Big Car

TJ Reynolds:We Catch the Light, Reflections on Black Skin
2020-02-07 18:00 - 2020-02-22 15:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Those of African descent are the most underrepresented group in the world of fine art. Black faces are beautiful. Digging deeper, we see that by working on black surfaces with white ink & paint, Reynolds draws in the light instead of the shadow, with emotive figures emerging from the deep, catching light in the way only melanin can. The stylized nature of the drawings reveals a complexity of shapes and linework, in patterns that evoke both ancient art and futuristic graphic design. The artist is also exploring his own ethnic heritage, examining roots he can only piece together, going so far as to trace his last name to the tradition of slaves taking on the surname of their master, in this case the RJ Reynolds tobacco fields. Prints will also be available of all work.
TJReynolds.net

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TJ Reynolds is a multi-discipline artist and educator whose mission it is to spread the power of creativity and community. Visual artist, animator, director, M.C., producer, multi-instrumentalist and poet are just some of the creative avenues Reynolds travels on his exploits. As an educator, he has worked with thousands of students and adults in every conceivable setting; preschool through college, prisons and gifted schools, though his message remains the same; we must use art and expression to connect to each other and the world around us. Reynolds has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Nuvo Cultural Visionary Award, Spirit of Herron (School of Art) Award, and the first ever hip-hop artist to be named a Creative Renewal Fellow from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. His music has been featured nationally on NPR, and he has won rap battles, poetry slams and a Moth Story Slam. This is Reynolds first solo art show.

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With performances by TJ Reynolds, Teresa Reynolds, Tatjana Rebelle, Derrick Slack

As part of my We Catch the Light, Reynolds asked some prominent black Indianapolis poets & singers to select someone who was influential to them in their life. He will create a portrait of that person, and the guest artist will perform a piece dedicated to them at the opening Feb 7 for a unique, one time happening bringing poetry, song and visual art together.

Kipp Normand: Snake Oil, A Fantastical American History
2020-02-07 18:00 - 2020-05-16 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Artist and historian Kipp Normand’s practice is a physical and conceptual investigation into the power of objects and images as a narrative device. Inspired by the Dada traditions of assemblage, collage, construction, and performance, Normand employs the acts of appropriation, reuse, and recontextualization to explore contemporary perceptions of time, community, and memory. In Snake Oil, Normand distills four centuries of history to illustrate the deep-seated American penchant for fantastical thinking. Part world’s fair exhibit, huckster wagon, dime museum, and midway arcade; Snake Oil is a multifaceted installation that challenges the viewer to re-examine the ideas of American Exceptionalism. Imbued with satire and mixed with painful truths, this haunted temple of junk casts a sideways glance at the tales we tell our children and ourselves about who we are and how we got here.
Normand — who maintains a studio and workspace in Indianapolis where he creates dynamic works of visual art infused with narratives of culture, community, and history — is a scavenger and an obsessive collector. He searches back streets and alleys, junk stores and abandoned buildings, looking for clues to explain the mysteries of our world. Normand finds stories in discarded things: Stories about all of us, our cities, and our shared history. He first began making collage images, shadow boxes, and installations as a way to justify his relentless collecting. But the work soon became much more than that. It is Normand’s way to dig deeply into the vast attic of this world and to share his finds with anyone who takes the time to look. He holds a Master’s degree in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame and worked nearly 30 years in the field of heritage preservation and housing reform before turning to the practice of art.

Freedom To Be Official Book Launch
2020-02-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join award-winning author Diana Ensign for this celebratory book signing and educational panel discussion on how our community can support transgender people and their families. Hear from Kimberly Acoff, Indiana Youth Group (IYG) Director of Programming; Sa’hara Miller, BU Wellness Sophisticated Divas Program; Diana Asberry (parent of a transgender child and a nonbinary child); and Andru Lanning (awesome young adult)! Info table by Matty Slaydon, Organizer of Queering Indy. A portion of book sales support Trinity Haven, Indiana’s first transitional housing program for LGBTQ+ youth at risk of homelessness, and BU Wellness Network.
This project is made possible by support of the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency.

