Artist Workshop: Fiber Art and PomPoms with Mary Jo Bayliss and Apprentices
2024-10-02 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-05 11:00 - 14:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Come to SPARK and join artist Mary Jo Bayliss and her apprentices to learn how to create pompoms and contribute them to her Taylor Swift inspired community artwork titled, “The Village”. Visitors will be able to make pompoms that will be used in Mary Jo’s final piece! Come join in on this collaborative artwork and make sure to stop by the circle later to see the final finished piece when Taylor Swift enters her “Indy era” and performs in Indianapolis!
A statement from Mary Jo Mayliss about this piece:
“The Village” is about the power of women working together to create a better, more equitable society. The iconography and rallying point for the activities is inspired by Taylor Swift, and without her presence in Indianapolis, this community artwork, and its far reaching scope, would not be possible–Thank you Taylor! The 13 elements that compose the artwork will be auctioned off at the end of Taylor’s Eras Indianapolis venue, with proceeds being donated for Arts for Learning, Big Car, and Ivy Tech Art Department, Indianapolis.
Mary Jo Bayliss specializes in creating environments that help people feel at ease using space, light and color to achieve these goals.
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.

Lunch Break Live! With DJ Manual Katz Presented by Lake City Bank
2024-10-02 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Join us at SPARK on the Circle for a lunchtime concert with DJ Manual Katz, a musician who recently relocated to Indianapolis, presented by Lake City Bank!

Ron Record is a 24 year old musician from Fort Wayne, IN. He is excited to DJ for lunch break live and provide the vibes and a good time through live hip hop beats he made!

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.

Artist Workshop: Tarot With Brooklyn
2024-10-04 17:00 - 19:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
My name is Brooklyn and I help provide spiritual guidance through tarot readings! I specialize in first time readings because I love to challenge the stigma around tarot and providing guests with a comfy space and a meaningful experience.
SPARK is a partnership with Downtown Indy @downtownindy the City of Indianapolis @indy_dmd and the Indiana War Memorials Commission – and funded by the Capital Improvements Board. It is a continuation of our work last year and in 2015 on the Circle.
At Big Car, we approach our work at the Circle as a site- and community-specific socially engaged art and creative placemaking project. The SPARK on the Circle pop-up park was collaboratively designed with Indianapolis-based Merritt Chase to be a restorative public place where people of all walks of life can relax, play, socialize, and engage with art and artists in the heart of our city.

Live Music with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra!
2024-10-07 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-10-21 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-10-28 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Join us at the SPARK every Monday in October and have lunch while Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra musicians serenade you for the hour! They will be performing a variety of repertoire, from standard classical repertoire to popular music. This week we will be joined by Yeajin Kim (violin), Yang Guo (viola), Adam Lee (cello), and Dianne Seo (flute)! We hope to see you there!
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.

Artist Workshop With John Clark
2024-10-11 17:00 - 19:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Make Art and Write Poetry with John Clark!
Join Indianapolis-based visual artist, Big Car co-founder and writer John Clark to make drawings, poems, and short stories…or a combination of all three! And we’ll also show you how to make zines, too!
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.
SPARK on the Circle is an ongoing partnership between Big Car Collaborative, Downtown Indy, City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, the Capital Improvement Board, and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

Artist Workshop: Fiber Art and PomPoms with Mary Jo Bayliss
2024-10-12 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-19 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-23 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-25 17:00 - 19:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Come to SPARK and join artist Mary Jo Bayliss to learn how to create pompoms and contribute them to her Taylor Swift inspired community artwork titled, “The Village”. Visitors will be able to make pompoms that will be used in Mary Jo’s final piece! Come join in on this collaborative artwork and make sure to stop by the circle later to see the final finished piece when Taylor Swift enters her “Indy era” and performs in Indianapolis!
A statement from Mary Jo Mayliss about this piece:
“The Village” is about the power of women working together to create a better, more equitable society. The iconography and rallying point for the activities is inspired by Taylor Swift, and without her presence in Indianapolis, this community artwork, and its far reaching scope, would not be possible–Thank you Taylor! The 13 elements that compose the artwork will be auctioned off at the end of Taylor’s Eras Indianapolis venue, with proceeds being donated for Arts for Learning, Big Car, and Ivy Tech Art Department, Indianapolis.
Mary Jo Bayliss specializes in creating environments that help people feel at ease using space, light and color to achieve these goals.
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.

