Companion Projects, 3715 North Washington Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN (2026)

01/17/2026

On Tuesday, we celebrated FOR A MOMENT with Julian Jamaal Jones [ .studios ] and chef Alan Sternberg [ ] as we near the end of Julian’s show Let Me Calm Down.

Our family-style meal doubled as a brief reunion for Julian and Alan who met during Julian’s years studying culinary and pastry arts. Today, they both approach their current craft as a point of connection with their pasts and an ongoing conversation with identity and culture. Like Julian’s work, our four-course meal was full of color and comfort — bbq carrot, slow roasted salmon, beef short rib with saffron rice, sorghum squash, and more. Thank you, Alan!

And thank you for gathering with us always for warm and intimate ways of celebrating the artists we work with. We’ll be together again Sunday, January 18th for a closing conservation — BEFORE WE MOVE ON with Julian and Herron Gallery Director M. Pofahl [ .now ] — to wrap a lovely show at the gallery and an exhilarating year of solo exhibitions by Julian.

Photography by

01/06/2026

Join us Sunday, January 18th, 1pm — 4pm for a closing conversation with Julian Jamaal Jones and M. Pofahl on Jones’ exhibition Let Me Calm Down. The event is free and open to the public. Conversation begins around 2:00pm. The exhibition is on view through January 18, 2026 by event or appointment.

Julian Jamaal Jones [ b. 1992, Indianapolis, IN ] is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who memorializes Black culture through fresh perspectives and a commitment to creative freedom within traditional frameworks. Drawing from the historical language of African American quilting, Jones employs abstraction and vibrant color to both honor tradition and reframe it, bypassing preconceptions and opening conversations around his lived Black experience. His work is exhibited nationally and internationally and held in the permanent textile collections of Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI; the Richmond Art Museum in Richmond, IN; and Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN. Jones earned his BFA in Photography from the Herron School of Art + Design and his MFA in Photography from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

M. Pofahl is a curator and artist based in the Midwest with roots in the Southeastern United States. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography + Film from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Over nearly a decade in Detroit, Pofahl worked with a range of arts institutions, including Forum Gallery, Science Gallery Detroit, Wayne State University, Project Art Detroit, Red Bull Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, where they served as Assistant Curator. As Director and Curator of the Herron Galleries in Indianapolis, Pofahl harnesses the transformative power of art to cultivate spaces that inspire critical thought, challenge social constructs, foster inclusivity, and advance a more just and sustainable society.

Graphic by .art

12/18/2025

Let Me Calm Down by Julian Jamaal Jones, on view at the gallery.

Open hours & appointments available this Saturday, December 20th 12–4pm.

On view through January 18, 2026.

For sales and inquiries, please contact:
[email protected]

Image by

12/05/2025

Delighted to be featured in the Best Of Indy, Arts & Entertainment of 2025 by !

This spotlight on COMPANION was a sweet, perceptive surprise this week. At our artist dinners, I often share how fortunate I am to work with artists in slower ways and to welcome neighbors, friends, and strangers alike into our home for exhibitions and experiences with art that feel more meaningful than institutional. ‘Sanctuary’ isn’t a word I’ve used publicly to talk about the gallery, but it shows up when I write about how art spaces can serve us. And it’s really encouraging to see that same resonance embraced, and in print, by others.

Big, heart-filled appreciation to the folks who’ve spent time with us on some of our best nights and who brought us into the Best of Indy fold!

- Braydee

12/02/2025

Julian Jamaal Jones [ b. 1992, Indianapolis, IN ] is an artist and educator whose work explores Black identity and memorializes Black culture. Grounded in abstraction and sketching, his contemporary approach to traditional art forms draws inspiration from the aesthetics of historic quilting, particularly those produced by the renowned Gee’s Bend quilters, and the cathartic nature of hip-hop.

Jones received his BFA from Herron School of Art and Design and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has exhibited with PLAYGROUND Detroit, Soft Times Gallery, Chilli Art Projects, Jac Forbes Contemporary, the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts, and Welancora Gallery. His work is held in the collections of Cranbrook Art Museum, the Richmond Art Museum, and Wabash College.

COMPANION presents LET ME CALM DOWN, a solo exhibition by Jones titled after a track on Nicki Minaj’s 2023 album, Pink Friday 2. The quilts and small drawings embody the energy of hip-hop with its raw honesty, lyrical defiance, and ability to flip anger into rhythm. The quilts carry a visual beat: stitched lines echo sound waves, blocks of color clash and harmonize like verses in a song, and pieced-together fragments form a full narrative. The cloth becomes a language, coded with memories, burdens, and hopes that refuse to be erased.