West African Dance Class with Uzuri Asad
2020-03-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
West African dance is an essential component of West African culture. Over time, traditional dances incorporated new moves, rhythms and ideas. Through the slave trade, and through national production of traditional dance forms, West African dance has found it’s way around the globe. West African Dance has influenced many popular American dance forms, such as hip-hop, salsa and jazz dance. Traditional dances are still practiced by many people today.
Uzuri Asad caters to all levels of students and is part of Big Car’s APLR program.
Traditional West African Dance
Dance has always played a very important role in the lives of West Africans. Throughout history, West Africans performed dances to celebrate a birth, harvest or death. Communities relied on dance to ward off evil spirits, to ask the gods for prosperity, or to resolve conflict. Dance continues to serve those functions. For example, villagers perform the Malinke rhythm Kassa during farming and harvesting work. The singing, dancing and clapping entertains and motivates the hard-working farmers.
Characteristics of West African Dance
African dance, according to R.F. Thomson, has four unique qualities. First, the body moves in a multi-unit fashion, where the head and arms may move to one rhythmic pattern while the feet follow a different time signature. Second, it is percussive; the dancer interprets the rhythmic nature of the music through movement. Third, though as a whole African dance is a community event, some dancers follow different parts of the rhythm, dancing “apart” from the crowd. Finally, West African dance phrases, or sets of movements, overlap, creating a “call-and-response” pattern.

West African Dance with Uzuri Asad
2020-03-04 19:00 - 20:30, 2020-03-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
West African dance is an essential component of West African culture. Over time, traditional dances incorporated new moves, rhythms and ideas. Through the slave trade, and through national production of traditional dance forms, West African dance has found it’s way around the globe. West African Dance has influenced many popular American dance forms, such as hip-hop, salsa and jazz dance. Traditional dances are still practiced by many people today.
Uzuri Asad caters to all levels of students and is part of Big Car’s APLR program.
Traditional West African Dance
Dance has always played a very important role in the lives of West Africans. Throughout history, West Africans performed dances to celebrate a birth, harvest or death. Communities relied on dance to ward off evil spirits, to ask the gods for prosperity, or to resolve conflict. Dance continues to serve those functions. For example, villagers perform the Malinke rhythm Kassa during farming and harvesting work. The singing, dancing and clapping entertains and motivates the hard-working farmers.
Characteristics of West African Dance
African dance, according to R.F. Thomson, has four unique qualities. First, the body moves in a multi-unit fashion, where the head and arms may move to one rhythmic pattern while the feet follow a different time signature. Second, it is percussive; the dancer interprets the rhythmic nature of the music through movement. Third, though as a whole African dance is a community event, some dancers follow different parts of the rhythm, dancing “apart” from the crowd. Finally, West African dance phrases, or sets of movements, overlap, creating a “call-and-response” pattern.
$10

Wes Janz-Pinned Down: The Locking Up of America
2020-03-06 18:00 - 22:00 | Listen Hear, 2620 Shelby St, , Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
The number of sites of incarceration—where people are “pinned
down”—is big as well. It makes sense, right? We need a lot of
buildings and cells in which to lock up all these folks.
Federal prisons. State prisons. County jails. City jails. Local lockups.
Juvenile detention centers. Secure juvenile residential facilities.
University police holding cells. Tribal prisons and jails. Military
detention facilities. ICE sites. Forestry camps. Airport holding cells.
Join us March 6th for the opening of Wes Janz- Pinned Down: The Locking Up of America
Many of us are unaware of the scope of this industry even as we
don’t know of caging sites that are close by. “Pinned Down,” through the use of state maps and pushpins, evidences the geography of incarceration that blankets the nation. Included alongside the maps are issues central to our imprisoning culture, and pieces from the artist’s earlier “Crazy for Cages” show.
The documentary “Digging the Suez Canal with a Teaspoon: Social Design in the 21st Century” will also be shown (as produced by Eric Limarenko and David Stairs in 2019,
Wes is the first of eleven voices from the U.S., South Africa, Great Britain, and India).
Too often we are, as Cornel West has stated, “well adjusted to
injustice.” It is my hope that this installation will contribute to our much-needed re-adjustment.
About Janz
Wes Janz, PhD, was a professor of architecture at Ball State University for twenty-two years (1995-2017). Among the highlights: ten years as graduate program director; primary author of undergraduate minor and graduate certificate programs in social and environmental justice; and sole recipient of the university’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2006.
In 2008 he was a winner of the inaugural Curry Stone Design Prize, as awarded to breakthrough international projects that “engage communities at the fulcrum of change, raising awareness, empowering individuals and fostering collective revitalization.”
The National Endowment for the Arts, along with the Graham, Ruth Mott, Fulbright-Hays, and Efroymson Foundations, among others, supported his research and design efforts; and the Venice Biennale and university galleries throughout the Midwest featured Wes’s work. Janz has traveled, listened, and lectured on six continents.

