Big Car

Thursdays on the Mall Film Series-Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
2022-10-06 19:00 - 23:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Indiana War Memorial, 55 N Michigan Ave, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, United States
The Indiana War Memorials Foundation in partnership with Indy Film Fest and us at Big Car invite everyone to gather in Indy’s backyard, American Legion Mall (700 N Pennsylvania St.) for a summer evening and free movie screening of Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse.
Enjoy food trucks, beer from Sun King Brewing, popcorn, games, and more. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, soak in city views, and spend time with your neighbors. The fun kicks off at 7 pm, movie starts at dusk!

About Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.

Please be aware this event is outdoors. Check back on the Indiana War Memorials Foundation page for weather updates.

Dear You, Love Home with Brandon Schaaf
2022-10-06 18:00 - 20:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Where did you live that you miss the most? Where did you live that you hated? Who lives there now? What would you say to them? Are there secrets to reveal? Artist Brandon Schaaf will bring stationary and help you write the perfect letter to the current inhabitant.
About BRANDON SCHAAF
SCHAAF is a visual and performance artist in Indianapolis, Indiana and a founding member of collaborative artist collective Know No Stranger since 2009.
Schaaf’s visual work includes character design, 2D animation, and illustration.
His performance work includes writing, music, singing, and acting.
His karaoke go-tos include Come Sail Away by Styx, Just A Gigolo by Louis Prima, and War by Edwin Starr.
What is this?
Circle SPARK brings you activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. It is located on Monument Circle in the southwest quad. Hours: Mondays – Thursdays 11 am to 2 pm | Wednesdays 5-9 pm | and Fridays 11 am to 9 pm. SPARK is a project of Big Car, Downtown Indy, and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

Lunchtime at Lockerbie || Live Performance by Jesse Jones
2022-10-06 11:00 - 13:00 | Lockerbie Marketplace, 320 N New Jersey St, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Join us on Thursdays at Lockerbie Marketplace — a lovely downtown greenspace next to Needler’s Fresh Market. Ping pong, foosball, and giant Jenga are always available for additional entertainment as we enjoy live music singer/songwriter Jesse Jones and authentic filipino dishes by Taste of Manila

Jesse Jones is a singer/songwriter who draws influence from everyday life. The imagery in his lyrics have been described as “Raw humanity” Introspective and wry original singer-songwriter.
https://www.facebook.com/Jesseplaystunes/
https://www.instagram.com/jess_jonesmusic/
https://jessejonestunes.bandcamp.com/

All events are free at 320 N New Jersey Street in the greenspace right off the Cultural Trail

Evening Embers: Ambient Music with Dj Little Town
2022-10-05 18:30 - 20:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Indianapolis born with dual citizenship belonging to Brazil, Little Town began collecting vinyl records at the age of 12 with great influence from her older sister who worked at a record store. From there, she learned to mix on vinyl and gradually entered the MP3 mixing world. Her first major performances include; CultureShock Festival 2015, Chreece Festival 2016, Bloco do Rodrigo S Block Party 2017, Body Mechanics (Residency) at the Root Cellar 2017, Soul’d Out All Vinyl Dance Party (Residency) at Square Cat Vinyl, and Low Pone Queer Dance Party (Residency since 2017).

What’s this?

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

WALKING WEDNESDAYS-Magical History Tour
2022-10-05 18:00 - 20:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Artist, scavenger, and raconteur Kipp Normand guides you on a stroll through the oddities of Indianapolis history and spaces. Get ready for weird.
ALL TOURS MEET at the trailer on the southwest quad of Monument Circle. Expect to walk between a half-mile and 2 miles total. In case of bad weather, cancellation decisions will be made by 3 p.m. Check SPARK social media or website for updates.
* FREE *
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- The Hammer and The Hatchet
2022-10-04 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
The Hammer And The Hatchet are John Bowyer and Jayme Hood. Songwriting partners, whose Americana originals and harmony rich bluegrass sound have earned a name as a folk roots duo on the rise. They return in summer 2022, to premier Shake Off The Cold – their fourth album in eight years.
John Bowyer is a highly respected singer and multi-instrumentalist who has been writing and recording for over 20 years. Jayme Hood – his versatile songwriting soul mate, is also a carpenter, multimedia artist and a weaver. Hoosiers born and raised, based out of their cabin in the fabled hills of South Central Indiana.
Organized by The Girl Called Books and made possible by Lake City Bank as part of SPARK Monument Circle.
What’s Spark Monument Circle?
Big Car Collaborative and Downtown Indy are teaming up with the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission— to spark Monument Circle with human-scale activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. Everything is free for people to enjoy.

