Mari Evans: An Audio Family Album is a three-part audio series airing on Big Car Collaborative’s art and community radio station, 99.1 WQRT, and available here and other podcasting platforms. Visitors to SPARK on the Circle at Monument Circle in Indianapolis this summer will also be able to experience the project through an interactive exhibit in Big Car’s Wagon of Wonders mobile art museum.
The audio broadcast premieres on her birthday, July 16, on 99.1 WQRT. It focuses on what was most important to Evans, family — her family, the Black family, the American family.
A team of Indianapolis-based artists led by Big Car co-founder Shauta Marsh created this project with the support and assistance of Mari Evans’s family. Audio production led by Oreo Jones.
Episodes include:
The Black Experience: This was a TV show Mari wrote and directed in Indianapolis. This show features an interview with Mari. It also includes her son, Derek Phemster, reading poems.
The Family Conversation: Recorded in 2025, this features family members Chris, Eric, Matthew, and Nevaeh Phemster talking about Mari and her legacy.
Family As Foundation: A chapter from Mari’s book of essays, Clarity As Concept read by Indianapolis journalist, Ariana Beedie.
About Mari Evans (1919–2017): One of the founders of the Black Arts Movement and a longtime Indianapolis resident, Mari Evans is best known for her poetry — with her work appearing in more than 100 anthologies. She published her first book, Where Is All the Music?, in 1968, followed by I Am a Black Woman in 1970. She went on to publish more than 10 books. Mari also worked in theatre and taught at Cornell, Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis, and Spelman College. Big Car Collaborative commissioned a mural in partnership with Evans located at 448 Mass Ave.
Airing schedule
on 99.1 WQRT and streaming wqrt.org (noon each day)
July 16 – The Black Experience
Encore July 19, 26, August 2 & 9
August 13 – The Family Interview
Encores August 16, 23, 30, September 6.
September 10 – Family as Foundation
Encores September 13, 20, 27 and October 4.
Made possible by Women’s Fund of Central Indiana, Efroymson Family Fund and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Special thanks to Chris, Eric, Matthew, Nevaeh and William Phemster.
Photo: G Marie Photography Mari Evans Mural with her family, Left to right: Matthew, Chris, Eric and Nevaeh Phemster.