Aurora Photocenter Presents Adam Ekberg: The Other Side of Boredom
2020-03-06 18:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
For artist Adam Ekberg, moving past boredom means finding a space in which the mind is free to devise a logic of its own, and ordinary objects are liberated from the drudgery of daily life. The resulting photographic interventions are both mysterious and delightful. Cocktail umbrellas no longer shade tropical beverages but rather occupy a sunny beach en masse. Roller skates once relegated to an indoor rink now drag-race across an empty field propelled by burning aerosol cans.
Each of these photographs begins as a sketch drawn in a studio/barn in western New Jersey. As Ekberg realizes his staged happenings, the sketches pinned to the barn walls are removed and replaced with small finished photographs—constituting a small victory. His constructions, made entirely in camera without the aid of Photoshop, are not easily decoded or resolved. Ekberg’s translation of boredom reveals the poignant beauty that can take shape, however fleetingly, when the glint of possibility leaps out from the mundane.
Adam Ekberg received his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has recently had solo exhibitions at ClampArt, New York; DeSoto Gallery, Los Angeles; Thomas Robertello Gallery, Chicago; Platform Gallery, Seattle; and Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden. His work has been included in recent group exhibitions at venues such as Aran Cravey Gallery, Los Angles CA; DePaul Art Museum, Chicago; RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco; and Crawford Art Gallery, Cork Ireland. His work is in the collections of The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, among others. He is the recipient of the Society for Photographic Education’s Imagemaker Award (2015). He was awarded a Tanne Foundation Award (2013). Ekberg has also received grants from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (2008, 2009, 2010) and the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Grant (2005).

Who Are You? What Do You Want?
2020-03-06 18:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
“If you were a wrestler what would be your entrance theme song?”
This interactive exhibit in Guichelaar Gallery entails posting a series of questions that YOU answer on sticky notes.
March is Women’s History Month and in celebration we will also host a contest coloring a few historical women figures, $20 Normal Coffee gift cards will be awarded.

See America First Film Series-Ragtime
2020-03-10 19:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Kipp Normand will introduce and host a discussion relating the film to his current exhibition in the Main Gallery at Tube Factory artspace, ‘Snake Oil’. Attendees will have a chance to win a original Normand sculpture, “Snake Oil.”
“A kaleidoscope of tales from E.L. Doctorow’s eponymous novel evokes life in pre-World War I New York City. A white family find a black baby in their yard and takes on the mother as a maid. A black pianist, Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Howard E. Rollins Jr.), returns for his woman and child after finding success in a Harlem jazz band. Firefighters, dismayed to see a black man own a Model-T Ford, deface it, and Walker demands retribution. The white family becomes involved in Evelyn Nesbit’s trial.”
Runtime -155 minutes

Spring Zine Jam-Postponed
2020-03-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join us at Normal Coffee inside the Tube Factory Artspace for a collaborative zine jam just in time for spring to roll around! Supplies will be provided but you’re welcome to bring your own. Drawings, poetry, collage, whatever you think we should put in our spring zine works! Gluestick will print the zine shortly after and it will be available for pickup around Indy and at Normal. Don’t know what a zine is? Come find out!

West African Dance with Uzuri Asad-Cancelled
2020-03-18 19:00 - 20:30, 2020-03-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States

Spring Equinox with Uzuri Asad-Cancelled
2020-03-22 10:00 - 14:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Start the season off right with Uzuri Asad! We get pretty excited about the spring equinox bringing us out of winter and officially starting the season of spring. But what exactly is the spring equinox? And does an equinox happen at the start of every season?
First, let’s get into the equinox, which actually occurs just twice a year. The word equinox comes from Latin and means “equality of night and day.” So, the equinox occurs at two specific moments in time when the sun is exactly above the equator (contrary to popular belief, the equinox doesn’t last for 24 hours).
More details TBA.

