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Featured Muralists: Holly Sims and Matt Rees - The Warehouse, Greencastle
The following are the sixth and seventh installment of an eight-part series on the artists who will be painting the seven murals throughout Putnam County as part of the Putnam County Mural Festival. Set to last through Sept. 21, the festival will culminate with a celebration in Greencastle.
Up next are Holly Sims and Matt Rees, both artists with Putnam County roots, who are collaborating on a mural at The Warehouse in Greencastle.
Holly Sims is an Indianapolis-based muralist originally from Greencastle. She has a passion for community and arts education and enjoys working on projects that combine the two. Since participating in the 2022 Putnam County Mural Fest, Sims has continued to paint beautiful murals on walls across the state and throughout the country. When not doing murals, she is a professor of art at Anderson University where she also maintains a fine art practice.
Q: Why did you want to create a mural in Putnam County?
A: It is a fun opportunity to collaborate with Matt Rees and help execute his designs larger than life. I am a big fan of his work, so I am excited to work together.
Q: What excites you about the specific location of your mural?
A: This will be my first exterior mural to help with in my hometown. I painted inside of the Warehouse in 2020, so it is great to return and paint the exterior. Piper (Baxter) is a fun business owner and a great supporter of the arts, so I am looking forward to painting on her building again.
Q: How do you hope people will engage with your art?
A: I hope people enjoy the bright color and visual movement of the jellyfish. I hope it is a bright and fun welcome for The Warehouse gym.
Q: How did you get into mural creation? How long have you been doing it?
A: I have been creating murals for almost 10 years. I got into it after getting my master’s in painting and interning for a muralist in Indianapolis.
Q: What inspires your art?
A: I am inspired by nature and beautiful color combinations.
Q: What’s your next project?
A: My next project is a crosswalks project working with Pendleton School Corporation families and students in late September. Then I will just be focusing on my fine art pieces and teaching.
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Matt Rees has been a bird lover since he was a child. The paintings of John James Audubon and other early avian natural history illustrators heavily influenced his artistic development. As a woodblock printmaker, Matt depicts local birds in their natural environments, largely Putnam County, where he resides. Wildwood Press, Matt’s studio and print shop, partners with several Hoosier organizations, including Putnam County’s Friends of the Park and the Indiana Audubon Society, helping to raise money and awareness for the protection of local wildlife habitats.
Q: Why did you want to create a mural in Putnam County?
A: As a resident, being given the opportunity to help “paint the town” was an offer too good to pass up. Plus I get to partner with an artist whose work I’ve long admired, Holly Sims.
Q: What excites you about the specific location of your mural?
A: It’s right off the downtown square, so it will be close to all the action.
Q: How do you hope people will engage with your art?
A: Selfies, of course! That, and simply to stand and stare at it and think, ‘what in world…’
Q: How did you get into mural creation? How long have you been doing it?
A: Artistically, I’m a woodblock printmaker. This will be my first mural, which is why I’ve been teamed up with a pro.
Q: What inspires your art?
A: The abundant and diverse nature here in Putnam County, which for my woodblock print work, is mostly birds.
Q: What’s your next project?
A: A collaboration with the Indiana Audubon Society.