INDIANAPOLIS (June 25, 2025) – For the 2025 fifth edition, BUTTER Fine Art Fair powered by AES Indiana presents 50 emerging and established artists, featuring a well-curated collection of contemporary artworks across all mediums that include painting, sculpture, photography, airbrush, illustration, collage, encaustics, and spray paint, plus digital and installation art and immersive film. 

Taking place over Labor Day Weekend at the historic Stutz Factory Building in downtown Indianapolis, BUTTER is set to surpass $1 million in artwork sales this year, welcoming 12,000 guests across four days for an immersive fine art fair experience focused on remembrance, legacy and power.

NEW + NOTEWORTHY ADDITIONS

The 2025 fair will present work from 29 Indiana-based artists and 21 national and international artists, showcasing new and noteworthy artists including:

• Sonia E Barrett (London, England) is a Yale Artist Fellow who has been recognized by the Premio Ora prize, the NY Art-Slant showcase for sculpture, and the Neo Art Prize;
• Kaima Marie Akarue (Houston, TX) explores identity through collage, focusing on urbanism, capitalism, and erased narratives through both private and institutional collections, including the MFAH and the Carter Knowles Collection; 
• Phresh Laundry, by Theoplis Smith III (Fort Wayne, IN), is a philosophy rooted in cleansing, renewal, and reimagining stories we carry. Smith’s work connects generations and geographies, bridging experience and memory;
• Asia Estelle (Houston, TX) is a photographer, ceramicist, and visual activist who captures Black issues and natural hair, combining 2D and 3D materials;
• Jakia Monique March (Los Angeles, CA), a dynamic artist, designer, and community builder, whose artistic prowess extends to fashion design, including her latest obsession—upcycling denim and other end-use materials into high-end fashion pieces;
• Terry Wilson (Indianapolis, IN), began his painting practice at the age of two, sold his first piece at age three and has been working to express values, experience and ideas through artwork for more than 50 years. His distinctive style of art blending airbrush and acrylic paints displays a wide range of skill. 
• Zsavon Butler (Houston, TX) captures abstract figuration using her practice as a lens to explore the social and cultural complexities affecting women. 

BUTTER NATIONAL + INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS (21)

Asia Estelle (Houston,TX), Austin Uzor (Los Angeles, CA), Blake Lenoir (Chicago,IL), BLU Murphy (Washington, D.C.), Brochevski (Louisville, KY), Clifton Henri (Chicago, IL), Desi Brown (Glendale, CO), Jakia March (Los Angeles, CA), Jamea Richmond-Edwards (Detroit, MI), Jeary Payne (Brooklyn, NY), Judy Bowman (Romulus,MI), Kaima Marie Akarue (Houston, TX), Lovie Olivia (Houston, TX), Mario Moore (Detroit, MI), Micah Johnson (Maine), Robert Hodge (Houston, TX), Sonia E Barrett (London, England), Trotter (Detroit, MI), Victoria Cassinova (Los Angeles, CA), Will Watson (Brooklyn, NY), and Zsavon Butler (Houston,TX). 

BUTTER INDIANA ARTISTS (29)

Aaron S. Coleman, Andy Fear, Ashley Nora, Courtland Blade, Deonna Craig, FITZ, Gary Gee, Heath Holland, Israel Solomon, Johnson Simon, Julian Jamaal Jones, Kevin West, Kyng Rhodes, Lyndy Bazile, Marcus Robins, Mechi Shakur, Nicole Powell, Paul Bacardi Smith, Phresh Laundry, Samuel Levi Jones, Seed Lynn, Shamira Wilson, Shaunt’e Lewis, Terrible Tony, Terry K. Wilson, ThanksTheodore, Torry Bown, WildStyle Paschall, and William Minion. 

“From the first BUTTER to the fifth, we are honored to work with hometown heroes like Ashley Nora, FITZ, Gary Gee, Kevin West, and Kyng Rhodes. These starting five Indiana-based artists are transforming mindsets and what it means to be a career artist,” said Deonna Craig, Director of BUTTER Fine Art Fair. “BUTTER is proud to have created a space that counters the starving artist narrative by maximizing earnings, giving 100% of the proceeds from art sales to the artist.”

GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED

This year’s artist roster is one of the most credentialed yet, with the group having artwork on display in private and public collections and in prestigious museums and exhibitions including:

National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institute; SF MoMA; The Whitney; The Rubell Family Collection; LACMA; Art Institute of Chicago; Dakar Biennale; Tate Britain Galleries (London); The Studio Museum in Harlem; Cranbrook Art Museum; Contemporary Museum of East Africa (Nairobi); Richmond Art Museum; Detroit Institute of Arts; Princeton University Art Museum; The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts; National Library of France; Tampa Museum of Art; Newfields; Indiana State Museum; Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Yale University; Chicago Art Expo; NADA House Artist Residency on Governors Island; the Pepco Edison Place Gallery (Washington, D.C.); Project Row Houses (Houston); Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Frist Museum (Nashville), Corridor Gallery (Brooklyn); Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston Museum of African American Culture; Young Masters Exhibition (London); Archive at Centre George Pompidou (Paris); and Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago).

Malina Simone Bacon and Alan Bacon, Founders of GANGGANG and BUTTER Fine Art Fair, will serve as Creative Directors and Curators alongside Deonna Craig. Joining the curatorial team for the first time this year Jacqueline ‘Jac’ Forbes, operator of Malibu’s only Black- and woman-owned art gallery; Janice Bond, a Houston-based visionary arts leader; and Trotter, a multifaceted artist, curator, and gallery owner from Detroit.

Since its inception in 2021, BUTTER has welcomed 46,000+ attendees and 189 artists who have sold more than $900,000 worth of artwork, including 24 BUTTER artwork acquisitions by 11 major institutions for permanent collections. Tickets are on sale at www.butterartfair.com. General Admission tickets cost $50 per person, which includes unlimited access to BUTTER on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Preview Night tickets are $175 for Thursday night and include General Admission with weekend return access. New in 2025 is the opportunity to buy sponsor perks by purchasing a VIP Pass, which includes access to VIP-only spaces, early buying hours, and more for $400. 

BUTTER is made possible because of support from generous organizations and individuals like Title Sponsor AES Indiana, Lumina Foundation, SomeraRoad, ​​The Alexander, Grounded Plants Gifts & Home, and A Couple Cooks, Aqua Systems, Ayers Foundation, Barnes & Thornburg, Bill & Brenda Shrewsberry, Broadway United Methodist Church, Black Onyx Management, C2 Media, Citizens Energy, Dorsey Foundation, Elements Financial, Five Four, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Indy Chamber, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana Sports Corp, IndyGo, IU Health, Mays Chemical Co., NFP, an Aon Company, Old National Bank, OUTFRONT Media, Pacers Sports and Entertainment, Printing Partners, SIMPLICITY Juice, Solid State, Tinker Street, VisionLoft, Visit Indy, and 2nd Street Creative.

ABOUT GANGGANG
GANGGANG is a cultural development firm and creative advocacy agency working to center beauty, culture and equity in cities by activating the creative economy. We believe that artists are the crux and heroes of society and thus require investment for the viability of places. Headquartered in Indianapolis, GANGGANG is a nonprofit organization working with more than 700 artists. For more information on the founding organization, visit www.ganggangculture.com or follow on social media @ganggangculture.

ABOUT BUTTER
BUTTER Fine Art Fair is a multi-day fine art fair organized by GANGGANG that centers the care and economic viability of Black visual artists. Anchored in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend, BUTTER serves as a new model for economic justice in the arts and a catalyst for career transformation. Aiming to sell or loan 100% of the exhibited artworks, BUTTER gives 100% of sales proceeds to the artists.

MEDIA RESOURCES
Media inquiries, including artist interview requests, advance tours, press passes and photography needs: Keri Kirschner, [email protected], (646) 717-2848
Download the official BUTTER Media Kit here: https://butterartfair.com/media-kit/