Spirit & Place, IU Indianapolis

Spirit & Place Festival Exhibits
2022-11-10 - 2022-11-21, 2022-11-11 - 2022-11-22, 2022-11-12 - 2022-11-23, 2022-11-13 - 2022-11-24, 2022-11-14 - 2022-11-25, 2022-11-15 - 2022-11-26, 2022-11-16 - 2022-11-27, 2022-11-17 - 2022-11-28 and 12 more dates
Image Credit: Marti LaMar by Kaila Austin
An exciting array of exhibits are included in this year’s festival! Information about exhibit hours are below. To check the festival programming tied to the events, return to the Event Page to search for the event. You must register for events separately.
Tearing Down Boxes and Embracing Change
Nov. 4-14, 1-4pm (Tues.-Fri.)
Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center, 705 N. Illinois St.
Monumental Changes: History and Power in Public Art
Nov. 5-17, 10am-5pm (Tues.-Sat.)
Garfield Park Arts Center—Main Gallery, 2432 Conservatory Dr.
The Memory Keepers / Los Guardianes de Memorias
Nov. 4-14, click here to schedule a gallery visit
201 Studio, 201 S. Rural Ave.
The (W)hole in Our Hearts
Nov. 4-12, visit website for hours
Friday, Nov. 5, 5-9pm (First Friday extended hours)
Saturday, Nov. 6, 10am-12pm (Family Day activities)
Nov. 8-12, M-F, 9am-5pm
Circle City Industrial Complex—Stokol Gallery & Hallways, 1125 Brookside Ave.
Introduction to Black Hue-manity: Imagining Blackness Then and Now
Nov. 8-11. Public hours vary.
Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, 1410 Indiana Ave.
We Are the Change We’ve Been Waiting For
Nov. 10, 5:30-8:30pm
Indiana Interchurch Center, 1100 W. 42nd St.
Changing Direction: The Evolution of Treatment at Indiana’s State Psychiatric Hospitals
Nov. 4-14
Online Exhibit

Where’d You Go to High School? Analyzing a Century of the IPS Caste System
2022-11-11 12:30 - 15:30 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Central Library – Center for Black Literature & Culture, 40 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis, IN, 46204, United States
Where we went to high school tells a lot about how we see ourselves and how others see us. Join a session where you and other local grads are challenged to understand identity by analyzing a century-old IPS high school pyramid of caste, power, and prestige through art, poetry, and conversation.
Though we might not think it’s important, when the question “Where’d you go to high school?” is asked, most people know why. Our answer identifies us, making public our social, economic, and cultural background. This is important for our city. Over the past century, Indianapolis created a divided and unjust system of schools sorting/ranking students by neighborhood, race, class, ethnicity, religion, and ability. This caste system betrayed Horace Mann’s promise that our public schools would be the great “equalizer,” a level playing field with equal opportunity for all.
Guests at this event will be challenged, via primary sources, art, poetry, and story sharing, to go deeper, emphasizing important connections to power structures and how we’ve all been used by the system to uphold those systems which have exerted control and influence over public education. Attendees will leave understanding it is worth their time to pay attention to the high school forces that shaped their identity and will be better able to identify current (and future) forces shaping local schools, youth, and neighborhoods.
5PM – Doors open. Check-in begins.
5:30-6PM – Poster board activity reflecting on IPS’s past and present (11) high schools
6-6:30PM – Welcome, Introductions, & Art Presentations
6:30-7:30PM – Small Group Discussions
7:30-8:30PM – Group Report Outs, Discussion, and Conclusion
Artist and poet presentations feature Dr. Monday, Kaila Austin, and Glyde Gaw.
On-site discussion consultants are IPS graduates Guy Russell (Shortridge), John Loflin (Harry E. Wood), Sheila Boyd (Crispus Attucks), and Dr. Thomas Brown (Arsenal Tech).
A partnership between Charles E. & Virginia P. Vornehm-Loflin Center on IPS History, Kheprw Institute, Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Brown, Virgil Boyd & Sheila Boyd, Guy Russell, Kaila Austin, Clyde Gaw, Wyse Ra, and Black & Latino Policy Institute.
Contact the event organizers at 317-998-1339 or johnharrisloflin@yahoo.com.
Walk-ins welcome, but registration is strongly encouraged by Nov. 10.
Register below.