Western Dance with Uzuri Asad-Cancelled
2020-04-01 19:00 - 20:30 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States

First Friday From Home Art Shares and Tours
2020-04-03 08:00 - 23:30
Usually we’re showing you new art every First Friday. But now we’re asking you to show us yours! Whether you made it or bought it, use your phone to share photos and videos with us and others by using the hashtag #firstfridayfromhome or by posting pictures or videos (also can go live and tag Tube Factory artspace. We will select different people who share their collections to win Normal Coffee gift cards, a ceramic piece from Soyong Kang Partington, and t-shirts from Big Car.
Start sharing now, so we can share different artworks through FB and Twitter throughout the night of April 3. When you post, you can tell us who the artist is, why you bought it, how it makes you feel, whatever you want to say about art you have collected. We will also share some things along the way as we celebrate First Friday via our radio station, 99.1 WQRT FM (also accessible at www.wqrt.org).
If you’re in Indianapolis, show our friends at the Arts Council of Indianapolis some love and hashtag #indyKeepsCreating
All of us at Big Car are sending positive, healthy vibes your way. Excited to see your collections and see you in person when we get through the pandemic.

SoundLab with Oreo Jones
2020-04-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Listen Hear, 2620 Shelby St, , Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
We are back with another edition of SOUND LAB! Join Oreo Jones at Listen Hear for an evening of sound exploration. Bring your synths, drum machines, pedals, theremins, or whatever you use to express yourself.
Sound Lab is a reoccurring workshop where we explore ways to communicate and express ourselves through sonic waves. Each attendee will be encouraged to play a piece that they have been working on and share ways of how they approached their work. The group will then attempt to work on a collaboration broadcasted live on 99.1 WQRT.

Writing Workshop with Mariah Ivey
2020-05-02 11:00 - 15:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
An interactive workshop led by Mariah Ivey.
Mariah is a graduate of Pike High School, studied at Columbia College Chicago and is an active Teaching + Performing Artist, Poet, MC, and Host/Coordinator of various local art and community events. She has spent the last five years working within the non-profit sector as a youth program facilitator and project manager where her love of young people, art, and education have all simultaneously come alive in order to create a more promising future!
Most nights and weekends, Mariah enjoys performing, hosting, and creating – both as an individual and alongside her band, TribeSouL. She also enjoys designing jewelry, being in nature, meditating, eating good food, and laughing…a lot!

TransGlam
2020-06-06 17:00 - 22:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Indy’s trans community invites you to join us during Pride Week for #TransGlam – A free night of community, food, fun, music and resources.
#TransGlam invites you to dance, socialize, and spend time in community while getting connected to resources. This is an all-inclusive space for all ages and all bodies. On site there will be free food, harm reduction supplies and education, trans affirming vendors, and of course YOU!
Show up, show your glam and be a part of the #TransGlam crew!
⏰ The party starts at 5:00pm.
Indy Pride is teaming up with QUIT NOW INDIANA to encourage healthy lifestyles for all members of our community with all Pride events being tobacco-free. For support and resources to quit tobacco, visit them at quitnowindiana.com or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Freedom To Be-Book Launch
2020-06-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Will be rescheduled.
Join award-winning author Diana Ensign for this celebratory book signing and educational panel discussion on how our community can support transgender people and their families. Hear from Kimberly Acoff, Indiana Youth Group (IYG) Director of Programming; Sa’hara Miller, BU Wellness Sophisticated Divas Program; Diana Asberry (parent of a transgender child and a nonbinary child); and Andru Lanning (awesome young adult)! Info table by Matty Slaydon, Organizer of Queering Indy. A portion of book sales support Trinity Haven, Indiana’s first transitional housing program for LGBTQ+ youth at risk of homelessness, and BU Wellness Network.

