Ball State University College of Fine Arts

By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Presented by Ball State's Department of Theatre and Dance

Choreographed by Susan Koper, Joseph Lyons, Audra Sokol, Roberta Wong, and Christie Zimmerman

The Nutcracker is the classic holiday tale as you’ve never seen it before—a dreamy collision of magic, mystery, and imagination. Clara’s beloved toy transforms into a valiant prince, whisking her from a war-torn living room to realms filled with snow, sweets, and surreal wonders. Each step of her journey blurs the line between fantasy and reality, revealing the strange beauty hidden beneath tradition. With Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable score guiding the way, this reimagined Nutcracker becomes a wild, whimsical ride through the heart of childhood dreams.

The Ball State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gregory Robbins, will play the score live.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

About

This Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life is a heartwarming radio drama based on Frank Capra’s classic story. Condensed into about an hour, the production features rich narration, live sound effects, and expressive performances to tell the story of George Bailey—a man who, feeling overwhelmed by life’s burdens, is shown by his guardian angel how profoundly he has touched the lives of others. The radio play beautifully conveys themes of hope, community, and the power of one individual to make a difference—offering an intimate, nostalgic experience that feels both uplifting and deeply human through the magic of radio.
 
IPR Radio Dramas feature community and campus actors, musicians, and singers who, through their live performances, transport listeners to another time—evoking memories of shared experiences and recalling an era when imagination played a central role in entertainment. Live music and sound effects help recreate the authentic atmosphere of the Golden Age of Radio.
 
Audience members play a vital role in the radio drama experience by engaging with the story and reacting to the emotions conveyed through sound and performance.
 
Attendees should be seated by 7:30 p.m. and will enjoy a special pre-show program, including a live sound effects demonstration.
 
Directed by Matthew Reeder. Musical direction by Jim Rhinehart. Sound effects by Leo Blackmer.

Tickets

Tickets are sold through the College of Fine Arts Box Office located at Sursa Hall. Purchase options:

• ONLINE
• Phone: 765-285-8749
• In person: Monday through Friday from Noon to 5 p.m., or starting 1 hour before the performance at the performance venue

**Please note: As part of our commitment to sustainability, all College of Fine Arts tickets are paperless and are accessible via email confirmation. Your confirmation email contains your digital tickets which can be scanned at the door from your mobile device, or you can print your digital tickets at home to be scanned. There is no need to visit Will Call prior to the performance.

Parking

Parking is available in the McKinley Parking Garage (entrance on Ashland Avenue) located immediately south of Sursa Hall. Metered parking is available on the first floor of the garage until 7 p.m. at which time parking is free.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.

Image: Lamar Richcreek (American, 1947–2018), Untitled from the Series Ideal Farm, 2004, chromogenic color print, gift of Jean Richcreek, 2024.006.011.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Ball State alumnus Lamar Richcreek (1947–2018) earned a degree in business administration in 1969. After a 24-year career in banking, he launched a second career in photography. In his 50s, he returned to school, earned an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and taught for 20 years as an adjunct professor of photography at the Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis. His success as a fine art photographer resulted in a solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2002.

Like the pastoral genre in literature, art, and music, Lamar Richcreek’s photographs often present nostalgic visual stories of Indiana’s agricultural landscape inflected by his business perspective. He once wrote in an artist’s statement, “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. In the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War years, the Midwest saw the creation of global markets for farm products and the development of technological advances that were invented to increase production for improved and insured profitability, all of which transformed American farming. These transformations favored agri-businesses and multi-national corporations, thereby altering the viability of the traditional family farm. This change occurred over time without my realizing its impact.”

Lamar Richcreek’s photography testifies to the effects of the post-war economic-agricultural boom in the Midwest through his images with surreal settings, witty juxtapositions, and sublime scenery. A recent donation of art from his wife, Jean Richcreek (1948–2025), to the David Owsley Museum of Art allows subsequent generations to view the corporatization of farming in Indiana through Lamar Richcreek’s creative lens. We are also grateful to Ball State alumnus Thomas Murphy (‘69) for his recent philanthropic investment in DOMA in memory of Lamar and Jean Richcreek.  

Image: Pierre Daura (American, born Spain, 1896–1976), designs for Cercle et Carré logo, 1929. Pen and ink on paper, 9 3/4 × 6 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Martha Randolph Daura. 2011.125.

September 18 – December 19, 2025

Hours: 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Tuesday–Friday)
           1:30–4:30 p.m. (Saturday)

In Paris in 1929, Belgian painter and critic Michel Seuphor (1901–1999), Uruguayan painter and theorist Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), and Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura (1896–1976) founded an influential but short-lived artistic group named Circle and Square, after the geometric shapes fundamental to abstract art.  The group attracted more than eighty international artists including Jean Arp (1886–1966), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Alexandra Exter (1882–1949), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1987), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), and Sophie Täuber-Arp (1889–1943), among other famous and lesser-known personalities in the Parisian art world. Cercle et Carré and the International Spirit of Abstract Art showcases more than sixty works by thirty of Cercle et Carré’s participants, as well as outlines the formation of the group and its artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, with the addition of works from the collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art. Generous support for the exhibition was provided by the Daura Foundation.