The Sisters Are Alright Weekend: A Celebration of the Black Femme Experience - "Dear Black Girl"
2022-11-11 14:00 - 15:30 | The District Theatre, 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46204, United States
Through live letter readings and community discussion, The Sisters Are Alright Weekend: A Celebration of the Black Femme Experience amplifies how Black women identify their true selves separate from poisoned narrative. Two gatherings, two venues, one awesome time! ($10 per person/per show.)
For centuries, Black American women have been forced to reckon with negative stereotypes rooted in misogynoir. The indefatigable Mammy; the aggressive Sapphire; the wanton Jezebel; and thoughtlessly procreating Matriarch influence how Black women are seen by society and how they see themselves, disconnecting them from authenticity. Activist Audre Lorde said, “If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” This is the spirit of The Sisters Are Alright Weekend: A Celebration of the Black Femme Experience, where participants see what happens when Black women have the freedom to identify their authentic selves–sharing joys, fears and laughter–apart from demonizing stereotype.
Two events explore how Black women identify their authentic selves:
On Nov. 11, a powerful roster of Black women, including performers such as Kesha Dixon, Celeste Williams, and Tatjana Rebelle will take the main stage at The District Theatre for “Dear Black Girl Live II,” reading frank, honest and vulnerable letters about the joys and pains of Black girlhood from the book Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping into Your Power by Tamara Winfrey-Harris.
On Nov. 12, festivalgoers are invited to “Centering Sisters: Loud & Unapologetic” at the Madam Walker Legacy Center—a guaranteed raucous panel and audience discussion that tackles topics such as anger, strength and sex.
To purchase tickets, for “Dear Black Girl Live II,” visit indydistricttheatre.com. For tickets to “Centering Sisters: Loud & Unapologetic,” visit madamwalkerlegacycenter.com.
A partnership between Centering Sisters, The District Theatre, and Madam Walker Legacy Center.
Contact the event organizers at 219-885-9023 or CenteringSisters@gmail.com.
Walk-ins welcome as seating allows, but registration by Nov. 11 and/or 12 is encouraged.
Register below.
Image Credit: Scott Weber

Spirited Chase: Who Are We?
2022-11-12 04:00 - 09:00 | WFYI Public Media, 1630 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, United States
This interactive on-the-go event introduces participants to the places and people who help shape and share the various ways we identify with ourselves and one another in our community.
Spirited Chase is a unique event that offers participants the opportunity to renew the spirit through discovering new people and places in our community. Each mystery partner organization has been selected based on their connection to the IDENTIFY theme and the ways that they help to share, shape, and create identity in our community.
Participants will gather at WFYI before being given directions on how to reach the first of five mystery locations. At each mystery destination, participants will engage in a brief interactive program as they learn about the many ways these people, places, and programs connect to the theme of IDENTIFY. And, participants will learn ways that they can support these organizations.
A partnership between WFYI Public Media and Mystery Partners.
Contact the event organizers at 317-614-0403 or cweidman@wfyi.org.
$9 per person. Registration required by Nov. 10.
Register below.

CANCELLED Reviving a Forgotten Freetown: Mobilizing Family History to Protect Communities
2022-11-12 08:00 - 11:00 | Central Library – Center for Black Literature & Culture, 40 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis, IN, 46204, United States
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. WE ARE SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.
During this half-day workshop, we will explore how the small African American community of Norwood was able to mobilize their family history to protect their community from unwelcome change. This hands-on program will allow us to help participants organize their family stories into community histories using newly developed “archival kits.” Intergenerational (12+) but younger children welcome.
Learn about the history of the Norwood, a neighborhood on the southeast side of Indianapolis, founded in the 1860s with the arrival of soldiers who had served in the 28th U.S. Colored Troops during the American Civil War. Ongoing historical research and the creation of community archives are helping preserve this unique cultural asset and this workshop aims to help participants gain the skills in preserving their own family and community histories.
The workshop will consist of a history lesson on Norwood followed by hands-on activities in which participants will discover the best methods for building their own archives to tell their own stories on their own terms using newly developed take-home archival kits. By creating new histories that allow historically marginalized communities to be centered, the workshop aims to uplift people by creating a space where they can define themselves and feel the embodied sense of pride and community that this recognition gives.
Designed as an intergenerational gathering, this event is great for elders, parents, and youth age 12+. But if you have younger children, please bring them with you! WE will have adapted materials available for them to explore. More details will be shared after registration, but attendees should plan to bring family photos, documents, and other materials with them to analyze.
Partnership between Norwood Community Archives, Center for Africana Studies & Culture, and Center for Black Literature & Culture.
Contact event organizers at 317-777-5020 or norwoodcommunityarchives@gmail.com.
Seating limited to 10 families (2—4 people per group). RSVP by Oct. 25.
Register below.
Image Courtesy: Norwood Community Archives. Penick-Meyers Family Collection, Ms Flinora Frazier

