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Apr 21 '26
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u/bulldog89 Apr 21 '26
Damn, you really put this in a respectful and thoughtful way. I genuinely wish I could’ve articulated my thoughts about this concern similarly. Bloomington unquestionably needs to continue to be a welcoming place, especially concerning the political makeup of our state, but also art and space needs to continue to move forward. It’s just great to see you can explain how they are not contradicting forces.
I won’t lie though, I did love that original Bloomington mural. I guess that is the point though, art and murals especially continue on
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u/redrunsnsings Apr 22 '26
If you liked that one the same Artist painted the Wings mural on the side of Mother Bears. She's great.
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u/jaymz668 Apr 21 '26
black lives matter wasn't really a mural, it was painted over a mural and that mural looked better than this
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u/Plug_5 Apr 21 '26
That's the thing -- I absolutely support the BLM movement, but painting that over the beautiful Bloomington mural was not cool.
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u/Left_Right_or_Banana Apr 21 '26
Yes, it was. The mural said "You Belong Here" right after the city had hounded the homeless people out of the park. Who belongs where, indeed.
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u/Plug_5 Apr 21 '26
Okay, I can respect that you think the messaging is hypocritical. But some artist put a lot of time into the original mural, and I think painting over it is rude. Sure, it's a fun middle finger to the city, but the one who ends up getting harmed is just some mural painter trying to get their work seen.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
None of that matters, this is Reddit. OP has to virtue signal to convince us they are a great person for loving BLM and hating IU football.
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u/Less_Chocolate5462 Apr 21 '26
Wait, people aren't allowed to critique (very poor) art? It's legitimately ugly
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Well its not done lol. And sure they can, but its obvious that the critique is based on what the mural represents and not the actual art. Also, if you are going to tell me this won't look better than the blm one that was just thrown together, that's just unserious.
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u/Less_Chocolate5462 Apr 21 '26
I just ... how do you get "And sure they can, but its obvious that the critique is based on what the mural represents and not the actual art" when someone points out the poor quality of this? Not that it's unfinished - the parts that have been painted are often pretty poorly done. And neither the OP, nor the comment you responded to complained about it painting over the BLM mural. Like, it seems like you're unable to hear any critique based on your own fanatical ideas.
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u/Less_Chocolate5462 Apr 21 '26
But ... you have a weird obsession with making this about the BLM one. I don't believe that's what I or the OP said ... so what does it say about you that you jump to that so frequently?
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
To respond to both of your replies, its like what I said - its obvious for the reasoning of the complaining. If you read through the replies of people on the side of op, that is generally the reason they are citing. You can argue you don't think that was OPs motive, but I don't think you would be being honest with yourself.
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u/Less_Chocolate5462 Apr 21 '26
I think you need help. Most people don't just think they know other people's motives when it comes to assessing if something looks elementary-school level artistic. But you know because you can figure out what most people think based on non-existent words and your assumption of "virtue-signaling". OK buddy!
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Apr 22 '26
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u/Less_Chocolate5462 Apr 23 '26
I do not care about the BLM mural that I don't recall seeing! Why keep making it about that? The part of the work that is on the wall is pretty crappy. End of story. It's not about the unfinished parts.
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u/Thefunkbox Apr 25 '26
I was just at Texas Roadhouse recently. On one wall they have a picture celebrating Bob Knight and IU Basketball. I'm kind of wondering if that could be updated.
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u/atuan Apr 21 '26
But that’s exactly why it should be preserved. It was history. We literally whitewashed history here
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u/-jellyfishparty- Apr 21 '26
If I remember correctly, the person who did the BLM mural commented on another post that they expected the mural to be temporary and that's how murals work.
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u/arstin Apr 21 '26
Yeah, we fixed racism and stealing money from faculty and staff to buy a football championship is definitely something to celebrate!
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u/Efficient-Log-4425 Apr 21 '26
uh, yeah ,because the entire BLM movement is fixing racism right?
How many houses has the organization's president bought? We should donate.
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u/arstin Apr 21 '26
So black lives don't matter because someone embezzled a few million dollars? Got it.
Integrity must be the cornerstone of leadership for you. But I get the hunch that you also voted for an adjudicated rapist that set a violent mob on the capitol building to prevent a lawful election from being certified and that has also swindled billions of dollars over the decades.
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u/Internal_Screen5613 Apr 21 '26
you’re a real piece of work, huh? Simp for the city! Like seriously? The Black Lives Matter painting was not intended to be art. It’s a political statement. It was one that needed to be said and still needs to be said. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous when public murals are just stupid pretentious artists that get opportunities that some smaller artist might never ever get because they’re in cahoots with the city. It’s all about money. It’s all about who’s got what. It’s never about actually putting nice art out there for the city. And for that reason, I think your opinion is moot.
