Howard Hewitt -Ever walk through an airport and spot someone with a Wabash sweatshirt or ballcap? Immediately there is a bond from a shared experience. That rings true even if you’re not a Wabash student or alum! It happens to me all the time, particularly in Indianapolis.
The first-ever Indiana Artisan Marketplace was held at the State Fairgrounds April 16-17. A friend and I decided to go shortly after learning about the Indiana Artisan group. Essentially, it’s a juried membership that features some of the state’s best talent. The show featured more than 150 Indiana Artisans and another 50 or so from Kentucky.
While featuring many of the type things you’d expect at the Broad Ripple, Penrod, or Talbott Street Art Fair, we also saw lots of unique art, jewelry, and Indiana foods. Indiana chocolatiers, pastry, wine, noodles, sauces, and much more give the Marketplace a real fun twist compared to other art shows.
We spent a great deal of time chatting with one young sculptor who had very unique pieces he often displays as a group to create a narrative. To make a long story short, his sign said Portland and Lafayette, Indiana. I noted I worked at Wabash College. Then, just as it often does, “Oh, I graduated from Wabash in 2001.’
Zach Medler ’01 is working as a full-time artist with a studio in Portland but lives with his wife in Lafayette. Medler’s art stands out as unique in a setting full of obviously talented people. You can learn more about the unique process he uses on the links below.
Medler was an independent man and religion major at Wabash. His hometown is Portland. See more about Zac’s art work on his website or follow his efforts by “Liking” his Facebook page!
His exhibit “Locality” was the main event in August at the Lala Gallery in Lafayette. The exhibit included ceramics and found objects, mixed-media pieces “cobbled together” into patchwork “canvases.” Here is a link to an interview Zach did with Lafayette television about that exhibit.
