With the holidays behind us, cold evenings can seem especially gloomy. One art group in Indianapolis brightens the night with captivating creations.
Let’s be honest: this time of year can be something of a bummer.
The holidays are behind us, and the full-color palette of spring is months away. Any effort to add a little light to our dark winter nights is much appreciated.
Enter the Harrison Center, a staunch advocate for community arts and education in Indianapolis, and their lit-up art displays in both window fronts and films projected outdoors for anyone to enjoy.
“We project videos every night from 6 pm to 4 am on the back wall of our building because we share a parking lot with a bar that is open until 4 in the morning,” said the Harrison Center’s Executive Director Joanna Taft.
“Not too many arts organizations have an audience that late.”
It’s an ingenious use of outdoor space with a steady stream of viewers, both sober and slightly inebriated.
Check out what else Taft has to say about the Harrison Center’s efforts to brighten their corner of the Indiana capital this winter.
Postindustrial: What kind of movies is the Harrison Center projecting long into the night? What inspired these late-night art shows?
Taft: Each month, we choose four short videos to project on the back wall in our parking lot. We have an unusual situation where the art center is busy from 8 am to 8 pm, and our neighboring bar, Greg’s Our Place, is busy from 8 pm to 4 am. Not every arts organization has a population to serve at those hours, but we do.
The Harrison Center has a large internship program–50 high school and college students a year. One of the areas of focus is video production. These interns create videos about our exhibiting artists and about the neighborhood where we are located.
To serve these patrons, we keep the videos fresh by changing them monthly, we make sure they are all captioned, and we provide an FM transmitter so the sound can be enjoyed through a car radio. The videos turn on at dusk each night and turn off at 4 am when the bar closes.
Our back parking lot used to have a lot of car break-ins. There were dark areas that invited crime. We decided to use the power of art–light, projections, and installations to increase walkability, provide an interesting destination, provide positive engagement, and make our alley/parking lot area safer.
We have long believed that buildings tell stories. From architectural details to scars from renovations, our building contributes to the story of the neighborhood. By repurposing architectural fabric as frames for art, we turn our windows and walls into canvases and create more art and vibrancy for the community.
Postindustrial: What inspired the creation of this basement-window art series? Who curates them? What are the themes?
Taft: Our art center is in a historic church complex–three fortress-like buildings built between 1905 and 1960. On the street, it reads like a fortress. One day, in 2014, I looked at our 23 basement windows and realized they were sidewalk level and offered a 2-3 foot windowsill depth that would be perfect for 3-D installations.
It would be an opportunity to take the energy of our building and share it outside with our neighbors. We were fortunate to have artist in residence, Stefan Eicher, with us from India. He took the window walk on as a project and created a new Indianapolis tradition.
The holiday window walk grew. As the windows have more visual punch during the dark months, we settled in on a Nov. 1 to Feb. 28 schedule, and they became an annual Winter Window Walk.
During COVID, we added to the installation schedule and changed the art every three months to provide safe ways for our neighbors to engage with art.
It takes a village to pull this off. The Harrison Center curatorial team – a combination of staff and studio artists – chooses the theme and reviews artist submissions. Each year, an artist or intern is hired to handle the logistics–posting the call for entries and coordinating installation, which includes arranging access to the space (most windows are in a locked artist studio) and making sure the timers are set.
The community helps judge the windows. The windows open for viewing on the First Friday of November. Community voting happens on the First Friday of December, for a popular vote prize of $100. A team of community judges (chosen by staff) review the windows and choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for cash prizes of $500, $250, and $100
Postindustrial: Indianapolis has an impressive arts scene. What should visitors see and do to get a good sense of the talent in town?
Taft: Indianapolis boasts significant museums, such as the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. This museum features a world-class collection in its building plus has a public art park, 100 Acres. The Eiteljorg Museum features Southwestern and Indigenous art and attracts national visitors.
Indianapolis surprises and doesn't disappoint.
Learn more about the Harrison Center’s extensive programming and events here.