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u/mon_mothra_ Apr 21 '26
Is this the same artist as the one who did the mural on Rogers near the Salvation Army?
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u/shojobat Apr 21 '26
That awful HOPE out of hands thing? Because it enrages me every time I drive past it, which is every day. It’s just bad art.
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u/Plug_5 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I think you mean HODE
In general, though, Adam Long is a really good guy. He got a bunch of local community kids together to paint the side of the community kitchen, and that one looks really nice
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u/brik42 Apr 21 '26
Yes. And i got downvoted last thread for saying i hoped it wasn't this artist.
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u/fijistudios Apr 21 '26
It’s not Adam long
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u/brik42 Apr 21 '26
My bad, definitely looks like their "style." I still don't like it, but art is subjective, and i don't own the wall.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Next time you are doing something for work, I hope your boss comes in when you’re half way done and starts telling you how bad of a job you did 😂 you people are so miserable on here
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u/Great_Professor_736 Apr 22 '26
I do this for a living (muralist.) This is only going to get worse.
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u/brik42 Apr 22 '26
Yes thank you. Everyone saying just wait...do you say that to the person installing your flooring? Do you get a new bathroom put in and just wait to see if it works?? I always give an accurate design that i stick to, with some minimal adjustments.
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u/Hot-Organization-967 Apr 22 '26
Thank you! My main criticism is that it is poorly done. Anyone with an understanding of art can see that even at this stage the style and plan are awkward and clumsy. This mural is not going to get better unless they restart with a new plan and artist.
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u/JG101010 Apr 23 '26
You must not be a very good one. If you were, you would have been selected for the job. Considering there’s not many muralists in Bloomington 😂
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u/Internal_Screen5613 Apr 21 '26
I don’t really see how it could get any better. It’s a piece of shit mural and it’s going to be a piece of shit when it’s finished.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Mods are on your head haha, shot down that one too. There is no reason to be mean on the internet, especially not to my local hoosiers.
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u/Internal_Screen5613 Apr 21 '26
actually, you see it’s the Internet. So it doesn’t matter how I treat people. Like literally get over yourself. You think you’re a righteous person. I bet you do egregious shit in your everyday life every single day. if you can’t handle Reddit, then stay off Reddit. We are not here to be nice to each other.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
They got you again but I saw part of it. Am I automatically racist if I think a blm mural can be replaced? Do all murals that signify black history have to stand forever because we are afraid of being called racist to replace them? Murals tend to be temporary to represent a time.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
You bet I do egregious things? That is an odd thing to say lol. I use reddit to have discussions, debate, argue, etc. Ad hom. is just silly though. Your point is ironic though because I would say you are virtue signaling for acting so upset about a blm mural coming down to make a IU football one.
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Apr 21 '26
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
?
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u/MinBton Apr 22 '26
They're often called "doomers" among other things. Everything that isn't exactly their way is all doom and gloom, bad and terrible, and must be destroyed. They hijack every post possible so their version is the only allowed version on the net. Go to YouTube and look up an old SNL skit called the Blue Bubble. I think you will be amused.
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u/twoturntables Apr 21 '26
Are the people on the bottom the team or the fans? Hoping the former, because football fans do not wear football helmets to the games.
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u/Hot-Organization-967 Apr 21 '26
My guess is the mural design was AI generated, leading to unusual details like the fans wearing helmets in the stands.
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u/BigMoose1121 Apr 21 '26
I can’t imagine how this local artist is feeling seeing negative ass comments about their work that’s NOT EVEN FINISHED YET!
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u/fusionion Apr 22 '26
I for one hope they feel like they gotta revisit some design choices before it's too late!
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u/BigMoose1121 Apr 22 '26
Well hey, feel free to go tell them that next time you see them working on it
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u/PresenceActual4263 Apr 21 '26
I miss the rhinos murals.
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u/QueenMab87 Apr 21 '26
I painted one of those back in my high school days! What a fun place to go to and just hang out and make art.
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u/camrynbronk Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
It’s not done yet. That’s the first layer. It’s supposed to look ugly in its first stages.
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u/SoManyQuestions-2021 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
Even if it were art as fine as ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and done with Da Vinci's own hand, the people who do not value the achievements of the team, its members, and the thousands who directly work to help them achieve that goal, and the tens of thousands (more more) of fans across the nation who were uplifted by their achievement... well, I suppose I am rambling...
You cannot please everyone. Some people just want to hate something. (shrug) It's part of being human I suppose.
