Twisted House

It was a cold crisp day in late November when I visited the house. I knocked on the door but nobody was home. Just kidding. It is a piece of artwork. It reminds me of the nursery rhyme about the old woman who lived in a shoe. It is just one piece of outdoor artwork and sculptures available on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center. I found plenty of parking available at the Center's parking lot. Then it is short walk from the lot.

This is a nice and creative piece of work located in ArtsPark located behind the Indianapolis Art Center. It is the park's centerpiece and its most popular piece. It is a must see in the city and surrounded by other nice pieces of art. It was created in 2005 by Indiana's own John McNaughton, who taught wood working at the University of Southern Indiana for 35 years. The house is somewhat interactive, you can go inside of it. You can find it back in the woods, just in front of the deck that overlooks the river. The house is made of cedar and is showing some signs of wear.The roof of the house rests on forest floor and five square windows travel upward in an arc on the house. The piece has a distorted door juts to the right that allows visitors to step inside. This piece is Instagram ready and provides some awesome pictures. I understand all the buzz this piece is getting. It is not however, a pretty time consuming piece. Fortunately, there is a lot to experience and many other pieces of art in this park to see.

Nice trail off the monon behind the Indy arts center in broadripple. There's a few art sculptures to check out along with tons of slower sand a few areas to sit and chill.

"Twisted House" is one of Indy's iconic public art exhibits. Placed as part of the Indianapolis Art Center's ARTSPARK Initiative in 2005, "Twisted House" was created by John McNaughton, a longtime instructor at the University of Southern Indiana who studied at Ball State University and Bowling Green State University. The sculpture is made of cedar wood (even the flowers!) and according to McNaughton was created to show viewers that sculpture could be interactive while tapping heavily into the imagination. "Twisted House" is featured in Roadside America and Atlas Obscura and is considered by many to be one of Indy's weird but wonderful public art exhibits that one simply must check out. McNaughton has received two National Endowment for the Art Awards and has work in collections at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (Newfields), Smithsonian Institution, and the White House. This whimsical piece is one of my favorite little spots to visit when I spend time on the Monon Trail, from which the piece is easily accessible. While public art has become trendy here in Indy, "Twisted House" was cool before public art was cool and has shined on Indy's art landscape for 15 years.

Located in the Indianapolis Art Center's outdoor gardens, this Twisted House used to be my FAVORITE part of visiting the art center. Insider tip: you can ride your bike here to explore, as the center is right off of the Monon Trail, close to downtown Broad Ripple. This wooden art masterpiece was created by John McNaughton (thanks, internet!) and was installed about fifteen years ago. Definitely check this piece out on a nice day, and explore the rest of the grounds too!

This wooden sculpture is part art, part fantasy as the artist takes the notion of a dwelling and turns it upside down. But instead of simply building it upside down, the piece is grounded normally and then is bent in an arc until the roof is to the left of the base. And no shortage of detail is left out as there are windows and a distorted doorway. There are even flower boxes at the bottom of each window with wooden flowers in them.The texture of the house reminds me of shingles on a roof. I am not sure if the artist simplified the outside texture or if it was an oversight, but the rows of texture on the walls stay horizontal instead of bending like the supporting structure. I must have looked at it numerous times before realized the incongruity of the wall texture, but in a way, it adds to the fantasy part of the structure.Review #1575

This sculpture is wonderful and definitely worth seeing in person, but I was disappointed to see the amount of graffiti that's now covering both the exterior and interior.