Live Music with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra!
2024-10-14 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Join us at the SPARK every Monday in October and have lunch while Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra musicians serenade you for the hour! They will be performing a variety of repertoire, from standard classical repertoire to popular music. This week we will be joined by Tanavi Prabhu (oboe) and Dianne Seo (flute)! We hope to see you there!
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.

Artist Workshop: Fiber Art and PomPoms
2024-10-16 11:00 - 14:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States

Lunch Break Live! With Kara Cole Presented by Lake City Bank
2024-10-16 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Come Join us at SPARK for a lunch time concert presented by Lake City Bank!
Kara Cole is a soulful, heart wrenching, story teller. The desire to connect experience with song is very important. Music is the 1 thing that bridges the gap in every avenue of life. Be kind xx
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.

Artist Workshop: Pyrography with Nasreen Khan
2024-10-18 17:00 - 19:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Pyrography, commonly known as wood burning, is the art of drawing and writing using a burning tool for etching designs onto different surfaces, usually wood. You can use pyrography to add drawings or writings to wood, gourds, leather, and any other material that wouldn’t be destroyed by the heat from the burning tool.
Khan will talk about the process, give examples and allow attendees to try it out (must sign a waiver).
Indianapolis-based artist Nasreen Khan grew up in West Africa and Indonesia and moved to the gritty American Midwest by way of New York City. She and her toddler son live in their bungalow on Indianapolis’ Near Westside. On a Friday night she can be found cooking various organ meats or chasing down a stellar mint julep. Her Indianapolis art is all a tribute to Haughville. Since moving to Indianapolis and putting down roots, walking the streets of Haughville and becoming part of the fabric here has kept her grounded. Haughville has been the tableau for building community, exploring her queer identity, motherhood, and teaching her son about race.
What’s This?
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. We’re based from the southwest quadrant in front of the Emmis.

Lunch Break Live! with Mina Keohane Presented by Lake City Bank
2024-10-23 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
“…full of surprises. She possesses a songbird’s voice, a wisdom beyond her years and a delightfully smooth way of gliding across the piano keys. Everything from mournful sonic sculptures to crisp, lightweight ballads carried the day — always in celebration of the moment, whether it be the memory of something long gone or the freshness of something new.” –Nuvo Newsweekly
Mina Keohane is an Indianapolis based composer/performer. Her music is a piano-driven cross-pollination of singer-songwriter, indie rock and a hint of jazz using lush chords and impulsive lines to create a distinctive sound. Her songs have been described as “if Joni Mitchell and Aimee Mann had a baby with Charles Mingus.” She spends most of her time writing music for commercials and short films, as well as playing keyboards and accordion with Public Universal Friend, Sarah Grain & the Billions of Stars, Nashville-based recording artist Brandon Whyde, The Dopacetics, Teresa Reynolds and the Slicktones, and her own band Mina & the Wondrous Flying Machine. She has had the opportunity and privilege of opening for many wonderful artists including Becca Stevens, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats, Blues Traveler, Dwight Yoakam, Esme Patterson & Robby Krieger.
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. We’re based in the southwest quadrant.