Donate Blood
2020-07-09 14:00 - 19:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Big Car Collaborative – is partnering with Versiti Blood Centers of Indiana to save community lives.
Please come out to support our drive on Thursday, July 9th, from 2:00pm to 7:00pm pm at the Tube Factory artspace-Parking Lot. Follow the link below to schedule your donation today!
Here is the link to schedule your appointment:
https://donate.indiana.versiti.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/142962
Donor Health & Registration:
All donor-facing staff will have their temperature taken prior to beginning their work day
Donors temperatures will be taken at registration to ensure they are not elevated prior to entering donation areas
Donors will be asked if they’ve come in contact with someone who’s tested positive for COVID-19
Donors will be asked to wash hands prior to screening
Donors will be asked if they are currently experiencing coughing or shortness of breath
If any of the above is true, donors will be asked to self-defer
Social Distancing:
We encourage all donors to make an appointment to lessen the amount of people waiting at our donor centers
To comply with government regulations, all sponsors and donors must wear personal masks at donor centers and mobile drives
Ensuring six feet of space between chairs in waiting areas and cafe
Ensuring six feet of space between donation chairs and/or separation with medical screens
If appointment registration congestion occurs, we will ask for your cell phone number and text when your appointment is ready
Cleaning:
We clean all equipment, beds, and other surfaces after each donor finishes their donation
Changing gloves frequently and between donors is part of our normal practice
We will maintain sanitized pen bins, so donors are only using clean pens at sign-in

The Wagon of Wonders at Turkey Run
2020-09-12 11:00 - 2020-09-13 15:00
Become one with nature….and art! The Wagon of Wonders, Big Car Collaborative’s mobile, interactive art unit and pop-up public space, is coming to Turkey Run for third year. Visitors are invited to explore the Wagon and participate in a variety of safe and friendly art activities inspired by the park. Beautiful Turkey Run State Park has something for everyone to enjoy: hiking and bridle trails trails, camp sites, historic sites, and an educational nature center. Explore all that Turkey Run and the Wagon of Wonders have to offer!

Join us Saturday, September 12, from 11am-5pm and Sunday, September 13, 11am-3pm.

This program was made possible by the Arts in the Parks grant program through the Indiana Arts Commission.

Power Plant Grant Information Session
2021-03-25 18:30 - 21:00, 2021-04-01 18:30 - 21:00
Learn more about the new annual Power Plant Grant program made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts on March 25, 6:30pm, April 1, 6:30pm or April 15, 6:30pm. The grants provide visual artists who live, work, or run spaces in Indianapolis with grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. Applications for this round are due by April 26, 2021.
Eligible applicants are visual/multidisciplinary artists who create original work in painting, drawing, sculpture, book art, ceramics, fiber, printmaking, digital/media works, film, video, photography, performance art, sound art, social practice and/or hybrid or interdisciplinary practice of any/all of the above.
Artists must be over 21 at the time of the application, and may not be full-time students.
Artists must live and/or work in Indianapolis.
Employees or board members (or immediate family members of employees or board members) of Big Car Collaborative are not eligible for this opportunity.
Teams, partnerships, and unincorporated individuals running spaces are eligible. Nonprofit organizations are not.

Words & Music-In the Heart of the Heart of the Country
2021-03-31 18:00 - 19:00
In this first installment of Words & Music: An audio series exploring the life and work of Indiana writers, Hoosier authors Susan Neville, Adrian Matejka, Kevin McKelvey, and Jim Walker discuss the sublime beauty and challenges of Indiana through the lens of William H. Gass’s 1968 fiction story, “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country.”
The episode features excerpts of the story as well as a conversation about what it means to be a writer living and working in Indiana. This launches an eight-part series made possible by Indiana Humanities and produced by WQRT and Big Car Collaborative.
You can listen live via the streaming link or listen on regular FM radio in Indianapolis by tuning in to 99.1 FM. After it debuts on the station, it will be available for listening online. We’ll share that link here.
About the participants in this show (all Indiana writers):
Susan Neville is the author of six works of creative nonfiction and her collections of short fiction include The Town of Whispering Dolls, winner of the Doctorow Prize for Innovative Fiction; In the House of Blue Lights, winner of the Richard Sullivan prize; and Invention of Flight, winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. She teaches at Butler University.
Adrian Matejka was born in Nuremberg, Germany and grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. He teaches at Indiana University in Bloomington and served as Poet Laureate of Indiana for 2018-19. He is the author of five award winning books and his first graphic novel, “Last On His Feet” is forthcoming from Liveright in 2022.
Kevin McKelvey is a place-based poet, writer, designer, and social practice artist. He teaches at University of Indianapolis and directs the M.A. in Social Practice Art and oversees the undergraduate major in Environmental Sustainability. At University of Indianapolis, he founded Etchings Press, a student-run publisher, helped start a community garden and microfarm, and has contributed to numerous interdisciplinary efforts for students and the community.
Jim Walker is a poet, artist, and teacher who believes everyone deserves open access to the joys of art, creativity, and great public places. A co-founder and executive director of Big Car Collaborative, Jim worked previously as a journalist (writer, photographer, editor, and designer). He’s a student of cities and enjoys spending time with his family, supporting his Garfield Park neighborhood, walking, biking, travel, reading, and baseball.

