The City-County Council and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department have made their summer expectations clear: teenagers need to be inside. But for the city’s youth to truly thrive during the warmest months of the year, many community advocates say they need more than just a strict curfew — they need a destination. They need something positive to do.
Enter the Indiana Black Expo’s (IBE) newly-revamped Performing Arts Academy (PAA).
Located at the IBE headquarters at 601 N. Shortridge Road, the PAA is offering local middle and high school students a state-of-the-art sanctuary to explore their creative potential. The organization officially unveiled the renovated space two Saturdays ago on May 9, drawing hundreds of community members for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, guided facility tours, light refreshments, and a community movie screening.
During the open house on May 9, the philosophical alignment between the city’s recent public safety mandates and IBE’s programming was hard to ignore. Earlier this Spring, the City-County Council approved a 120-day summer curfew requiring 15- and 16-year-olds to be home by 11 p.m. on weekends and 9 p.m. on weekdays, with younger teens restricted even earlier. IMPD Chief Tanya Terry backed the measure following a 22% spike in teen violence earlier this year.
However, community advocates have long argued that enforcement must be paired with opportunity.
The PAA provides exactly that.
Geared toward students ages 13 to 19, the academy is a comprehensive cohort that provides high-level instruction in acting, dance, music production, photography and videography. The program also requires participants to maintain steady academic progress, intentionally pairing artistic exploration with wrap-around academic support and Black history infusion.
A walk through the facility located at 901 North Shortridge Road reveals an intentional investment in industry-standard instruments. The building boasts a spacious, mirrored dance studio and a dedicated acting space where teens can refine their theatrical performance.
The music production classroom is outfitted with rows of Apple desktop computers running professional-grade recording software, each paired with high-end MIDI keyboards. Down the hall is a fully soundproofed recording studio, providing students with the acoustic isolation necessary to track and mix their own music comfortably despite the bustling activity in the rest of the building.
Teacher Joseph French guides the students through the digital audio workstations. A veteran local music producer, President of “JoHoSoPhat Productions,” and the music director at New St. Mark Church, French brings a wealth of practical industry experience to the PAA.
“When you give young people access to the same tools the professionals use, it completely changes how they view their own potential,” French said. “We aren’t just teaching them how to make beats. We are teaching them how to engineer, how to collaborate and how to tell their own stories through music. That kind of focus changes lives.”
As Indianapolis prepares for the critical summer months, the true value of the Performing Arts Academy extends well beyond the final creative projects the students will produce. By offering a structured, high-quality, and culturally resonant environment, IBE ensures that local teens have a safe place to turn their idle time into art.
For more information regarding enrollment, exact schedules, and program logistics, families can visit the Indiana Black Expo website at indianablackexpo.com.
Contact multimedia & senior sports reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846. Follow him on X @3Noral.
For more news, visit indianapolisrecorde.r.com.
Noral Parham is the multi-media reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.
