Spirit & Place, IU Indianapolis

Spirit & Place Festival Exhibits
2025-08-25 - 2025-09-05, 2025-08-26 - 2025-09-06, 2025-08-27 - 2025-09-07, 2025-08-28 - 2025-09-08, 2025-08-29 - 2025-09-09, 2025-08-30 - 2025-09-10, 2025-08-31 - 2025-09-11, 2025-09-01 - 2025-09-12 and 15 more dates | IN
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

Sacred Synergies: Nature, Faith, & Science with Katharine Hayhoe
2025-11-06 18:00 - 20:15 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, 6501 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, 46260, United States
ASL Interpreted
Attendance is virtual or in-person
ZOOM ATTENDEE NOTICE:
Virtual attendees must register via Zoom — not Eventbrite — to receive the Zoom link and passcode. Complete your ZOOM ATTENDANCE registration here:
https://iu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T_9ygB1BQNK-7NeRfLe1Jw
How do we talk about climate change—across scientific, faith, and cultural divides?
Kick off this year’s Spirit & Place Festival with a virtual keynote and watch party featuring Katharine Hayhoe—Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, evangelical Christian, and author of Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.
Embrace the spirit of community with food, fellowship, and the chance to connect with event partners at our in-person watch party or bring that spirit to your place by connecting virtually. After Hayhoe’s keynote, join IU experts—online or in person—for interactive workshops exploring how to navigate tough climate conversations through dialogue, science and policy communication, and improv.
Why a virtual keynote & watch party? To reduce her carbon footprint, Hayhoe presents virtually. We’re pleased to offer both a communal in-person experience at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and an online Zoom option. All attendees will have a chance to explore what it means to talk—and listen—across divides.
Questions: Contact 317-274-2462 or festival@iu.edu.
Event Organizers: presented by Spirit & Place, IU Environmental Resilience Institute, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Indianapolis, IU Indianapolis Communicating Science Program, The Nature Conservancy in Indiana, Hoosier Environmental Council, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Indiana, and Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation.
Registration: Requested by Oct. 23. Register Here.
(NOTE: In person attendees will register via Eventbrite and virtual guests directly via Zoom.)
What to Know:

For online guests: While cameras won’t be on, you’ll have plenty of ways to join in! Use the Q&A function to engage with Katharine and then stick around afterwards for something special: a short, interactive session with a representative from the IUI O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at their Constructive Dialogue work—practical, proven strategies for talking through the tough stuff. Curious about how to keep conversations open instead of shutting them down? You’ll walk away with a tool designed exactly for “important, complicated issues that can divide people.”
For in-person guests: Arrive early at 5:30PM for heavy hors d’oeuvres, live viola music by Colette Abel, and a chance to mingle with our event partners before Katharine takes the virtual stage at 6PM. And don’t leave right after the talk—you’ll miss one of the evening’s most engaging experiences! Krista Longtin, IU communication expert and winner of Spirit & Place’s 2019 Award of Awesomeness (“A Faith Leader and a Scientist Walk into a Bar”), will lead a fun improv-based workshop that will get you laughing, connecting, and reflecting on how to ask questions from genuine curiosity. You’ll practice communication skills that help build bridges and common ground, something we all need more of.

The Testimony Service Presents: Sol Sessions
2025-11-07 06:30 - 09:00 | Unitarian Universalist Church Indianapolis, 615 W. 43rd St., Indianapolis, 46208, United States
Greet the sun with joyful movement and meditative stillness. This early-morning dance party and sound bath invites you to honor the nature of your body, connect in community, and celebrate a new day with intention. Sol Sessions is a soulful fusion of music, movement, and mindfulness.
Start your day with intention, movement, and music at Sol Sessions, a morning dance party and sound bath experience inspired by nature. Guided by a hip-hop yoga instructor, participants will move to energizing dance/electronica music before immersing in a restorative sound bath led by a reiki practitioner. With light refreshments, coffee, and cocoa on hand, the event blends fellowship, art, and the healing power of nature. Celebrate community, gratitude, and the joy of greeting the sun through dance, meditation, and mindful connection.
Questions? Contact 317-413-1239 or TheTestimonyServiceOnline@gmail.com.
Event Organizers: A partnership between The Testimony Service and Center for Religion, Arts, and Culture at Broadway United Methodist Church.
Registration: Click here to register.

Earth Pigment: The Alchemy of Soil
2025-11-07 13:30 - 16:30 | Wilson Art Lab/The Rose Building, 642 E. 38th St., Indianapolis, IN, 46205, United States
Limited capacity. Registration required.
This workshop is offered twice: Nov. 7 & Nov. 9.
This hands-on, earth-honoring workshop invites you to gather, process, and transform local soil into natural pigment. Through ritual, slowness, and creativity, you will reconnect with land, craft handmade paint, and explore soil as story, archive, and art.
Join us for Earth Pigment: Alchemy of Soil, a hands-on workshop where art, ecology, and ritual meet. We’ll begin with a grounding practice before stepping into the landscape to gather soil with care and intention. Guided step-by-step, participants will learn traditional methods of sorting, sifting, washing, and grinding earth into vibrant pigment, then transform it into natural paints with simple, organic binders. To close, we’ll honor what the land has offered through a short creative ritual—painting, journaling, or marking with the handmade pigments. Each participant will leave with their own pigments, paint samples, and a soil alchemy guide, as well as a renewed sense of connection to place and the wisdom held within the earth.
Questions? Contact 317-274-2462 or sw@shamirawilson.com.
Event Organizers: A partnership between Wilson Art Lab and Growing Places Indy.
Registration: Click here to register.

