Amiah “Mimsy” Mims
Amiah Mims is a graduate of Kent State University where she studied visual communication design, photo illustration, and was a champion gymnast. Until recently, she was a full-time graphic designer but a desire to invest more into her artistic talents motivated her to take a leap of faith and establish her creative services company, Works By Mimsy LLC. Utilizing her abilities to their full capability has been an empowering journey. Career highlights include the Welcome Race Fans project and the BLM, Indianapolis Recorder, and Goodwill/Cook Medical building murals.
IG: @worksbymimsy
Ashley Nora
In 2012, Ashley Nora graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Anderson University and started her career as a chemist. In 2019, she made the bold decision to leave her career in science to pursue art full-time. Ashley captures real moments of human interaction through portraiture using multiple mediums to express different ideas. Ashley travels the world and creates public art for people in every economic and social background to experience.
IG: @ashleynora_art
Deonna Craig
Deonna Craig attended Cathedral High School and DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, studying visual communication and sociology. She is a teaching artist and entrepreneur who looks to engage with her community through her art. Her artwork has been displayed in local museums and cultural spaces and in publications like Forbes and Sports Illustrated. Craig has served as Artist in Residencies at the Children’s Museum and the Madam Walker Legacy Center and is the president of the Eighteen.
IG: @deonna_heartbeat
ess mckee
Mixed media artist ess mckee was born in Arizona and lived in Germany before moving to Indiana to study at Ball State University. She is a teaching artist, entrepreneur, and graphic designer drawing inspiration from street art including graffiti and hip hop along with the multisensory experiences of the city. She produces her artwork across many mediums including murals, acrylic paintings, mixed media installations, photographs, graphic designs, and illustrations.
IG: @essmckee
FITZ
A self-taught artist, FITZ did not take an art class until he attended Broward Community College in Weston, Florida. A lifelong doodler, he was pushed to create art his entire life and his brightly colored cartoon style reflects his interest in popular culture, activism, and social commentary. Primarily using markers and acrylics, FITZ creates paintings, illustrations, and digital art. FITZ’s work has been displayed around town including Indy Art Council’s High Art Billboard Project this year.
IG: @artbyfitz
Gary Gee
Gary Gee works in mixed media, ceramics, and murals and is inspired and influenced by his travels, music, and inner-city countercultures. Gee is an award-winning Teaching Artist and has been featured in Art & Soul, High Art Billboard, and awarded recognition of distinction in Flava Fresh. Gee has participated in the On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Program and is a member of the WE ARE INDY ARTS Collective as well as the Eighteenth. He holds art degrees from IUPUI and Ivy Tech.
IG: @originalgarygee
Harriet Watson
Greencastle native, Harriet Watson often expressed her feelings of non-conformity and frustrations with social expectations through art including a childhood series of surrealist, brightly colored self-portraits. Watson has a psychology degree from Indiana University and sees art as a connective force. She looks to feminist, black artists for inspiration and has continued to work as a muralist following the success of the #BLM mural. She also produces clothes, acrylic paintings, and is exploring digital media.
IG: @harrietwatson.art
Israel Solomon
Solomon, an Indiana native, studied art education at Ball State University and taught middle-school art before turning full-time to his studio practice and teaching college-level drawing classes. He maintains a studio in the Harrison Center and creates large-scale, ambitious paintings and murals using sharp geometry and brilliant colors to infuse his subjects with energy and power.
IG: @israelsoloart
Dr. Jarrod Nicholas Dortch
Dr. Jarrod Nicholas Dortch is part of a movement of Black artists and curators creating experiences that promote Black culture. Dortch is an urban ground worker and educator. His work has been exhibited at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, IUPUI's Herron School of Art, Saks Fifth Avenue, Hoy Polloy Art Gallery, and The Indianapolis Art Center. He has also curated exhibitions including “Art and Vynyl” at Big Car’s “Listen Hear”.