Jones’ practice is both deeply personal and in conversation with collective experience. The works wrestle with systemic inequities in the art industry, the exhaustion of navigating politics that devalue Black voices, and the intimate frustrations of daily life. They continue a long lineage of Black cultural production—from the quilting traditions of Gee’s Bend to the sonic innovation of hip-hop—that transforms struggle into testimony.

What does it means to hold space for breath in a world that insists on urgency? Can calm itself become radical? His refusal to diminish anger or hide exhaustion proposes stillness and fury, softness and resistance, coexist in the same frame—stitched into the very fabric of survival.

On view through January 18, 2026.
For inquiries, email [email protected]
Images by

11/28/2025

Let Me Calm Down by Julian Jamaal Jones is on view through January 18, 2026.

Visit us tomorrow, Saturday, November 29th from 2 - 5pm for open hours. Appointments available across the next few weeks, or reserve your seat for our artist dinner this Tuesday with !

LMCD, Color Study #1, 2025
Oil pastels on paper
9 1/2 x 8 1/2

LMCD, Color Study #2, 2025
Oil pastels on paper
9 1/2 x 8 1/2

LMCD, Color Study #3, 2025
Oil pastels on paper
9 1/2 x 8 1/2

For sales and inquiries, please contact:
[email protected]

Image by

11/14/2025

LET ME CALM DOWN by Julian Jamaal Jones opens tonight and is on view through January 18th, 2026.

As the fifth solo project by Julian Jamaal Jones in 2025, Let Me Calm Down borrows its apt title from a track on Nicki Minaj’s 2023 album, Pink Friday 2. It brings together quilts, small drawings, and canvas accessories produced by Jones in 2024 and 2025. The works reflect his own wrestling with systemic inequities in the art industry, the exhaustion of navigating politics that devalue Black voices, and the intimate frustrations of daily life. They continue a long lineage of Black cultural production—from the quilting traditions of Gee’s Bend to the sonic innovation of hip-hop — that transforms struggle into testimony.

Jones asks what it means to hold space for breath in a world that insists on urgency. Can calm itself become radical? His refusal to diminish anger or hide fatigue proposes stillness and fury, softness and resistance, coexist in the same frame — stitched into the very fabric of survival.
______

LET ME CALM DOWN | Opening Reception
Friday, November 14th | 6 — 10pm

FOR A MOMENT | Family-style Dinner with Julian Jamaal Jones and chef Alan Sternberg
Tuesday, December 2nd | 6 — 9pm
Reserve Your Seat

BEFORE WE MOVE ON | Closing Reception and Artist Talk
Sunday, January 18th | 1 — 4pm

Julian Jamaal Jones [ b. 1992, Indianapolis, IN ] received his BFA from Herron School of Art and Design and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

I’m Definitely Frustrated....., 2025
Oil pastel sketches printed on Linen Cotton, Silhouette Organic Cotton Sateen and Twill Cotton
34 x 45 5/8 in

For sales and inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Image by

11/13/2025

Reserve your seat — FOR A MOMENT invites guests to share a family-style dinner with textile artist Julian Jamaal Jones & chef Alan Sternberg of Bluebeard amid Jones’ exhibition and call for pause, Let Me Calm Down. Our meal that doubles as a brief reunion for Julian and Alan and a celebration of their contemporary takes on time-honored art forms.

Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 6 PM

Culinary and textile arts share a legacy of parallels, from their original, most essential functions in human survival to their contemporary roles as storytellers and expressions of culture. Both disciplines use color, texture, and structure to create and share sensory experiences. Whether combining and revisioning ingredients or fibers, they require structural planning, like a recipe or pattern, and indulge in decorative techniques. Traditionally, and true to the way Julian makes quilts and Alan makes food, both pursuits make good use of what’s available.

Setting is intimate and limited to 14 guests.
studios

Graphic by .art

11/13/2025

Let Me Calm Down by Julian Jamaal Jones [ .studios ] is an intimate tribute to slowing the pace, coming back to yourself, and reaping what’s already been sown. We hope you’ll join us tomorrow for the opening reception — big quilts, small drawings, one-of-a-kind canvas bags, and books.

LET ME CALM DOWN | Opening Reception
Friday, November 14th | 6 — 10pm
always free and open to the public

We know its tricky to be everywhere during the holidays season. Thank you for being with us all year long and in celebration of this exhibition any way you can. Event and appointment information can always be found online our website. For sales and other inquiries, please contact: [email protected].

