George Hull

Originally from Richmond, Indiana, Greg Hull serves as the Dean and the Valerie Eickmeier Professor in Sculpture at the Herron School of Art and Design at IU Indianapolis. He is also a Commissioner on the Indiana Arts Commission. Since joining Herron in 1998, he has held various leadership roles, including Chair of Fine Arts (2017–2020), and has continued to maintain an active professional practice through his studio, GEO Studios LLC.

Mr. Hull's artistic work spans interactive, kinetic, and time-based media, incorporating light, sound, and video, alongside more traditional processes such as wood fabrication, welding, and foundry work. His installations—both temporary and permanent—have been commissioned by institutions including the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, the Conrad Hotel, and the Indianapolis International Airport.

Before joining Herron, Mr. Hull taught sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute after earning his BFA in sculpture there in 1985. He later completed his MFA at the University of Delaware in 1991. Returning to Kansas City to teach, he collaborated with numerous artists on public art projects, honing his focus on installation-based work designed to engage audiences in immersive, sensory experiences.

Among his most recognized public art projects is Breath, a kinetic sculpture installed at the Indianapolis International Airport in 2008. Featuring 11 large red umbrella forms that open and close at the rate of relaxed human respiration, it was designed to offer a calming experience to travelers. Other notable works include Amelia’s Gate, a 1997 memorial to Amelia Earhart in her hometown, and Aurora, an interactive neon sculpture atop the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1999 that could be controlled remotely by viewers via the internet.

Mr. Hull has received numerous awards, including the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, two Creative Renewal Fellowships, and the inaugural Transformational Impact Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. In 2020, he was also honored with Indiana University’s Bicentennial Medal for Distinguished Service.

He is especially proud of his collaborative work with neurologists, art therapists, and patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), developing tools that allow individuals to create digital imagery using eye tracking, breath, and physiological data. These works have also been projected onto hospital exteriors, offering patients an empowering means of creative expression and engagement despite limited physical mobility related to ALS.

As Dean, Mr. Hull oversees the school’s strategic and operational direction, including integrating a music department to complement its studio art, design and art therapy programs—an initiative that reflects his commitment to fostering connections between the arts, health, and the sciences.