Speck Mellencamp takes over as executive director of Seymour arts center

Speck Mellencamp, right, shows Gary Boebinger of Nashville a container of product used to clean paintbrushes during a class in February at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts in Seymour. Zach Spicer

SEYMOUR — A conversation earlier this year while teaching oil painting classes led to a job opportunity for Speck Mellencamp.

While setting up for the classes in February at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts in Seymour, the 25-year-old talked to board President Eric DiBlasi Jr. about things he would like to see the center offer to make it stand out more.

DiBlasi mentioned the center was looking for a new executive director. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in oil painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 2019, Mellencamp was the perfect person to consider.

“His qualifications, I mean, why have we not talked to this guy about doing this?” DiBlasi said of his thoughts at the time.

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Mellencamp expressed an interest in returning to the center to teach future classes. Then learning the board was searching for an executive director caught his attention.

“I was teaching that class and I knew I was coming back to Indiana,” said Mellencamp, a Bloomington native who recently moved from Rhode Island to Seymour. “We were talking about more classes in the future and everything, and it just sort of happened. I was pretty interested in it from the get-go.”

DiBlasi said he and the board are very proud to have Mellencamp as part of their team.

“He has ideas and plans that will take SICA to the next level not only as a gallery but also as a space where artists can gather, teach and learn,” DiBlasi said. “We’re extremely fortunate to have someone with his enthusiasm and training in this role.”

Mellencamp started as executive director July 22.

Since then, the arts center has hosted an art exhibit by Seymour native Travis Owens, the final Friday Night Live concert of the summer and a bonus concert.

Next, Mellencamp is starting a Social Distance Painting Club as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The first meeting will be at noon Aug. 30 at the picnic area on the west side of the Medora Covered Bridge.

Each session will begin with a painting demonstration, and participants will be able to paint or draw for as long as they want after that. Travel easels are recommended but not required. Oil painting materials will be available to purchase at the meetings or at the arts center from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

There is a suggested donation of $20 per session. The group will meet twice a month through the fall to capture the change of seasons.

“Through this time, everyone has just been inside isolated from each other for the most part, so it would be nice to get out and get together with other people in a safe distance and have art to do,” Mellencamp said.

“I personally love landscape painting,” he said. “Especially if you do paintings throughout the fall, you can look back at all of them and see all of the changes. It’s some of my favorite painting to do, and I just decided to share that with people, especially in this weird time.”

For information about the club, call 812-522-2278 or email [email protected].

“It’s going to be really lax, like no pressure,” Mellencamp said. “Even if it’s a class you’re taking for fun, there is a certain level of stress that goes along with it. I don’t want it to feel like a classroom. Just a chill, stress-free thing.”

Selling art supplies at the center also is a new thing Mellencamp has introduced.

“In the middle of one of the classes (in February), this lady said she had a hard time finding some of the paints that were on his list,” DiBlasi said. “She was going to Hobby Lobby, going to Bloomington, wherever, so there’s obviously a need for art supplies, and I think we’re going to be able to do it where we could be competitive with the retailers and maybe even offer discounts to members.”

Mellencamp said that will be convenient for people in the art club or classes at the center.

“If you wanted to take a class or come to the club or anything and you have no supplies, just show up and we have everything you need all ready for you,” he said.

With the center’s monthly exhibits, Mellencamp will use the connections he has made through school and his career as a painter to feature different types of art and artists.

“I’ve talked to a guy who does a bunch of still life that is really cool, and he also does paintings from Greek times that are really cool, and I’ve talked to some sculpture people, so I’m hoping to get a wide variety of different stuff coming through here,” he said.

He also talked to an illustrator about exhibiting at the center and teaching a class and another guy who went to an art school and does coding.

DiBlasi said in the past, the center has mainly featured regional artists who have exhibited their work in galleries or online, so it will be good to expand that outreach.

“I think (Mellencamp) graduating from an art school and being from Bloomington, he knows artists who might not have been on our radar before,” DiBlasi said.

Since art is broad, Mellencamp said he likes how the center hosts the Friday Night Live summer concert series and would like to continue that.

“People seem to really enjoy the music, and I think that’s a cool thing that goes on here,” he said. “I like the monthly shows. They are always fun.”

Mellencamp also wants to promote SICA more through its website (soinart.com), Facebook page (facebook.com/artatsica) and other social media.

The hope is to draw more people to the center, which opened in 1991 and is housed in an 1851 two-story brick mansion.

“If you’re an art aficionado, there’s stuff out here for you, but if you’ve been curious and want to take a class or just see an exhibit, try your hand at pottery, there’s just something for everyone,” DiBlasi said. “It has always been a laid-back atmosphere.”

Mellencamp admires that, too, recalling spending time in the pottery barn when he was younger and having some of his work featured alongside those of his father, Seymour native and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp, and his late grandmother, Marilyn Mellencamp, in an exhibit in October 2019.

“This place just has a rich history,” he said. “It’s very welcoming here. We want everyone to come. If they have any interest in art or they think they might have an interest in art, we want to help them discover that more and explore their interests.”

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Southern Indiana Center for Arts is at 2001 N. Ewing St., Seymour.

Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday or by appointment.

The not-for-profit organization is operated by a volunteer board of directors and new Executive Director Speck Mellencamp. A membership puts a person on a mailing list and offers several discounts at the arts center. People also may support the arts center by making tax-deductible donations.

For information, call 812-522-2278, visit soinart.com or facebook.com/artatsica or email [email protected].

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What: Social Distance Painting Club meeting

When: Noon Sunday.

Where: Picnic area on the west side of the Medora Covered Bridge along State Road 235 in Medora

Cost: Suggested donation of $20 per session

Details: The group will meet twice a month through the fall to capture the change of seasons. Each session will begin with a painting demonstration, and participants will be able to paint or draw for as long as they want after that. Travel easels are recommended but not required. Oil painting materials will be available to purchase at the meetings or at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, 2001 N. Ewing St., Seymour, from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

Information: Call 812-522-2278 or email [email protected]

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