Big Car

Lunch Break Live! With Rob Funkhouser Presented By Lake City Bank
2024-08-07 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Come join Rob Funkhouser for a lunchtime concert on the circle!
Lunch Break Live! is presented by Lake City Bank
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.

Drum Circles With The Percussive Arts Society And Rob Funkhouser
2024-08-09 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-23 12:00 - 13:00
Come join the Percussive Arts Society with Rob Funkhouser at SPARK !
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.

Big Gay Market
2024-08-11 11:00 - 15:00, 2024-08-12 11:00 - 15:00
Come Join SPARK at Monument Circle for this 2-day long event!
Learn more here!: https://www.indygaymarket.com/

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.

Lunch Break Live! With Chreece Producer Hour Presented By Lake City Bank
2024-08-14 12:00 - 13:00
Join us at SPARK for a preview show of Indianapolis’s own hip-hop festival, Chreece!
Chreece Producer Hour at Spark is an engaging DJ set showcasing some of the very talented local producers playing Chreece Hip Hop Festival on August 24th. The Fountain Square Plaza stage has been a staple free community stage since 2015 and features over 15 different DJs and producers in the city fest.
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 Rob Funkhouser and Landon Caldwell
2024-08-16 17:00 - 19:00
Join sound artists and musicians Rob Funkhouser and Landon Caldwell for an interactive workshop that is FREE to all!
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 Kara Cole Presented By Lake City Bank
2024-08-21 12:00 - 13:00
Joint us at SPARK for a lunch time concert with Kara Cole, 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: Kris Komakech
2024-08-25 15:00 - 17:00
Come to SPARK for an Artist Workshop led by Indianapolis artist Kris Komakech through their Clock Workshop!
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 Wes Schaaf Presented By Lake City Bank
2024-08-28 12:00 - 13:00
Wes Schaaf is multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter from Indy’s north side. Performing a mix of original songs and covers, they create dreamy, melodic indie-folk and jazz-inspired sounds around themes of queer/trans identity, family, and healing.
Lunch Break Live! is presented by Lake City Bank
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.

Indy Humanities Story Time with Kim Howard
2024-08-31 15:00 - 16:00
Come join us at SPARK for a Story Time Session hosted by Indy Humanities!
Kim Howard will be reading her debut picture book, Grace and Box, which was the Children’s category winner of the 2022 Indiana Authors Awards. She will have songs and games that go with the story. Please feel free to tag her author page on Facebook, and she will share the posts there as well, @kimhowardbooks.
Attached here is also a longer author biography if you would like to include that as well:
Kim Howard is a children’s book author and former teacher. Her debut picture book Grace and Box was published in 2021 by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan. Grace and Box is a 2022 Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award nominee, a 2022 Panda Book Awards nominee, and was included on the 2021 Redbud Read Aloud Masterlist for Oklahoma. The School Library Journal called it “a surefire hit for story time.”
Kim has wanted to be an author ever since she was little. Now, she enjoys doing author visits to preschools and elementary schools and inspiring future generations of writers. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Her View from Home, Nerdy Book Club, Imagination Soup, and Scary Mommy.
She has her Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from Indiana University and taught sixth grade in Lafayette, Indiana. Born and raised in LaPorte, Indiana, she now lives in Bloomington, Indiana with her husband and their three children
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
2024-09-04 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-09-07 10:00 - 13:00, 2024-09-11 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-09-14 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-09-18 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-09-21 11:00 - 14:00, 2024-09-25 11:00 - 14:00
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.

Lunch Break Live! With Kara Cole Presented by Lake City Bank
2024-09-04 12:00 - 13:00
Come Join us at SPARK for a lunch time concert with local musician Regan Shalome, 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 With Stephanie Williams
2024-09-06 12:00 - 14:00
Come join us at SPARK for an artist workshop with Stephanie Williams, Make and Take Painted Ceramic Pinch Pots!
In this artist activation, visitors will be able to make their own ceramic pinch pot out of clay through William’s guidance, or paint a ready to take home pot pinched and fired by the artist previously. Pinch pots that are made at this workshop will be taken home by the artist, fired, and kept to be used at the next Make and Take Pinch Pot event! Come join us to paint and pinch at Monument Circle!

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
2024-09-06 17:00 - 19:00
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.

Lunch Break Live! With The Play Testers Presented By Lake City Bank
2024-09-11 12:00 - 13:00
Come join us at SPARK for a lunchtime local concert! Lunch Break Live is presented by Lake City Bank.

The Play Testers is a duo experimental group exploring musicking in the 21st century through written compositions and improvisations. The bandmates are clarinetist Eric Salazar, aka The Clarinet Guy, and bassist Alexo Cazares. Both are performers and composers who love to share their musicking. You can catch them playing board games or making music in Indianapolis.

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.

