Tales from the Monument

We at Big Car are teaming up with Downtown Indy and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission — to spark Monument Circle with human-scale activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. Everything is free for people to enjoy. 

We’ll be going through the end of October — Mondays through Thursdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Fridays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. In September: we add 5-9 pm Wednesdays and Circle SPARK Festival on Oct. 22-23 (Saturday and Sunday). Our last day will be Oct. 28. Find us at the southwest quadrant.

Most everything is found under the calendar tab here, and also on Facebook for easy sharing.

DAILY OFFERINGS

Circle Sounds — During all open SPARK hours, Big Car artists are programming Circle Sounds through the Circle’s amazing audio speakers. Circle Sounds also airs citywide on our community radio station, WQRT 99.1 FM and streaming at wqrt.org. It’s a mix of upbeat instrumentals — from jazz to world music to pop — that also includes work by local musicians. In between batches of songs, we share, instead of commercials, audio projects being created there. This includes commissioned poems in response to the Circle, haikus submitted by the public visiting the Circle, quick thoughts by visitors on why they love the Circle, and more. WQRT is also doing live DJing at the Circle and taking requests Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. Hear the kind of music and audio projects we’re sharing at the Circle here.

All weekdays — A range of pop-up offerings and opportunities to play games, make art, record poems, send free postcards, hang out in a shady spot, and get info from staff artists on site. 

Tuesdays — Each week at noon, we offer Lunch Break Live presented by Lake City Bank featuring local (mostly pop and singer/songwriter) musicians curated by Indianapolis musician The Girl Called Books. (See full musician list below).

Wednesday evenings — Guided walks about history and culture offered the evenings each week. Wednesdays also feature Evening Embers: Ambient Music at Spark Monument Circle — organized by Indianapolis ambient artist Rob Funkhouser. (See full list of walks and Wednesday evening series musicians below).

Thursdays — From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., free, quick-stop artist interactions and hands-on activities ranging from block printing or live painting, to portrait drawing or henna hand art.

Fridays — Open until 9 pm for people enjoying the Circle and getting started on the weekend.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Circle Artist in Residence — Yeabsera Tabb is working on ideas related to play and exploring the Circle. One project includes playful prompts printed and located on the sidewalks.

Circle Anthology — We’ve commissioned 25 writers to share work inspired by the Circle. Their poems will air on WQRT FM during Circle Sounds playing from the Circle speakers and we’ll do a live reading with this group at 7 p.m. on Oct. 12 as part of What a Wednesday. This is linked to our Haiku Here that encourages people to submit their own haikus inspired by the Circle to air on WQRT and play on the Circle speakers during Circle Sounds each day.  Hear the poems here.

No More No Place — Organized by Indianapolis musician and IUPUI professor Jordan Munson, this project pairs instrumental music by local composers with video accompaniments projected on the Circle. Debuts at 8 p.m. on Oct. 12 as part of What a Wednesday. 

Circle SPARK Fest — Oct. 22-23 from 1-6 p.m. each day. We’ll showcase local artists and musicians with a brand-new, two-day celebration of art and harvest time. Artisan vendors, live music, performance art, pumpkin decorating, and lots more. On Saturday, bands playing are Radar Gold, Books & Straight As, Vertice, and The Brothers Footman. On Sunday; it’s Addie Kosten; Beatty and the Bayonets; Kristen Bales; Ricardo. Artist Derek Tuder will bring his mobile art gallery and selfie studio and Big Car’s Wagon of Wonders will be there.

Halloween on the Circle — Oct. 26 a Halloween-themed walk at 6 pm. and a live soundtrack to the silent scary film, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), at 7:30 p.m. on the Monument steps. Film and soundtrack by local musicians in partnership with Classical Music Indy. 

Boot Scoot and Vintage Market on the Circle — Oct. 27 at 6  p.m. Hosted by artist John Stamps, this will be an evening of line dancing and country music on the Circle. Costume contest that night too. Massive line dance and costume contest led by John Stamps.

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Lunchbreak Live musicians (Tuesdays at noon, free) 

Sept 20: Florelis Jimenez Vejas (Venezuelan pop)

Sept 27: Bitter Proof (experimental classical, jazz)

Oct 4: The Hammer and The Hatchet (Americana)

Oct. 11: Katie Jo Robinson (Indie jazz-pop)

Oct. 18: Indy Annies (country)

Oct. 25: Crescent Ulmer (folk, singer-songwriter) 

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Walking tours (Wednesdays at 6 p.m., free)

Sept. 28 — Ugly Ducklings: Join historians Jordan Ryan and Callie McCune for a look at the hidden tales and amazing stories behind buildings you might love to hate: City-County Building, the Gold Building, the former Anthem building on Monument Circle, and others. You may even learn to love some of Indy’s most unseemly architecture.

Oct. 5 — Magical History Tour: Artist, scavenger, and raconteur Kipp Normand guides you on a stroll through the oddities of Indianapolis history and spaces. Get ready for weird.

