Published: June 12, 2009 09:01 pm      

Southern Indiana Arts Council hoping for home run

Bat art on display at Slugger Museum

The Southern Indiana Arts Council is teaming up with Louisville Slugger Museum to bring a new kind of bat to the city famous for the most recognized brand of lumber in baseball.

Thirty decorated bats, 29 from Southern Indiana artists, make up the Art That Swings exhibit that went on display at the start of the month. Works include quilts, sculptures and paintings. Arts Council Executive Director Andrea Grossman called the exhibit a unique showcase for area artists.

“These amazing bats show the range of creativity of these talented artists who come from New Albany to Madison,” she said.

The exhibit coincides with the Slugger’s 125th birthday.

Former Providence High School art teacher Ray Day said he was inspired by two favorites for his bat.

“Baseball is legendarily the American pastime and my favorite pastime is gardening,” said Day, a New Albany resident. “In order to combine the two concepts together, I have the Slugger bat growing out of a pot, a large round pot I painted to look like a baseball.”

His piece, titled “America’s Favorite Pastimes: Slugger Lilies,” includes artificial lilies that appear to be growing out of the bat. In addition, he used peanuts and Cracker Jack as mulch, two staples of a trip to the ball park.

Day, 70, said the idea of starting with a bat was a curveball to him, even though he decorated a horse while at Providence for Gallopalooza. He said the idea took two or three weeks to come up with.

“I thought, ‘What on earth should I do with a bat?’ Pigs, horses and cows, they stand on their own four feet, but a bat generally does not, so you also have the issue of how you are going to display a bat.”

While at the display, patrons can vote for their favorite bat, and the top three artists will receive cash prizes.

The bats will remain at the museum until Aug. 1, concluding with a charity event which benefits the Arts Council. The event will include a silent auction of five of the bats that show “spectacular ingenuity,” according to the council.

The display’s sponsors each will receive a bat as well. Additional bats will be raffled off during the event, said Edie Luther, the council’s program manager.

The display’s primary sponsor is Duke Energy.



IF YOU GO

• Tickets for the Aug. 1 event are $35. It will include a silent auction of five of the decorated Louisville Slugger bats with proceeds benefiting the Southern Indiana Arts Council. For more information or tickets, call the council at 812-949-4238.