Circle Show
2025-01-03 18:00 - 2025-01-26 18:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
We are kicking off 2025 sharing artworks of some the artists who helped make 2024 SPARK on the Circle happen! Visual artists Katie Faust, Dillion Imel and Sarah Montañez led daily activities of our work in the pop-up park in the Northwest quad for five months. Kris Komakech was one of our SPARK Artists in Residence. He created a Monument Circle Hidden Picture, led a clock-making workshops and more. Read more about the artists below.
Kris Komakech is an Indianapolis based multi-media visual artist who has been practicing his work for over 20 years. He is best known for his intricate maps and community focused clocks. He exhibits in non-traditional venues like grocery stores and community spaces. Komakech has also exhibited at The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Central Library’s Meet The Artists, Gallery 924 and many other traditional galleries and art spaces. “Like most people, I had a very active imagination as a child: I truly lived inside my mind. At a very young age, I recognized my ability to bring all of my dreams and fantasies into the real world through that creativity,” says Komakech.
“Drawing, painting and building were not just simple activities to me — the need to create was similar to the need to breathe, and I inhaled with my eyes and exhaled with my hands. In the sixth grade, I was selected to attend classes at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis — a turning point in my artistic journey. Everybody was older and more experienced than me, and as the little kid with the broken glasses, I’m sure I stuck out in class. Regardless, I never felt more in my own element than in art class. However, during high school, I started neglecting my passion for art and began focusing on the more mainstream pastimes of “normal” teenagers. I thought I was doing myself a favor by trying to fit in, but it turned out to be a strategy that abandoned my overwhelming strengths and uncovered my true weaknesses. I spent the first 16 years of my life building an identity: I was “Kris the Artist.” I knew exactly how to express myself, and I let my hands do all of the talking. But, unfortunately, I then spent twelve long years trying to fit myself into this image of normalcy that I had stuck in my mind. My story turned out to be a really long and difficult way of figuring out exactly who I am not. At the age of twenty-eight and somewhat lost in life, I wandered into my current career as a carpenter. Slowly, my desire to create reemerged. And, once again, I began to trust and believe in my hands. Today, I know them to be my true voice.”
Katie Faust is a queer and non-binary artist located in Indy. They are a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington with a Bachelors in Studio Art and an Art History minor. Their work has been shown in the Indianapolis Art Center in Broad Ripple, Indiana and at Indiana University-Bloomington. Faust’s work focuses on cultivating a sense of self beyond heteronormative expectations surrounding sexuality and gender. Through their exploration of personal identity and acceptance, they aim to create a space that encourages admirers to challenge their perceptions of self and embrace their authentic expression.
Dillon Imel is an Indianapolis-based artist and third-year Illustration major at Herron School of Art. Dillon’s work draws a lot of inspiration from the mundane moments of life.
Sarah Montañez is currently a senior at IU Indianapolis’ Herron School of Art and Design, pursuing a BFA in Photography and a minor in Art History. An image maker and video artist, Sarah explores the tense generational dynamics present in her family, as well as grief, loss, and yearning for people and places.
SPARK on the Circle is a partnership between Big Car Collaborative, Downtown Indy, Inc., the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, and the Indiana War Memorials Commission, and is funded by the Capital Improvement Board. At Big Car, we approach our work at the Circle as a site- and community-specific socially engaged art and creative placemaking project.
Artwork of SPARK on the Circle by Katie Faust

