As you make your way around Indianapolis neighborhoods, you’ll come across collaborative artworks such as the mural “Bringing Love Back to the Community” at Unity Park in the Hillside neighborhood created with the help of Felege Hiywot. Near 42nd Street and Mitthoeffer Road, you’ll find Big Car’s “Welcome to Your Bus Stop.” Downtown, near the canal, you’ll find homage to the historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church with the mural, “Lady Sunday.”
Thousands of people pass by these murals and other artworks every day and view them as the City of Indianapolis looking to improve the looks of heavily traveled streets and parks. As Julia Muney Moore, the Director of Public Arts at the Indy Arts Council, explains, that’s not always the case — it’s just a bonus.
“One of the wonderful things about public art is that the process of creating something brings people together,” she said. “The more you can bring people together in a shared purpose, the more you will engage them to do it frequently. It creates willingness to interact with each other and get involved.”
It’s All About the Process
Every artwork around the city has history behind it. When the Town of Speedway commissioned a piece for the Speedway Trailhead Park, it took a lot of conversations with the community to decide what this artwork would look like. One common theme town residents talked about was how Speedway was slowly losing its “maker” roots.
Years ago, Speedway used to be home to battery and headlamp factories, as well as Allison Engine Company, now known as Allison Transmission, where many residents worked. Today, most of these companies are gone, leaving the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the crown jewel of the town. While the IMS is a large part of the community’s identity, Speedway and its residents have always had other stories to tell outside of the town’s connection to racing.
Community members had a hand in creating the piece for the park and shared their perspectives. “Seeds of Light” used glass and LED lights to show the town’s commitment to their industrial history and lighting the path to the future.
“Any artwork that reminds and roots people back in their community makes them stronger and makes them more able to resist gentrification when they see it sweeping towards them,” Muney Moore explained.
Public Art and Gentrification
Art and gentrification, the process in which an area develops over time at the expense of its residents, have a lengthy relationship with one another. Historically, artists have inadvertently played a role in gentrification by coming into low-income neighborhoods, seeking cheap studio or gallery space to help with creative projects.
The presence of art can increase taxes or property values in these neighborhoods and attract wealthier families to the area. Rent then increases and forces out those who cannot afford the rising cost of living in their neighborhood. In this process, many communities’ histories are lost to time. Understandably, some people often see artists moving into neighborhoods as an early warning sign of gentrification.
By recognizing this pattern, art can be used as a force to tackle gentrification head on.
Muney Moore told the story of how “The Elements of the People” mural located near 38th St. and Clifton St. came to life. She explained that the artist, Michael “Alkemi” Jordan, talked with members of the Riverside community and asked what they wished to be reflected in the mural. Facing the threat of gentrification, they wanted to showcase Riverside’s history.
“For me personally, the smallest pieces and the ones that are the most community engaged, are the most interesting pieces of public art — not just the grandest, expensive pieces,” she said. “They’re impressive and everyone looks at it and goes, ‘Ooh, that’s cool’ and move on because they don’t have that personal tie to it.”
At the unveiling, citizens were delighted to see nods to the jobs and activities that generations of their families were involved in. Seeing parts of their individual and community identities represented became a point of pride for many.
For hours on end, the streets were filled with comments like, “Your grandma worked at that salon? That’s where my mom would take me to get my hair done!” and “My grandfather would always tell me stories about the times he went dancing at that place.”
The goal of this project in particular was not to tell larger-than-life stories, but to remind everyone who passes by of the stories of Indy’s Black neighborhoods.
“Having those micro-experiences is sometimes a whole lot more powerful than talking about things like progress or liberty because everyone has a different view of what those things mean,” Muney Moore said.
The Power of Public Art
Art featuring historical events or current issues can make an impact, but conversations with community members afterwards can leave a greater lasting impression. Spirit & Place hosts our annual Festival to spotlight local creatives, including artists, and events and exhibits often tackle challenging issues nearby communities are facing. Festival offerings foster an environment where people can discuss complex issues and generate community-centered solutions. Since 1996, Spirit & Place has been a platform for hundreds of conversations that have helped transform Indianapolis into a more vibrant and diverse city.
No matter where you go or what you’re looking at, every artwork tells an important story. Muney Moore implores all viewers to be inquisitive about the pieces they come across.
“The best attitude towards public art should always be curiosity. Why is this here? Who made it? What does it mean,” she said. “Curiosity is what is going to bring people together and start those important conversations.”
Artworks alone cannot ignite a movement but have the power to start conversations that do.