IG: @jarroddortch
John Moore
John G. Moore Jr. strives to create transformative art, combining symbols, colors, and letters to critique the status quo and encourage the viewer to pause and reflect. Moore’s style includes color blocks, geometric patterns, and thick lines influenced by the graphic style of Pop art and hard-edge painting of the 1960s. He wants his art to be familiar but different and prompt difficult conversations that can reshape us and the world around us.
IG: @john.g.moore.jr
Kenneth Hordge (FINGERCREATIONS)
An Indianapolis native, FINGERCREATIONS creates unique artwork that captures the essence of his subjects using his fingers as brushes before finishing his canvases with broken glass. Known for his celebrity portraits, Hordge, a self-taught artist, cites his God-given talent as the impetus of his inspiration. Hordge’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the city and in the local news. As a member of the Eighteen, Hordge helped create the 2020 Black Lives Matter mural on historic Indiana Ave.
IG: @fingercreations
Kevin West
Professional artist and entrepreneur Kevin West studied painting at the Herron School of Art and Design. His work features brightly colored, oversized portraits of influential Black celebrities, athletes, and entertainers as well as friends and family. West, a cancer survivor, embraces the joy in life and is passionate about his art. He developed a personalized paint-by-number portrait technology which helps fund his passion project of making art accessible to Boys and Girls Clubs across the United States.
IG: @artbykwest
Kyng Rhodes
Kyng Rhodes has been creating art his entire life. Previously employed as a graphic designer, Rhodes became a professional artist during the pandemic. He was encouraged and supported by his friends and family as well as the attention he received as a member of the Eighteen. His work is inspired and informed by his observation of events and people combined with his deep spirituality. Rhodes is known for his vibrant palette, deep shadow, and symbolic content.
IG: @kyngrhodes
Pope Gaskine
Indianapolis native Pope Gaskine is a multidisciplinary artist who creates a wide range of two- and three-dimensional works including Expressionistic oil and acrylic paintings, digital art, jewelry, clothing design, and sculpture along with recording music. He credits synesthesia (combining sensory experiences), esthesia (sensitivity to feelings), and his spirituality for inspiring and directing his creative process. While working he often experiences sounds as colors which allows him to depict the physical and metaphysical astral world in his projects.
IG: @popegaskine
Rae Parker
Rae Parker is an art educator and multi-versed, multidisciplinary artist. Parker has always created artwork that they hope speaks with integrity, awareness, and power. Each series and piece has its own meaning and purpose. Parker encourages the viewer to pause and reflect of the layered, multidimensional meaning behind each piece and challenges the audience to change their perspective through conversations.
IG: @rpartdesigns
Rebecca Robinson
Award-winning mixed media artist Rebecca Robinson studied fashion design and art and visual communications, graduating from the HBCU North Carolina Central University. She is known for her unique, hand painted handbags as well as her paintings. Along with her membership in the Eighteen she belongs to the WE ARE INDY ARTS Collective, and serves on numerous local, artistic and cultural boards including the Indianapolis Cabaret and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum. She is currently an Artist in Residence at the Harrison Center.
IG: @psnob
Shamira Wilson
Shamira Wilson is an interdisciplinary artist passionate about ethnobotany, herbalism, and geology. Her work focuses on connections with our environment, ourselves, and each other. Her compositions are inspired by patterned textiles and their shared messages across time and generations. Wilson is the founder of the research, art, and design studio Wilson Art Lab. She holds a BA in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and studied Furniture Design and Woodworking at the Herron School of Art and Design.
IG: @shamirawilson
“Wavy” Blayne McCrary
“Wavy” Blayne McCray is a mid-career artist focused on mixed-media painting and music production. His love for the arts is simply what drives his passion. Pulling influence from Japanese culture, street art, and his personal experiences; he creates a unique Afrofuturistic style that he calls, “Wavy.” Making his visual artist debut in Indianapolis with his participation on the “Black Lives Matter” mural, McCrary hopes to bring a fresh look to the world.
IG: @WavyBlayne