NIGHTJAR: Alessandra Lynch
2025-01-15 18:30 - 20:30 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Alessandra Lynch will begin reading at 7pm.
After Lynch’s reading and a brief break, the open mic will begin. Open mic prompt: Write a poem at the intersection of the past and the future. Read a poem or short piece that is 317 words maximum, and challenge yourself to share new work!
About Alessandra Lynch:
Alessandra’s fifth book of poetry, Wish Ave, was published by Alice James Books in 2024. She is the author of four other poetry collections: Pretty Tripwire, Daylily Called It a Dangerous Moment (winner of the Balcones Prize, finalist for the LA Times Book Award and the UNT Rilke Prize, listed as a NY Times top ten poetry books of 2017), It was a terrible cloud at twilight, and Sails the Wind Left Behind. Her work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, The New England Review, The Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, and other journals.
Alessandra has received residencies from MacDowell, Yaddo, the Lannan Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Vermont Studio Center. She has been the recipient of a Barbara Deming Award and a Creative Renewal Fellowship Award. She has also been a featured blogger for the Poetry Foundation’s Harriet Books. Currently, Alessandra serves as Butler University’s poet in residence where she teaches in the undergraduate and MFA programs.
She has collaborated with musician Earl Townsend, composer Harriet Steinke, painter Richard Rosenblatt, and artist Carlos Rodriguez-Mendez.
NIGHTJAR creates an inclusive space for all by bringing together spoken-word performers and page-based poets writing in narrative, lyric, and experimental forms. Every third Wednesday, C.S. Carrier and Michelle Niemann host a reading and invite audience members to share their own poetic responses.

Year of the Snake - Lunar New Year Celebration
2025-02-01 17:00 - 21:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Welcome the Year of the Snake with Big Car Collaborative and the Indianapolis Chinese Performing Arts’ Lunar New Year celebration! Join us on February 1st from 5 to 8:30 PM at the Tube Factory artspace in Garfield Park for a night filled with fun for the whole family!

Experience traditional dance performances by the Indianapolis Chinese Performing Arts from 6-7pm, as well as fireworks, and hands-on activities like cut paper art, lantern decorating, fan painting, and so much more! Plus, delicious food will be available for purchase by a local food truck!

The Indianapolis Chinese Performing Arts, Inc. (ICPAI) will perform traditional dances from 6-7pm.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased HERE.

—

Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year among East and Southeast Asian cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean communities, among others. The New Year celebration is usually celebrated for multiple days—not just one day as in the Gregorian calendar’s New Year.

In 2025, Lunar New Year begins on January 29. China’s Lunar New Year is known as the Spring Festival or Chūnjié in Mandarin, while Koreans call it Seollal and Vietnamese refer to it as Tết.Tied to the lunar calendar, the holiday began as a time for feasting and to honor household and heavenly deities, as well as ancestors. The New Year typically begins with the first new moon that occurs between the end of January and spans the first 15 days of the first month of the lunar calendar—until the full moon arrives.

ASMR Live-Landon Caldwell
2025-02-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join us in the Main Gallery for a live performance of ASMR with artist Landon Caldwell.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a previously unstudied sensory phenomenon, in which individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp, back of the neck and at times further areas in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli. This sensation is widely reported to be accompanied by feelings of relaxation and well-being. The current study identifies several common triggers used to achieve ASMR, including whispering, personal attention, crisp sounds and slow movements. Data obtained also illustrates temporary improvements in symptoms of depression and chronic pain in those who engage in ASMR.
Landon Caldwell is a multi-disciplinary artist and composer based in Indianapolis. His work explores environment, family, and class, using sound, words, color, and other materials, presenting immersive environments that redirect attention to the present and reveal hidden layers of reality. Landon has toured extensively across the US, Canada, and Europe and regularly collaborates with artists and musicians in the Midwest and beyond, having served time in improvisational units like Eternal Husk, Crazy Doberman, and the Open Sex. With Mark Tester, he curates and runs Medium Sound, a focal point of adventurous music in Indianapolis. Since 2020, he has host free sound art programming, installations, and workshops through Sonic Potluck, a collaboration with Rob Funkhouser. His installation work has been exhibited at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Terminal Kyoto, the Indiana State Museum, and more.
This series is part of the exhibit Julie Xiao, “A Journey.” Events in the gallery during this show will center around healing and mediation.

