Fringe poster to double as public art on Mass Ave

Artwork by Hoosier artist Lydia Burris will not only adorn the 2010 IndyFringe poster,

An excerpt from “Twilight Revelers,” the artwork to be used in IndyFringe promotional materials. The complete piece by Lydia Burris will be unveiled on Aug. 6.

but will hang for the next year in the lightbox installation on the wall of the Survive Alive building at the corner of Mass Ave and St. Clair Street.

Burris’s work, “Twilight Revelers,” will be featured on the front cover of 40,000 festival programs, buttons, posters, postcards, fliers and IndyFringe website.

The young artist won a competition staged by the Arts Council of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival.

The artwork will be unveiled on Friday, Aug. 6, as part of the First Friday launch of VisualFringe, the visual art component of the festival. The free event will begin at sunset and feature street theater.

Burris is no stranger to IndyFringe. Last year her work, “Peacock City,” was voted the “most popular” during the VisualFringe. She has also been involved through her graphic designs for Indy Magic Monthly and veteran IndyFringe artist Taylor Martin.

“We were delighted to discover Lydia is a great supporter of the festival as well as a deserving winner,” said Pauline Moffat, executive director of IndyFringe.

Burris, who holds a master’s of fine art degree from the Norwich School of Art and Design in England, has participated in 18 Indianapolis art shows and events in 2009, and is one of the 2010 Stutz Residency award winners.

She was one of six artists chosen to exhibit their work on stickers for the launch of the 2008 Buy Independent Art program.

IndyFringe once again partnered with the Arts Council of Indianapolis and the Be Indypendent movement for the 2010 Poster Art competition. Be Indypendent encourages Indianapolis residents to support local art. For more information, see www.beindypendent.org.

more from the fringe …

With the clock ticking down toward the sixth installment of the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, the lights have dimmed at the IndyFringe Theatre so that festival companies can use the space for rehearsals in advance of the Aug. 20-29 event.

The ever-busy IndyFringe Theatre, located on St. Clair St. just west of College Avenue, ended its busy season June 18-19 with a performance of “Red Bastard” by Eric Nelson of New York.

IndyFringe Executive Director Pauline Moffat said providing rehearsal space was one of the main reasons the one-time church building was renovated by her organization. “Performing groups who took advantage of this opportunity last year were rewarded with great reviews and subsequently good box office returns,” she said.

The sixth annual IndyFringe will bring 48 performance groups to six stages, plus a free outdoor stage and street theater performances. As in most previous years, the festival will feature a few new elements:

– The outdoor stage will be programmed over two weekends of the festival in partnership with IndyPride, with FringeCentral located in a tent on the lawn of the Indianapolis Firefighters Union Hall at the corner of College and Mass avenues.

“As the outdoor activities have grown substantially over the past two years at FringeCentral,” Moffat said, “it makes sense to partner with IndyPride to provide expertise in outdoor staging, lighting, entertainment and organization.”

The festival is also targeting visitors to the MotoGP motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by providing an alternate free outdoor entertainment destination close to other Downtown racing activities, she said.

– “Street Theatre” will be programmed by Know No Stranger, a group of creative, local do-it-yourselfers – friends, students, artists — that provides original, live, inspiring interactive events and performances. Their performances, filled with art, music, and storytelling, speak to contemporary life, Moffat said. “Whether presenting for audiences at the Central library, Earth House Collective, Wheeler Arts Community, Big Car Gallery, or the Arts Educators of Indiana conference, their intent is the same: to instigate a positive city vibe,” she said.

– One element of the festival – the inclusion of student-age groups – has been revamped. Operated the past few years as FringeNext, a parallel festival running alongside IndyFringe, the student productions have been instead incorporated into the main festival. No longer will all student-age groups be relegated to a separate venue.

Those groups, however, maintain a strong presence at the festival. Young Actors Theatre, based in the Athenaeum, is among the scheduled performance groups, as are companies from Carmel, Cathedral and Brebeuf Jesuit high schools.