15 Sep 2015
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Rad Grrls Club

Rad Grrls Club

September 15, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

Rad Grrls Club is a gathering of female artists who take time to share and work on our art projects.  Current project is a Rad Grrls Zine about nerdy feminism. Need a creative prompt? The Rad Grrls have one for you.

Everybody is invited to show up and be creative with the Rad Grrls at Spark — look for them at a picnic table on Tuesdays!

15 Sep 2015
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Listening Booth

Listening Booth

September 15, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

When’s the last time someone really listened to you? Say whatever’s on your mind to a person 100% focused on hearing what you have to say. It is Talking Tuesday after all! Limit: 10 minutes

15 Sep 2015
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Dipstick

Dipstick

September 15, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

How are you feeling lately? Express your enthusiasm or dismay through this interactive art piece by Big Car staff artist Brent Lehker.

15 Sep 2015
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Ask-an-Expert: Art Therapy

Ask-an-Expert: Art Therapy

September 15, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

The expert at your service this week is Juliet King, the director of the Graduate Art Therapy program at Herron School of Art and Design and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at the IU School of Medicine. She earned her Master of Art in Art Therapy degree from Hahnemann University and has spent the last 15 years as a clinician, administrator and professor of art therapy education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

She has experience working with children and adolescents diagnosed with behavioral and conduct disorders as well as experience with adult forensic, rehabilitation, psychiatric inpatient and aging adult populations, using art therapy assessment and intervention to promote physiological and emotional health.

Bring her your questions and learn how she helps promote health through art therapy!

A special thanks goes to our partner, the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute.

15 Sep 2015
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Mobile Cassette Motorbike

Mobile Cassette Motorbike

September 15, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

You don’t want to miss out on this weekly performance by Stuart Hyatt Studio as part of “Phono Fridays.” This artist designed cassette motorbike will be making its way around the circle every Friday. Cassettes will be available for purchase. Ahhh… let the nostalgia set in!

15 Sep 2015
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ALL-IN Conversations

ALL-IN Conversations

September 15, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

Share your Indiana stories in weekly tabletop conversations with prompts provided by Indiana Humanities, such as “Why do you love Indiana?” and “When did your family first come to Indiana?” For more information about our awesome partner, Indiana Humanities, click here!

15 Sep 2015
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Ask an Expert sparks Monument Circle with new thought

Ask an Expert sparks Monument Circle with new thought

September 15, 2015 | Comments Closed | , , , , , ,

By Chris Schumerth, Spark writer in residence

During the next several weeks, if you walk or drive by the sidewalk space in front of Emmis Communications on Monument Circle at about noon on Tuesday, you are likely to see a green “Ask an Expert” booth. If you stop, you will enjoy a lunch hour of lively conversation, probably learn a few things about an interesting topic, and maybe even find that you have your own expertise to offer the city of Indianapolis.

That’s what the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute hopes for, anyway. Led by IUPUI history professor Jason Kelly, the Institute is currently collaborating with Big Car’s Spark Monument Circle art and placemaking project. “Ask an Expert” both brings experts of various topics and fields to Monument Circle, while also inviting submissions of expertise (or “trade secrets”) from Indianapolis residents, the results of which will be published collectively online.

For example, Kelly is working on his own project called “Rivers of the Anthropocene.” He said the question most people ask him is: what does Anthropocene even mean?

Sounds like a fair question. The term was coined by Russian scientists in the 1960s, and, as Kelly explained, refers to a measurable geological layer of the earth that was significantly influenced by human behavior. Kelly’s project proposes an exploration of international rivers as systems and calls specifically for collaboration between scientists and the humanities.

“It’s going to cost a lot of money to create some of the changes we need to make,” Kelly said. “But Indianapolis can do better.”

But all “Ask an Expert” conversations are not about the Anthropocene. Upcoming topics include “Art Therapy” with Juliet King (September 15), “Christianity and Globalization” with Joseph Tucker Edmonds (September 22), “Art and Anthropology” with Fiona McDonald (September 29), “Women in Politics with Kristy Sheeler” (October 6), and “Science Fiction and Philosophy” with Jason Eberl (October 13).

I sat down this past Tuesday with Dr. Ray Haberski, another IUPUI professor. Like Kelly, Haberski is an intellectual historian, which means he is interested in the history of ideas. The author of a number of books – including Evangelization to the Heart: A Brief History of American Franciscans and Media, God, and War: American Civil Religion since 1945 – Haberski was at the booth to talk about “God and Country.”

As an example of the kind of issues he’s interested in, he brought up Kim Davis, the Kentucky Clerk who was recently jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, he also mentioned the 1954 decision to insert “under God” into the pledge of allegiance.

What is one to do when he or she finds that his or her religious conviction lands opposite a law? Haberski drew a distinction between religious groups and individuals who happen to be religious. “We can’t outlaw ideas,” he said.

Pete Weldy, the Director of Policy and Research at the Department of Education, and Carla Delagarza, a Legislative Assistant, were on their way to lunch at Chipotle from the Statehouse when they stopped in and brought their own expertise to the discussion.

Haberski quickly turned the conversation to the visitors’ interests, one of which was legislative strategy for Indiana’s minority party, the Democrats.

“We try to win by losing correctly,” Delagarza explained. She also said her party works hard at adding amendments to pieces of legislation that they’re opposed to but which are going to pass.

It was Delagarza’s first time stopping in for a Spark program, but she said she had noticed the programming previously, particularly the As You Wish project that invites people to make a wish that artists make true out of materials they have on hand at Spark.

“Ask an Expert” is one of several programs that make up a creative experiment that aims to treat Indianapolis’s Monument Circle as a park. Spark is funded by a $200,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in addition to support from CICF and The City of Indianapolis. The programming started at the beginning of August and continues through Oct. 16. During that time, you will find activities bustling from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

14 Sep 2015
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Listen Hear: Teen Brigade

Listen Hear: Teen Brigade

September 14, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

Mellow out and experience experimental / ambient / electronic sound art every Monday evening. This week: Teen Brigade.

14 Sep 2015
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Listening Booth

Listening Booth

September 14, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

When’s the last time someone really listened to you? Say whatever’s on your mind to a person 100% focused on hearing what you have to say. Limit: 10 minutes.

14 Sep 2015
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Yoga presented by All People Yoga Center

Yoga presented by All People Yoga Center

September 14, 2015 | 0 Comments | ,

Whether you’re new to yoga or you’re a long-time practitioner, bring a mat and take a break for a free, 45-minute class each “Mellow Monday” at Noon. All People Yoga Center instructors will lead a class including gentle, basic movement and centering, calming breathing techniques to rejuvenate your heart, body and mind. 


What to bring: Mat, water, wear comfortable clothing. Don’t have a mat? A few will be available to borrow while supplies last. 


Registration: Arrive a few minutes early to register anytime between 11:30 am – 12:00 pm.

In case of rain: class will be held in the lobby of the Emmis building (located in the southwest quad of the Circle).