ASMR Live- Rob Funkhouser
2025-02-13 18:30 - 20:00 | IN
Join us in the Main Gallery for a live performance of ASMR with artist Rob Funkhouser.
Doors are at 6:30pm, performance starts at 7pm.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a previously unstudied sensory phenomenon, in which individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp, back of the neck and at times further areas in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli. This sensation is widely reported to be accompanied by feelings of relaxation and well-being. The current study identifies several common triggers used to achieve ASMR, including whispering, personal attention, crisp sounds and slow movements. Data obtained also illustrates temporary improvements in symptoms of depression and chronic pain in those who engage in ASMR.
Rob Funkhouser is a composer, performer, and instrument builder who can never quite sit still. His work is concerned with ideas of place, memory, and pattern and he is interested in interrogating the interstitial spaces between established genres. He holds an M.M. from Butler University in Music Composition, and most recently completed Peace of Mind, Speed of Thought for Classical Music Indy. He has released projects through various labels in three different countries, but finds his home turf on Auris Apothecary and Medium Sound. His current projects include an ongoing series of recordings and writing under the title Walking Music, building a new set of instruments in collaboration with artist Justin Cooper, and ongoing work on new performance tools for music and installations. In 2020, he began a long-term living residency with Big Car as part of their APLR program. He also serves as Education Manager for the Rhythm Discovery Center, where he runs public programming for schools and community members. He has collaborated with diverse groups including Forward Motion, Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, So Percussion, No Exit Theater, and Chicago-based director Ryan Gleason.
This series is part of the exhibit Julie Xiao, “A Journey.” Events in the gallery during this show will center around healing and mediation.

ASMR Live - Sesseka
2025-02-20 18:30 - 20:00 | IN
Join us in the gallery for a live performance of ASMR with artist Jessica Dunn, aka, Sesseka, who will lead an audiovisual meditation experience.

Doors 6:30pm.
Performance 7pm

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a previously unstudied sensory phenomenon, in which individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp, back of the neck and at times further areas in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli. This sensation is widely reported to be accompanied by feelings of relaxation and well-being. The current study identifies several common triggers used to achieve ASMR, including whispering, personal attention, crisp sounds and slow movements. Data obtained also illustrates temporary improvements in symptoms of depression and chronic pain in those who engage in ASMR.
Jessica Dunn (sesseka) is a multimedia artist known for her immersive, dreamlike worlds combining video, sound, and physical installations. With a scientific curiosity, she finds inspiration by investigating the natural world as well as psychological realms of consciousness. Dunn graduated from Herron School of Art + Design with a double major in painting and sculpture. Caught between 2D and 3D practices, she found her calling in 4D art including experimental animation, performance, and experiential works. With a medium-agnostic mindset, Dunn utilizes a wide variety of materials allowing the concept to drive the process. Lately, Dunn has extended her practice into filmmaking including short documentaries and narrative animations. No matter the format, Dunn’s work invites the viewer to open their perception to explore new realms of reality.
This series is part of the exhibit Julie Xiao, “A Journey.” Events in the gallery during this show will center around healing and mediation.

