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Featured muralist: Holly Sims
The following is the first of a five-part series on the artists who will be painting the five murals throughout Putnam County as part of the Putnam County Mural Festival. Set for Sept. 11-24, the festival will culminate with a celebration in Greencastle on Friday, Sept. 23.
First up is Holly Sims, who will be painting the former Tom’s Cookies building in Fillmore.
Holly Sims was raised in Greencastle and now lives and works in Anderson with her four-legged studio assistant — a boxer named Laila.
Sims earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology and Bachelor of Fine Arts from Anderson University in 2009, and went on to receive her MFA in painting and drawing from the New York Studio School in 2013. She was recipient of the NYSS Gertrude Whitney Conner Scholarship for Excellence. She is currently a professor of communication and design arts at Anderson.
She enjoys spending the warmer months of the year working on public art projects and murals while painting in her studio throughout the winter.
Q: Why did you want to create a mural in Putnam County?
A: “I wanted to create a mural in Putnam County, because it is where my hometown is and I want to inspire young artists. I love the location of Tom’s Cookies across from Fillmore elementary school. My most formative years as an artist were in Jones Elementary School with Vicky Krider.”
Q: How do you hope people will engage with your art?
A: “I plan to have the elementary students visit the mural while it is in progress. I hope that the public knows that the content of the mural was inspired by the request of students and is for the students.”
Q: How did you get into mural creation? How long have you been doing it?
A: “I started getting into murals as a part-time job for a muralist in Indianapolis after college. It wasn’t until I used spray paint a few years ago that I really fell in love with the medium.”
Q: What inspires your art?
A: “You don’t have to look far to find beauty, so I am frequently inspired by what is often right in front of me. From flowers to landscapes, I like to use vibrant color to bring into focus the beauty that already exists around us. I was therefore thankful that the students of Fillmore Elementary were also excited about nature, farming and a cardinal.”
Q: What’s your next project?
A: “My primary focus this season is teaching full time at AU, but I will also still be painting throughout Madison County. This fall soon after the mural festival I am painting a business on the north side of Anderson. And this winter I have a painting going up inside the Madison County Visitors Bureau and will begin designing murals for downtown Anderson next summer.”
