Spirit & Place, IU Indianapolis

Cultural Compost: Nourishing Places in the Footprints of Toxic History
2023-11-11 05:00 - 07:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Broad Ripple Park Family Center, 1426 Broad Ripple Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46220, United States
ASL Upon Request by Oct. 27.
From the water that we drink to the air that we breathe, we all have experience with the legacies of environmental damage. This hands-on workshop will help you develop personal stories related to places of environmental harm and then use those stories to nourish the ongoing work of environmental justice.
Community members are invited to share stories of experience with environmental damage (including social and physical harm from industrial waste, climate change, pollution, etc.) and then transform those stories into deeper knowledge, empathy, and tools for change. The goal of this workshop is to increase awareness of both common threats and ongoing efforts to create a healthier city, as well as to gather stories from diverse perspectives that will be included in a forthcoming exhibit hosted at Indy Parks sites in 2024. The stories shared and refined during this workshop will add to a broader understanding (and study) of the city’s toxic heritage and will help ensure that lived experience is part of how we document the history and legacy of toxic environments. Out of decay can come new, nourishing life. This workshop plows the contaminated soil of the city to grow new understanding and empathy, and to motivate people to act for a cleaner, healthier, sustainable, and more just future.
Questions? Contact 317-327-7161 or Kavita.mahoney@indy.gov
Event Partners: IU School of Liberal Arts Museum Studies Program at IUPUI and Indy Parks and Recreation.
Event Registration: Registration requested by Nov. 9. Walk-ins welcome as space permits.

Image Credit: IUPUI Museum Studies Program

How to Eat with Tuning Forks
2023-11-11 07:00 - 09:00 | Garfield Park Arts Center – Main Gallery, 2432 Conservatory Dr., Indianapolis, IN, United States
Collectively create a soundscape by eating lunch in front of microphones, banging on kitchen percussion, and talking about the foods that nourish you.
Here’s the deal: Bring your own lunch to the Garfield Park Arts Center, but make sure it’s a meal that balances both your need for nourishment and convenience. You’ll then be invited to chew, crunch, munch, gobble – you know, eat! – in front of microphones while also considering what it is about this meal that nourishes you (however you define “nourish!”) and meets your need for convenience. A live musician playing ambient chords along with some “kitchen percussion” will play in the background with the sounds of eating, story sharing, and music blending together into a recorded soundscape.
Questions? Contact 317-345-0176 or clockworkmakesmusic@gmail.com.
Event Partners: Clockwork Music, Arts with a Purpose, and Garfield Park Arts Center.
Audience Note: If you are not comfortable being in front of a microphone helping to make improvisational music, tables and chairs will be set to the side … but we really encourage you to make some totally unique art with us! While this can be a come-and-go style event, here’s what will be going on when:
12 – Doors open
12:15 – Introduction, tutorial on reading a graphic score
12: 20- Write your own Lunch Story, talking with a neighbor is encouraged
12:30(ish) – Lunch is self-served (bring your own!). Eat and create this soundscape together.
1:30 – Mingling
2:00 – Doors close
Event Registration: Registration requested by Nov. 11. Walk-ins welcome.

Image/Logo Credit: Ankh Productions

Quiet as a Gateway
2023-11-11 10:00 - 12:00 | Indianapolis First Friends, 3030 Kessler Blvd., East Drive, Indianapolis, IN, 46220, United States
ASL provided if requested by Nov. 3.
Join in as a Friends (Quaker) minister, philosophy scholar of Buddhism, art therapist, and a meditation instructor guide attendees in paths leading to a quiet state.
Quiet can reduce stress, enhance creativity, and deepen a sense of tranquility. It is a space – and practice – that encourages self-exploration and can help lead to a deeper understanding of our place in the universe. Guided by practitioners of different meditative and philosophical approaches, as well as a (secular) artist, this event invites guests to feel the power of quiet through dialogue, practice, and art-making activities.
Questions? Contact 317-627-3147 or cyfitzpatrick@gmail.com.
Event Partners: IUPUI Senior Academy and Indianapolis First Friends Meeting.
Event Registration: Registration requested by Nov. 9. Walk-ins welcome!

Nourish: Testimonies about Food, Family, and Love (Day 2: Testimony Service)
2023-11-11 11:00 - 14:00
A two-day celebration focused on the healing powers of food, community, and spirituality featuring films, food, and testimonies from Black femme creators.
The gathering will take attendees on an immersive visual, sensual, auditory, and spiritual experience in the spirit of honoring how Black femmes have nourished themselves and one another while making an indelible impact on the world. On Friday, Nov. 10, two films – “In Our Mother’s Gardens” and “Food as Resistance” will be shown. Dinner will be served in between screenings and a discussion about the ways lineage, love, and (unjust) food systems intersect will close the night.
The following day (Nov. 11) will feature music, storytelling, and the culinary arts in a Testimony Service for all! (Think: Moth Radio Hour.) Testimony services have their roots in the Black church tradition as a time where people can take to the altar and tell a story or sing a song that illustrates a triumphant moment in their lives. Attendees will be given writing prompts for their own reflections and will hear from a selection of Black femme speakers before enjoying refreshments.
Doors open at 4pm with programming beginning at 5pm.
Audience Note: While this event is open to people from all faiths or non-faith backgrounds, Black Christian traditions as well as African ancestral practices will be honored.
Questions? Contact 317-413-1239 or TheTestimonyServiceOnline@gmail.com.
Event Partners: The Testimony Service and The Center for Religion, Arts, and Culture.
Event Registration: Registration requested by Nov. 3, but walk-in guests are welcome.