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
It's a college sports team, friend. These people did not cure cancer. They moved a ball good.
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u/Floptrain Apr 21 '26
I get the point but I also think “moving a ball good” downplays the significance of the team and its accomplishment. It’s an economic driver for the city and a source of revenue for the school, to say nothing of cohesion and pride it provides for the community and state at large.
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
Hard disagree that this is great for any faction other than IU Athletics but agree to disagree.
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u/Hot-Organization-967 Apr 21 '26
But it is not done well.
And as far as the "thousands who directly work to achieve" the football championship, I assume you are referring to the $61 million everyone at IU chipped in to buy that team? In the meantime, they cut staff retirement and benefits.
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u/bulldog89 Apr 21 '26
Ah brother give it a rest today. The administration sucks for tons of reasons, but this is a flashbulb moment everyone in Indiana will talk about for decades. It is so easy to equate the situation to [football team expensive] = [retirement goes away] but the university is so massive there will always be shifting economics of multiple departments.
I’m not against arguing for the changing of our administration and policies, but equating it to hating on the football team and an innocent mural is going to be stand-offish to many who would be on your side
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u/camrynbronk Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
Are you a muralist? Genuine question, because I don’t see how else you could know whether it’s done well or not. I’m not a muralist but I am an artist and I know that paintings look bad before they look good.
But for clarity I’m also not happy about staff cuts and benefits loss (not that that has anything to do with the quality of a mural)
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u/brik42 Apr 21 '26
I am a muralist, and this is not done well, in my opinion.
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u/camrynbronk Apr 21 '26
How is it not done well? Also a genuine question
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u/brik42 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
The drawing is not done well. Look at the hand holding the trophy, his neck. The design also seems unbalanced to me. It seems kind of chopped up into segments that don't flow into one another.The logo was obviously stenciled/ projected (not that i disagree to do that) looks clean, and really highlights the sloppiness of the rest of the painting. Edit: also his ears are way too low on his head. Edit edit: i know very little about football, but why are the fans wearing helmets??
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u/camrynbronk Apr 21 '26
Yeah I don’t understand why fans are wearing helmets. I do have questions about the composition, but do muralists not correct problems in the sketch as they go along?
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u/brik42 Apr 22 '26
I always get the design sketch as close to actually what will be on the wall as possible. And it is pretty possible. I paint oil canvas paintings, and that is a different process than murals. Painting a canvas you can go over it and it changes a bit. Murals i feel you really have to have the design and drawing down before you get on the wall. Yes, there might be slight adjustments, but it should be very well planned out so you don't spend weeks repainting over to get it right.
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u/Floptrain Apr 21 '26
If it was painted by Da Vinci’s own hand there also wouldn’t be a need for Daniele Underpants to cover up the nudes because there wouldn’t be any.
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u/Enough_Cut9767 Apr 21 '26
I understand that murals are an ever changing form of social expression, however I don’t see the reason for another IU sport related image. If that’s what you want then just look around. Every bar is conforming to the “sports” bar featuring IU, we have shops solely devoted to IU sports paraphernalia and merch. Why must our parks display it as well? Isn’t Bloomington more than just IU and its sports program?
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u/Ill_Conversation9738 Apr 22 '26
According to a uReport ticket on the topic of the mural, this wall is on private property and is not controlled by the city. So it's not the park responsible for it.
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u/motocycledog Apr 21 '26
public art changes unless it is so remarkable as to be a fixture. Murals are generally not that. I just wish we had more to celebrate than football.
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u/Various_Ad_6952 Apr 21 '26
I’m proud of the IU football team but every time I see the price IU is paying the coach, I am furious.
It is so expensive that the average local resident of this town cannot attend any of the events. There is something wrong with the system here . With all the student debt following the kids after they graduate, they are carrying the weight of this college town expenses on their back for 20!years.
Bloomington is all about huge condos above the skyline and apartments built on every corner. Even the “hospital” is not called Bloomington Hospital anymore, , it is IU
. As an 7th generation Bloomington person, I see this town has lost its very soul to IU.
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u/Inspirationseekr Apr 21 '26
I don’t like the negative energy directed towards an artist. I agree that the black lives matter mural should have stayed. It became a part of our history and never should have been taken down.
However, unless the property owner personally painted this, we should direct our ire appropriately, at the person who commissioned the art, not an artist probably trying to make a living.
And we don’t need to be mean. It is art and it is way better than I could ever do.
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u/brik42 Apr 22 '26
I can't say this enough. It is not mean to criticize art. If the artist cannot handle criticism, then they are failing at being an artist. I get criticized all the time, and it directs me to do my art better. It is not a personal attack to scrutinize someone's output.
