(
For immediate release May 5, 2023
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Few things inspire others more than one-on-one interest and guidance. That’s exactly what children and their grown-ups receive when they attend a Visiting Artist session at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Each year, the museum recruits two exceptional artists with Indiana ties to publicly present and teach their work at the world’s largest children’s museum. The artists interact and inspire children and families with art exhibits, displays, and hands-on workshops. They also share their passion for art and tips and tricks of the trade. This year, the museum is excited to welcome Bryan Ballinger and Ess McKee.
Bryan Ballinger describes his artistic style as fun, cartoony and often silly. His art generally features slightly odd, but warm and friendly characters. Ballinger graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration. He also has a master’s degree in Writing for Children from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.
After moving to Seattle and doing freelance work for companies such as Nintendo Power magazine, he started working at Microsoft as an illustrator. He was lead illustrator for the first version of the award-winning Encarta CD-ROM encyclopedia as well as the Explorapedia children’s encyclopedia series.
Bryan was the 3D Design Lead for 5 years at Big Idea Productions, the producers of the VeggieTales children’s videos. Bryan was also a professor of Digital Media Arts at Huntington University in Indiana for 16 years.
Bryan does illustration for children’s books, websites, games, videos, ads, etc. Bryan now concentrates on his picture books, public art projects which include large- and small-scale murals and on toy design. You can see some of Bryan’s work at www.breadwig.com and on Instagram @breadwigram
“My entire artistic career has revolved around art and media for children and what better place to share that with than such an awesome children’s museum,” said Ballinger. “I am passionate about teaching art to children and families because I have always loved sharing the creative process with people of all ages. I get excited to see other people learn to express their creativity.”
Ess McKee is a multimedia visual artist from Arizona, who is now based in Indianapolis, IN.
McKee has been involved in the Indy arts scene as a muralist, designer, studio manager, organizer, arts educator and curator for a decade.
Inspired by an appreciation for graffiti art and hip hop culture, her artistic expression manifests in the form of abstract paintings, character illustrations, digital design, and the combination of all three within murals. Her art is vibrant, illustrative, bold and fun. It has a clean/grungy look and an oddly relatable feel.
Mckee is a resident artist at The Harrison Center for the Arts. She is a member of The Eighteen, an art collective of 18 artists that created the Black Lives Matter Mural in Indianapolis, IN. A smaller version of that is now on display at The Children’s Museum. Mckee is also a resident artist at The Harrison Center for the Arts.
“I am SO excited to be a Visiting Artist at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis because I’ll be surrounded by all the fun and childlike adventure and energy that I search for regularly and I can bring my own fun and childlike imagination to share with littles and their families - while also learning from them. The perfect atmosphere for a lifelong student,” said McKee. She went on to say that she feels like a child at heart and wants visitors to understand that art, creativity and imagination are meant to be lifelong, and encourage adults to never let it go.
“Art is one of my personal passions,” said Jennifer Pace Robinson, president and CEO, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “Being able to showcase these talented artists while inspiring the next generation is such an amazing opportunity. I encourage families to sign up for these one of a kind workshops with these talented artists.”
Please visit https://www.childrensmuseum.org/visiting-artist-program for dates and times of Visiting Artist workshops. The Visiting Artist Program is a project of the Lechleiter Indiana Visiting Artist Fund with support provided by The White Oak Foundation, Sarah and John Lechleiter. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is proud to partner with Riley Children’s Health, Old National Bank, Ice Miller LLP and The Heritage Group.
About The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a nonprofit institution committed to creating extraordinary learning experiences across the arts, sciences, and humanities that have the power to transform the lives of children and families. For more information about The Children's Museum, visit childrensmuseum.org, follow us on Twitter @TCMIndy, Instagram @childrensmuseum, YouTube.com/IndyTCM, and Facebook.