Social Alchemy Listening Party-Father George Rapp
2021-04-07 18:00 - 19:00
Some call him a cult leader, some call him a religious leader. An alchemist and successful business man, Father George Rapp set the stage for the future of Indiana when he purchased 20,000 acres of land in Southern Indiana to build New Harmony. Learn more about this man and the myths behind him through the eyes of author Marguerite Young, Jim Walker and Shauta Marsh. With music and sound design from Andy Fry, you won’t want to miss this audio masterpiece.
In this episode of Social Alchemy, we follow religious leader from the early 1800s, Father George Rapp’s mystical — and often tragic — journey, some of it in New Harmony, Indiana toward a heavenly utopia of his own design. Social Alchemy is an ongoing series of in-person and on-air events and programs by the nonprofit arts organization Big Car Collaborative that explores subjects and themes surrounding utopia and dystopia.
Encore April 10, at noon.
Special thanks to Aaron Scamihorn for the illustration.
Our partners in the Social Alchemy Project are: University of Southern Indiana (USI), Historic New Harmony, Indiana State Museum and Pattern Magazine.
The series — including this show produced by and airing first on 99.1 WQRT Indianapolis — is made possible with the support of Indiana Humanities and the Efroymson Family Fund.

Art Dog
2021-04-11 12:00 - 17:15 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join us for the first event of 2021 at Tube Factory! We are partnering with food artist extrodinaries, Thin Glizzy. We are excited to share with you foot long hot dogs like we’ve never seen or tasted before! Also on site will be Cat Head Press, doing demos and selling merchandise from some of Indianapolis’s best artists, live music from Preston Ott, and War Pig Beer available. Littleton, CO native Natasha Vidger will have her artwork up in the Main Gallery at Tube. Reserve your tickets now for indoor seating. No groups of more than 4. And this ticket will reserve your seat for 45 minutes. Franklin Food Pantry will be accepting canned good donations. Masks required. Hot dogs range in price from $10-12.

Power Plant Grant Information Session
2021-04-15 18:30 - 21:00
Learn more about the new annual Power Plant Grant program made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts on March 25, 6:30pm, April 1, 6:30pm or April 15, 6:30pm. The grants provide visual artists who live, work, or run spaces in Indianapolis with grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. Applications for this round are due by April 26, 2021.
Eligible applicants are visual/multidisciplinary artists who create original work in painting, drawing, sculpture, book art, ceramics, fiber, printmaking, digital/media works, film, video, photography, performance art, sound art, social practice and/or hybrid or interdisciplinary practice of any/all of the above.
Artists must be over 21 at the time of the application, and may not be full-time students.
Artists must live and/or work in Indianapolis.
Employees or board members (or immediate family members of employees or board members) of Big Car Collaborative are not eligible for this opportunity.
Teams, partnerships, and unincorporated individuals running spaces are eligible. Nonprofit organizations are not

Artists & Community Conversation Series- Juan William Chavez, Dr. Jarrod Dortch and David Kirkland
2021-05-13 19:00 - 20:00
Join us for the first installment of this four part series developed with artists and neighbors who are doing work related to or influencing our thinking with the Artist and Public Life affordable artist housing residency in our neighborhood on the near Southside of Indianapolis.
This episode will include Juan William Chávez artist, activist and director of Northside Workshop, APLR artist, Dr. Jarrod Dortch and Chef David Kirkland.