Oct. 12 — The Circle City’s Namesake Landmark: Gain deeper appreciation for Indianapolis’s symbolic heart by exploring the history and architecture of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and the buildings that encircle it. Tours presented by Indiana Landmarks  (repeat of Sept. 14 tour).

Oct. 19 — Public Art Crawl: Inspired by the recent Public Art Census produced by Rokh – a cultural equity research & design studio – take an artist-led tour highlighting Downtown’s public works by artists of the global majority (Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, Indigenous). Presented by Rokh.

Oct. 26 — Spooky Mayhem Tour: Brace yourself for a Halloween-ish tour of the seedy, sinister, dark side of Indianapolis history.

Note: All tours meet at the SPARK welcome trailer on the southwest quad of Monument Circle. Expect to walk between a half-mile and 2 miles total. In case of bad weather, cancellation decisions will be made by 3 p.m. Check SPARK social media or website for updates.

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Evening Embers: Ambient Music (Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., free)

Sept. 28: Michael Raintree 

Oct. 5:  DJ Little Town 

Oct. 12: Jordan Munson and Rob Funkhouser

Oct. 19: Hanna Benn 

…

Night Calls on the Circle

Mary Goodwin from Aurora PhotoCenter will be in the SPARK project space on the southwest quad to give a short presentation about Night Calls, by photographer Rebecca Norris Webb, and answer questions about the projection exhibition before the showing from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm, with Night Calls showing at 8:30 pm.

Goodwin will discuss how the Night Calls projection exhibition and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument relate to each other at the site, encouraging exploration of the ways lives of service are honored and remembered through art and memorial.

More details about Night Calls: As part of the Shining A Light: Arts & Culture Series of Downtown Indy, Aurora PhotoCenter presents a public projection exhibition of photographer Rebecca Norris Webb’s series Night Calls on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.

Night Calls is an homage to Webb’s 100-plus-year-old father and to our Hoosier landscape. In these photographs, she retraces the route her father took as a doctor on his house calls through Rush County, Indiana, the rural county where both the artist and her father were born. The images feature beautiful scenes from his drives around the area, as well as portraits of people he helped bring into the world and others he attended. In addition to her award-winning photographs, this exhibition features poetry voiced by Norris Webb. The work is a quiet, serene reflection on life and nature, and on the artist’s love of home and family.

This exhibition of Night Calls is generously funded through Shining A Light: Arts & Culture Series with Downtown Indy and the Indiana War Memorials Commission. This projection piece was produced specifically for the Monument Circle outdoor architectural projection system. Night Calls is Aurora’s first collaboration with Downtown Indy, Inc., Innovative, Inc., and Dodd Technologies, the teams that helped bring this project to Monument Circle.

For more information about Night Calls, Rebecca Norris Webb, and Aurora PhotoCenter, please visit www.auroraphoto.org.

Full Schedule of Showtimes (Free and open to the public, screenings of Night Calls):

Oct. 1, 2
8:30 pm / 9:30 pm

Oct. 7, 8
8:30pm / 9:30 pm

Nov. 4, 5, 6
7:45pm / 8:45 pm / 9:45 pm

Nov, 17, 18, 19
7:45pm / 8:45 pm / 9:45 pm

Circle SPARK Fest Artist & Vendor Call Out 

Sat & Sun, October 22-23 1-5 PM on Monument Circle

Big Car Collaborative in partnership with Downtown Indy, Inc. are bringing Circle Spark Fest on Monument Circle and are seeking artists to participate.  

400 to 600 guests are expected at the following event, the majority of which are downtown for work, and a good number of downtown residents as well. Vendor Submission Form is due Wednesday, September 29th at 12 pm

Event Details

Event:  Circle Spark Fest

Location:  SW Quad of Monument Circle (in front of Emmis)

Parking:   Provided (1 vehicle per artist) on Monument Circle on the SE and NW quad curb lane. 

Schedule

Event Time:   1:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Load-in Time:   11 am

Load-out Completion: 9 pm

Artist Requirements:

• We will require a $50 refundable deposit for artists to participate once accepted. Artisan vendors will be refunded their full deposit upon attendance.
• Artists must provide their own setup (which could include a 10×10 tent, table, chairs, signage, etc.)
• A signed Services Agreement that Downtown Indy, Inc. will need returned at least 48 hours prior to event

Big Car Collaborative and Downtown Indy, Inc. will provide:

• 1- (12×12) space along the curb lane or the inner part of the SW quad of The Circle
• Access to electrical outlet for $10 fee (limited number available)
• Overall logistics/event management
• Police officers to close the SW quad of the Circle
• Overnight security of vendor booths
• Port-o-lets and handwashing stations
• 1 parking space per artist
• Liability insurance for vendors
• Marketing and promotion of event (vendors will be required to market their participation of the event, Big Car and Downtown Indy will NOT promote any single vendor)
• Live music, games, and artist-led activities

Eligibility

Circle Spark Fest is open to all individual artists and artisans over 18 years of age living in central Indiana, but preference will be given to those living in downtown Indianapolis. All artwork must be original art or fine craft and made by the artist/s and/or artisan/s present at the event. We define “fine craft” as functional objects such as unique one of a kind ceramics, jewelry, etc. and also include creative functional non-art objects such as artisan made soaps, clothing, etc.  Imported or commercially made objects will not be accepted.

