Q&A with artist Nate Baranowski on WNBA mural
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South Bend-based muralist Nate Baranowski is the artist behind a new public art project honoring basketball legend Tamika Catchings in Indianapolis.
Commissioned as part of the city’s hosting of the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend, the mural is set to become a lasting tribute not just to Catchings’ athletic achievements but also to her work as a mentor and community leader.
Inside INdiana Business spoke with Baranowski on how he built a sustainable career in public art, the economic realities of mural work and how he brought the Catchings mural to life in the heart of Mass Ave.
This article has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What first brought you to South Bend and what has kept you there?
It was an easy beginning to my choice to be in South Bend because my wife started residency at Memorial Hospital. My wife’s family is from St. Joe, Michigan. So wanting to be close to them, especially with young kids, was the initial attraction. We’ve been here for three years now and we’ve loved the size of South Bend. The ability to have a small city where we can dip into downtown and do fun things but also have a yard and everything. South Bend has been great for having that mix of feeling like you’re in a city but also a small town.
You travel often for work, how do you manage that while staying connected with your family at home?
It is a hard thing to balance and I don’t think I do it amazing at all times. A lot of it is telling myself I’m only going to travel once or twice in the next couple of months. I try to limit my travel, if I can. I have recently been doing a lot of work from home. Then I ship it out, instead of actually traveling there myself. That’s been a nice hybrid method for making art. Sometimes, I’ll book myself for too much travel and then realize I’m not home enough. So I would try to correct that for the next couple months.
How did you find out about the Tamika Catchings mural?
Another artist friend of mine who lives in California sent me the call for artists. I don’t usually keep my eyes out for those types of things. She sent it because she knew I’m a WNBA fan and I live in Indiana. From there, I only had a couple of days to apply before the deadline. And we went from there.
Could you talk to me about the process for ideating the mural?
It started with meeting Tamika Catchings, myself and the other finalists. Asking her questions, hearing about her personality, what she cares about and what she finds important. I took that information and created a concept using some of the assets they gave us. After I was picked as the artist to create this mural, I did another round of design. Talking with Tamika and the Indy Arts Council to come up with a final piece. After that, it was all about taking that design, projecting it onto a 24-by-26-foot mural and trying to stay hydrated in the Indy heat.
Baranowski talks about finding about the call for artists and the ideation process for the mural.
Did you have any help setting this up?
It was definitely a huge team project. First, we had a company, MAS, that installed, primed and prepped all the panels. Then we have Brooke McGee, who is my apprentice from the Indy Arts Council. She helped me for both weeks. In my first week, Chris Carlson, a friend and fellow artist out of Colorado, flew in to help. This one was probably about nine or 10 days of work.
So what does the high profile commission like this mean for you, financially and professionally?
It means that I can be a little bit more relaxed with finding more work in the near future. It gives financial stability for several months. That means that this summer, I’m not necessarily doing what I’ve done in past summers, which is jump to seven or eight different jobs. It can be a more relaxing summer. It’s great to have a high profile project that I can point to for future clients. A lot of my murals are actually temporary for special events and promotions. So being able to point to something that will be up for many years is great.
Are you looking to branch into more permanent pieces, as opposed to what you’re currently doing now?
No, I wouldn’t say that’s something I’m necessarily looking to do. I’m definitely open to permanent pieces; they are great. But I also love the temporary and the ephemeral nature of that type of art. So, while permanent is great, I’m not necessarily looking to get more and more into that.
How have you been able to build a sustainable career as a muralist and public artist?
It started with doing whatever job that would come my way, a lot of networking and a lot of passing out business cards. I started around 2015 and for the first several years, I wasn’t sure if it would be sustainable. Connecting with different clients that wanted repeat murals and loved my work helped. I worked for a restaurant chain for a while that just kept opening new locations and I was able to keep creating murals for them. It was really helpful to have that financial security.
As I’ve gone along, I’ve been able to keep busy enough and be a little bit more picky with the work that I do. Now I can say no to some projects and not just say yes to everything that comes my way. After you do quite a few and build up a portfolio, there’s a little bit of forward momentum and enough internet traffic that clients can come to me versus having to go out and find a lot of them.
Are there particular economic challenges artists face in making public art a full time profession?
Oh, absolutely. One of the biggest obstacles is that art is something that’s hard to price. It’s a hard thing for those who want it, to assign a decent, sustainable value to it. If you are a business owner, for example, and you want a mural on your wall. There is a huge range of artist prices you could get based on experience and comfort in the medium. That makes it very difficult for someone who wants to make a sustainable living as a mural artist. Because there’s usually someone who’s willing to do it for $200. Maybe because they’re just getting started or it’s a hobby for them.
So being able to convince clients that there is a great ROI on murals and that it should be something that is valued in a way that can allow the artist to create a career is at times difficult because art is subjective and people don’t know what it costs.
What do you think would help more artists thrive financially in this kind of work?
I think it would be helpful to have more organization among mural artists and more of a community where we can share knowledge, pricing and tips with new artists. That way there can be a little bit more confidence that you’re not just going at it alone. That’s been one of the benefits of social media. I’ve been able to connect with a lot of artists online that I don’t know personally. But going forward, having some more connections between artists will especially help those that are just starting out.
What role does art play in shaping the economic vitality of a neighborhood or a city?
Art does a great job at bringing local pride to any place that gets public art. Public art is something that once the artist leaves, especially but even while it’s happening, that becomes the neighborhood’s art. There is the sense of pride of having a beautiful piece of art in your town, in your neighborhood, on your street. That can be something that not only gives people a local sense of pride, it can also beautify spaces that potentially have been blank. Having a beautiful area where you live and work has a bunch of ramifications further down the line. It may not always be easy to quantify but there’s definitely benefits down the road from having a beautiful space that you live and work in.