"Transitions & Belonging" | Athenaeum Downtown Indianapolis | Through October 31, 2025

Explore the art of six German-American voices navigating culture, identity, and the timeless search for home. See the exhibit, ponder your own story, and easily purchase original artwork via QR code. Second Floor, Athenaeum. Don't miss this powerful look at the American journey!

This is what the terms of TRANSITION and BELONGING terms signify for each artist:

“The hardest thing for me as an expat is the constant navigation between cultural values. While the US is a young culture, constantly on the move and full of opportunities, where you live to work, my German roots pull me back to a culture where life is celebrated and where you work to live. Belonging for me had to become not a geographic place but what I carry within myself. Transitions between cultures are still happening daily even after many years of living in a culture that is not my origin. In my creative work the melding of these two experiences is central although couched into a larger quest of bringing opposing forces of all kinds into one entity.”

(Karen Baldner // kbaldner@iu.edu)

“For almost four decades, my life as a German expat artist in the U.S. has been a living study in transitions & belonging, defined by the dynamic tension between my 'Roots and Routes.' My roots are the deep German and European heritage that informs my perspective and practice; my routes are the daily challenges and boundless opportunities I navigate within American culture. This persistent journey is the engine of my creative process, allowing me to build an artistic identity that is inherently a bridge. I don't reside on one side, but within this space between—at times a hybrid, a blend that is more German, at others more American, but always a unique creation forged from two distinct homes.“

(Gerburg Garmann // garmanng@sbcglobal.net)

“I belong to my art. Being of two worlds inspires me to cross-pollinate cultural symbols, as seen in my painting Stamina where petroglyphs transform into flags, and dancing mindscapes become floral memories. My mission: to continue to deepen my vision so others may be moved along, and to connect across imagined and less real borders .”

(Beate Gilliar // BCGilliar@manchester.edu)

“After moving to the United States I not unexpectedly felt uprooted including the well described loneliness, lack of safety, and loss of some of my identity. I found a new home and identity in my landscape paintings, especially in those that reflected the area where I lived for 42 years of my life. Through painting - and also with time - I was able to create a sense of belonging.”

(Elisabeth von der Lohe // evonderl@iu.edu; phone: 317-407-1372)

“As a teenager I witnessed cruise ships leaving for New York, USA, from my hometown Cuxhaven in Germany. This initiated a desire to one day do the same to travel and explore life and places. I have traveled extensively in many countries and in 1976 came to live in the United States. Transitions and belongings are key words for leaving, searching and arriving at places we call home. My creative work speaks of that process and it is the center of the place that I found herein and within me: The place where I belong.”

(Sabine E. Rodatz // phone: 812-320-3948 )

I have enjoyed the outdoors since my childhood in Germany. My subject matter are the spaces in between walking in nature, creating crafts, and my suburban living experience. Living close to Ft. Benjamin Harrison State Park makes these experiences accessible daily. I have the pleasure of examining and collecting “Small Wonders of Nature” connected with my interest in wood working. Beginning in 2007, I have created installations made from found materials ranging from branches to horseshoes. I am especially interested in objects related to my “Hoosier” experiences as an immigrant from Germany. Transitioning to and belonging to a new country has been a major theme in my life since my arrival in Indianapolis forty years ago. I view each of my installations as a chance for reflection, prayer and meditation with a focus on experiences and objects that might easily get unnoticed and could be repurposed. My work in the wood shop and out in nature is a wonderful way to balance my passion for advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children, hungry families and homeless young people through Lutheran Child and Family Services. For my clients “transitioning and belonging” are essential themes and challenges too.“

(Sven Schumacher // sschumacher@lutheranfamily.org)