Artist melds Music & Murals

For Max Kauffman, making art is the easy part. It's the business side of it all that gets to him. \nA few months ago, Kauffman, a former IU student, decided to take his art on tour. He began calling venues in different cities across the country to convince them to show his art.\nThis was no easy task.\nFrom convincing galleries showing his artwork was worth their time to finding new venues when others fell through at the last minute, Kauffman said he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed when setting up the logistics of the tour.\nIn the end, his dedication paid off.\nThe 24-year-old embarks on an art tour across the country, spanning 10 cities and 14 venues in just 16 days. His first stop will be at 7 p.m. today at a residence at 321 E. Wylie St.\nThe Robot Co. Skate Agency Art Tour is no ordinary art show. Instead of just presenting his work, Kauffman, who graduated from Arizona State University in 2004 and spent his final semester at IU as a guest student in the School of Fine Arts, lined up several local bands in each city to play music while he paints murals at the art galleries, skate shops and bars he visits. \nWhile he will still showcase about 25 pieces of his work, the main focus of his tour is on his murals and the ways in which art and music can complement each other.\n"His style is totally different, and in order to make art progress, you have to challenge things and go against the fray. He's doing just that," said South Bend resident Nick Schmidt, who has been friends with Kauffman for 10 years and is handling public relations for the tour.\nKauffman said he was an avid skateboarder as a teenager in his hometown of South Bend. While he doesn't get to skateboard as often these days, he still keeps the sport close to him. He describes his artwork as "skateboard-oriented," and when scheduling the tour, he knew right away he wanted to have shows at both traditional galleries and skate shops. \n"The people who work at skate shops tend to be really understanding and relaxed," he said. "Because of that, I wanted to have a mix of galleries but also venues where everyone is just having fun and hanging out."\nSince Kauffman will have less than two hours to complete each mural, he will use acrylic paint to fill the canvas. He explained that acrylic is slow to dry, making it easier to move the paint around. While he enjoys using watercolors for "the flow and color you get while blending," acrylic paint is more conducive for painting large murals in a short amount of time, he said. Most of his murals will be abstract art, he added.\n"To capture reality is boring to me; I would rather mess with it a little," Kauffman wrote on his Web site. \nKauffman knew he wanted to begin the tour in Bloomington because he said it is the spot in Indiana that has the most cultural awareness in regards to music and art.\nLocal band Men of Many Vices will play during tonight's show.\nFor Kauffman, the time he spent at IU was more artistically rewarding than any of his previous semesters. He made more art pieces during his stay at IU than the whole time he was at Arizona State, he said.\n"When I was at IU, I was really pushed by my professors. I didn't have as many distractions, so I really could focus on my artwork," he said. "I could go to the ceramics school until 4 in the morning, and that would be OK." Early on, Kauffman had his doubts about the tour coming together. Now that it's actually here, he's happy he pulled it off. \n"I had to do some good convincing to get them to show the work of an artist they had never heard of," he said. "But when they accepted, it gave me a good boost."\nFor more information on Kauffman's work, visit his Web site at .