Color Readings with Carlie Foreman
2022-09-29 11:00 - 13:00 | IN
Colors are vibrations of light. As vibrational beings, we resonate with different colors at different times.
There are literally thousands of life color variations. Foreman will be able to tell you more about yourself based off colors you pick.

About the artist
Carlie Foreman is a multi-disciplinary artist from Indianapolis and studied sculpture at Herron School of Art and Design — a school of Indiana University at IUPUI. Foreman lives in Garfield Park, serves as the director of operations for Big Car Collaborative, and is a board member with the Garfield Park Neighbors Association. With interest in work that focuses on vibration and connection, Foreman works in fine arts, public art, and place-based activation. Since July of 2018, Foreman has hosted Good Vibrations, an electronic radio show, on 99.1 WQRT LP Indianapolis.

Lunch at Lockerbie featuring Live Performance by Fifth Lucky Dragon
2022-09-29 11:00 - 13:00 | Lockerbie Marketplace, 320 N New Jersey St, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Join us on Thursdays at Lockerbie Marketplace — a lovely downtown greenspace next to Needler’s Fresh Market. Ping pong, foosball, and giant Jenga are always available for additional entertainment.
This week enjoy live music by Fifth Lucky Dragon and food by That Vegan Food Joint.

About the artist
Fifth Lucky Dragon is the project of Louis Imperiale (multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, writer, producer, engineer, and self-proclaimed fruit roll-up connoisseur). Drawing comparisons to Glass Animals, Twenty One Pilots, MGMT, and other electro-pop acts, Fifth Lucky Dragon blends cutting edge pop production with introspective lyrical exploration (for example: how fantasies interact with reality and how digital life affects psychology)
All events are free at 320 N New Jersey Street in the greenspace right off the Cultural Trail.

Evening Embers: Ambient Music with Michael Raintree
2022-09-28 18:30 - 19:30 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Michael Raintree is one of the alter music egos of Sean describes his music as “experimental R&B.” He’s created a unique soundscape for the project, featuring distorted layers of synthesizers and drum machines with heavily-processed vocals.

Sean Oreo Jones is an artist currently residing in Indianapolis. With his original focus on hip-hop culture, Jones has sharpened his craft as a musician touring around the country. Since 2010, Oreo Jones has released over 9 studio albums, participated in artist residencies, and received awards for his work in the hip-hop community.
As a community organizer with an artistic purpose, Sean founded “Chreece,” one of the Midwest’s largest hip-hop festivals.

WALKING WEDNESDAY-Ugly Ducklings
2022-09-28 18:00 - 20:00 | IN
Join historians Jordan Ryan and Callie McCune for a look at the hidden tales and amazing stories behind buildings you might love to hate: City-County Building, the Gold Building, the former Anthem building on Monument Circle, and others. You may even learn to love some of Indy’s most unseemly architecture.
ALL TOURS MEET at the trailer on the southwest quad of Monument Circle. Expect to walk between a half-mile and 2 miles total. In case of bad weather, cancellation decisions will be made by 3 p.m. Check SPARK social media or website for updates.

* FREE *

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.

