Ball State University’s David Owsley Museum of Art Presents Two Special Exhibitions this Fall

Topics: Arts and Culture, College of Fine Arts, Community Engagement, Muncie

September 10, 2025

Left: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896 - 1976), untitled (receding rectangles), ca. 1945 - 65. Oil on cardboard, 10 × 13 5/8 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2003.352. Right: Lamar Richcreek, American (1947-2018), Toy Tractor from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, Gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.014, image shared with permission of the Richcreek Estate.

This Fall, the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) at Ball State University presents two significant exhibitions: one that features international abstraction and another that explores Indiana storytelling through photography.

Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art examines a short-lived but influential modernist movement formed in Paris. Indiana Pastoral: The Photography of Lamar Richcreek showcases the work of a Ball State graduate whose evocative photographs document the postwar transformation of rural Indiana.

Both exhibitions, free and open to the public, will be on view Sept. 18-Dec. 19, 2025.

Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art
Organized by the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, this exhibition presents more than 60 paintings, drawings, and furniture by members of Cercle et Carré ("Circle and Square"), a collective founded in 1929 to promote structure and construction in art as a response to surrealism. The group included more than 80 artists from across Europe and the Americas-ranging from established figures such as Wassily Kandinsky, and Fernand Léger to lesser-known contributors such as Alexandra Exter and Franciska Clausen.

"The artists of Cercle et Carré were searching for a universal visual language," said Dr. Robert La France, director of the David Owsley Museum of Art. "We are honored to collaborate with the Georgia Museum of Art to bring this modernist movement to Indiana."

The exhibition is presented at Ball State by the Friends of DOMA and the Daura Foundation.

After earning a degree in business administration from Ball State, Mr. Richcreek spent 24 years in banking before launching a second career in photography. He later earned an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and taught for two decades at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

"My views of the landscape, agriculture, and the family farm are romanticized ones, originating from childhood experiences and visits to my grandfather's farm in Central Indiana," Mr. Richcreek once wrote. "These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm."

"I'm excited to introduce our audiences to Lamar Richcreek's work," Dr. La France said. "His story-from banker to accomplished photographer-is inspiring, and his images reflect humor, nostalgia, and insight."

The exhibition is made possible through a recent gift from Jean Richcreek (1948-2025), the artist's wife, to the David Owsley Museum of Art.

About the David Owsley Museum of Art
Free and open to the public, the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University houses a world art collection with more than 11,000 original works of art representing all seven continents. DOMA cultivates lifelong learning and recreation in the visual arts through exciting interdisciplinary art exhibitions with engaging displays of the permanent collection in an educational environment that serves both the University and the East Central Indiana region. DOMA's website.

Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 1:30-4:30 p.m.

DOMA is in the Fine Arts Building on the north side of Ball State University's Quad. Parking is available at the McKinley Avenue Parking Garage, and MITS bus stops are nearby. For more information, contact the museum at 765-285-5242 or email [email protected].