Step into a world of vibrant artistic wonder surrounded by incredible flora and fauna from Indiana and beyond. This one of kind display is brought to life by the experienced Newfields Horticulture team led by Jonathan Wright, The Ruth Lilly Director of The Garden and Fairbanks Park. Art and nature collide all around you, with a commissioned mural painting by Kyng Rhodes and life-like projection mapping by Blockhouse Studios, both based in Indiana.
In collaboration with Newfields partners; Blockhouse Studios from Bloomington, Indiana and Indianapolis-based muralist and painter, Kyng Rhodes, we bring to life a vibrant display through the magic of horticulture, art and projection technology. To accompany these exciting artistic elements is a robust planting list featuring colorful flora.
A sampling of plants making their way to the show
Trees & Shrubs
Calycanthus floridus 'Burgundy Spice' (eastern sweetshrub)
Chaenomeles speciosa 'Scarlet Storm' (flowering-quince)
Chaenomeles speciosa 'Pink Storm' (flowering-quince)
Cornus sericea 'Baileyi', redosier dogwood
Cornus sericea 'Cardinal', redosier dogwood
Corylopsis veitchiana , Veitch's winter-hazel
Deutzia × rosea 'Nikko Blush' (deutzia)
Ilex 'Nellie R. Stevens', holly
Lindera angustifolia, Asian spicebush
Magnolia grandiflora 'Bracken's Brown Beauty', southern magnolia
Berberis baelei, leatherleaf-mahonia
Physocarpus opulifolius 'Seward' Summer Wine® (common ninebark)
Prunus 'Kanzan' (flowering cherry)
Rhododendron 'Karens' (azalea)
Rhododendron 'Tradition' (azalea)
Rhododendron 'Pink Gumpo' (Satsuki hybrid azalea)
Rhododendron 'Crimson Gumpo' (Satsuki hybrid azalea)
Salix babylonica (weeping willow)
Salix chaenomeloides, pussywillow
Salix 'Swizzle Stick', corkscrew willow
Annuals, Perennials, & Tropicals
Antirrhinum majus Candy Tops Orange, snapdragon
Antirrhinum majus Candy Tops Rose, snapdragon
Antirrhinum majus Snaptini™ Peach, snapdragon
Brassica juncea 'Ruby Streaks' (Chinese mustard)
Brugmansia 'Sublime' (angel's trumpet)
Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger', heath-sedge
Echium candicans (pride of Madeira)
Hedera algeriensis (Algerian ivy)
Helleborus Glenda's Gloss®, Lenten-rose
Heuchera 'Plum Pudding', alumroot
Helleborus Penny's Pink (Lenten-rose)
Helleborus Anna's Red (Lenten-rose)
Lavandula × intermedia 'Niko' PHENOMENAL®, lavender
Melianthus major (honeybush)
Oenothera lindheimeri Belleza® Dark Pink (Lindheimer's beeblossom)
Phormium 'Jester' (New Zealand-flax)
Phormium tenax Purpureum Group (New Zealand-flax)
Phormium 'Yellow Wave' (New Zealand-flax)
Viola × wittrockiana 'PAS1077341' Cool Wave® Lemon, garden pansy
Viola × wittrockiana 'PAS1077345' Cool Wave® Blue Skies, garden pansy
Viola × wittrockiana 'PAS1077347' Cool Wave® Morpho, garden pansy
Viola × wittrockiana 'PAS12374' Spring Matrix™ Midnight Glow, garden pansy
Viola cornuta 'PAS1171800' Sorbet® XP Red Blotch, horned violet
Viola cornuta 'PAS786645' Sorbet® XP Blue Blotch, horned violet
Viola cornuta 'PAS912440' Sorbet® XP Morpho, horned violet
Viola cornuta 'PAS951102' Sorbet® Carmine Rose, horned violet
Yucca filamentosa 'Excalibur', Adam's needle
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In Newfound Fields, Indianapolis-based artist Kyng Rhodes imagines a garden of splendor, awash with colorful Indiana birds and native and tropical blossoms that can be found throughout Newfields’ 152-acre campus. The imagery represents the artist’s personal journey with Newfields and the museum’s evolving role in Indianapolis’s creative community. The garden symbolizes Newfields; the varied flowers personify artists from all walks of life. The composition is anchored by a great blue heron—a stately creature that, for Rhodes, represents progress and evolution. It splashes its massive wings in a pool of water, creating a ripple effect that sends the other birds in flight, spreading seeds to refresh and diversify the garden. Rhodes has embedded multiple iconographic elements into the composition that hold personal significance for him. At one corner, a red cardinal is perched in the branches of a tulip tree—Indiana’s state bird and tree, respectively. A ruby-throated hummingbird—a recurring figure in his paintings—flies near a yellow spotlight, a visual device used by the artist to identify the focal point of each piece he creates. As a way of honoring Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, Newfields’ new President and CEO, Rhodes has hidden her initials in the leaves of her favorite flower. |
Conceived and created by Indiana-based multimedia production team Blockhouse Studios in collaboration with artist Paula Shoultz, this large-scale projection was inspired by the color palette of early European paintings in the Clowes Collection at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was an additional source of inspiration. According to Greek mythology, when she wept in sorrow, her tears were transformed into anemones as they fell to the earth. The cinematic projection utilizes a “reverse rain” technique to simulate the realistic arrival and passing of a rainstorm. To capture the striking visual effects, the Shoultz hung more than 3,600 fresh-cut florals upside down to create a saturated and surreal floral landscape.
See the accompanying video for a behind the scenes look at how this unique piece was created.
Blockhouse Studios has been a Newfields partner for other projection experiences such as projection mapping on Newfields’ Lilly House mansion during Harvest Nights and a state-of-the-art ultra-high-definition digital ceiling in the 2022 exhibition, Clowes Pavilion Reimagined.
Newfields offers dynamic experiences with art and nature for guests of all ages. The 152-acre cultural campus features art galleries, lush gardens, a historic home, performance spaces, a nature preserve and sculpture park. From inspiring exhibitions in the IMA Galleries, to concerts in The Toby, to a stroll through The Garden with a glass of something cold, guests are invited to interact with art and nature in exciting new ways. Newfields is home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, among the ten largest and ten oldest general art museums in the nation; the Lilly House, a National Historic Landmark; The Garden, featuring 40 acres of contemporary and historic gardens, a working greenhouse and an orchard; and The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, one of the largest art and nature parks in the country. The Newfields campus extends outside of Indianapolis with Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Ind.—one of the nation’s most highly regarded examples of mid-century Modernist architecture. For more information, visit DiscoverNewfields.org.
