Urban Walls: Indianapolis

Indiana Landmarks Historic Architecture Collection, 
Herron Art Library, IU Indianapolis University Library 

Inspired by the Urban Walls project in Cincinnati, Indianapolis shortly followed suit in 1973. A year prior, the local architecture firm Woollen & Associates (founded by Evans Woollen III) oversaw the historic renovation of the Davlan Apartments, then known as the Hoosier Apartments, at 430 Massachusetts Avenue. Fellow firm architect Peter Mayer designed a 75 foot tall supergraphic, the city's earliest example, in the shape of an ear of corn with 'Hoosier' as the central focal point. The mural not only served as an improvement to quality of life but also as a billboard for the apartment house. In an Indianapolis News interview, Mayer mentioned the Cincinnati project and the firm's support in improving "an otherwise gray environment downtown." The mural grew so much interest that the city's parks department passed a resolution to allocate funds from the Indiana Arts Commission to fund the city's very own Urban Walls program. An Urban Walls Task Force was formed shortly after.

Benjamin de Brie Taylor, former dean of the Herron School of Art, served as chairman of the task force. Other members of the task force viewed a traveling exhibition on the Urban Walls project at Herron. The exhibition additionally included concepts by visual communication students by using images of areas located throughout the city's Mile Square. Eventually, the first mural was selected and completed by Roland Hobart. Once brazenly brightened with hues of oranges, reds, and blues, Hobart's Untitled (Urban Wall) has since been fading away and, worse, partially painted over. 

Aerial view of Untitled (Urban Wall) in process of being painted in 1973,
Indy Parks and Recreation Collection, Indianapolis Public Library

In 1975, another mural was selected to be painted on the eastern facade of the former Kirk's Furniture Building at 7 E. Washington Street. 26-year-old architect of Woollen & Associates, James W. McQuiston, was chosen for the winning design entitled The Runners. It depicts a whimsically idyllic display of diverse individuals running as seen through a series of windows, which draw influence from surrounding buildings. 

James W. McQuiston with his maquette for The Runners,
Indianapolis Star, August 21, 1975, pg16

Painting The Runners, 1975,
Evan Finch Collection, The Indiana Album

The mural remained on public display for roughly 45 years until a new mural was proposed by the Indy Arts Council to feature an influential figure from the city's history as part of its "Bicentennial Legends" program in 2020. The legend selected was Marshall "Major" Taylor, the first Black professional cyclist to win the World Championships in 1899. Before the new mural commission, an estimate to restore McQuiston's Runners would have cost "between $135,000 to $388,390 instead of a more economic range of $33,300 to $35,000 to repair and repaint the wall." 

Though The Runners is permanently off view from the city's public art collection, a new city canvas not only honors the legacy of a Black Indy native but also the concept of "local artists and designers becoming actively involved with effecting a positive change in the urban environment... and bringing the city government and local business[es] together in using the arts to beautify the downtown area."

Google Maps, August 2015

Dedicated to the late James W. McQuiston. 
Thank you for enriching the urban fabric of Indianapolis. 

Interested in an in-depth story on the Urban Walls program in Indianapolis and artist Roland Hobart?  Purchase Commercial Article 09 to read further!

Sources: Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis; The Indiana Album; Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections; IU Indianapolis University Library Digital Collections; Indianapolis Star, "Apartment Revision Second Phase Starts," March 10, 1972, pg. 22; Indianapolis News, "Supergraphics? Well, It Just Looks Like Corn," August 4, 1972, pg. 4; Indianapolis Star, "Big Outside Murals Downtown Proposed," February 28, 1973, pg. 17; Urban Walls Program Press Release, July 2, 1973, Richard G. Lugar Collection, Institute for Civic Leadership & Mayoral Archives, University of Indianapolis; Indianapolis Star, "2d 'Urban Wall' Design To Decorate Bank Annex," August 21, 1975, pg. 16; Indianapolis Star, "Major Taylor to be honored with mural. One artist isn't happy with how his art was removed," September 23, 2020; WTHR/Channel 13, "'Major' Taylor mural completed on downtown Indianapolis building," September 10, 2021