Newsletter 015
Marion Design Co., Marion Arts Commission, and IWU Art + Design Faculty partner together for the first time to represent Marion at the Harrison Art Center Speck Gallery! You’re invited to our Opening Reception this Friday, 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The work will be on display for the month of June. Peter Troutner’s work is a series of collages that bring hope and satire through found images and words. Wendy rethinks Marion’s landscape utilizing its map. Shifting color, form, and shape she transforms Marion’s map to prompt questions of transparency, division, and story.
Friday, June 3rd
6-9pm
Harrison Center
1505 N Delaware St,
Indianapolis, IN 46202
While we tend to focus on increasing retail and dining establishments on the downtown square as we work toward revitalization, it’s important to maintain the strength and stability of our civic spaces. Marion’s library, courthouse, and government offices are critical places for ensuring the history and constancy of activity that these places bring on a daily basis. Listen in on the first of a series of conversations that Wendy, Tim, and Ed have on Marion’s downtown civic spaces here. The second conversation is Monday morning, 8:35 am on June 27th on the web at Good Morning Grant County, WBAT.
We spend 90% of our day indoors. Therefore, a well-designed built environment is
critical to your everyday life.
Look around you. Lift you eyes from the screen for a moment and take a look at your surroundings. Does your environment bring you joy? Does your office or home inspire you to do your best work? Here are some quick interior design methods if your answer isn’t a quick YES!
Shift your view so you have some access to daylight. It doesn’t have to be sunlight…just some daylight. Studies prove that daylight in workspaces improves mood, increases morale, reduces fatigue, and minimizes eye strain.
Color makes a difference. Red affects the body. Blue affects the mind. Yellow affects self confidence. Choosing the right color, color combination, and finish can impact your work quality.
Hire a space planner. Whether your area is a small office or large multi-user, multi-level office, space planning is critical to ensuring time isn’t wasted due to inefficient use of one of the most under recognized assets we have…space. Even a small shift can change your whole perspective on your workflow.
These are just a few of the simple considerations that can save you and your organization time and money. An interior designers purpose is to create spaces for the Life, Safety, and Well-being of her clients. Hire an interior designer and you might actually save money by improving your business’ work quality through well designed spaces for your employees and families.
You should begin seeing some activity again at our future downtown location. With every jot and tittle uncovered, we’re nearing the commence of renovations on the ground floor. We’ll keep you updated as things happen!
Wendy Puffer, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer
I have to admit, I didn’t want to move to Marion in 1991. The drive down Nebraska heading south toward the IWU campus felt unfamiliar and wasn’t the “welcome” I was looking for. I lived the first 15 years in Marion skipping from our home in the Oak HIll district on the north end of town to campus on the opposite, south end of town. With the exception of weekly visits to the Marion Public LIbrary, we were able to live outside the stories that needed to be seen.
But all that changed in 2016. As I completed my MFA in Design Thinking, I began seeing the world through a human-centered lens. This new view caused me to crane my “empathy neck” 180°. I began reading differently, watching different media, and listening to different influential voices. As a result, my language has changed.
I’m excited about the future of this community I now spend most of my time in the spaces between campus and home. The very places I avoided previously are now the places I live and work most days. I shared my story on a recent podcast, Where We Landed, answering questions about my journey to make Marion our family’s home and what my experience is in our community
Listening to that recording reminded me of the importance of shifting my own lens to see my surroundings in a new way. This isn’t a “one-and-done” process, but a daily muscle that has to be exercised. So, whatever your circumstances, I encourage you to keep looking intently…and be ready to see differently!
