Local artist to be featured in RAW Indy showcase

Local artist and small business owner Keenan Monnett, of Cloverdale, will be one of 58 Indiana artists to display his art at the RAW: Signature art showcase in the Old National Center in Indianapolis March 31 at 7 p.m.

Accompanied by music bands, make-up artists, jewelers, hair dressers and photographers, Monnett will be presenting his visual art, which he describes as his way of "solving the world's problems."

"My art comes from a deep rooted concern for all of existence and its full understanding" Monnett writes on the RAW website. "Just as everything is connected in nature, I want my art to have the same effect, to connect the fabric fibers of life, to be the bridge from hurt to happiness. As the viewer travels these lines I hope they keep themselves in mind...."

Although his works feature more sophisticated materials like charcoal and oil paint, he says his best pieces (shown with this article) are done in ballpoint pen. His work is inspired, among others, by Salvador Dali, Edgar Allen Poe and Brad Pitt.

He also said his grandparents have always been encouraging, and still have, to his embarassment, one of his juvenile drawings hanging on their wall.

Art and drawing are things that Monnett says have "been with me my whole life." When asked what it's like to be an artist in small-town Indiana, he says, "I know I'll never leave again. It's really a community."

The only problem, he says, is that small town people don't generally buy art. He's had better success, however, as a small business owner of the Elysium Tattoo Club.

"I have a feeling I'm going to be a tattoo-er for life," he said. "I don't want to be, but it's just too interesting."

Getting to meet new people and hear their stories is part of what he finds most fulfilling in life.

"I feel like I've had mansions. I feel I have owned the world. I have had a lot of friends and met a lot of people."

Persons can view Monnett's art at www.instagram.com/misodledoery or on the RAW website at www.rawartists.org/misodledoery.

RAW's goal is "to provide independent artists within the first 10 years of their creative career with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity."