The Graduate Hotel in downtown Bloomington is installing a featured mural by nationally recognized contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney. The mural is to be influenced by popular culture as well as catering to the specific community of Bloomington its love for basketball.
Artists from the Library Street Collective, a Detroit-based company that presents contemporary fine art from emerging and established artists who have pushed artistic boundaries in traditional space and repertoire, will install the piece on the western facade of the hotel.
AJ Capital Partners, the developer, owner and operator of Graduate Hotels, decided on Abney’s work specifically with the recommendation from the Bloomington Art Commission.
Nina Chanel Abney, an African American contemporary artist, uses elements of bold color, shape and movement in her compositions to address contemporary social issues. Her works have been popular among young viewers and have been exhibited by the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
“It’s significant for Bloomington to have a major piece by Nina Chanel Abney,” Sean Starowitz, the assistant director for the arts in Bloomington, said in a press release. “Her work has only become more prominent in the three years since we first recommended (her), and giving it a home here brings Bloomington even more directly into the national and global conversation.”
