The Indy Arts Council announced this year’s round of ARTI Award winners during the 2025 Start with Art Celebration.
The 38th annual banquet, which is the Arts Council’s largest fundraising event of the year, took place at the Indiana Rooftop ballroom on Aug. 21, complete with live performances from tap dancers Breanna Davis and Justin Lewis, Mo Gio, Indy Drag Theatre and Percussive Arts Society.
The “family reunion” style celebration of the city’s hard-working creative individuals, organizations and institutions featured a State of the Arts presentation by Indy Arts Council President Judith Thomas where she outlined significant milestones — including the 30th anniversary of the Indianapolis Artsgarden — and celebrated the $849K invested into more than 800 individual artists in 2024.
“We are thrilled to honor the 2025 ARTI Award winners and celebrate the transformative power of creativity in our community,” Thomas said in statement. “We are thankful to CICF for their generous support of the ARTI Awards for the past four years. We also extend our deepest gratitude to all of our sponsors, individual donors and partners who join us in our mission to champion arts and culture.”
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Sponsored by Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), the ARTI Awards celebrates individuals and organizations dedicated to “advancing equity and innovation” in Indianapolis’ arts and culture scene.
This year’s awards were created by Jessica Dunn, known professionally as Sesseka, a Hoosier animation and illusion artist. Dunn also created a video for the awards showcasing Indiana’s biodiversity through the season, entitled Silent Symphony, which screened during the presentation.
Jennifer Bartenbach, president of CICF presented the awards alongside Thomas.
2025 ARTI Award winners
- Indy Dance Council — Cultural Entrepreneur Award
- Mike Graves of Murphy Arts Center — Neighborhood Impact Award
- Danicia Monét Malone — Artist/Activist Award
- Herbert Simon Family Foundation — Corporate Leadership Award
- IF Theatre and Flanner House for Flanner Fringe Lab — Community Partnerships Award
- Iris Rosa — Christel DeHaan Lifetime Achievement Award
The program also featured a panel discussion with Thomas, Phyllis Boyd, former director of Indy Parks and School of Art Institute of Chicago MFA student, and Patrick Talty, Indiana Sports Corp President. Neelay Bhatt, founder and CEO of Next Practice Partners, moderated the panel.
For more information about the Indy Arts Council and upcoming events, visit indyarts.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
