Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis -CAMi

Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis -CAMi Tube Factory is a community gathering space, art exhibition space, creativity lab, event space, and workshop operated by Big Car Collaborative.
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A commissioning, non-collecting contemporary art museum with nine galleries, artist residencies, radio station, cafe, artist studios and park in the historic Garfield Park south of downtown Indianapolis.

Welcome to O.P.T.I.O.N.A.L. — the Office of Provisional Thinking, Indeterminate Outcomes, Nonessential Activities, and L...
06/10/2026

Welcome to O.P.T.I.O.N.A.L. — the Office of Provisional Thinking, Indeterminate Outcomes, Nonessential Activities, and Life — an ongoing participatory conceptual artwork and creative public office inside

This project space — led by social practice artist and co-founder Jim Walker — invites visitors to step into an alternative kind of workplace. This former plywood supervisor’s box saved when the CAMi Main building was a factory (see last two photos) is now a space devoted to curiosity, imagination, experimentation, reflection, and play. 

Inside, you’ll find various books and objects that highlight the history of this kind of art that’s about ideas and process more than physical products. And you’ll experience a rotating collection of art activities inspired by conceptual art history and facilitated by various lab-coat-wearing CAMi staffers. Some activities may take only a couple of minutes. Others encourage you to linger, chat a bit, and contribute to a growing collective project. Currently, you’re invited to erase a drawing and save the residue and share your good and bad ideas.

O.P.T.I.O.N.A.L. is located inside of the CAMi Main building and is open during museum hours.

Participation is encouraged, but is — of course — optional.

Are you up for an energetic, exhilarating road show? Join us at CAMi to welcome the FOUND crew on June 11, 7pm to celebr...
05/28/2026

Are you up for an energetic, exhilarating road show? Join us at CAMi to welcome the FOUND crew on June 11, 7pm to celebrate 25 years of collecting the world’s greatest found notes, letters, and other treasures.

$12.51- Ticket link in bio.

In 2001, This American Life storyteller Davy Rothbart seized on a simple idea: collecting notes and letters that people plucked off the ground and compiling them — in the back of a Chicago video store — into a handcrafted zine called FOUND. These finds capture America’s collective subconscious and can be hilarious, heartbreaking, and “unexpected as a tumbleweed.” (The New Yorker).
On June 10, 2001, in Chicago, Davy and his friends held a release party for the first issue of FOUND Magazine, where Davy read from the found notes and letters and his musician friends played songs inspired by these finds. Soon, the FOUND team began visiting cities like Indianapolis (including frequent collaborations with Big Car) and before long became a nationwide cult sensation, with 50-state tours to hundreds of U.S. cities, repeat appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and This American Life, and even a Broadway musical, a hit podcast, and now, a new documentary TV series in production with the Duplass Brothers.

Now, to celebrate FOUND’s 25th birthday, bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Davy Rothbart returns to Indianapolis with his energetic, exhilarating, and profoundly affecting FOUND live show, featuring some of the latest, greatest found treasures to land at Found HQ, as well as some all-time favorites, plus uncensored stories from This American Life, and more surprises.

Accompanying Davy is legendary Michigan musician and activist Seth Bernard who has drawn comparisons to Neil Young and Eddie Vedder. Says The New Yorker’s Bill McKibben: “His music not only swings, rocks, and grooves — it matters. It’s the voice of a real community, with a sound and a message the world needs to hear.”



“After Party,” Grace Eunshin Kim, oil on canvas, 2020.Grace Eunshin Kim is a Seoul-born, Canada-based painter whose work...
05/23/2026

“After Party,” Grace Eunshin Kim, oil on canvas, 2020.

Grace Eunshin Kim is a Seoul-born, Canada-based painter whose work offers a dynamic and playful interrogation of contemporary society through a masterful dialogue with art history. Her vibrant, densely populated canvases draw on the compositional drama of Masaccio, the sinuous landscapes of Lucas Cranach the Elder, the atmospheric stillness of Pierre Bonnard, and the suspended tension of Balthus — weaving these influences into something entirely her own while threading throughout a subtle but persistent Asian heritage. Her figures, often masked or mid-gesture, inhabit moments of solemn hesitation, caught between action and inaction in a perpetual inner negotiation that the artist frames as a search for happiness.

Currently on view as part of our “From The Collection Of” exhibition featuring works on loan from a few of the donors who made CAMi possible.