Super Sunday Showdown
2022-09-25 12:00 - 18:30 | Listen Hear, 2620 Shelby St, , Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Live Music, THE Torta Food Truck, drinks, yard sale and the Colts Game —outside and inside of Listen Hear.
Organized by Clint Breeze and other Artist Public Life Residency artists, the event is free but donations are recommended, 100% will go to pay the musicians.
Wampus Milk Daddies, 12:10-12:45
Wampus Milk Daddies is a fusion band that covers a wide array of styles ranging from prog rock, jazz fusion, hip hop to funk. The group has been featured on WFYI radio and has been a staple in the local Indianapolis music scene for several years. Drums- Elijah Pollard Guitar- Owen Welch Bass- Ryan Johnson Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Flute and Vocals- Tony Echarry Trumpet- Ethan Hodes
Breezfunk, 1-1:45
Norrie The Goat, 2-2:30
“I consider myself to be an artist rather than a rapper because of what I bring to the table. I produce and engineer my own sound and I created my own sound from scratch. I started making beats, rapping, engineering, mixing and mastering my own music in 2014.”
Tubbles with Special Guest, 2:45-3:15
StarChaser, 3:30-4:15
A little more progressive, a little more modern and a whole lot louder—that’s Kara Tucker’s approach to StarChaser, a band born out of her previous music group Elliot Bigger in pursuit of creative freedom and a brand-new sound. Tucker, who has been playing music around Indy since 2006, serves as the group’s guitarist and vocalist. Backed by her husband Nick Teedo on the bass and Dorian Phelps’ killer drum skills, she’s writing songs for the band’s debut record, which will blend together progressive metal, rock and pop.
Bashiri & The Lady, 4:30-5:15
Acknowledging that each of us has a priceless gift that we must harness and share with the world, Bashiri Asad has come to define his sound as “IndySoul.”He laughs. He cries. He loves. He dreams. Just like you, everyday. He feels deeply, and turns his feelings into music. Soul music. Music that says exactly how you feel, everyday. Bashiri Asad is the “Everyday Soul Singer,” and he will remind you that feeling what you feel, in your soul, is just fine.
IndySoul is his passion, and he exudes this with every song!
DJ Littletown, 5:15-6:15
Jessica DJ Little Town is a selector and master of mixing music! Indianapolis born with dual citizenship belonging to Brazil, Little Town began collecting vinyl records at the age of 12 with great influence from her older sister who worked at a record store. From there, she learned to mix on vinyl and gradually entered the MP3 mixing world. Her first major performances include; CultureShock Festival 2015, Chreece Festival 2016, Bloco do Rodrigo S Block Party 2017, Body Mechanics (Residency) at the Root Cellar 2017, Soul’d Out All Vinyl Dance Party (Residency) at Square Cat Vinyl, and Low Pone Queer Dance Party (Residency).
What’s APLR?
The Artist and Public Life Residency (APLR) — consists of arts-based community leaders who team up with neighbors (and others across the city) to strengthen our block, the southside, and the broader community through arts-based approaches.
APLR artists are creatives, makers, teachers, designers, and more. Fields include — and are not limited to — architecture, culinary art, curation, visual art, public art, furniture, fashion, craft, design, film and video, creative writing and journalism, performing arts, music, theater, placemaking, socially engaged art, etc.

Poetry and Ritual
2022-09-24 15:00 - 17:00 | IN
The exhibit, “Sister Song: The Requiem” features several commissioned poems by Dr. Maria Hamilton Abegunde specifically exploring themes in the exhibit and exist within the wombs themselves.Abegunde will read selected works, the community is invited to bring objects that explore healing this history for a community altar.

Sister Song: The Requiem is a community-based project that examines how art and community co-creation processes can be used to heal the intergenerational trauma associated with enslavement and its aftermaths. The project, led by artist LaShawnda Crowe Storm, blurs the lines between the public and private by transforming mundane places into sacred spaces through public rituals.
A requiem is an act of remembrance for the dead. How does honoring the dead give life to the living? How do the living remember their histories while creating new futures? How does embracing history help us release specific traumas and move toward a future where healing is possible? We explore these questions through the community co-creation process that is at the heart of Requiem: womb making.
Each womb is handcrafted and designed in wax by Crowe Storm, then cast in aluminum. After casting is completed, Crowe Storm invites artists and community members to choose a womb. Womb makers then adapt and modify the womb by following these simple directions: Make this into a talisman or spiritual object to heal your/our histories, be willing to allow what needs to emerge to emerge, and transform the womb to reflect a vision of healing. Each womb maker must also be willing to continuously ask themselves the question, “How do I reclaim the ‘spirit of the womb’ when that spirit has been stolen, harmed, wounded?”
“Requiem” is the second iteration of “Sister Song.” The first included 8 wombs that were installed as part of the exhibit Keeper of My Mothers’ Dream (2017, Indianapolis). Requiem incudes nearly 50 vessels on exhibition: the wombs by the original 8 participants along with 40 others, some invited by the original womb makers and others identified by Crowe Storm. In addition, some of the original 8 womb makers created new wombs. The exhibit also includes newly commissioned poems by Maria Hamilton Abegunde.

