Heart’s Content
A Group Exhibition
May 2-16, 2025
Opening Reception: May 2, 6-9pm, artists present
Free and open to the public

Aurora PhotoCenter, Main Gallery
1125 East Brookside Avenue, Suite C9, Indianapolis

The exhibition Heart’s Content explores photography’s relationship to identity through a range of processes and media, including photographic collage, lenticular, cyanotype, weaving, and video. Using photography to examine the many factors that influence and shape identity, the artists ask us to take a deeper look at what we think we know about ourselves.

Through their work, the seven participating artists, Leah Darden, Kayla Harvey, Sarah Hidalgo-Montañez, Sarah McCartney, Emma Seewald, Dee Smith, and Michelle Watson, share a key part of being an artist — that the questions we ask are oftentimes more important than the answers:

• Do marginalization, stereotypes, and obstacles define me as a person?

• How do we process our relationship to our body?

• How do concepts of home, family, and belonging shape our identity?

• If you could only have one photograph, what would it be, and does your chosen photograph reveal something important about you?

• How do significant destinations inspire personal transformation, connections, or memories? 

• What secrets lie in the deepest parts of our hearts?

For the exhibition’s opening on May 2, 6-9, the artists will be present in the gallery; each artist will give a short talk about their work and answer questions starting at 6pm.

Heart’s Content presents the culmination of artwork from the 2025 BFA Photography Seniors from the Herron School of Art & Design at IU Indianapolis, a four-year program with an interdisciplinary approach led by teaching artists Stefan Petranek, Benjamin Martinkus, Dana Smessaert.

In conjunction with Heart’s Content, Leah Darden will host a viewing of her video, I Define Me, on May 8, 6pm, at Aurora PhotoCenter. Darden writes of the work, “I Define Me is an autobiography styled film showcasing my personal journey in my young adulthood and highlighting black excellence.” The artist will introduce the video and its major themes, and then after showing the video, Darden will take questions from the audience.

Annual operating support for Aurora PhotoCenter provided by the City of Indianapolis through the Indy Arts Council. Additional support provided by the Efroymson Family Fund and Joy of Giving Something, Inc.