HCA Artists Represent at IMA Mini Golf Course
photo credit: Brian Sheehan
Mini Golf at the Indianapolis Museum of Art opened this weekend and out of the 18 hole artist-designed course three of them belong to Harrison Center artists, William Denton Ray and Quincy Owens. Ray designed hole #9 that he named "Cardinal 200" and it features a whimsical totem-like cardinal that is also part Indy car. You can also see the phrase "There's more than corn in Indiana," a crown of corn and the year 1816 on the wheels, celebrating the year that Indiana became a state. You can find Billy in the northeast corner of the Harrison Center in studio 76 on First Fridays! Right across the hall from him is Harrison Center artist Quincy Owens who designed two holes for the course, one on his own and one with his colleague Luke Crawley of Owens and Crawley, LLC. Owens designed the 18th hole of the course featuring the iconic "Willie the Whale" that welcomed guests to the Indianapolis Zoo when it opened in 1964. With the help of Brian Sheehan, Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Rushville, Quincy, a Rushville native, managed to get his hands on the whale and now Willie is back, thanks to the passion and dedication of Owens. Quincy and Luke Crawley designed hole #11, "Back Home Again in Indiana," where golfers move balls past chimes that are tuned to play the song made famous by Jim Nabors. Nabors sang the unofficial Indiana anthem at the Indy 500 every year from 1972 until his final time in 2014. If you get a chance to play the course, take a minute to grab a mallet and play the entire song on the 135 chimes that make up this hole.
Stop by the gift shop on your way out of the museum and you can find T-shirts for Cardinal 200 and Willie, both designed by William Denton Ray!