All 2D and 3D media are welcome. However, due to the nature and timing of the event, it is recommended that all items are offered in an accessible size and priced relative to the environment ranging from the low end of $5 to a median $50 and higher end between $150 and $250.

Selection Process:

Artists/Artisans will be selected based upon the quality and uniqueness of their work as well as its appropriateness for a variety of downtown audiences.

 Fill out the Submission Form here.

• This form will take 5-10 minutes to fill out if you have your upload materials ready.
• Via the online form, applicants are to submit 5 images depicting examples of the artwork/fine craft they intend to sell at Circle Spark Fest as well as an (optional) photo of their booth set up.
• You will be notified by October 3 if you’ve been selected to be a featured artist/artisan for the Fest.

Timeline: 

Wednesday, September 29th by noon: Application Deadline

October 10: All artists/artisans are notified whether or not they have been accepted into Circle Spark Fest. Those accepted will receive further instruction on load in that they have been chosen and will be given further instruction on load-in and parking.

By Friday, October 14th: All required documents must be returned.

More information about the organizers of Circle Spark Fest:

With SPARK on the Circle in 2022, the artist-led cultural and community organization, Big Car Collaborative, is teaming up with Downtown Indy and the City of Indianapolis to spark downtown with free, human-scale activities like playing games, enjoying live music, making art, and socializing in a comfortable place to take it easy, spend time together, and enjoy our city. SPARK activities are free for everyone to enjoy.

For specific questions, please contact [email protected] 

By Chris Schumerth, Spark writer in residence 

A series of free workshops, Rethink Reconnect Reclaim, has begun exploring creative approaches for improving Indianapolis. The workshops run Sept. 15 through Oct. 21.

Big Car Collaborative — the nonprofit organization currently teaming up with The City of Indianapolis on the Spark Monument Circle project — is organizing the series in partnership with Reconnecting to Our Waterways, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and others.

Placemaking is a buzzword that could be used to describe initiatives such as Spark and Rethink Reconnect Reclaim, but what in the world is placemaking? And why should we care about it?

A Project for Public Space article offered this helpful explanation: “A bike lane is not Placemaking; neither is a market, a hand-painted crosswalk, public art, a parklet, or a new development. Placemaking is not the end product, but a means to an end. It is the process by which a community defines its own priorities.”

The assumption is that urban designers and politicians aren’t the only ones who have opinions and ideas about the places in which they live. Because Indianapolis residents all have an interest in it being a good place to live and work, placemaking projects like Rethink Reconnect Reclaim offer opportunities to participate in a process of imagining about place and experimenting in it.

Cara Courage, a United Kingdom-based academic, artist, and placemaker, recently told me that cities need to work with residents “beyond the consultation level loved by planners and developers.” Residents should be respected and listened to, Courage said, as equal co-producers” with “a deep knowledge of place.”

Artists who are already in the habit of imagining and creating may be uniquely positioned to participate in this process. That’s where social practice art comes in.

Courage explained that “Artists who work in this way have been doing it for years as socially-engaged practice that is engaged by an arts heritage that comes out of the gallery into site-specific art, land art, and a new genre of public art. Artists have been working with people for years on reflecting about the forces that are enacted on place. What is new is calling this a form of placemaking. What’s new is that those outside of the arts sector are paying attention to the practice now. Those that come into placemaking from the planning or built environment sectors won’t necessarily be aware of this heritage and rigorous practice. Some still see art as an add-on, for limited social engagement or beautification gains. Others though are beginning to see it for the embedded and vital practice that it is, which has processes and outcomes that are greater than the sum of their parts.”

For Indianapolis’s purposes in the near future, the idea is to bring people together to reimagine public spaces and to better utilize and take care of the city’s waterways. These events were designed to attract a combination of designers, planners, developers, artists, and other Indianapolis community leaders.

For example, on Oct. 9, at noon, residents of Indianapolis are welcome to join Ash Robinson and Stuart Hyatt, an artist and musician who will be at the Spark welcome trailer at Monument Circle leading a brown bag lunch and discussion about placemaking projects that successfully engage people. The event will conclude with an intentional walk around the Circle, led by Big Car executive director Jim Walker.

Another lunch will take place on Oct. 15, this time with David Engwicht – all the way from Australia – leading the conversation. Engwicht will also be discussing some of his own placemaking experiments on Oct. 21, 6:30 p.m., at The Platform.

For those looking for a little more action, Engwicht and Miami civic advocate Anthony Garcia will facilitate an Oct. 21 workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Hall. Attendees at this particular event will brainstorm and create their own interventions for space next to waterways in Indianapolis. Teams will even be commissioned to put their plans into action.