INDIANAPOLIS — During the competition for Super Bowl XLVI, it didn’t exactly hurt Indianapolis to be able to throw the National Art Museum of Sport’s name into the mix.
The nation’s largest collection of sports-themed art has been located at the University Conference Place and Hotel, 850 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, since 1994.
Super Bowl visitors can’t stop by that location this week, however, because the New England Patriots have taken over the hotel.
All is not lost however, as museum officials are taking the collection on tour, installing pieces across downtown Indianapolis, including the Super Bowl Village and on Monument Circle.
From the famed Leroy Neiman to “Brooklyn Bums” cartoonist Willard Mullin, the museum boasts a fascinating blend of everything from photography to oil portraits both abstract and representative, sculpture and cartoons.
This week, while the festivities rage, artwork from the museum can be seen at The Huddle, the massive nightclub that sits where in the Circle Centre Mall where Nordstrom used to be.
More art can be seen in the iconic front windows of the Indianapolis Power & Light building on Monument Circle. The bigwigs at the Indianapolis Super Bowl Committee have more of the artwork hanging in the second-floor conference rooms at the venerable Columbia Club, where they are hosting guests.
Even tiny Zionsville, the wealthy Boone County enclave northwest of Indianapolis, is hosting paintings at several businesses along Zionsville’s quaint Main Street. They’re calling it the ZBowl exhibit.
And the NCAA’s Hall of Champions, the site of a recent NAMOS-sponsored, football-themed art competition, is hosting other pieces.
At Monument Circle through the second week in February, NAMOS will have an installation of over 30 of the museum’s Football Invitational exhibit artworks in the windows of IPL and other locations around the circle.
Some of the pieces there include Chris Bucher’s life-sized works depicting Colts’ player, Ryan Diem. Charles Fazzino, the officially licensed artist for Super Bowl XLVI, has other works on the circle.
After the second week in February, the museum will reopen to the public.