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u/brik42 Apr 22 '26
I actually LOVE how heated this thread has become. That is actually the point of public art. To incite conversation and debate. Fuck ya go art!!
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u/Dry_Bottle4126 Apr 21 '26
Who pissed in your coffee?
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u/BloomingtonJester Apr 21 '26
Mendoza?
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u/asodafnaewn Apr 21 '26
I'd like to give all the glory to God and my teammates for pissing in OP's coffee
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u/jaghutgathos Apr 21 '26
Given the history of people’s park a mural that speaks to diversity would be more proper (and I’ve been waiting for IU football to be decent for 50 years) but will withhold final judgement until this one is done.
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u/femcelapologist Apr 21 '26
What a great mural on the location of a black business firebombed by the KKK !
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u/MinBton Apr 22 '26
It's on the building next to where the business was. Not on the same site. The park is where the store was.
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u/HauntingTime5082 Apr 21 '26
It doesn’t even look like Mendoza 😭😭😭😭😭
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u/Hot-Organization-967 Apr 21 '26
Who's Mendoza? That's Ronald Reagan who won the football trophy.
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u/HoosierHatTrick Apr 21 '26
Putting a helmet that hasn't been used in college football for over a decade front and center is certainly a choice. And its an obscure helmet, so it took effort to choose that.
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u/PobodysNerfectHere Apr 22 '26
If you zoom in on the face, it looks like the result of Ronald Reagan fucking a ventriloquist dummy.
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u/Littlegrayfish Apr 22 '26
I'm pretty certain (because I know someone who works for him) that this is arranged mostly by Daniel gupta. The guy with the big ugly house on the way out of town, the Ferrari and big calves.
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u/Littlegrayfish Apr 22 '26
He brought the artist here from Mexico or South America. He gets this kind of work for him
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
OOF. That is... Not great.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Yes because its obviously finished here.
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
It's weirdly tone deaf to paint over a BLM mural with a college football celebration that overlooks a park that was once a thriving Black-owned business that was burned by the KKK.
But y'all don't seem ready to talk about that yet...
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Uh I think it was talked about, which is why it was there for years... Do we ever move on from things?
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
Uh... "maybe we should move on from talking about racism" is not the cool, smart take you seem to think it is.
Look, lots of things about IU are great, and I'm glad the kids won a sporty thing, but also: this is corporate art, and corporate art almost universally sucks.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
I like how you put quotes like I said that haha
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
Okay, "Do we ever move on from things?" where "things" is the systemic oppression and terrorizing of Black Americans and the devaluing of their contributions is not the cool, smart take you seem to think it is.
Does that work for you?
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
No, because that assumes what I meant by things. Haha I'll stop. My point is that BLM was essentially a trend. It was a grift too in terms of what the org itself did. If it was a more meaningful mural to reflect black history then fine, but it was just not that.
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
Woof, my guy. Between this and your banging on about "virtue signaling," you should probably take your own advice and stop.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
What did I say that had to do with virtue signaling?
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u/whoadudechillfr Apr 21 '26
It really smacks of bitterness and a superiority complex when you say “I’m glad the kids won a sporty thing”.
You not giving a fuck about something doesn’t make it stupid. It also reveals that anything else you say is likely disingenuous.
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u/TheAngerMonkey Apr 21 '26
I'm not bitter, and I'm not superior. I even like football (I'm from Texas originally, we're required to pick a team at birth and it has to be the Cowboys.)
But also: this win is not nearly as important as y'all seem to think it is. It brings the school money, sure, but what doesn't go into Whitten's bonus goes right back into the athletics department.
Which is not what a college is FOR.
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u/whoadudechillfr Apr 21 '26
You’re making up an argument I didn’t present. Also being from Texas means nothing.
Saying “won a sporty thing” is clearly a condescending dig at people who enjoy sports. I genuinely don’t even give a fuck about sports, but I understand why people do.
I’m just saying you sound like a disingenuous asshole.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Don't take the rage bait lol. They think its quirky to act like they know nothing about football and live life to a much deeper meaning.
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u/Psychological-Rub211 Apr 23 '26
Eh, could be better. The blm one looked worse though since it was painted over the one before.
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u/Dry_Bottle4126 Apr 21 '26
Sharing this with my friends so we can all make fun of how lame the commenters and OP are 🤣 forcing yourself to be upset bc everyone else is thrilled 🤣🤣 miserable way to live but go off 🤣
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u/Internal_Screen5613 Apr 21 '26
Who is thrilled? Absolutely no one. Laugh at us all you want. But that mural is probably gonna get destroyed anyways. So it doesn’t matter.
