Over the course of a very interesting 35-year career at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, I had the unique pleasure of working with Robert Indiana during a handful of exhibitions: Robert Indiana: Hartley Elegies, 1996; Crossroads of American Sculpture, 2000; The Essential Robert Indiana, 2014; and 19 Stars of Indiana Art: A Bicentennial Celebration, 2016.

Sworn to secrecy in 2000 during the installation of the exhibition, Crossroads of American Sculpture, Robert Indiana explained to the IMA Associate Registrar why the “O” is tilted in the LOVE sculpture (75.174).  Photo by Hadley Fruits. 

Robert, who asked me to call him Bob, and in return called me Sherry Lou Who, was a born and raised Hoosier. He graduated with high honors from Arsenal Technical High School in 1945. Although he enjoyed his celebrity, Bob always struck me as a pragmatic and unassuming man true to his midwestern roots.

Over the many years that I knew him, business tasks often found us in conversation with each other. I hardly tried to keep the exchanges focused on the documents needing to be signed or the art shipping logistics that were pending his directive. I happily allowed Bob to derail the conversations. He enjoyed talking about being a Hoosier, living on an island, and the personalities of his cats, but he wanted the art to speak for itself. While on a break from installing the Crossroad of American Sculpture exhibition, Bob and I walked outside to the LOVE sculpture. He mentioned that he was deeply proud of the sculpture and of his appropriated Indiana name.

The iconic Pop Art image of LOVE garnered Bob immense public attention but left him regretting his lack of savvy business sense. He shared with me the constant remorse he felt over not fully anticipating the power of his art and failing to establish proper design copyright. Despite that, he experienced great success during his lifetime.

After graduating from high school, Bob left Indiana to pursue an art education, and while he never returned home to Indiana to live, he maintained a warm relationship with the Hoosiers of his home state and especially with the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Indiana wrote in a letter to Jeffrey R. Brown, Curator of Collections at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1970, “[LOVE’s] inclusion in the Indianapolis exhibition is also one of the most exciting moments for me, for I have not forgotten those first 17 years in Indianapolis.”

Nearly 26 years after he wrote that message to Brown, I witnessed a lovely moment from his recalled Hoosier childhood. During the question-and-answer session following a presentation on the Hartley Elegies series, an elderly woman in the audience asked him in a tiny voice, “Bobby, did you draw today?” Affection softened Bob’s face as he immediately recognized her as a beloved neighbor who had been his babysitter when he was a boy. They embraced and then held hands for the remainder of the evening.

Although we were deeply saddened when Robert Indiana died on May 19, 2018, his legacy lives on here at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. During one poignant phone call following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he mentioned that he was glad to have chosen the perfect and enduring message to share worldwide, in any language. Generations to come will enjoy this monumental sculpture with a simple message, LOVE.

Read more about LOVE celebrating its 50th Newfields anniversary in October 2025 at https://discovernewfields.org/love