Identify Your Truths: Faith, Race, Life, Inspiration, and the Journey
2022-11-12 09:00 - 11:00 | College Avenue Branch LIbrary, 4180 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46205, United States
Let’s write!
Hear from local authors on what inspires them to write and share their stories. Attendees will be shown creative examples, provided simple writing tools, and encouraged to write on their own. Featured authors include Rosemary Featherstone Turentine, Linda Lewis-Everett, Phyllis Cotton, Gloria Lewis Vaughn, Melva Scott, and Wynesia Jackson.
Inspired by the Bible verse Habakkuk 2:2-3 (KJV), “And the Lord answered me: Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tablets, that he may run and readeth it,” this 2-hour workshop aims to help attendees identify their writing abilities so that they can tell their own stories on their own terms.
Led by local authors Rosemary Featherstone Turentine, Linda Lewis-Everett, Phyllis Cotton, Gloria Lewis Vaughn, Melva Scott, and Wynesia Jackson, attendees be given a chance to listen, learn, write, and share their stories while also encouraging and inspiring each other to sharpen their talents.
Tentative Schedule:
1pm: Doors open (Optional to arrive this early, but we encourage to make time to socialize before the workshop begins!)
1—2pm: Informal meet-and-greet with authors; snacks and icebreakers
2—3:30pm: Author presentations, fun activities, and writing exercises
3:30—4pm: Conclusion and thank-you gifts, including writing journals!
A partnership between Yes I Can Featherstone Ministries, College Ave. Branch Library, and guest authors.
Contact the event organizers at (317) 603-5394 or festival@iupui.edu.
Due to limited seating and the need to ensure enough workshop supplies, registration is required by Nov. 5.
Register below.

The Testimony Service: I Made It. You Made It. We Made It, Together
2022-11-12 12:00 - 15:00 | Broadway United Methodist Church, 609 E. 29th St., Indianapolis, IN, 46205, United States
The Testimony Service seeks to bring people together—regardless of faith affiliation—to fellowship and celebrate the good news about what’s going on in their lives and communities through music, personal testimony and a shared meal.
To identify means to recognize the existence of a thing. This event, which is rooted in the testimony tradition of the Black church, invites the public to identify the ways they have experienced triumph in their lives. Using interactive writing activities followed by a live musical performance and storytelling from a group of community “testifiers,” this event welcomes everyone to celebrate and share in life’s joys.
Hear from pre-selected community testifiers (and then perhaps share your own story!), make art, listen to music, sit down to a community meal, and join in fellowship with others who want to share what’s good in the world right now. Although rooted in a specific religious tradition, this event eagerly welcomes all!
A partnership between The Testimony Service and The Learning Tree.
Contact event organizers at 317-413-1239 or ebonychappel@gmail.com/
Walk-ins welcome, but registration by Nov. 11 is strongly encouraged.
Register below.

The Sisters Are Alright Weekend: A Celebration of the Black Femme Experience - "Centering Sisters: Loud & Unapologetic"
2022-11-12 14:00 - 15:30 | Madam Walker Legacy Center, 617 Indiana Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, United States
Through live letter readings and community discussion, The Sisters Are Alright Weekend: A Celebration of the Black Femme Experience amplifies how Black women identify their true selves separate from poisoned narrative. Two gatherings, two venues, one awesome time! ($10 per person/per show.)
For centuries, Black American women have been forced to reckon with negative stereotypes rooted in misogynoir. The indefatigable Mammy; the aggressive Sapphire; the wanton Jezebel; and thoughtlessly procreating Matriarch influence how Black women are seen by society and how they see themselves, disconnecting them from authenticity. Activist Audre Lorde said, “If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” This is the spirit of The Sisters Are Alright Weekend: A Celebration of the Black Femme Experience, where participants see what happens when Black women have the freedom to identify their authentic selves–sharing joys, fears and laughter–apart from demonizing stereotype.
Two events explore how Black women identify their authentic selves:
On Nov. 11, a powerful roster of Black women, including performers such as Kesha Dixon, Celeste Williams, and Tatjana Rebelle will take the main stage at The District Theatre for “Dear Black Girl Live II,” reading frank, honest and vulnerable letters about the joys and pains of Black girlhood from the book Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping into Your Power by Tamara Winfrey-Harris.
On Nov. 12, festivalgoers are invited to “Centering Sisters: Loud & Unapologetic” at the Madam Walker Legacy Center—a guaranteed raucous panel and audience discussion that tackles topics such as anger, strength and sex.
To purchase tickets, for “Dear Black Girl Live II,” visit indydistricttheatre.com. For tickets to “Centering Sisters: Loud & Unapologetic,” visit madamwalkerlegacycenter.com.
Partnership between Centering Sisters, The District Theatre, and Madam Walker Legacy Center.
Contact event organizers at 219-885-9023 or CenteringSisters@gmail.com.
Walk-in welcome as seating permits, but registration is strongly encouraged by Nov. 11 and/or 12, respectively.
Image Credit: Scott Weber