Cyanotype Workshop With Aurora PhotoCenter
2024-09-13 11:00 - 15:00
Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated paper, and then use the sun to expose the paper. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the object. It’s a fun and magical way to engage photography! Although it may be new to modern people, cyanotype has been around since photography was invented in the 1800s.
Come explore the creative possibilities of this fascinating process!
We will have some objects on hand to experiment with, but feel free to bring your own objects. Flat items usually work best, and cyanotype can be messy, so precious things like family heirlooms should probably stay at home. All other necessary materials will be provided free at the workshop.
In partnership with Aurora PhotoCenter for SPARK on the Circle.
This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.
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: Single Fancies With Joan Wyand!
2024-09-13 17:00 - 19:00
Come join artist, Joan Wyand, on the circle to get a tiny painted masterpiece on one of your fingernails! The process involves painting a background color on the nail and once dry, Joan will paint an image of your choice. Past designs have included emojis, hearts, tiger stripes and more detailed imageslike Moby Dick and Godzilla! The artist loves a challenge, so feel free to suggest your own ideas. One nail per visitor!
More about Joan:
Joan Wyand recently received her Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in Integrative Studio Practice at IU’s Herron School of Art + Design. She received an undergraduate degree in Ceramics at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2005 and spent 20 formative years in Providence. Her social-minded experimental practice was recognized in 2012 as a recipient of AS220’s Free Culture Award. She participated in the Venice International Performance Art Week Workshop that coincided with the Venice Biennale in2017. Her work at Herron has been recognized with a Paul Zimmerman Fellowship, Graduate Teaching Fellowships, the 2024 Sherry Queener Award and a summer

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.

Indy Humanities Story Time With John David Anderson
2024-09-14 15:00 - 16:00
John David Anderson is the best-selling author of several critically-acclaimed novels for young people, including Posted, Granted, and Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. His books have garnered several awards, been translated into multiple languages, and frequently appear as honorees on state reading lists. Before becoming a middle-grade novelist, Dave (as he prefers to be called) taught at the University of Illinois. Before that he yearned to be Indiana Jones, but his parents wouldn’t buy him a whip. Dave lives with his ever-patient wife and two ornery cats, MJ and Parker, in Indianapolis, Indiana, right next to a State park and a Walmart, in a house that is steadily filling with Lego. His favorite color is gray, and he does not wear ties if he can possibly help it.
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.

Lunch Break Live! With M. Moskaliuk Presented by Lake City Bank
2024-09-18 12:00 - 13:00
Come join us at SPARK for a live lunch break time concert with M. Moskaliuk, presented by Lake City Bank!
M. Moskaliuk is a composer with a background in creating and performing live electronic music. His fascination with vintage analog synthesizers sparked his love of sound and music. His work attempts to capture fleeting emotions and ineffable moments in time.
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.

Car Free Day with Downtown Indy and the Office of Sustainability!
2024-09-19 - 2024-09-20
Walk, bike, scoot, skate, blade, ride the bus, or carpool to go car-free or car-lite…Telework also counts!
On Thursday, stop by SPARK from 7-9 am for a continental breakfast and again from 11am-1pm for live music!
Adopting a cleaner commuting habit is one of the best ways to decrease your carbon footprint, improve our air quality, save money, and be healthier and happier.
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 With Giselle Trujillo
2024-09-20 17:00 - 19:00
Come join us at SPARK for a FREE workshop with artist Giselle Trujillo!
About the Artist:
Inside of me, like inside of everyone, there are many characters waiting to come out in order to be somehow present in this world. They come out from a pencil and play with papers, from our mind and play with our life.
Once, when I was a child, I was close to the sea and I understood everything it said to me. then my hands made a face, a body; some faces, some bodies that watched me, touched me, and I watched them and touched them and then they abandoned me, leaving with the sea, melting themselves with all those characters who were born and going to be born from the sand and they had left with the breeze and with the sea (they are still my friends that I will never see again).
It happened the same with the mud, but the faces and the bodies wouldn’t leave. and here they were; I didn’t plan them, I didn’t make a sketch of them and they appeared. They wake me up any hour, any time talking to me, moving through my hands and when they say ” leave me like this ” I transform them in stone… …And my mind and my soul will rest in the stone, in the paper and in the sand, which had already gone.
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.

Kids Day!
2024-09-21 14:00 - 16:00
Come over to SPARK on Monument Circle for Kids Day!
Playworks will be bringing some of your favorite recess classics like four square, hopscotch, jump rope, and hula hoops!
Visitors will be able to make friendship bracelets and get their faces painted!
The Indianapolis Synphony Orchestra will be hosting their instrument petting zoo and holding a make your own instrument work shop, followed by story time!
We hope to see you out at SPARK for this FREE and kid centred event!
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.

Lunch Break Live! With Yeajin Kim and Jonah Krolik Presented By Lake City Bank
2024-09-25 12:00 - 13:00
Join us at SPARK for a lunch time concert from Yeajin Kim on violin and Jonah Krolik on cello, presented by Lake City Bank!
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.