Participating womb makers include: Abegunde, Afriye We-Kandodis, Alice Berry, Ariana Beedie, Bambi Aldridge, Breon Tyler, Clare Wildhack-Nolan and Ezmae Wildhack-Cain, D. Olivia Jones, Joyce Moore, Juaquita Callaway, Julia Rodreguiz , Keesha Dixon, Kianga Jinaki, LaToya Marlin, Lillis Taylor, Malaika Baxa, Marilyn Kunkle, Melissa Larimer, Monica Johnson, N’dieye Gray Danavall, Phyllis Boyd, Ronda Chapman, Samantha Horton, Sharon Clark, Shauta Marsh, Stacia Murphy, Stephanie Roberston, Trish Williams, Tysha Ahmad, Uzuri Asad, Val Tate, Veronica Schwartz DeFazio, Viola Moten Ratcliffe, Yolanda Echols and Yvette Upton.

LaShawnda Crowe Storm is a mixed media and community-based artist, activist, community builder and occasionally an urban farmer. Whether making artwork or sowing seeds, she uses her creative power as a vehicle for dialogue around topics such as racial and gender violence, social change and justice. At the core of her practice is a desire to create community; any community in which the process of making art creates a space for difficult discussions with an eye towards community healing. She has received numerous awards for art and community activism. Crowe Storm received an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004.

Made possible by Mr. & Mrs. Craig E Von Deylen and Laurel S Judkins with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Arts Council of Indianapolis, The Arts Council of Indianapolis and The Efroymson Family Fund.

Select Few Sessions-Artist Interview Series
2022-09-22 19:00 - 21:00 | IN
Join TroyTrackSelect live as he interviews Fre$co at Listen Hear.

After Work Happy Hour - Energy Readings, Performance, Artisan Vendors and more...
2022-09-22 16:00 - 18:00 | Lockerbie Marketplace, 320 N New Jersey St, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Join us after work for Happy Hour at Lockerbie Marketplace — a lovely greenspace next to Needler’s Fresh Market. Purchase goods from local artisans and food vendors, enjoy live music by Mina Keohane (composer and vocalist) and visit our Sun King beer garden located right off the Cultural Trail on Alabama Street. All ages welcome. Featured vendors include Jovan Art and Vintage Kat and Mom. Numerology Readings by Ellen Robinson (Art of You) will also be available.

About Mina Keohane
Mina Keohane is a composer, instrumentalist, and vocalist. Her songs can lean as jazz-influenced progressive pop, and have been described as “if Joni Mitchell and Aimee Mann had a baby with Charles Mingus.”
As a performer, she can be found singing at her monthly residency at the Chatterbox Jazz Club every 3rd Tuesday of the month, as well as playing keyboards and accordion with Jeff Kelly & the Graveyard Shift, Sarah Grain & the Billions of Stars, Nashville-based recording artist Brandon Whyde, The Dopacetics, Hip-Hop Artist TJ Reynolds & the Freehand Orchestra, 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.

About Ellen Robinson
Each human is uniquely coded with their own energy blueprint. Within each human’s coding, which Ellen calls one’s organic formula, lies all that is needed to break out of habitual patterning. Using one’s birthday and name given at birth, the language of numerology is one way to read this distinct coding. Ellen Robinson has been reading number energy since 2012. Each number or energy is aligned with a theme or archetype and exists along a spectrum. In your reading, Ellen will share the themes your soul has chosen to experience in this lifetime, in service to the evolution of your consciousness and freeing of your soul. A numerology experience with Ellen is truly an opening into your own Self – a portal to one’s truest expression.

