Annual Color Show: The Golden Ticket

What does a golden ticket mean to you? A childhood memory of Roald Dahl's chocolate factory? A literal flash of metallic brilliance? Or maybe it's something more abstract - access, value, opportunity, the thing you'd pocket and never let go. Harrison Center's annual color show features 125 artists who answer that question, and the results are as varied as you'd hope. Presented by the Katharine B. Sutphin Foundation, The Golden Ticket includes cash prizes for the best and most creative works, with judges Charles Sutphin and Madeline Sutphin announcing winners at 7 p.m. the evening of the opening reception.

Kyle Ragsdale’s Willy and the Sassy Cat offers one of the show’s most dreamlike moments. The oil painting is rich in amber and ochre, depicting figures gathered among tropical flora in an atmosphere that feels suspended between memory and reverie. There’s a parasol, floral garments, and that shimmering golden haze that makes you want to step into the scene and linger there. It’s impressionistic storytelling at its finest - emotion over narrative, light and shadow transformed into something you can almost feel. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Jody Bruns’ linocut reduction print Birds and Bees With Bananas brings crisp, graphic joy to the theme. Yellow birds perch among banana clusters while stylized bees drift across a honeycomb background. The rhythmic patterns recall mid-century printmaking, but the palette keeps it firmly rooted in this year’s show. It’s playful, precise, and delightfully unapologetic about celebrating the sheer cheerfulness gold can evoke.

Then there’s Sara B.’s Matchbox Case, a brass work that reinterprets The Golden Ticket as something you might carry in your pocket - precious, functional, beautiful. The textured surface catches light like fabric, and that ammonite clasp adds an unexpected organic touch. It’s a reminder that this theme can be as much about craft and intimacy as it is about color and concept. 

Come see how Indianapolis artists are interpreting the golden ticket. Yours just might be in the Gallery.