Recycle Your X-mas Tree, Show Support
Primary Colours is pleased to announce a partnership with the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship and their annual holiday fundraiser, Tree Luggers.
In an effort to raise money for the Fellowship, local churches, and local charitable organizations–including Primary Colours–current Orr Fellows will be picking up Christmas trees from houses and transporting them to nearby Indy Parks locations where they will be recycled into mulch.
Just think: You don’t have to mess with needles and sap in your car, and you can help support two great local organizations!
Tree Luggers will be servicing neighborhoods on the near north side of Indianapolis, including Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington, Broad Ripple, Carmel, and Fishers.
So how do I sign-up?!
- If paying via credit card, check, or cash please go to www.treeluggers.org to complete the necessary materials.
- If paying by check or cash, please call Katie Veatch at (317) 396-9107 to leave a detailed message with your name, address, phone number, email address, and the date you want your tree picked up. On the pick-up day, leave your donation in a zip-lock bag under the doormat or in your mailbox and we will leave a receipt in the same location.
When registering for pick-up, please mention that you learned of the fundraiser through Primary Colours. By doing so, you’ll ensure that half of your donation will be shared with Primary Colours. Although not required, the recommended donation for pick-up is $20. All donations to Primary Colours and Tree Luggers are 100% tax deductible. On your pick-up day, please leave your undecorated tree at the curb before noon.
About the Orr Fellowship
The Orr Fellowship is a two-year professional program designed to combat “brain drain” in Indiana by placing the state’s top college graduates with high growth, entrepreneurial companies in central Indiana. Tree Luggers raised $4,000 last year, but with great support from the Indianapolis community, they believe they can double that amount this year for the Orr Fellowship and other charitable organizations in the community. Learn about the Fellows, the host companies, etc. here.
Thanks for an Amazing Year!
Dear Friends of Primary Colours,
As the sole employee of an amazing arts organization, I may just have the best job in Indianapolis. But it is all of us who help make our city a thriving environment that showcases and develops professional visual artists and educates, entertains, and engages audiences. With your support as an audience member, artist, donor, or friend we had an amazing 2009:
- We dared to stage a new event, Installation Nation, which featured installation artists creating their work within 40-foot shipping containers on an empty lot in Lockerbie. Thanks to generous support from the Efroymson Family Foundation, we gave each artists a stipend toward creating their site-specific art.
- We once again partnered with the Arts Council of Indianapolis to present three free workshops for the professional artist. Sessions taught the basics of completing an online portfolio, showing work in nontraditional spaces, and learning to develop better face-to-face communication with media, gallery owners, and potential buyers.
- This summer, Primary Colours was one of only 24 Indiana arts nonprofits to receive a $25,000 grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
- Art vs. Art was more successful than ever: 113 artists painted at the Stutz Building, 58 paintings sold for $5,175, a record crowd attended the Main Event at the Vogue, and, thanks to Butler Scion, we put up a record purse of $3,500.
- Just this month, we held a very well-attended seventh installment of TOYS at ARTBOX; the invitational holiday exhibition (with chutzpah!) featured works by 20 local artists.
By my calculations, we directly helped 197 artists this year. The most direct example is Mab Graves, who since winning Art vs. Art has sold several other pieces and has started to receive acclaim throughout the Indianapolis art community.
That’s what I love about this job: directly helping artists, helping them become more professional and more successful, and getting audiences excited about attending art events.
You can help in this effort as well. To feature installation art, put on free workshops, give 70-100% of sales back to artists, we rely on donations from friends like you. Can you help accelerate our progress in 2010 by making a year-end contribution?
- You can give a tax-deductible gift online at our Web site.
- Or send a check to Primary Colours. 212 W. 10th Street, Suite A380, Indianapolis, IN. 46202.
- If you’re on Facebook, you can give securely on our Cause page: Support Primary Colours.
Also, if your company would like to partner with us or donate to us, please let me know.
On behalf of the gang at Primary Colours, I wish you a warm and wonderful holiday season and a prosperous new year. Don’t forget that local art makes a great gift!
Happy Holidays,
Hugh Vandivier
hugh@primarycolours.org
Making the TOYS Spread Special
For all of our shows, we strive to put on something beyond the usual art opening, which stereotypically is often replete with “Three Buck Chuck” wine and crudités with ranch dressing.
Nope. For TOYS, we wanted to make it special, dammit.
So thanks go out to Martha Gilchrist for her imaginative and creative spread of goodies. Thanks to Sun King Brewing Company for donating the delicious Wee Mac Scottish Ale.
For my own efforts, I was little chagrined that my on-the-spot concoction of mulled wine would turn out to be such a hit. One woman even came up to me at one point and asked, “Are you the mulled wine guy? We need more!” I’m happy you liked it, and quite as a few of you asked me for the recipe, I’m glad to post here.
Hugh’s Holiday Mulled Wine
The wine is the only exact measurement in this recipe. I mixed the stuff on the spot and was conservative in my measurements when writing them down. Like my mom always said when she taught me to cook, “You always put it in, but you can’t take it out!”
There are a million recipes for mulled wine—some add Brandy, some add vanilla bean, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, and even chili power. This is the stuff I thought would work best. Have fun experimenting and enjoy.
2 bottles of red wine – really about anything will do; this is one honest case where the cheap stuff works well- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup lemon or orange zest
- 1 apple, sliced thin
Plug in a Crock Pot and set it to medium—high if you’ve procrastinated and your folks are coming in a half hour. Uncork the wine and dump it in. If you remember high school science, quickly turn the bottle upside down and make a couple of circles forcefully. This creates a whirlpool effect and allows better air flow so the wine empties faster. Slowly, add in the nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger. While stirring, slowly add in the honey. Make sure it’s not collecting on the bottom. Zest a lemon or orange (or both) into the pot. Cover the Crock Pot and let it all heat up together as you put the persimmon pudding in the oven, settle an argument between your brother and your dad over which was the better Darrin on Bewitched, or stop the dog from chasing the cat right into the tree. It’s best when it’s been steeping a while, at least an hour.
Slice an apple thinly and cut a little star in the middle if you’re feeling creative. Serve in coffee mugs with the apple slice floating on top. This concoction is best served with a tape recorder running prompting your folks for those stories that they always tell.
On the Cusp – Arts Survey
The good folks at On The Cusp are conducting a comprehensive survey about the arts in Indianapolis. Here’s what they say about it:
The questions will cover some general demographic information, your art viewing habits, art purchasing habits and more. The survey consists of 60 questions and should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. We hope to find out more about the current state of the arts in Indianapolis so we can forge new paths in which to both grow and improve the the local art scene. The survey will be conducted through the rest of the month. Any personal information garnered from the survey will remain completely anonymous. Thank you in advance for your participation and please spread the word about the survey.
You can take it online until April 10. Your 15 minutes will help expand and improve the local arts scene.
- Participate in the survey by clicking here.