Pyrography with Nasreen Khan
2022-09-22 11:00 - 13:00 | 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.

Evening Embers: Ambient Music with Landon Caldwell
2022-09-21 18:30 - 19:30 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Landon Caldwell is a composer and multi-disciplinary artist in Indianapolis whose work examines environment, family, & class through the language of intuition and other hidden layers of reality.
He has toured in the United States, Canada, and Europe and is regularly engaged with artists and musicians across the Midwest and beyond. Since 2016 he has co-operated Medium Sound, producing a number of the label’s releases.
From 2017 to 2020 he was a co-owner/operator of A-Space, a community-focused audio workspace. Since 2020 his work with sound has ventured into conceptual, performative, and installation based work.
His collaborative work expands into multi-disciplinary fields, working with film, visual arts, sculpture, poetry, dance, and more.

WALKING WEDNESDAYS-Haiku Hike
2022-09-21 18:00 - 20:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Learn about the art of haiku observation and try your hand at some in-the-moment, 3-line poems led by poet, Big Car executive director and SPARK lead artist Jim Walker. Co-create a linked group haiku (renga) with your fellow walkers. And we’ll record haiku to air on WQRT FM. Everyone gets a free little notebook.
ALL TOURS MEET at the trailer on the southwest quad of Monument Circle. Expect to walk between a half-mile and 2 miles total. In case of bad weather, cancellation decisions will be made by 3 p.m. Check SPARK social media or website for updates.
Free
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 - Florelis Jimenez Vejas
2022-09-20 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Florelis Jimenez Vejas is a Venezuelan singer and musician with an artistic career of more than 20 years, she will delight us with llanera music songs and among other musical genres.
Made possible by Lake City Bank.
What is this?
Circle SPARK brings you activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. It is located on Monument Circle in the southwest quad. Hours: Mondays – Thursdays 11 am to 2 pm | Wednesdays 5-9 pm | and Fridays 11 am to 9 pm. SPARK is a project of Big Car, Downtown Indy, and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

Robin Raps with Deep Trombosis and Cory Gossett
2022-09-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Listen Hear, 2620 Shelby St, , Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Robin Raps will perform at Listen Hear to celebrate the release of his new album, along with special guests Deep Trombosis and Corey Gosset.

Block Printing with Jane Sun Kim & Yeabsera Tabb
2022-09-16 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Winter is coming, make your own dainty hankie! Artists Jane Sun Kim and Yeabsera Tabb worked together to research connective patterns, created a woodblock and will demonstrate the printmaking process on vintage hankies.
Yeabsera Tabb is an interdisciplinary visual artist with a focus in printmaking and textiles. Her work explores the intersectionalities and liminal space contained within one’s personal identity.
Yeabsera was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and came to America at the age of 13. Her work addresses her lived experience inhabiting multiple identities both as a Black woman in America and as an immigrant.
Free
Circle SPARK brings you activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. It is located on Monument Circle in the southwest quad. Hours: Mondays – Thursdays 11 am to 2 pm | Wednesdays 5-9 pm | and Fridays 11 am to 9 pm. SPARK is a project of Big Car, Downtown Indy, and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

ReImagine Discovery: An Augmented Reality Activity with artist Omar Rashan
2022-09-15 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Learn how to use art to change your reality with artist Omar Rashan. Rashan’s abstract compositions are expertly produces in rich palettes of paint, ink, aerosol and mixed media and is now adding augmented reality to his works. See examples and learn more!

Culture-based creative Omar Rashan is an “Art-prenuer” with expertise in design, branding, digital marketing, and print media. These efforts along with his many works have spawned multiple mainstream and community engagement endeavors.
Rashan’s purpose is to use his knowledge and experience to motivate the youth while stimulating world change through artistic problem-solving with hopes of attaining dreams. With 20+ years of experience, he has embarked on an immense level of innovational wisdom with the intention of distributing it throughout his community.