Please note: Washington Boulevard is still under construction. Parking is limited to nearby side streets and the lot located at 215 E 38th Street. We like to reserve more immediately accessible parking for those who need it. If that’s you or anyone in your party, please use available street parking in front of COMPANION.

Documentation by

11/10/2025

COMPANION is delighted to present LET ME CALM DOWN, a solo exhibition by Julian Jamaal Jones comprising small, oil pastel sketches and vibrant, abstract quilts. On view November 14, 2025 — January 18, 2026.

LET ME CALM DOWN | Opening Reception
Friday, November 14th | 6 — 10pm

FOR A MOMENT | Family-Style Artist Dinner
Tuesday, December 2nd | 6 — 9pm

BEFORE WE MOVE ON | Closing Reception and Artist Talk
Sunday, January 18th | 1 — 4pm

LET ME CALM DOWN borrows its name from a track on Nicki Minaj’s 2023 album, Pink Friday 2. This is Jones’ fifth solo project of 2025. It marks a pause, taken on his own terms.

The exhibition gathers quilts that exist at the intersection of tension and release. Pattern, color, and layered abstraction embody the energy of hip-hop—its raw honesty, its lyrical defiance, and its ability to flip anger into rhythm. The quilts carry a visual beat: stitched lines echo soundwaves, blocks of color clash and harmonize like verses in a song, and pieced-together fragments form a full narrative. Cloth becomes a language, coded with memories, burdens, and hopes that refuse to be erased.

Jones’ practice is both deeply personal and in conversation with collective experience. The works wrestle with systemic inequities in the art industry, the exhaustion of navigating politics that devalue Black voices, and the intimate frustrations of daily life. They continue a long lineage of Black cultural production—from the quilting traditions of Gee’s Bend to the sonic innovation of hip-hop—that transforms struggle into testimony.

Jones asks what it means to hold space for breath in a world that insists on urgency. Can calm itself become radical? Can frustration be reshaped into beauty without losing its edge? His refusal to diminish anger or hide exhaustion proposes stillness and fury, softness and resistance, coexist in the same frame—stitched into the very fabric of survival.

For sales and inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Graphic by .art

11/02/2025

Join us today for the tender closing celebration of In The House My Mother Built by Nazarinne Ahmed. Nazarinne will share a selection of readings that informed the exhibition, including works by Bell Hooks and passages from Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know at 2pm.

CLOSING RECEPTION
Sunday, November 2nd | 1 — 4pm

I often think of a line in Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know: “Obfuscation is my inheritance.” This idea that what is passed down is not always clear, sometimes hidden or tangled, echoes throughout this work. There are things between us that were never said, histories and emotions folded into silence. These pieces attempt to make some of that tangible, to name what lies beneath it all.

This work is not concerned with closure or dramatics, but with attention and care. It’s about seeing, remembering, and repairing. It’s about holding complexity and moving towards empathy, towards grace, and towards a more honest reckoning between generations.

— Nazarinne Ahmed

The exhibition features sculpture, printmaking, textile, and text-based works produced over two years. Throughout the gallery, a collection of sentimental belongings connect the work’s familiar themes to Ahmed’s own childhood experience. Text works on view include:

the house that raised you, 2024
found window frame, rust, aluminum plate, etched glass, oil paint, asphaltum
46.25 x 50.25 x 9 in

in my mother’s bed, 2025
found cot, stained and etched glass, screenprinted textile
51 x 23.5 x 1 in

i bend but i don’t break, 2024
embossed text on eastern paper, steel
24 x 18 x 2 in

Images by

10/30/2025

Upcoming — LET ME CALM DOWN, a solo exhibition by Julian Jamaal Jones [ .studios ], comprises small drawings and his distinctive, abstract quilts. Borrowing its name from a track on Nicki Minaj’s 2023 album Pink Friday 2, the exhibition is Jones’ fifth solo project this year. It marks a pause and questions whether calm itself can become radical.

ON VIEW
November 14, 2025 — January 18, 2026

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, November 14th 6 — 10pm

COMPANION
3715 Washington Blvd
Indianapolis

JULIAN JAMAAL JONES
I’m Definitely Frustrated....., 2025

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Companion Projects

01/17/2026

01/06/2026

12/18/2025

12/05/2025

12/02/2025

11/28/2025

11/14/2025

11/13/2025

11/13/2025

11/10/2025

11/02/2025

10/30/2025

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