Steven Yazzie and Nancy Baric: The Nearness of Distance
2025-03-07 18:00 - 2025-04-20 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Jeremy Efroymson Gallery
“My Child, I will feed you, give you good health, and I will give you strength and courage.”
“These are the opening words of Steven J. Yazzie’s 2015 video, Mountain Song, which appear scrawled across the inky blank screen in white letters. The work evokes that of an epic poem akin to Homer or Virgil, signifying a journey that lies before the one who watches and listens to it. Vacillating between testimonies from Indigenous community members and archival audio bytes of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969, the piece creates a tension between power structures, sacred knowledges, and the struggle between living in balance with the natural world and the relentless march of colonial progress through the mechanism and machinations of capitalism – pushing humanity to reach new heights at the expense of the natural order and health of the world.
Yazzie focuses in on the devastating impacts that uranium and its mining have had not only on Indigenous communities, but on the environment writ large, linking uranium to Indigenous cosmologies and histories – referring to the chemical element as an invisible monster. The development of uranium extraction and its weaponization forced/es a wedge between traditional ways of living, replacing a way to live with a colonial sickness that poisons the land, pollutes the water, and creates a level of radioactivity within the consciousness. When Yazzie writes “My child, what I am dressed with is what you are dressed with. I am your home and mother and father,” in the fourth and final verse of his poem, he reminds us that what we do to the earth, to our mother, our father, we do unto ourselves. A caution that the monsters we awaken cannot be put back into slumber.
The idea of monsters and the monstrous continues in the 2021 film by Nancy Barić, Electric Water. The film creates a pastiche of memory, histories, and connection – looking at her own heritage and ancestral arrival to North America from the Adriatic Sea and the origin stories and cosmologies of the Haudenosaunee and their connection to Niagara Falls. Barić illuminates the power of water, in natural understandings, capitalistic understandings, and spiritual understandings. In tying her connection to place, Barić speaks of Nikola Tesla, whose shared country of origin as her families also creates a binding of herself and her genetic memory to the site of Niagara. Tesla’s invention and design of the first hydro-electric power plant at the Falls, which he envisioned for good and to provide power for free to the people, was corrupted by the long tentacles of capitalism. Capitalism and its reach exist like a mutant creature – distorting, corrupting, and poisoning what it touches.
In the film, Barić interviews Rick Hill, a member of the Haudenosaunee community – who grew up near the Falls. Hill shares portions of the Nation’s story of origin, talking about the Creator and his malevolent brother known as Flint. For every good thing the Creator brought into being, Flint would create a wicked counterpart, monsters. During a time of duel between the brothers, they threw and thrashed each other around cataclysmically shifting and shaping the landscape, which Hill believes is what molded the Falls in its current form. To counteract the monsters of his brother’s making, the Creator brought to life Thunder Beings, that with the clap and shock of their existence, drove the monsters back into the ground; Beings which left the Falls when tourism took over – heading west to the Rockies – returning to bring rain every season. The film illuminates the severed connection to culture through colonial abuses and extractive methodological approaches to ‘progress.’ Through the commercialization of the natural world, the spiritual connection is cut – fissured in ways that create barriers to the holy relation to place. Barić and Yazzie show the fissures that occur when the pollution, extraction, and forced control over the earth take over, urging a return to the stories and power of living in balance.”
–Eric Joyce
Steven Yazzie — Mountain Song (11 mins) Mountain Song is part of a series of video/film installation work exploring Diné/Navajo sacred mountains. Structured in four verses, the film explores indigenous knowledge, mystery, resource exploitation (uranium), and post-colonial reflections on community life. Conversations I recorded with elders, friends, and community members are set against the backdrop of a personal journey to a sacred Diné/Navajo mountain, Dibé Nitsaa, in southern Colorado, eventually ending at a mountain outside my backyard where I once lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Concurrently throughout the film, the radio chatter of the first humans landing on the Moon in 1969 (Apollo Mission) can be heard. The intersection of moon landing audio, indigenous stories, and aerial views of tribal territories echo memories of our shared histories while complicating the experience of the perpetual outsider with subjective indigeneity.
Nancy Baric — Electric Water (25 mins), an experimental documentary and a meditation on the poetics and politics of water, moving between my heritage from the Adriatic Sea and the Haudenosaunee perspective on Niagara Falls. While our connection to water is disrupted by pollution, dams, and the tourist’s gaze, there are stories and insights that lead back to water’s power and teachings.
Steven and I met and quickly realized there was a shared world view especially regarding our relationship to land and water. I feel that the two films speak to each and offer a great opportunity to provide a dialogue due to commonality from an Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspective and one of which also extends to the audience. The two films explore issues of representation, ecology and stewardship, and are examples of connection/disconnection due to colonialism. The films together also offer hope for a better future through mutual care.
Steven Yazzie — is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, installation, video/film, and community collaborations. His work explores the complexities of post-colonial indigenous identity and an ever-evolving community relationship, with a fundamental view that land is the source of life, story, conflict, and healing.
Nancy Baric is Montreal-based artist and filmmaker working at the intersection of cinema and installation. Her practice explores the relationship between ecology, human perception, and intuitive procedures.