Blue Like Me: Identity Exploration with Siona Benjamin and Rabbi Sandy Sasso
2022-11-13 09:00 - 11:00 | Arthur M Glick JCC – Laikin Auditorium, 6701 Hoover Rd., Indianapolis, IN, United States
Through performance art, conversation, and Q&A, attendees will explore sacred stories of identity, challenge, and transformation during this creative and thought-provoking event featuring Indian Jewish artist Siona Benjamin and Rabbi Sandy Sasso.
Centering the sacred storytelling of the midrash, Siona Benjamin – a trans-cultural Jewish artist who grew up in Hindu and Muslim societies while educated in Catholic and Zoroastrian schools – will, along with Rabbi Sasso and dancers from Phoenix rising, explore how sacred narratives link one’s identity to larger communal traditions and understanding.
The speakers and performers at this event have each had to create their own narratives to break down barriers in order to reach their high levels of achievement. Together, they will examine the sacred responsibility of holy storytelling and will teach the audience how they can create sacred stories for themselves.
A partnership between JCC Indianapolis, Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, and Center for Interfaith Cooperation. This event is also part of the JCC’s 24th Ann Katz Festival of Books.
Event organizer contact info: (317) 715-9233 or lrothenberg@jccindy.org.
Walk-ins welcome, space permitting. Registration is still encouraged by Nov. 13.
Register below.
Image Credit: Siona Benjamin

27th Annual Spirit & Place Festival Public Conversation: American Identity
2022-11-13 11:30 - 13:00
How have the ways in which Americans identify been shaped by race, religion, region, and gender? What other forces have shaped our individual and collective sense of identity? Can we even speak of a singular “American identity?”
This year’s Public Conversation invites historian Kathleen Belew (Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America and co-editor and contributor to A Field Guide to White Supremacy), religious studies scholar Stephen Prothero (Religion Matters: An Introduction to the World’s Religions), and former White House staffer (2013-16) and co-founding partner of Culture House Media, Carri Twigg, to engage in a moderated conversation where we will examine how Americans identify and what role the arts, humanities, and religion can play in helping cultivate a shared sense of identity during divisive times. (VIRTUAL EVENT.)
Presented by Spirit & Place and The Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture at IUPUI. This program has been made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Contact Spirit & Place at 317-274-2462 or festival@iupui.edu.
RSVP by noon on November 13 to receive the Zoom link. The webinar link and login instructions will be sent 48hrs and again 2hrs ahead of the event. Read the entire email from Eventbrite to locate the link.
*The Public Conversation will be recorded, but only available upon request for 30 days following the event. “Live” attendance during the webinar on Nov. 13 is strongly encouraged!
Register below.

Kathleen Belew

Carri Twigg

Stephen Prothero

Powerful Conversations on Race (Nov. 2022 - "Exterminate the Brutes")
2022-11-20 10:00 - 12:15
Powerful Conversations on Race [PCR] is a monthly community dialogue series exploring topics around race and racism and the resulting impact.
Powerful Conversations on Race is a way for us to get comfortable talking about uncomfortable histories and is, therefore, rooted in historical documents and subject matter.
This IS NOT a lecture or book club, but a space for community to come together and dive deeply into a variety of topics concerning race. This is an immersive experience. As such, we’ll spend a considerable amount of time in small groups to dialogue with each other about these topics.
All dialogues are virtual and occur on Eastern Standard Time / Eastern Daylight Time.
Registration ends at 12noon on the day of the event. A Zoom link is sent prior to the event start time.
**NEW INFORMATION**
The November 2022 dialogue will be about 15 minutes longer. We will watch and discuss part 1 of the documentary Exterminate All the Brutes, which dives into the historical context of white supremacy and whiteness. The documentary is 1 hr. long followed by 1 hr. of dialogue.