Image Courtesy of The Testimony Service

Spirit & Place Festival Exhibits
2023-11-11 - 2023-11-22, 2023-11-12 - 2023-11-23, 2023-11-13 - 2023-11-24, 2023-11-14 - 2023-11-25, 2023-11-15 - 2023-11-26, 2023-11-16 - 2023-11-27, 2023-11-17 - 2023-11-28, 2023-11-18 - 2023-11-29 and 14 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

Forest Bathing to Nourish the Mind, Body, & Soul
2023-11-12 08:00 - 09:30 | Crown Hill Cemetery – Waiting Station, 3402 Boulevard Pl., Indianapolis, IN, 46208, United States
SOLD OUT. Please contact event organizers to inquire about a waitlist.

ASL Upon Request by Oct. 27.
Enjoy a 60-minute guided walk through Crown Hill Cemetery’s Arboretum that will nourish an appreciation for the benefits of nature.
“Forest bathing” promotes interaction between humans and wooded spaces, which is deeply needed in a culture that too often sees nature as a commodity to be bought, sold, transformed, and used. Studies have shown the health benefits of being in nature – it can lower blood pressure, calm heart rates, and reduce levels of harmful hormones all while helping individuals form stronger connections to their communities. Led by a guide certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, this event invites you to listen to nature, savor the sounds and smells of the outdoors, and be mindful of the ways nature can nourish the mind, body, and soul.
Questions? Contact 317-920-2644 or jrdinius@crownhill.org.
Event Partners: Crown Hill Heritage Foundation, Indiana DNR—Division of Forestry, and Wanderwood Studio.
Event Registration: Due limited space, registration is required. Walk-in guests cannot be accommodated.

Art Feeding Empathy: A Burma-Congo Conversation on Peace
2023-11-12 08:30 - 10:00 | Central Library – Indiana Special Collections Room, 40 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis, IN, 46204, United States
Two artists – one from Myanmar and the other from the Democratic Republic of Congo – share their work to demonstrate how seeing life through the lens of another nourishes the spirit of empathy.
Burmese artist Saw Kennedy and Congolese artist Jean Claude Lofenia originate from different parts of the world, but both share a love of art and an understanding of the refugee experience. Commissioned by Patchwork Indy, they have been learning about each other’s’ lives over the past year in order to develop a painting series that depicts each other’s stories, as well as their own.
Learn about the dynamic histories of Burma the Democratic Republic of Congo, view the artists’ work, hear from them directly, watch video clips of documentary on their journey, and see the world through someone else’s eyes.
Questions? Contact 317-488-8894 or patchworkindy@gmail.com.
Event Partners: Patchwork Indy, Crane Center for Mass Atrocity Prevention, and Two Kites Media.
Registration: Registration is requested by Nov. 11, but walk-in guests are welcome.

Image courtesy of Two Kites Media

28th Annual Public Conversation featuring Michael Twitty
2023-11-12 11:30 - 13:00 | The Amp at 16 Tech, 1220 Waterway Blvd., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, United States
ASL Interpreted.
Close out the Spirit & Place Festival with a Public Conversation featuring culinary historian and author Michael Twitty and the hosts of Black Girls Eating for this LIVE AUDIENCE podcast recording!
In his first book, The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, Twitty traces his ancestry through food from Africa to America and from slavery to freedom. In his latest book, Kosher Soul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew, he wrestles with not only who makes food, but how food makes people. As a Jewish convert, Twitty sees African-Jewish cooking as a “dialogue of diaspora” offering insights into sustenance for the soul.
In an exciting and new format for The Public Conversation, guests will be invited to hear Twitty speak live and in-person during a moderated podcast hosted by Tanorria Askew and Candace Boyd of “Black Girls Eating.” Audience members will be given a chance to interact with each other and the speakers during a book signing and reception catered by vendors located in The Amp, which is part of the 16 Tech Innovation District.
Event Partners: Spirit & Place, JCC Indianapolis, Flanner House, and The Amp. This program has been made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Registration: Registration is requested by Saturday, Nov. 10, but walk-in guests are welcome.
Share your Story! Help shape this event by sharing your thoughts on food, faith, family, and culture by clicking here.

Powerful Conversations on Race: National Identity, Community Values, & Race
2023-11-19 10:00 - 12:00
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.
This dialogue is virtual and occur on Eastern Standard Time / Eastern Daylight Time.
For the November 2023 dialogue we will explore the interconnection between national identity, community values and race.
Registration ends at 12 noon day of event.
