Martindale-Brightwood neighbors are invited to build community through networking during the fifth annual Pre-Enact festival.
Presented in partnership with Move Martindale Brightwood and the Martindale Quality of Life Plan is returning to Polk Stables from 2-8 p.m. on July 30. Pre-Enact 2026 is placing special emphasis on networking and ways to bring the community together to share resources and grow together, said Joanna Taft, executive director of the Harrison Center.
Pre-Enact — or Pre-Enactment Theatre — began in 2017, when the Harrison Center identified a list of common hopes and dreams throughout the Martindale Brightwood neighborhood.
The first year, the Harrison Center hired 15 theater companies to act out those hopes and dreams on a three-block set with 11 temporary buildings on vacant lots from the Monon to Andrew J. Brown Ave. — including the neighborhood having its own barbershop.
The goal was to “act out a neighborhood of justice and mercy,” and show the community what it could be and what a neighbor “ought to be,” Taft said.
A year later, Chop Chop Barbershop opened on East 16th Street.
In 2018, Pre-Enact acted out having the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library; then Oaks Academy restored it, with Indy-based Afrofuturist author Maurice Broaddus in charge. In 2019, Pre-Enact acted out saving the Polk Stables building. “And then we did,” Taft said.
READ MORE: Indy Jazz Fest returns with a star-studded line-up of local and national talent
In 2024, the Harrison Center began preparations for renovations, including assembling the Polklore Micro Museum, which preserves artifacts and stories related to the neighborhood’s history and legacy. The Polklore Museum officially opened in June 2025.
“Now it’s turned into a building that honors the neighborhood’s history with the museum being an important partner in ecosystem development,” Taft added.
Unfortunately, in 2020, the pandemic brought Pre-Enactment Theatre to a screeching halt as neighbors started dying. Taft said they pivoted to collecting oral histories of as many neighbors as they could while they still had the chance. Thus, Storytelling Drawing Sessions was born — a weekly get-together for long-term Indy residents to share their personal stories while attendees and artists sketch them.
Storytelling Drawing Sessions is still going strong to this day. However, last year, Pre-Enact became the talk of the town when it hosted the community at Polk Stables and featured “musicians in a ditch” — an element of entertainment Taft said would return this year.
This year’s Pre-Enact will look a little different, with expanded offerings related to the Martindale Brightwood Quality of Life Plan and teaching neighbors the skills and power of networking and resource sharing, Kennedy Manuel, Polk Museum Fellow, said.
The Martindale Brightwood Quality of Life Plan has 10 pillars that serve as essential components for “a vibrant, thriving Martindale Brightwood where all can reside, work, learn, worship and play,” the plan states. Those pillars include neighborhood engagement and economic development, which is where networking comes into play alongside “the idea of wanting to see a community that learns how to use the resources and connect and know their neighbors,” Manuel said.
At Pre-Enact 2026, guests will have the opportunity to engage in networking workshops led by KB Newton, Indy-based entrepreneur and founder of Heart Convos, LLC. Newton’s workshop will take place in the Green Room at Polk Stables from 3:30-4:30 p.m., with other networking activities scattered throughout the grounds.
Attendees can also look forward to “getting to know the Quality of Life Plan,” and how they can be part of it, in addition to getting to know their neighbors at Solely Wine, Provider Coffee, Tinker House Events and Faye Gallery, which will also be open during Pre-Enact alongside various performance art opportunities and Porch Parties for guests to attend and practice networking, Manuel said.
The event will also feature “a lot of fun little surprises,” Taft said, including live art, a public art tour, food trucks, live music, dancing, storytelling and the chance to meet a live dairy cow.
“Then a very fun thing a lot of people don’t realize that Polk Stables was a horse stable, and so we have been working all summer at converting seven Pacers Bikeshares bikes into horses,” Taft added. “It’s the most fabulous thing you’ve ever seen in your life, and so … a herd of horses will arrive, and we’ll have volunteers from Felege Hiywot riding the bikes around and demonstrating them.”
There will also be a celebration of life for Gina Fears, one of Martindale Brightwood’s Greatriarchs, who passed away in June. Last year, Fears presented the Tysha Hardy Sellers award for community service to Tysha Hardy Sellers. This year, Fears will be honored posthumously with the award, Taft said.
Guests will also be able to explore offerings from various community partners, including Polk Stables, which will have the Polklore Museum open, Tinker House Events, Solely Winery, Faye Galleries and Provider Coffee.
Additional community partners working to make the event possible include the Edna Martin Christian Center, Felege Hiywot Center, HealthNet, Kipp Indy, Brightwood Forest Manor Community Center, the Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation, Oasis of Hope and OneVoice Martindale Brightwood.
The 2026 Pre-Enact takes place from 2-8 p.m. on July 30 at Polk Stables, 1533 Lewis St. The event is free and open to the public, and guests can reserve their spots at eventbrite.com. For more information, visit harrisoncenter.org/preenactment-theater.
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.
