Ellie Garvey is an Indianapolis-based visual and literary artist. A metalsmith (Indiana University Bloomington, 2006) and fashion industry professional (San Francisco, CA, 2006-2008) turned painter/illustrator, she is currently developing a collection of contemporary folk art paintings centering mother and child relationships. Ellie’s emerging work, Cherish, is a mash up of folk art botanical motifs and mother-and-child compositions influenced by renaissance nudes, DaVinci’s Vitruvian man, ancient Roman bathhouses, secret gardens, and historical Madonna and child depictions. There’s some cowgirl je ne sais quoi in there too!
Ellie is a 2025-2026 Stutz SPACE Resident; she was a 2024-2025 RSA (Religion, Spirituality, and Arts) fellow (IU Herron School of Art & Design, Lilly Endowment & Herbert Simon Family Foundation). Ellie was also a 2022-2023 Creative Renewal Arts fellow (a $10,000 award issued by the Arts Council of Indianapolis, funded by Eli Lilly Foundation).
Ellie has published works in permanent catalog in the LACMA Balch Art Research Library in Los Angeles, CA. She has exhibited across the country and has participated in New York’s Upstate Art Weekend. Her work can be found on Artsy, represented by Dama Gallery and has been featured on the Jumbotron billboard in Times Square, represented by HMVC NY.
Ellie’s most exciting clients of 2026 so far include Indianapolis International Airport, The Florida Review, and Indy Arts Council. Look for picture book and fine art murals in concourse A and L4 of the parking garage at IND through summer of 2027!
Ellie lives in a wildlife corridor by the White River with her three daughters (Odetta, Marigold, and Rasaminta), her husband, Nate, a bichon frise named Ocho and their ill-mannered cat, Butterfly.