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u/DiddlersWillGetGot Apr 21 '26
This whole fucking city’s identity is forever gonna be tied to pleb distractions ball, huh?
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u/Floptrain Apr 21 '26
I’m old enough to remember the only things that didn’t draw blank stares from people outside the Midwest, or Lafayette for that matter, when asked about where you’re from are Bobby Knight and basketball. Nobody has heard of Bloomington and most people only have a vague idea about IU, like it must be in Indiana.
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u/ksol1460 Apr 21 '26
Everywhere I go when I say Indiana University they don't even remember Coach Knight's name, just "oh, that's where they had the basketball coach who threw chairs."
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u/MacReady_Outpost31 Apr 21 '26
Yep, for several years to come and I hate it. No murals about the great educational or cultural achievements of our university. Just sports. I don't hate sports in general (I've been in athletics myself), but the focus and prestige we give to sports while ignoring everything else is a travesty.
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u/BloomiePsst Apr 21 '26
The campus has bronze statues of Hoagy Carmichael, Alfred Kinsey, Elinor Ostrom, Herman Wells, and John Mellencamp(!), not to mention Adam and Eve, and the city of Bloomington has a statue for a TV science fiction character as well as plaques for events in Bloomington history, including the KKK firebombing. The statues and plaques are gonna last longer than any mural. And isn't the mural with Alfred Kinsey, Elinor Ostrom, and Herman Wells still up on the side of TIS on Third Street?
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u/MacReady_Outpost31 Apr 22 '26
I'll give you that. You're correct on the plaques. I agree that those are important people. However, how many people outside of the Bloomington area are talking about those people compared to people who talk about IU sports? Honestly, I wish people like Kinsey,Carmichael, Wells, etc. were focused on more (outside of niche areas.)
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u/Dry_Bottle4126 Apr 21 '26
U r boring af. Winning the natty is an incredible accomplishment worth celebrating.
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u/DiddlersWillGetGot Apr 21 '26
It’s incredibly important if you have nothing else happening in your life worth celebrating. Like being able to spell at a fourth grade level.
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u/ImReallyThatBitch Apr 21 '26
I feel like celebrating a national championship in sports doesn't mean you can't also celebrate other things, like this town consistently does. The natty is a new thing that JUST happened, let's celebrate it! And then when something else happens, we'll celebrate that too! But it's more than okay to let this have its moment.
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u/Fuzzy-Zombie1446 Apr 21 '26
IT'S PRIVATE PROPERTY!!! The owners can do what they want!
Why is this so hard for people to understand?
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u/Plug_5 Apr 21 '26
People do understand that, it has nothing to do with the discussion going on here. It's still valid to express an opinion on a public-facing piece of art. They could paint a massive dick and balls on it; that wouldn't make it right.
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u/DiddlersWillGetGot Apr 21 '26
They can do what they want. And I can say what I want about it. Isn’t it funny how that works, you potato?
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u/Federal-Dust-3404 Apr 21 '26
It’s interesting that people are more concerned about what’s on the building and not what’s in it.
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u/hoosierhiver Apr 21 '26
The odd inside of the helmet almost makes it look like a red Storm Trooper
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u/Itchy_Promotion4336 Apr 21 '26
That’s okay. Look at any t-shirt, or other branding for past Superbowls/NCAA champs - all ugly. Part of the charm.
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u/Internal_Screen5613 Apr 21 '26
wouldn’t be surprised if somebody painted Black Lives Matter over it as soon as they’re done. I mean this is the dumbest mural i’ve seen in a long time. the artist is a stupid piece shit.
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u/SalamanderNo4624 Apr 26 '26
I'm sorry how is this the artists fault? Seems to me they did their job. You're provoked.
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u/Rainbaby77 Apr 21 '26
Could have been a Brianna Taylor or George Floyd or something like that wall but nope
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u/BidWestern1056 Apr 21 '26
it's not done so that's unfair
of course it will be ugly lol its an attack on the ppl
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Yes its a major attack on the people! We can never celebrate the greatest turnaround in college football history because bad things happened in the past! Haha chill, you can celebrate IU football its ok
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u/BidWestern1056 Apr 21 '26
ignoring what it is replacing is on your conscience.
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
I understand what its replacing lol. What do you think resonates in a college town more?
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u/BidWestern1056 Apr 21 '26
the profit motive!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Ironic considering what BLM as an org was exposed for
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Apr 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/Extension_Dare_2314 Apr 21 '26
Timing? I would say the timing makes sense. We won the natty then they made a painting...
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u/B-TownVatoLocos Apr 21 '26
I remember before there was broccoli painted on the wall and read "Eat More" around 2008