Evening Embers: Ambient Music with Clare Longendyke
2022-09-14 18:30 - 19:30 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Pianist Clare Longendyke’s dazzling musicianship and colorful interpretations delight audiences wherever she performs. Critics have lauded her “artistic ferocity that captivated and astonished listeners,” (Waverly Newspapers), her “great virtuosity and delicacy,” and the “loving attention” she pays to the music she performs (Hyde Park Herald). Recognized as a firebrand in the classical music field for the expressive energy and originality she brings to new and traditional repertoire, the effervescent soloist and chamber musician aspires to foster interpersonal connections between people from diverse backgrounds to catalyze conversation and the exchange of unique perspectives through music performance.
Set apart by her inspiring touch and mesmerizing way of sharing music, Longendyke is a sought-after soloist, performing over 50 concerts a year in North America and Europe. Recent orchestral partners include the Federal Way Symphony Orchestra of Washington, the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra of Minnesota, and the Mississippi Valley Orchestra.
Longendyke’s appeal has earned her performances as a featured soloist in notable concert series such as The University of Chicago Presents, National Public Radio’s Performance Today, the Fazioli Piano Series in Los Angeles, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ SoundBites Series. She has also performed at renowned festivals, including the Alba Music Festival of Italy, the European American Musical Alliance of France, the New Music on the Point Festival, and the Mostly Modern Festival.
Longendyke blends a passion for music’s classical tradition with an infectious commitment to what she calls “the music of our time.” Her advocacy for innovative music and programming are evident through Music in Bloom, a new music festival she founded in 2019.
In the last decade, she has premiered over 150 new compositions and performed the music of today’s most exciting living composers—Joan Tower, Shawn Okpebholo, Mason Bates, Vivian Fung, Gabriela Lena Frank, Amy Williams, and others. Recent recordings include Homage to Nadia Boulanger: Works for Viola and Piano with Rose Wollman, and In the City, new works for Saxophone and Piano with Andrew Harrison. Her debut solo CD featuring works by Claude Debussy, Amy Williams, and Anthony R. Green is planned for release in early 2023.
Before earning master’s and doctoral degrees at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Longendyke completed degrees at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, and the École Normale de Musique in Paris. The ardent Francophile and French-speaking pianist received the Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Award in the Arts to study music in Paris as an undergraduate.
​A dedicated educator, Longendyke is equally passionate about helping young creators develop their musical skills as she is preparing them to become ambassadors of classical and contemporary music in their communities. She has led workshops and masterclasses at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the State University of New York at Fredonia, the University of Kansas, the University of Northern Iowa, and Wartburg College. Hailed as “a sparkling pianist” by the Hyde Park Herald, Longendyke is on track for a transcendent musical career.

WALKING WEDNESDAYS-The Circle City’s Namesake Landmark
2022-09-14 18:00 - 20:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
With this Walking Wednesday you can gain deeper appreciation for Indianapolis’s symbolic heart by exploring the history and architecture of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and the buildings that encircle it. Tours presented by Indiana Landmarks.
ALL TOURS MEET at the trailer on the southwest quad of Monument Circle. Expect to walk between a half-mile and 2 miles total. In case of bad weather, cancellation decisions will be made by 3 p.m. Check SPARK social media or website for updates.
* FREE *
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.