Flore Laurentienne at Tube Factory artspace
2025-03-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Flore Laurentienne is performing at Tube Factory artspace on Wednesday, March, 26, 2025 from 7-9pm EST.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased HERE via Eventbrite.
In addition, Indianapolis composer and instrumentalist Rob Funkhouser will open the concert.

Each performance is a chance to step into a world where music and nature intertwine—a rare and intimate experience.
Flore Laurentienne is an open window to the technicolor soundscapes of Mathieu David Gagnon – the Canadian composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who shapes vast orchestral sound to interpret the rugged wilderness and waters of his native Québec. The namesake of an inventory documenting St. Lawrence Valley flora, Flore Laurentienne illumes the science and spirit of his surrounds through expansive string orchestrations melded with the textures and experimentation of early analogue synths.
Following the compass and critical acclaim of his Volume I debut, Flore Laurentienne returned in October 2022 with Volume II to resume his voyage into environment and emotion. Recorded with string and clarinet ensembles along with Gagnon’s signature modulation, Volume II explores forces of water as metaphorical markers to navigate passages of life and loss, . Reflecting the parallel tenors of nature and humankind, Volume II locates another estuary in Flore Laurentienne’s tides toward contemporary sonic romanticism.
In his approach to composition hued by leitmotif and constraint, Gagnon challenges himself to extract beauty from simplicity in homage to the changing faces of natural landscapes. The presence of familiarity and flux in Volume I is heightened through the vivid instrumentation of a fifteen-piece string orchestra, which Gagnon brings together with an array of 1960s and 70s synthesizers, including the Minimoog Model D, the EMS Synthi and combo organs – an innately ambitious project which forges the composer’s distinctive path in the expansion of classical music archetypes.
Flore Laurentienne was nominated in seven categories at the 2020 ADISQ in Québec, winning the ‘Arrangement of the Year’ and ‘Sound Recording and Mixing of the Year’. In 2020, Volume I was longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize and received four nominations at the Felix Awards for ‘Revelation of the Year’, ‘Songwriter of the Year’, ‘Critic’s Choice Album of the Year’ and ‘Instrumental Album of the Year’. In 2021, Flore Laurentienne was nominated for the** Juno Awards** ‘Instrumental Album of the Year’ in recognition for his contribution to Canadian music. In addition, Fleuve No. 1 opened the Chanel fashion show at Paris Fashion Week 2022.
Awards & Recognition
Nominated at the 2021 JUNOS Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year
Nominated on the 2020 Polaris Prize Short List for Volume 1
Winner at the 2020 ADISQ for Arrangement of the Yearfor Volume 1
Winner at the 2020 ADISQ for Sound Recording and Mixing of the Year for Volume 1
Nominated at the 2020 ADISQ for Best New Artist
Nominated at the 2020 ADISQ for Album of the Year – Critic’s Choice for Volume 1
Nominated at the 2020 ADISQ for Author or Composer of the Year for Volume 1
Nominated at the 2020 ADISQ for Revelation of the Year for Volume 1
Nominated at the 2020 ADISQ for Songwriter of the Year for Volume 1
Nominated at the 2020 ADISQ for Album of the Year – Instrumental for Volume 1

Rob Funkhouser is a composer, performer, and instrument builder who can never quite sit still. His work is concerned with ideas of place, memory, and pattern and he is interested in interrogating the interstitial spaces between established genres.

