14 THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT IN INDIANAPOLIS

Written by Connie Zeigler

Indianapolis of the late 1800s was an unlikely place for England’s Arts and Crafts movement to have had an impact. But art and design in the midwestern capital city flourished under the influence of William Morris’s guiding hand. It produced talented designers and craftspeople who would become leading figures in the American wave of the movement.

Told through the lives of acclaimed metalsmith Janet Payne Bowles, her publisher husband Joseph Moore Bowles, jack of all arts Brandt Steele, and his illustrator/designer wife Helen McKay Steele, Commercial Article 14 presents the story of how Indianapolis embraced the Arts and Crafts ethos with a passion.

From the landmark publication Modern Art (and it’s legendary designer Bruce Rogers) to the city’s venerable Portfolio Club, this issue tells these stories of creativity and dedication in nearly one hundred pages. With over 170 images “Modern Women, Modern Men, Modern Art: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Indianapolis” is written, designed and printed in Indiana.