Community Sitting Practice with Dr. Maria Hamilton Abegunde
2022-09-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi), 1125 Cruft St., Indianapolis, IN, 46203, United States
Join us in a healing meditation practice open to the entire community to come and “sit with this” history and together use our energy to transform these histories.
Maria E. Hamilton Abegunde, Ph.D. is a Memory Keeper, poet, ancestral priest in the Yoruba Orisa tradition, healing facilitator, doula, and a Reiki Master. Her research and creative work are grounded in contemplative and ritual practices and respectfully approach the Earth and human bodies as sites of memory, and always with the understanding that memory never dies, is subversive, and can be recovered to transform transgenerational trauma and pain into peace and power. She is the inaugural recipient of the Ph.D. in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University.
Dr. Abegunde is the author of three poetry chapbooks, including Wishful Thinking about the 2001 disappearance of Tionda and Diamond Bradley in Chicago. Anthologized poems are included in Gathering Ground, Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century, and Catch the Fire. Her poetry has also been published in Tupelo Quarterly, The Massachusetts Review, Cogzine, and Rhino.
Excerpts of her memory work, The Ariran’s Last Life, have been published in Trouble the Waters: Tales from the Deep Blue, Let Spirit Speak!, Warpland, Best African American Fiction, and The Kenyon Review. Co-edited works include Jane’s Stories III with Glenda Bailey-Mershon with whom she and others co-founded Jane’s Stories Press.
Dr. Abegunde is a Cave Canem poetry fellow. She has also received writing fellowships from Sacatar, Ragdale, and Norcroft. Her awards for poetry include the New Discovery Award from the Poetry Center of Chicago and a COG poetry finalist award (Judge: Juan Felipe Herrera). In 2021 she was one of the inaugural poets selected for the Poets & Scholars Retreat at the Rutgers University Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice.
Her creative work and research was recognized through the NEH summer institute fellowship Black Aesthetics and African Centered Cultural Expressions: Sacred Systems in the Nexus between Cultural Studies, Religion and Philosophy, under the directorship of Dr. Pellom McDaniels III and Paul Carter Harrison. Her book chapter “Seeing as a Ritual for a Good Death: The Spiritual Construction of Alain Gomis’ Film Tey” appears in Ashe: Ritual Poetics in African Diasporic Expressivity (edited by Michael Harris, Paul Carter Harrison, and Pellom McDaniels III).
Because of her work on intergenerational/ancestral trauma, community healing, arts-based practices, she was invited to join faculty in the School of Education at the University of Juba, South Sudan to help create a two-year Master’s program in Teaching Emergencies. Dr. Abegunde is also a trained Civic Reflection Dialogue and Powerful Conversations on Race facilitator for Spirit & Place, which she used to launch the initial symposium and dialogues for the anti-Black racism critical conversations on race for the IU College of Arts and Sciences.
She is an inaugural winner of the Dr. James E. Mumford Excellence in Extraordinary Teaching Awards from the IU Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) and an Inclusive Excellence Award for teaching during extraordinary times.
Dr. Abegunde was the founding director of The Graduate Mentoring Center in the University Graduate School, where she directed the center between 2014-2021. As director she developed the Five-Fold Path for mentoring as a contemplative practice as well as nationally recognized student-centered mentoring practices, including trauma-informed practices, for students, faculty, and staff.
Before coming to IU Dr. Abegunde worked in elementary school education for over 20 years and as an independent teaching artist. She was the lead team teacher for the Middle Passage Project and sailed from Puerto Rico to Brazil with Captain Bill Pinkney to retrace and teach about Middle Passage routes. She also served as poet and ritualist-in-residence for the UNESCO-Transatlantic Slave Trade Route-USA Project.
When Dr. Abegunde is not teaching and working, she enjoys watching/reading science fiction.

Thursdays on the Mall Film Series-Rocky IV
2022-09-08 19:00 - 23:00 | 55 E Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN, 46204, United States
The Indiana War Memorials Foundation in partnership with Indy Film Fest and us at Big Car invite everyone to gather in Indy’s backyard, American Legion Mall (700 N. Pennsylvania St.) for a summer evening and free movie screening of Rocky IV on July 7. Enjoy food trucks, beer from Sun King Brewing, popcorn, Spark games from us at Big Car, and more. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, soak in city views, and spend time with your neighbors. The fun kicks off at 7 pm, movie starts at dusk!
Rocky Balboa (Stallone) holds the world heavyweight championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union. This time, Rocky’s training regimen takes him to Siberia, where he prepares for a globally televised match in the heart of Moscow. But nothing can truly prepare him what he’s about to face — a fight to the finish, in which he must defend not only himself, but also the honor of his country!
This event is outdoors. Check back on the Indiana War Memorials Foundation page for weather updates.