Ben Hall: Trunk Rattle Sound Bath
2025-05-02 18:00 - 2025-06-15 17:00 | IN
Trunk Rattle Sound Bath merges ongoing areas of Ben Hall’s research into polyrhythm (the simultaneous use of two or more contrasting rhythms), sonic immersion, and ancestral resonance through the lens of embodied listening. The title draws from the cultural experience of low-end frequencies booming from car trunks — windows shaking with no discernible rhythm, the body absorbing it all. “Vibrational frequencies are in everything,” Hall says. “Our bodies. We are observing by vibration even when we shut down. Our nervous system is still there, thrumming.”
With this new body of work, Hall focuses on not just what is played or heard, but what is felt, what is transferred through vibration, what buzzes and rattles in the body long after the source has passed. The body is a resonant shell for the vibrations that occur all around us. “The 17th-century Dutch physicist Christian Huygens observed the entrainment of pendulums,” Hall explains. “He noted in 1655 that if two pendulum clocks were placed near each other, they would synchronize. They wanted to be in rhythm with each other — but it was, and is, not instant. That move toward synchronization, toward harmony… The experience of rhythm, of immersion in sound, of allowing your body to be an entire resonating chamber is to allow that process to begin each time — and allow for the vibration to be you.”
Inspired by the mbira, a traditional African thumb piano with metal tines and built-in buzzers used in spiritual ceremonies to connect with ancestors, Hall draws a throughline from West African sonic cosmologies to Midwestern street corners. “Those buzzes are supposed to be the actual frequencies that cut through to the ancestors,” he says. “The consequence of the sound is what communicates with another world.” In this way, the sound bath is not a cleansing ritual in the New Age sense, but a full-bodied immersion in histories.
Hall makes the connection between the mbiras of tradition and the trunk rattle of modernity. “When you are at the red light next to the Buick,” Hall says, “you’ll notice that the rattling and buzzing is not consistent with the rhythm created by the bass frequencies coming from the vehicle. Often, it will seem that the rattling of your windows — a different distance, a different material from the sound maker — is not even related at times to the rhythm, as though the frequencies you’re hearing in the passing vehicle are somehow coincidental to the vibration in your home.”
Trunk Rattle Sound Bath invites visitors to consider rhythm not only as musical but as a way of knowing, of feeling, of remembering. “When a frequency, a sound (but also a rhythm, a repetition) occurs to us at a different frequency than the one we live in,” Hall says, “we are receiving energy. Frequency is just another way to say energy.” Whether through sound, image, or movement, Hall’s work opens a space for that energy to circulate — and for the body, buzzing like a loose antenna, to receive it. “Vibrational frequencies are in everything,” Hall declares.
About the artist: Ben Hall is an artist and composer based in/from Detroit, Michigan. He was profiled in Fred Moten’s 2017 book, Black and Blur and frequently works as a critic and essayist with a research focus on the visionary American composers Milford Graves and Bill Dixon. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College from 2018-2022. He has presented prints, drawings, film, sculpture and works for sound in numerous exhibitions including the solos Jives & Gambles at Essex Flowers in NYC and Slow An Alarm Until It’s A Tone at MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit). He is currently compiling material for the forthcoming publication, A Black Liberation Music Guide.
Curator: Landon Caldwell
Live performance: June 8, 12pm by Hall’s ensemble, Oceanic Beloved.
This exhibition is made possible by the Indy Arts Council and the City of Indianapolis, the Indiana Arts Commission, Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Fund, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Efroymson Family Fund.

Sketch Club with India Hines
2025-05-07 15:00 - 17:00 | IN
If you love sketching and are looking for community, come hang out and draw with our longterm artist in residence, India Hines.
India Hines, a self-taught artist from Denver, CO, and raised in Indianapolis, IN, uses ink, watercolor, and oil paints to explore spirituality and the subconscious. Their intuitive process results in figurative faces and organic shapes that reflect a journey of growth, resilience, and love. India’s art is deeply meditative, rich with emotional depth, and narrates stories of overcoming adversity. Active in community projects and exhibitions, India believes in art’s power to unite and continues to push creative boundaries while exploring personal growth and self-discovery
