Let the madness begin.
With the entirety of the NCAA tournament coming to central Indiana, the focus will be on game after game of basketball action.
But you don’t have to be a fanatic to enjoy the bounty of cultural activities planned around the Big Dance. Public art installations, murals, music, dance and spoken-word poetry will unfold on the streets around Indianapolis, as the arts community celebrates March in their own unique way.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“It’s really huge for us — because of the pandemic and because so many artists were for a long time not able to have gallery shows or do public artwork that encouraged people to get together. They really were looking for ways to work,” said Lindsey Lord, director of artist services and Gallery 924 for the Arts Council of Indianapolis. “This program just feels like it’s part of this bigger effort to recover the city and recover the arts community.”
Basketball and art come together throughout downtown Indianapolis over the next three weeks. While the bulk of attention will be on the hardwood, visitors to the city can soak in the cultural flair that makes Indy so unique. People can climb into four basketball court-themed murals installed around town, see pop-up shows by the area’s most talented performers and marvel at commissioned work taking residence in vacant storefronts.
Organizers hope that they can ride the wave of excitement and attention that the tournament brings to spotlight the arts, while also benefiting the downtown community.
“A lot of people have been away from downtown, and in their homes. Now we’re opening up the city to all these wonderful guests who are coming, so we kind of want to make everything look nice,” Lord said.
All of downtown Indianapolis has been getting cleaned up and putting on its best face heading into the start of the tournament. Volunteers have fanned out to clean up litter, plant flowers along prime walking trails and beautify the city. Workers have planted 68 native Indiana trees to represent the number of teams that make the tourney.
A special hoops-centric multimedia show is set to light up the night around Monument Circle through the ongoing Shining a Light show. Watch parties and fan zones are planned for the duration of the tournament.
So amidst the activity, those in the arts community wanted to get in on the fun.
“The combination of art and sports is something that our city does well,” Lord said. “We did the 46 for XLVI mural program when the Super Bowl came to town, so this has kind of become tradition, this combination of art and sports. When it was announced March Madness was coming to town, we immediately started thinking how to get artists involved.”
Organizers had to act quickly to put together the project, as it was not announced until early January that central Indiana would host the entire NCAA tournament. A $905,000 grant from Lilly Endowment helped fund the art programs as well as other beautification efforts ahead of the tournament.
Call-outs were made to different arts organizations and galleries, recruiting more than 300 artists to take part in the offerings.
“The opportunity to engage so many artists and creative partners in such meaningful ways is incredible and is another important catalyst to accelerate recovery and reopening of our sector and city,” said Julie Goodman, president and CEO of the Arts Council of Indianapolis. “Indy was ‘made for this moment’ and these civic partnerships and artist engagements will take things to a level that will truly enable us all to showcase what we are made of.”
Dancers, musicians, spoken word artists and other performers will be part of spontaneous shows at locations such as Monument Circle, Lugar Plaza and along Georgia Street throughout the duration of the tournament.
Visual artwork and literary art will be installed via digital reproductions in vacant storefronts.
“We worked on ways to include every kind of artist — visual artists, musicians, theater groups. We wanted to include all of these different genres,” Lord said.
Organizers have put together Swish Indy, a walking tour of “must see” public art that is often related to sports, activity or justice, that people can visit on their own. Indianapolis historian Sampson Levingston is offering tours of iconic locations throughout the city where basketball history happened.
One of the most ambitious and highly visible projects has been the creation of four 10-foot-by-10-foot murals, stylized as basketball courts. Four local artists were chosen to install their designs, and visitors will be encouraged to climb into the mural and interact with the art, creating social media-ready experiences.
“We wanted to give people an artwork they can be a part of and interact with is a pretty powerful thing right now,” Lord said. “People can have their picture taken and interact with it, to actually be part of the art.”
Southside artist William Denton Ray created a striking mural called “Court Vision,” which uses geometric design that utilizes shapes related to and from the design of a standard basketball court. Arrows signify movement and graphic eyes represents a players court vision. His piece will be set up at the Majestic Building, on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Maryland Street.
Shaunt’e Lewis, a Fishers-based graphic artist and illustrator, designed “For the Love of the Game: Live, Love, Ball!” The funky, colorful design was inspired by one of the best basketball players Lewis ever knew, a woman who also happened to wear a hijab. She persevered to play the game she loved, Lewis said in the description of the mural.
“I want people to know that know matter what, your love and passion for something should always outweigh the obstacles the world gives you,” she wrote.
“L-Levate” by Michael “Kwazar” Martin is set to be featured on Monument Circle, where the bright red, blue, purple, yellow and orange depicting the city and a player going up for a dunk will be a focal point.
“This piece was inspired by my childhood, going out and playing basketball with my friends and family day after day. I’d like for the picture to inspire the young minds coming up behind me to stay focused and dedicated to something positive,” Martin said in his description of the design.
The basketball court-themed murals will be on display through at least through mid-April.
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Swish Indy
What: A self-guided public art tour, featuring the sculptures, murals and installations on display throughout downtown Indianapolis
Artwork:
- “All Ball,” Chris Vorhees, 130 S. Pennsylvania St., mixed media sculpture
- “Full Court Press,” Chris Vorhees, 130 S. Pennsylvania St., mixed media sculpture
- “Bounce,” Reagan Fuqueron, 130 S. Pennsylvania St., metal sculpture
- “Indiana Avenue Jazz Masters,” Pamela Bliss, 322 N. Capitol Ave., mural painting
- “The Future is Now,” Ess McKee, 350 S. Meridian St., mural painting
- “Outlined in Black and White,” Quiana Quarles, 350 S. Meridian St., mural painting
- “New Nation,” Rebecca Robinson, 350 S. Meridian St., mural painting in concrete and tar
- “Love/Hate,” Boxx the Artist, 350 S. Meridian St., mural painting
- “Peyton Manning,” Ryan Feeney, 500 S. Capitol Ave., bronze sculpture
- “Quetzalcoatl Returns to Look in the Mirror,” Hector Duarte, Downtown Canal and West Street, on the canal level, mixed media mural
- “Silenced,” Amiah Mims, 10 E. Washington St., mural painting
- “Simple Pleasures,” Tom Torluemke, 100 S. Capitol St., mural painting
- “Soldiers and Sailors Monument,” 1 Monument Circle, bronze and stone sculpture with water feature
- “Wooden’s Legacy,” Jeffrey Rouse, 1 W. Georgia St., bronze sculpture
- “Alloy,” Project One, 200 E. Washington St., metal sculpture
- “Big Bright Steel Cummins,” Emily Kennerk and Jennifer Riley, 301 E. Market St., metal sculpture and light
- “Color Fuses,” Milton Glaser, 575 N. Pennsylvania St., mural painting and light
- “Lepidoptera,” Shamira Wilson, Artsgarden, 110 W. Washington St., mural painting
- “My Affair with Kurt Vonnegut,” Pamela Bliss, 339 Massachusetts Ave., mural painting
- “Reggie…Reggie…Reggie…Boom Baby!,” Pamela Bliss, 127 E. Michigan St., mural painting
- “Truth Seekers,” Matthew Cooper, 202 N. Alabama St., mural painting
- “Ann Dancing,” Julian Opie, 401 Massachusetts Ave., digital sculpture
- “Mari Evans,” Michael “Alkemi” Jordan, 448 Massachusetts Ave., mural painting
Information: indyarts.org
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