On October 18, 2024, Indiana University commemorates John Mellencamp’s invaluable contributions to music, art and the university with the unveiling of a sculpture in his honor. Please enjoy a selection of materials about the artists and speakers celebrated at the event.
Mellencamp Sculpture Celebration
- What: The unveiling and dedication of the new John Mellencamp statue on the IU Bloomington campus.
- When: 1 – 2 p.m. | October 18, 2024
- Where: Elsie Irwin Sweeney Rock Garden, Northside of the IU Auditorium, 1211 East 7th Street, Bloomington
It is obvious from his work that John is ever mindful of and grateful for his small town Indiana roots. He has established himself as an asset to the state of Indiana, and to this community in particular.
Stephen L. Ferguson, former chair, Indiana University Board of Trustees
About John Mellencamp
Born October 7, 1951 in Seymour, Indiana, John Mellencamp fell in love with music at an early age and was gigging in local bars and fronting a soul band by the time he was 14. His professional music career began in earnest in 1976 when MCA Records released his first album, The Chestnut Street Incident.
His manager dubbed him Johnny Cougar out of his belief that nobody would buy a record by anybody named Mellencamp. John protested but was overruled and eventually, of course, reclaimed his birth name as his public name.
After releasing a few albums, he broke out in 1979 with his first hit, "I Need A Lover" In 1982 his fifth album American Fool was the year's best-selling album on the strength of two huge hits, "Hurts So Good," and the number 1 single "Jack & Diane," The albums that followed in the 80s, Uh-Huh, Scarecrow, Lonesome Jubilee, and Big Daddy, were released under the name John Cougar Mellencamp. Hit singles during this period included "Crumblin Down," "The Authority Song," "Small Town," "Rain On The Scarecrow," "Lonely Ol Night," "R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.," "Paper In Fire," "Check It Out," "Cherry Bomb," "Pop Singer," and "Jackie Brown."
Mellencamp took the music on the road with a band that many considered the best in the business, playing approximately 1,000 shows around the globe during the decade. In 1985, John's concern for the plight of the American farmer, which had been voiced in the Scarecrow album, brought him together with Willie Nelson and Neil Young in launching Farm Aid. It became an annual event and has helped make people aware of the issues farmers face and how they affect the entire nation.
Don’t miss “Crossroads: The Paintings of John Mellencamp,” an ongoing exhibition of Mellencamp’s artwork at the IU Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. The legendary Hoosier’s art exhibition contains large-scale oil portraits and multimedia pieces that document the heart and soul of America. “Crossroads” marks the first exhibition at IU to display Mellencamp’s work. It will run through December 15, 2024.
Sculptor Michael McAuley
Michael Livingston McAuley was born and raised in Bloomington. He received the Bachelor of Art Education and Master of Information Science and Technology degrees from Indiana University. He received a second master’s degree in ceramic sculpture from the University of Cincinnati. While in Portland, Ore., he added portrait work from the University of Portland to his body of figurative studies. He has taught various ages art, design, and sculpture at the University of Cincinnati, Belhaven University, and Indiana University.
Among the grants Michael has won are those from the CICF/Efroymson Foundation, the Indiana University Foundation, the Indianapolis Arts Council, the Bloomington Area Arts Council, the Caesars Foundation, and the IUPUI Arts & Humanities grant. Art awards span from the regional to the international. Under his guidance, Michael’s students have won prestigious awards in both the field of fine art and graphic design. He occasionally writes articles for newspapers, newsletters, and art magazines with talks in both design and sculpture.
Michael’s degrees and seminar participation have provided him with a range of depth and aesthetic ability that easily transfers to more than one medium. It is this diversity of experiences that brings his sometimes subtle yet signature look to all his work. This look, favoring a graphic or linear quality, can be traced strongly to his early training in the field of visual communication (graphic design). Though Michael works primarily within the figurative realm, he is always exploring other directions whenever the need arises to further expand and stimulate his art.
In viewing my art in general, and the figurative work specifically, I desire the viewer both to realize my high level of academic and technical competency while sensing a great concern for subtleties of depth in emotion and spirit. This latter aspect is the hardest to achieve — but the most compelling and satisfying. Working to stir the mind and heart from subdued serenity to moving passion is always elusive, but great in reward when captured.
Consequently, I believe art should possess the power to tap into a deeper level of appreciation and awareness of the divine; this then moves beyond the somewhat stoic technical toward capturing the visually arresting rendered object possessing gravitas and even the sublime.
If life is what we all desire — the kind contributing to our feeling alive and emboldened with purpose, understanding, and meaning — then art is indeed a valid endeavor. This is what I search to evoke in every work of art I create.
Art, then, is truly satisfying when it rewards with a compelling reason for its existence, and ours.
Featured speaker Anthony DeCurtis
Anthony DeCurtis is the author of the recently published In Other Words: Artists Talk About Life and Work, as well as Rocking My Life Away: Writing About Music and Other Matters. He is also the editor of Present Tense: Rock & Roll and Culture, and coeditor of The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll and The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd edition). He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, where his work has appeared for 25 years, and he occasionally writes for The New York Times and many other publications. His essay accompanying the Eric Clapton box set “Crossroads" won a Grammy Award in the "Best Album Notes" category. He holds a PhD in American literature from Indiana University.
Selected works from Anthony DeCurtis
We are excited to welcome John to our campus once again as we commemorate his invaluable contributions to music, art and our university. The arts have long been a point of pride at IU, and we look forward to honoring a musician and artist who has generously given back to his fellow Hoosiers and greatly impacted American culture.
Pamela Whitten, Indiana University President