CELEBRATE THE INDY 500. SPEED UP SUPPORT FOR INDY ARTISTS.
Add the spirit of the Indy 500 to your home or office with a limited-edition, fine art print of your favorite Welcome Race Fans artwork. To celebrate the city’s racing history and to support local artists, the Arts Council and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are selling $150 giclée prints of the iconic artworks from the last five years. You are also able to buy posters of the new 2020 Welcome Race Fans signs for $10 each, or collect all five for $25. Visit www.shop.ims.com. Click on the Welcome Race Fans Art tab at the top of the page.
Proceeds will benefit the artists who created these original artworks, and also support Phase II of the Indy Arts & Culture COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund to help ensure that #IndyKeepsCreating.
Welcome Race Fans, a partnership between the Arts Council and the IMS, started in 2016 to mark the 100th running of the Indy 500. That year, 33 artists were commissioned to create original artworks to welcome visitors and celebrate the history and excitement of Indianapolis racing culture. Since then, 52 artists have made unique artworks using their own styles, materials, and processes–from salvaged metals and poplar to colored pencils on paper or acrylic paint on canvas. Traditionally, these artworks have been printed as posters or banners and displayed throughout the city during the month of May.
While the Indy 500 will run this year without fans in attendance, the city’s passion to “welcome race fans” is still strong. To celebrate the 104th running of the Indy 500, on Aug. 23, five artists created new Welcome Race Fans artworks for 2020. The featured artists are Becky Hochhalter; Martin Kuntz; Josh Betsey; Jingo de la Rosa; and Joy Hernandez.
The Welcome Race Fans artists participating in the fundraiser will receive a flat licensing fee and 10% of the sales of prints of their artwork (after printing/shipping costs). The remainder of the proceeds will help replenish the Indy Arts & Culture COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, which awarded 950 rapid-response $500 grants from March through May to support arts and cultural workers who suffered sudden, severe income losses caused by venue closures and events cancellations due to COVID-19.
That need for financial support has grown stronger, according to June 2020 survey of more than 1,400 creatives statewide conducted by the Arts Council and the Indiana Arts Commission, and 25 of the IAC’s regional partners. Nearly 100% of creatives have been significantly impacted by COVID-19, and are in critical need of financial support for basic living expenses including housing, childcare costs, health insurance, and food. Creatives are looking for support through contracts, project commissions, gigs, and other paid opportunities. Learn more at indykeepscreating.org.
Image: Becky Hochhalter, 2020.
