A look back: SPARK on the Circle in 2025

As we move closer to warmer days in 2026, we’re excited to look back at the success of SPARK on the Circle in 2025 — Big Car Collaborative’s fifth year of activating the Circle as a restorative and fun public place for people from all walks of life.

This collaboration between arts nonprofit Big Car Collaborative, Downtown Indy Alliance, and the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development once again welcomed more than 60,000 visitors to relax, play, connect, and engage with art and artists.

In 2025, SPARK ran from May 31 to Sept. 28, operating daily from 11 a.m. to dusk on the northwest quadrant of Monument Circle in Downtown Indianapolis, and ran a special holiday-themed version on select weekends in November and December.

And 2025 marked the third year the SPARK park occupied a full quadrant of Monument Circle, following 2023 and 2024, and marking the fifth overall year, with 2015 and 2022 serving as smaller versions.

Check out the full SPARK 2025 report here.

Notable insights from SPARK on the Circle’s 2025 data collection include:

• Hosted 61,744 visitors
• Offered 203 programs
• Had an average of 437 daily visitors
• Mailed more than 5,291 postcards around the world
• 99% of visitors felt welcomed at the Circle
• 89% of visitors felt more relaxed or less stressed after visiting
• 79% of visitors felt better physically after visiting
• 147 artists were paid a total of $225,780 for their work on and for the Circle

SPARK 2025 featured two artists-in-residence who hosted unique public programs:

Bryn Jackson is an Indianapolis-based multidisciplinary artist and curator. He presented ALT(R) at SPARK, a site-responsive exchange that used scent to explore memory, presence, and what history leaves unsaid. Developed in connection with the Soldiers and Sailors Monument’s themes of triumph and permanence, the work countered stone with breath and ephemerality. Visitors were invited to receive a custom perfume — made from botanicals rooted in South and Southeast Asian traditions — in exchange for anonymously writing down one thing they wished they had said. Through this intimate ritual, ALT(R) transformed public space into a living archive, carried on the body and released into the air, inviting participants to embody remembrance beyond fixed monuments.

Danny Marquis is a multi-instrumentalist musician with a specialty in percussion living in Indianapolis. Marquis led a live, improvisational performance of Terry Riley’s composition In C, welcoming musicians of all skill levels to perform alongside listeners in a large, inclusive ensemble. Selected in response to the rise of artificial music, the 1964 composition emphasizes human choice, listening, and real-time interaction — elements that only live performance can fully realize. The event concluded with spontaneous, celebratory soundmaking led by Marquis, marking the close of SPARK through collective music-making.

In July, SPARK partnered with Indy Arts Council and the WNBA All-Star 2025 Host Committee to present a weekend full of programming in celebration of Indianapolis’ hosting of the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star. All-Star Arts & Culture at SPARK brought more than 5,200 visitors to the Circle, with a special themed market, activities, and musical performances. In addition, SPARK and the Indy Arts Council commissioned Indianapolis-based artist Tasha Beckwith to create two special postcard designs for the event.

SPARK Holidays on the Circle continued for a second year in 2025. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 21, more than 9,300 visitors enjoyed festive experiences including visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, live musical performances, sending letters to the North Pole, and hot chocolate from the container café.

Several local artists offered free workshops to SPARK visitors throughout the season. These activities, artists, and organizations included:

SPARK continued to present Lunch Break Live, sponsored by Lake City Bank, every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m., with local musicians including:

Other significant events and activities that happened include:

In 2025, Dr. Cara Courage — a U.K.-based culture, communities, and place expert, and internationally recognized placemaking thought leader — revisited SPARK and published two blog essays reflecting on its impact. SPARK is Art: Curated Encounters for the City and SPARK Lives Here: The Spirit of Indianapolis show how SPARK functions as a public art space that encourages social connection. Dr. Courage has researched Big Car since 2015 and continues to lift up SPARK as an example of how art and placemaking can impact communities.