By Carly Acree-King—
MUNCIE, IN —MadJax Maker Force announces the opening of TOOLSONG Gallery, a new art exhibition space located on the first floor of its downtown Muncie facility (515 E. Main Street, Muncie, IN). The gallery will officially open to the public on Thursday, February 19 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, with an inaugural exhibition and opening night celebration featuring Untied: On Process, Drift, and Letting Go by Kevin R. Klinger.
TOOLSONG Gallery is housed within a former transformer shaft inside the nearly 90-year-old industrial laundry building that now serves as MadJax’s creative hub. Once an unused vertical shaft, the space has been reimagined into a modern, light-filled gallery that celebrates experimentation, process, and contemporary making.
The gallery was designed and constructed in fall 2025 by a team of students from the Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning, under the direction of Kevin R. Klinger, who served as the faculty instructor overseeing the project. Students Nolan French, Elliott Godfrey, Alden Lewis, Bryce Wittman, and Pierson Xayamath led the renovation, clearing decades of debris and overgrowth before building a new floor and a series of abstract joinery elements that form floating exhibition walls throughout the space.
Grant support from the Ball Brothers Foundation made it possible for MadJax to install a roof, skylight, and fire suppression system, transforming the previously inaccessible area into a safe and functional exhibition space.
TOOLSONG Gallery reflects MadJax’s commitment to adaptive reuse, hands-on learning, and creating new platforms for creatives to share work with the community. The gallery will host rotating exhibitions and public programming, further expanding MadJax’s role as a center for creativity, collaboration, and making in East Central Indiana.
The opening of TOOLSONG Gallery coincides with Third Thursday, during which MadJax Maker Force partners with the Muncie Makers Market to host an indoor night market throughout the building. Opening night visitors are invited to explore the new gallery while also enjoying local makers, food and drinks, live music, and other Third Thursday activities happening simultaneously at MadJax.
The inaugural exhibition at TOOLSONG Gallery, featuring solo work from Klinger, presents a selection of abstract oil paintings on Masonite that explore instinct, momentum, and decision-making within the creative process.
In Untied, Klinger resists over analysis in favor of rapid, decisive action. Each work prioritizes commitment over over-refinement and momentum over hesitation, functioning as what the artist describes as “rapid-fire meditations on choice and lyrical relations—how meaning shifts when decisions are made and accepted.” Rather than laboring endlessly on a single composition, the paintings embrace immediacy, drift, and trust in the act of making.
The exhibition is dedicated to Klinger’s former studio art professor, Robert Kingsley of DePauw University, whose teaching encouraged the rapid interrogation of the canvas. That approach continues to influence Klinger’s creative practice and his work as an architectural educator, where clarity, iteration, and forward motion are essential.
TOOLSONG Gallery is open to the public during MadJax Maker Force’s regular public hours: Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Gallery visits are free and open to all during these hours.
For more information about MadJax Maker Force and upcoming exhibitions, visit madjax.org.