Dear You, Love Home with Brandon Schaaf
2022-09-08 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Where did you live that you miss the most? Where did you live that you hated? Who lives there now? What would you say to them? Are there secrets to reveal? Artist Brandon Schaaf will bring stationary and help you write the perfect letter to the current inhabitant.
About BRANDON SCHAAF is a visual and performance artist in Indianapolis, Indiana and a founding member of collaborative artist collective Know No Stranger since 2009.
Schaaf’s visual work includes character design, 2D animation, and illustration.
His performance work includes writing, music, singing, and acting.
His karaoke go-tos include Come Sail Away by Styx, Just A Gigolo by Louis Prima, and War by Edwin Starr.
What is this?
Circle SPARK brings you activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. It is located on Monument Circle in the southwest quad. Hours: Mondays – Thursdays 11 am to 2 pm | Wednesdays 5-9 pm | and Fridays 11 am to 9 pm. SPARK is a project of Big Car, Downtown Indy, and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

Outdoor Pilates & Numerology at Lockerbie Market Place
2022-09-08 11:00 - 13:00 | Lockerbie Marketplace, 320 N New Jersey St, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Join us at Lockerbie Marketplace — a lovely downtown greenspace next to Needler’s Fresh Market. Ping pong, foosball, and giant Jenga are always available.
This week enjoy outdoor pilates by The Hot Room, Numerology Readings by Ellen Robinson, and local food by That Vegan Joint.

About the artist
Ellen Robinson has been reading number energy since 2012. Each human is uniquely coded with their own energy blueprint. Within each human’s coding, which Ellen calls one’s organic formula, lies all that is needed to break out of habitual patterning. Using one’s birthday and name given at birth, the language of numerology is one way to read this distinct coding. Each number or energy is aligned with a theme or archetype and exists along a spectrum. In your reading, Ellen will share the themes your soul has chosen to experience in this lifetime, in service to the evolution of your consciousness and freeing of your soul. A numerology experience with Ellen is truly an opening into your own Self – a portal to one’s truest expression. Make sure to pop in each week for varied activities like pilates, psychic readings, and creative activities with local artists, Rhythm Discovery Center, and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library.

All events are free at 320 N New Jersey Street in the greenspace right off the Cultural Trail

Check out bigcar.org/lockerbie for details and updates.

WALKING WEDNESDAYS-Indy’s German Heritage
2022-09-07 18:00 - 20:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
This week explore Indianapolis German American History with architectural historian Bill Selm. You don’t need to be German to take the tour…just interested in knowing more about this particular history of Indianapolis. Cosponsored by IUPUI Interior Design Technology & Indiana German Heritage Society.
ALL TOURS MEET at the trailer on the southwest quad of Monument Circle. Expect to walk between a half-mile and 2 miles total. In case of bad weather, cancellation decisions will be made by 3 p.m. Check SPARK social media or website for updates.
* FREE *

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-Emma Peridot
2022-09-06 12:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Emma Peridot is driven to create music that will capture the hearts of masses, all the while remaining unapologetic about who she is. Her alt-pop sound blends elements of pop-rock and electropop, and her lyrical content examines traditional themes of love, lust, angst and heartbreak, while also getting vulnerable about anxiety, self-doubt, and insecurity.
Her beginnings are humble; during her college years she began releasing music on Soundcloud and performing in small clubs and dive bars around Indianapolis and other nearby cities. But after securing an opening slot for Quinn XCII at Butler University, a confidence was ignited in her that she has something special. Fans have witnessed her hustle since then, and she shows no signs of stopping. As a young, LGBTQ+ pop artist, it’s all about the journey of documenting her experiences in a way that resonates with all those who feel misunderstood. She states, “If my music impacts any number of people in a meaningful way, that’s all I need to feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose.”
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Made possible by Lake City Bank

Art is Around the Corner with Giselle Trujillo
2022-09-01 11:00 - 13:00 | 1 Monument Circle, South Facing Steps, United States
Make something cool out of provided recyclables.
Co-presented by Arte Mexicano en Indiana.

About Giselle Trujillo
Trujillo is an art designer & producer who specialized murals, sculptures, illustrations, videos, staging, and more. 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.”–Trujillo

Circle SPARK brings you activities like games, live music, artmaking, and socializing in a comfortable place. It is located on Monument Circle in the southwest quad. Hours: Mondays – Thursdays 11 am to 2 pm | Wednesdays 5-9 pm | and Fridays 11 am to 9 pm. SPARK is a project of Big Car, Downtown Indy, and the City of Indianapolis — with support from the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.