A Sense Sublime: Poems & Prose of Nature and Spirituality
2025-11-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Lacy Arts Building, 848 Logan St., Noblesville, IN, 46060, United States
VENUE CHANGE:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the venue for this event has been moved to PRESERVATION HALL which is 5 blocks east of the Lacy Arts Building at 1274 Logan St. (Noblesville)
The photo exhibit complementing this event runs from Nov. 1 – 30.
Surrounded by nature art and photography, listen to dramatic readings from the English Romantics and the American Transcendentalists to Aldo Leopold and Gene Stratton-Porter. Explore with others through small group conversations what these poets and writers have to say about the wonder of nature and connection to the Infinite.
Questions? Contact 317-637-6163 or glory@indy.net.
Event Organizers: A partnership between Glory-June Greiff and Lacy Arts Building.
Registration: Click here to register.

Axolotl: The Regeneration of a Woman’s Heart
2025-11-07 19:00 - 21:00 | MLK Community Center, 40 W. 40th St., Indianapolis, IN, 46205, United States
ASL Interpretation provided by IU Indianapolis’s American Sign Language/English Interpreting Program students
Inspired by nature’s great regenerator—the Axolotl—this evening of original music and spoken word explores trauma, healing, and renewal through the lens of a woman’s heart. Join artist Tamra Rose and authors Eva Williams and Lacey Beatty for an intimate and hope-filled performance that invites us to reflect on nature’s wisdom and our own capacity to heal.
Explore the nature of hope and healing through music, literature, and the axolotl. The axolotl is a salamander that never undergoes the typical metamorphosis into its terrestrial form, remaining water-bound for life. Remarkably, it can regenerate diseased or injured parts of its body—including limbs, brain, and heart. Seen through the lens of womanhood, the axolotl becomes a metaphor for those who have endured trauma yet continue to survive and even flourish—blossoming into the fullness of who they were created to be.
Counseling resources available.
Questions? Contact 317-509-5305 or booktamrarose@gmail.com.
Event Organizers: A partnership between Tamra Rose and My Sister’s Keeper.
Registration: Click here to register.

The Nature of Us: Weaving Ourselves into the Natural World
2025-11-08 13:00 - 15:00 | Hornet Park, 5245 Hornet Ave., Beech Grove, 46107, United States
ASL Interpreted
Explore your place in and as part of nature through hands-on activities and thoughtful inquiry. Create your own art and contribute to a collaborative weaving project, both utilizing natural materials. Engage with neighbors in prompted conversations that invite curiosity, reflection, and remembering your place in the natural world.
Step into nature and explore your place within it through hands-on creativity and guided inquiry. At this interactive experience, participants will rotate through stations to engage in thinking routines that spark reflection, collaborate on a community weaving project using natural materials, and create take-home art inspired by the surrounding landscape. Through conversation, observation, and artistic expression, guests of all ages will deepen their curiosity, connect with the natural world, and consider how their presence shapes and is shaped by it.
Questions? Contact 463-241-6090 or darren@beechgrovewellness.com.
Event Organizers: A partnership between Beech Grove Wellness, Beech Grove Parks Foundation, Hornet Park Community Center, and local artist and gardener Lorie Ann Dillbeck-Bagby.
Registration: Click here to register.

Nature & Ritual: Celebrating the Natural World while Grieving Ecological Losses
2025-11-08 13:00 - 15:30 | Holliday Park Nature Center, 6363 Spring Mill Rd., Indianapolis, 46260, United States
Limited capacity. Registration required.

Many of us feel alone in our ecological grief. Let’s take a guided, multi-sensory forest therapy walk, culminating in a community art ritual that celebrates the natural world while also acknowledging the ongoing loss of its landscapes and species.
Led by author Dheepa Maturi (108: An Eco-Thriller) and certified forest therapy practitioner Paula Goldberg, this guided walk at Holliday Park incorporates poetry, prose, and multi-sensory observation to culminate in the creation of a collaborative mandala made from natural materials. Participants contribute meaningfully to the mandala, which will later return to the earth, symbolizing the cycle of nature. The event incorporates philosophy, literature, and cross-cultural spiritual practices to reflect on ecological grief, the power of ritual, and our shared responsibility as stewards of the land. Small-group sharing and guided prompts support personal reflection and offer tools for designing individual nature rituals to carry forward beyond the event.
Date & Time Note: Saturday, Nov. 8 is the Monumental Marathon (see route map). Getting west of the river to Holliday Park may take a little extra time. Plan accordingly! (2024 Road Closure Map. We’ll post the 2025 map when it is ready.)
Questions? Contact 317-274-2462 or info@DheepaRMaturi.com.
Event Organizers: A partnership between author Dheepa R. Maturi, forest therapy practitioner Paula Goldberg, artist and ethnobotanist Shamira Wilson, and Holliday Park.
Registration: Click here to register.
Autumn leaves, laid out in the shape of heart, heart symbol
