community Foundation Mural Program. The project was headed artist Stacie Drane. The mural was completed as part of a community day, bringing in community members of all ages and abilities to paint the mural. It was a large paint by numbers deal. Sadly the front side of the mural is used as parking spaces. While I was there there were cars parked in front of the mural pretty much blocking the view of the entire bottom of the mural. It is a basic abstract mural. I can see the image of a dove, hands with arms, a heart, partial faces, flowers, plants, buildings, and random shapes. They were all very abstract and colorful, with overlapping and interesting colors. The mural is in great shape. I will admit though, I am not a fan of abstract art, but love community involved projects. Parking to get a closer look here is very easy. You can park in front of the mural directly, right next to it or across the street at Johnsons BBQ. I parked right next to it and had no issues. As with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. So, you may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions in the area, getting a drink from Taxman, grabbing a bite at Johnson's or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

In the fifth year of its Color the County mural program, the Johnson County Community Foundation…read morehas sponsored a local artist to create a community "paint day" where the artist would create a full sized wall mural in a paint by number scheme that allowed volunteers to come and participate in the painting of a new community piece. In 2020, the town of Bargersville got its second mural (in 2016, they added one I call Bargersville Sunrise by Amber Berninger. See separate review #1261). The new mural was designed by Nineveh artist Stacie Drane and the mural was painted in August. The mural is a mixture of city and county scenes which come together as the small town is now one of the most rapidly growing areas in the Indy metro area. The mural shows different people along with crops and buildings all coming together in one place. The colorful mural uses solid colors and has a cool tone of colors which is very pleasing to the eye. Although the piece is painted on one of TaxMan's southern buildings, it is directly across from the patio of Johnson Barbecue. I appreciate that the artist has to simply the project so that community members can participate in the painting. Still, the final product is pleasing and some attention to clean up left the lines solid and the filled in blocks of color complete. Review #3803

If you like your art big and bold, then you will love the massive steel structure on the Musical…read moreArts Center lawn: Peau Rouge. The "Red Skin" structure was built by renowned artist Alexander Calder in France in 1970 before being installed in 1971 at its current location. The piece is 40' in height (40 x 32 x 33). The vibrant red-orange color is known as "Calder Red" and when the original paint (which included lead) began to fade, an extensive search took place to carefully remove the paint (and deal with the lead safely) and restore the original color paint. Normally, Calder pieces are dismantled and sent to the original casting location to strip and repaint. But this piece was welded and can not be dismantled, so it had to be done on site. There were a number of challenges in restoring the 5500 sq feet of surface area with the special paint, but it was worth it as the sculpture is still vibrant ten years after the restoration. It is worth noting that this fixed standing structure, or stabile, was the last stabile that Calder completed before his death. Review #1268

On my most recent trip to Bloomington, I headed out to the west side to find a large wind driven…read moresculpture behind the Bed Bath and Beyond store. Partially hidden by large evergreen trees on the west side of the green space is a sculpture that is nearly 70 feet in height made of coated steel that on sunny days, reflects deep colors off its surface. The piece is officially listed as "Untitled 2001" by artist Stephen Powell (2001) but is also referred to as "Fngers". The piece has two end pillars that support a crossbar. The cross bar has five tapered tubes that use their thicker and heavier bases to counter balance the long and narrow portion that reach skyward. As wind catches the long surfaces, the tubes pivot towards horizontal depending upon the wind velocity. On my visit, the wind was light, so the tubes were generally pointing skyward with litle movement. However, I have seen photos of the tubes frozen in winter parallel to the ground! At the time of my visit, there were no benches in the vicinity for visitors to sit and watch the movement though I can imagine that it may be peacefl to watch the tubes sway. I believe I've read the tubes make noise on windy days as well, but were silent on my trip. If you are in the area and the wind is cooperating, take a moment to swing by to check it out. There is plenty of parking to pull up and view the piece in motion. Review #1370

The irony of allowing humanity to fall so deep into greed that the unhoused population sit on this…read morebench without anywhere to call home. Says lots without saying a word.

This is a very powerful and intriguing piece that is located off to the side of the Roberts Park…read moreUnited Methodist Church. This sculpture is the work of Timothy Schmalz, a Canadian sculptor and devout Catholic, who was commissioned by Roberts Park United Methodist Church to create this bronze sculpture in 2015. It also goes by the name Jesus the Homeless. As nice as it is, this piece is not one of a kind. There are a bunch of them placed all around the world, well over 100. The original was made in 2013 and is located at Regis College, University of Toronto. Other locations that you will find the sculpture include Australia, Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Columbia and the Dominican Republic to name just a few. This sculpture is very realistic and detailed. Which brings me to a funny story. In October 2020, police in Ohio were dispatched to a report of a homeless man sleeping on a park bench. Ironically, this call was made within 20 minutes of the Homeless Jesus sculpture being installed. Yep, some called the police on the statue. I will admit, I had to do a double take to make sure it was not real when I saw it. And you are certain to be fooled if you are driving by. It should be noted the the sculpture in Vatican City has received the blessing of the Pope. The bench is about 7 feet wide and depicts a covered figure, assumed to be Jesus, laying on it. The only real identification being the crucifixion wounds on the figures feet. For the low price of 99.99 you too can have your own mini-homeless Jesus made by the artist himself. The sculpture is just off of the Roberts Park United Methodist Church parking lot and runs along Alabama Street. There is tons of metered street parking available in front of and adjacent to the sculpture. There is also a commercial parking lot directly behind it that you can pull into, get out and take a closer look too. I guess you could also do a safe and strategic slow rolling drive by and get a a half decent look, but I do not recommend that. You will not get the full effect of the sculpture. As with most sculptures that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other sculptures, murals and attractions in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip. Brickhead3 and Viewfinders would be a great start.

Me and my best buddy David known we're kicking at the other day in downtown Nashville, Indiana. He…read moreasked me to come over and hang out with him for a while until his wife got home. So we sat on the porch and had a few drinks had a few burgers and just kicked it. You should go check them out next time you're in brown county.

Kurt Eagleman does it again. This guy's art is all over Brown County, mostly in the form of murals:…read morethis one, called Happiness in Color, but also, most notably, the mural under the bridge near the Salt Creek Trail. Eagleman is also the owner of Second Story Studio, a gallery on the second story of a historic green building that also houses a candy shop. Man's got a thing for art, apparently. Anyway, you can find this big piece of public art painted on a wall on the side of the Mulberry Cottage building. It's on the corner of Main Street and South Honeysuckle Lane. The mural is big and pink and red and green, and it depicts poppies blowing in the breeze. The mural was completed around 2022. Downtown Nashville has lots of murals and public art everywhere, and this is yet another piece that is integral to the culture of this little artsy town.