E-mail email hidden; JavaScript is required to receive the Zoom link.

Made possible by PNC Bank.

About Juan William Chávez
Juan William Chávez is an artist, activist and director of Northside Workshop. His studio practice focuses on sculpting space within urban ecosystems through partnerships and collaborations as a way to address social and environmental issues. His work includes public sculptures, multimedia installations, paintings, drawings, and unconventional forms of beekeeping and agriculture. His exhibitions focus on themes of the urban environment, ecology, sustainability, craft/labor, activism, identity and archaeology of place. Chavez has exhibited at ArtPace, Van Abbemuseum, McColl Center for Art, Tube Factory Artspace, 21c Museum Hotel, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Currently Chavez’s work was included in El Museo’s survey of contemporary Latinx art, ESTAMOS BIEN – LA TRIENAL 20/21. His interdisciplinary approach to art has gained the attention and support of prestigious institutions like the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation, ArtPlace America, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Art Matters Foundation. Chávez holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Read More: https://juanwilliamchavez.com/home.html

About Chef David Kirkland
David Kirkland, the owner and executive chef of Turn Restaurant and David Kirkland Catering, believes food and music brings people together. He began his career in the early-1990’s, bouncing from the Café at St. Louis Art Museum (Catering St. Louis) to Frazier’s Brown Bag, and then Venice Café. Kirkland learned everything he could from some of the city’s best. In 1996, he moved to San Francisco and began focusing on his music interests, becoming a resident DJ at several clubs throughout the city. However, he never lost his love for the culinary arts, cooking for friends and family and exploring the area’s now famous farm-to-table approach to food. After moving back to St. Louis, Kirkland returned to the kitchen with a mission, taking the helm at Café Osage in 2007. He opened Turn Restaurant and David Kirkland Catering in Spring of 2016.
Read More https://www.stlmag.com/…/hot-seat-a-conversation-with…/

About Dr. Jarrod Dortch
Dr. Jarrod Nicholas Dortch is a Professor of Communication at Ivy Tech Community College in Muncie, Indiana. He also serves as the owner and operator of Solful Gardens, a local urban agriculture startup specializing in bringing Fresh.Urban.Natural produce to clients’ properties and working with community gardens. He has been affiliated with Big Car as a Community Artist and as Community Gardener at the Tube Factory artspace. He is currently working with Listen Hear and WQRT 99.1 FM. He enjoys bringing together art, education, and gardening to help to enrich the experiences of communities and their denizens.

The Indianapolis Anthology Reading & Book Release
2021-05-15 17:00 - 19:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
“As a child, I thought Naptown was a cool nickname for Indianapolis. Little did I know it was more pejorative than cool. Indianapolis used to—and sometimes still does—have a reputation for being boring and lacking culture. The Indianapolis Anthology proves otherwise. We see the beauty, the ugliness, the racism, the diversity, the past, and the present. It’s all here. Through each story, you see Naptown isn’t a sleepy little city, and I was right all along.” —Oseye Boyd, editor of the Indianapolis Recorder
“A must-read for anyone who thinks they know the city.” —Rachel Sahaidachny, associate editor of The Indianapolis Review
The Indianapolis Anthology (May 4, 2021), edited by Norman Minnick, showcases Naptown’s vibrancy and diversity with pieces from journalists, poets, historians, established community voices, and first-time writers. Indianapolis is more than the home of the Indianapolis 500, John Dillinger, Kurt Vonnegut,and Wonder Bread. In these pages you’ll find lawn chairs in the beds of pick-ups; the magnificent stench of diesel, sweat, and sweetly hissing charcoal; suffragists and entrepreneurs; cement Pietàs; sneakers dangling from power lines; dog bakeries and yoga studios; red brick bungalows and war memorials; steakburgers and Mexican seafood; Pho and sauerbraten. In other words, you’ll find not Naptown, or flyover country, but a vibrant city that is truly a cross section of today’s America.
Belt books are distributed by Publishers Group West.
Masks are required