New work being installed this spring and summer! Bryn Jackson is selecting materials for his land art and environmental ...
05/22/2026

New work being installed this spring and summer! Bryn Jackson is selecting materials for his land art and environmental restoration project at CAMi, —“Apung Iru’s Abundance.”

Supported by Artists At Work, Jackson’s inspiration for this project comes from his Filipino heritage and the cosmology of Apung Iru, an immortal river deity from the precolonial Philippines. Apung Iru represents both the power and generosity of rivers, reminding us that water is both a living presence and a shared responsibility. This story offers a cultural framework for understanding ecological care as reciprocal: when we nourish the land, it nourishes us in return.

As an artist, Bryn’s practice is rooted in ecology and relationality. He often works with living or otherwise organic materials to make visible the connections between environmental health, current events, and colonial history. Apung Iru’s Abundance brings these threads together in a tangible way: using art as a tool to strengthen community relationships to place—and to one another—through the shared act of caring for the land.

Stay tuned for progress photos!

“To See Her Smile”Samuel E VázquezAcrylic, spray enamel, ink, dye on board, 2011,with assemblage by Joanna Nixon.On view...
05/17/2026

“To See Her Smile”
Samuel E Vázquez
Acrylic, spray enamel, ink, dye on board, 2011,
with assemblage by Joanna Nixon.

On view in the Katharine B Sutphin Gallery as part of “From the Collection of…” exhibit.

The making of Ivelisse Jimenez “CAMPO DE RESONANCIA” After months of preparation, Jimenez flew in to Indianapolis the s...
05/16/2026

The making of Ivelisse Jimenez “CAMPO DE RESONANCIA”

After months of preparation, Jimenez flew in to Indianapolis the second week of April and spent two weeks creating the exhibit on site. Tube into at noon 5/16 to hear an interview with Jimenez.



Special thanks to Adam Brand and Brose Partington for install assistance.

JJJJJerome Ellis, Grupo Folclórico Macehuani &A.K.A. performed at our May 3 Levitt Vibe, our second concert of the seaso...
05/11/2026

JJJJJerome Ellis, Grupo Folclórico Macehuani &
A.K.A. performed at our May 3 Levitt Vibe, our second concert of the season! The mini Indy Gay Market was in full swing, our artist studios and storefronts were all open.

Join us for the next concert on June 7! The monthly FREE, family-friendly live concert series runs through November.

Special thanks to Levitt Family Foundation, Jungclaus-Campbell, Efroymson Family Fund, Eskenazi Health, and Lumina Foundation for their generous support of the 2026 Levitt VIBE Indianapolis Music Series!



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Whether your mother is here in spirit or in the flesh- you’re welcome to spend Mother’s Day at CAMi! “Terri Sisson Park...
05/10/2026

Whether your mother is here in spirit or in the flesh- you’re welcome to spend Mother’s Day at CAMi! “Terri Sisson Park- A Shrine for Motherhood,” celebrates all mothers and forms of motherhood. The park was designed by Rundell Ernstberger’s Daniel Liggett in close collaboration with CAMi and features many ways for visitors to experience and enjoy art.
It’s open to the public during daylight hours. The signage was designed by Matinee Creative and made by artist Cory Robinson. ernstberger

The park includes “The Chicken Chapel of Love” and if your mother has left the earthly plane, you are welcome to leave a photo or object to honor and remember her.
With commissions ongoing, the chapel contains the work of many artists :

In the park is Juan William Chavez “The Indianapolis Bee Sanctuary” featuring a multi-color hexagon pattern concrete floor that houses two beehives. Surrounding the hives is a hexagon-shaped cedar eco wall filled with organic soil and is filled with an abundance of native plants and flowers for bees throughout the seasons. The Bee Sanctuary embraces the concept of working as a hive.



Sam Van Aken “Tree of 40 Fruit” is a single tree that grows forty different types of stone fruit including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds. Created through the process of grafting, the “Tree of 40 Fruit” blossom in variegated tones of pink, crimson and white in spring, and in summer bear a multitude of fruit. Primarily composed of heirloom and antique varieties, the “Tree of 40 Fruit” are a form of conservation, preserving stone fruit varieties that are not commercially produced or available.

Address

1125 Cruft Street
Indianapolis, IN
46203

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 7pm
Thursday 11am - 7pm
Friday 11am - 7pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+13174506630

Website

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