<p><strong>T</strong>o see how far where we’ve come and where society could be headed, it helps to start at the beginning.</p><p>Organizers and participants of the annual Spirit &amp; Place Festival want to help people figure that out.</p><p>See a musical performance come together from scratch in just 24 hours. Walk through one of Indiana’s last old-growth forests to see what our land used to look like. Listen to a musical exploration that ties together the creation stories of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Examine the beginnings of housing inequality, fascism, the American Civil Liberties Union and other aspects of our lives.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>On its 25th anniversary, the Spirit &amp; Place Festival will explore the idea of “origins” during this year’s event, a collection of 24 curated presentations and activities — held both virtually and socially distanced in-person — presenting unique ideas and creative ways of expression through visual art, music, dance, play and other ideas.</p><p>The centerpiece event will be the annual Public Conversation, featuring a discussion by noted theologian and poet Pádraig O’Tuama and local spoken word artist and activist Manon Voice. Franklin College will be one of the hosts this year, offering a program about understanding different faiths through the art of storytelling.</p><p>All together, organizers hope that the festival will explore how origin stories shape us as people and as a community.</p><p>“We’ve got a lot of events in the festival that are exploring the origin and history of various topics, then really trying to root the conversation in what’s going on today, what’s the reality of today,” said Erin Kelley, program director at Spirit &amp; Place. “How do we take our history and insights into it, and try to create a better future.”</p><p>Spirit &amp; Place is a yearly event focused on helping grow the human spirit. Developed as a community project managed by The Polis Center at IUPUI, it was established in 1996 to be a catalyst for community engagement.</p><p>This is done through creative collaborations. Dozens of area organizations, agencies, churches and other groups work together to put on more than 30 individual events as part of the festival. Each year, a theme is chosen to tie the festival together. That central concept is broad enough to allow groups to interpret their own take on it, and submit proposed activities that can be featured during the festival.</p><p>Past festivals have looks at themes such as risk, play, intersections and growing up.</p><p>“Origins” was chosen as a theme because it was an important anniversary year for Spirit &amp; Place, as well as a milestone year in other ways.</p><p>“We chose the ‘Origins’ theme because this is our 25th anniversary, as well as the bicentennial of the city of Indianapolis and the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We thought there were a lot of really important topics we could explore the origins of,” Kelley said.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to adapt this year’s festival, focusing more on virtual events and in-person activities that could be done in a safely distanced way.</p><p>They were even unsure how many organizations would want to take part, Kelley said.</p><p>“The greatest challenge for us to begin with was, what does success look like? When the pandemic shutdown first happened, we were in the midst of accepting applications for the festival,” she said. “We really thought that if we could get 12 to 15 events, we would call that successful.”</p><p>Instead, a deluge of creative ideas came in from community partners.</p><p>With “Clockwork: A Multimedia Concert Constructed in 24 Hours,” musicians would create an entire performance in the span of a single day. In “OM: The Origin of All,” people will learn about the Hindu tradition of OM, the original harmonious sound, and experience its physical, energetic, intellectual, and spiritual effects through chant, discussion, meditation and reflection.</p><p>“Living the Legacy: Creating Housing Equity Today in Indianapolis” will explore the origins of racial housing practices in Indianapolis. Breakout conversations invite you to explore more equitable solutions.</p><p>“We were really pleased with the way the community still wanted to be part of this festival and still wanted to create, given the restrictions the pandemic has put on us all,” Kelley said.</p><p>Franklin College will be hosting an event called “Interfaith Understanding Through the Art of Storytelling.” The presentation, which was originally planned as an in-person discussion at the college in March, will feature a pair of professional storytellers using their talents to bring people together and strengthen a sense of community among all people.</p><p>George Kelley is the education director at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck in Indianapolis, and is the chair of the Reconstructionist Educators of North America. The focus of his work has been to create curriculum to help use Jewish values to enhance interpersonal relationships, as well as exploring new ways for young people to make the Torah — Judaism’s holy book — relevant in their own lives.</p><p>Joining him will be JoAnne Terrell, an associate professor of theology, ethics and art at Chicago Theological Seminary. She is an ordained elder in the Michigan Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and has written a book, “Power in the Blood: The Cross in the African American Experience.”</p><p>Her current research has bounded into inter-religious ideas. She has been focused on principles of salvation found in faiths such as Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity.</p><p>By presenting concepts from varying faith traditions in an approachable way, organizers are confident that barriers will crumble away, replaced by understanding.</p><p>“The public sentiment on how to engage is changing. It’s not, ‘Let’s go to a lecture.’ Instead, have a performative event that incorporates the arts and lets people enjoy what we have in common while learning to respect others,” said Hannah Adams Ingram, chaplain at Franklin College. “Get past the religious differences, not obsess that they believe something differently, and instead admire the beauty that comes out of different traditions.”</p><p>As usual, the centerpiece of Spirit &amp; Place will be the Public Conversation, a a round-table event conducted every year to close out the festival. By bringing O’Tuama and Voice together, the hope was to look at the journey of reconciliation, where the harms caused by systemic injustice are truthfully acknowledged and the work of repair can begin.</p><p>“It provides a really beautiful opportunity to explore the power of poetry and the power of faith and this idea of reconciliation, how we ready ourselves for personal healing, and to heal as communities,” Kelley said. “2020 has been a tumultuous year, and I think all of us are probably in need of some deep reflection.”</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>Spirit &amp; Place Festival</strong></p><p>When: Today through Nov. 15</p><p>Highlights:</p><p>"Indy Parks Throughout the Years"</p><p>When: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday</p><p>What: Stories and historical narratives shared by individuals from Indy Parks, Friends of Garfield Park, Garfield Park Neighbors Association, and the Indiana Historical Society will give participants the chance to learn about the quirky, wild, interesting, and sometimes challenging stories behind the origin of our city parks in this virtual event.</p><p>"Clockwork: A Multimedia Concert Constructed in 24 Hours"</p><p>When: 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday</p><p>What: Artists, musicians, dancers, videographers and other creatives are randomly partnered and given 24 hours to create a new emergent work.</p><p>"What Was and Will Be: Life in the Time of COVID-19"</p><p>When: 2:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday</p><p>What: Dance Kaleidoscope dancers will showcase the experiences of everyday Hoosiers by transforming their written reflections about COVID-19 into a pre-recorded dance performance.</p><p>"OM: The Origin of All"</p><p>When: 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday</p><p>What: In the Hindu tradition, OM is the original harmonious sound — a manifestation of Spirit. Learn about the sacred origin sound OM and experience its physical, energetic, intellectual, and spiritual effects through chant, discussion, meditation and reflection.</p><p>"100 Years &amp; Fighting: The American Civil Liberties Union"</p><p>When: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday</p><p>What: Join an online discussion featuring clips of the new documentary “The Fight” and engage with local community organizations and activists who have fought for their rights with the ACLU in this virtual event.</p><p>"Interfaith Understanding Through the Art of Storytelling"</p><p>When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 12</p><p>What: Presented by Franklin College, Center for Interfaith Cooperation, Franklin Creative Council, and Johnson County Public Library, people are invited to hear sacred stories told through Jewish, Buddhist, and Christian perspectives with stories by George Kelley and Joanne Terrell.</p><p>"Public Conversation: Pádraig O’Tuama and Manon Voice"</p><p>When: 4:30 to 6 p.m. Nov. 15</p><p>What: Theologian and poet Pádraig O’Tuama and local spoken word artist and activist Manon Voice explore the relationship between poetry, faith, and reconciliation in this virtual event.</p><p>How to take part: Go to spiritandplace.org</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
