The Portfolio Club

The Portfolio is one of Indianapolis’s oldest, continuously active social clubs. It was organized in 1890 at the suggestion of Mary Steele, wife of artist T. C. Steele, to bring together the various art interests of Indianapolis and to “promote a spirit of art interest and appreciation.” At a time when the city’s social clubs were mostly gender-exclusive, women were admitted to The Portfolio on an equal basis with men. They constituted 43 percent of the club’s charter membership. This was largely because the club included married couples, with at least one person in the couple “being a professional in some facet of the arts.”

The Portfolio members were artists of all types including visual arts, performing arts, and literature. Its founding membership reflected this diversity of arts and included individuals such as Hoosier Group artists J. Ottis Adams, William Forsyth, and T. C. Steele, along with artists Ada Comingore, Bessie Hendricks, Mary Y. Robinson, Julia G. Sharpe, and Harry Williamson. Illustrator Frederick A. Hetherington, sculptor John H. Mahoney, and wood engraver Charles A. Nicoli added to this collage of visual arts. Members from the performing arts included Clarence Forsyth, composer, musician, and founder of the Indianapolis School of Music, and his wife Mary Forsyth. Musician Margaret Nicholson, violoncellist Armin Recker, and violinist Richard Schliewen, and his wife Ida Schliewen, were charter members.

Members from the literary world included Joseph M. Bowles, editor of Modern Art magazine as well as writers and historians Jacob P. Dunn and Allan Hendricks. Novelists Meredith Nicholson and Booth Tarkington, and Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley were all members. Adding to The Portfolio’s eclectic roster were Indianapolis News editorial writers Morris and Frances Ross and Daniel L. Paine. Patron of the arts Thomas E. and Janet K. Hibben were also listed in the club’s initial enrollment. Hilton U. Brown, city editor of the Indianapolis News, served as the club’s first president.

The Portfolio’s season ran from October through May with a monthly supper meeting and program. The club met twice a month on Thursday evenings until the beginning of the 1991-92 year when the membership voted to meet once a month on the third Thursday. A decade later, the monthly meeting changed to the third Tuesday evening.

Club rooms were initially maintained at the Indianapolis School of Music on Monument Circle, later moving to the Metropolitan School of Music, 535 N. Illinois Street. After a brief stay at Tudor Hall, 1530 N. Meridian Street, The Portfolio relocated its rooms to the Propylaeum, 15 E. North Street. The club remained at this location until the building was acquired to construct the World War Memorial Plaza. In 1923 the Propylaeum moved into a house at 1410 N. Delaware Street and The Portfolio followed, taking rooms in the grotto-like basement.

Over the years the club rooms were furnished with tables and chairs, a kitchen where the supper committee prepared the monthly meals, storage space for the members’ diverse china dinnerware, and artwork decorating the walls. In the early 1990s when renovations began at the Propylaeum, the club vacated its rooms, and meetings were held at the Schnull-Rauch House, 3050 N. Meridian Street. With no permanent meeting room, the move necessitated the sale of most of The Portfolio’s art collection. By the 2000s, The Portfolio met at the Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th Street. After the club’s remaining artwork and archives were placed with the Irvington Historical Society at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center in Irvington, monthly meetings alternated between the two sites. In recent years, meetings have been held at other venues besides the Bona Thompson Memorial Center.

The Portfolio’s monthly programs have been outlined since 1890-91 in an annual yearbook. These booklets contain a roster of members, committees, and programs, and original artwork by members. Many of the yearbooks are printed on unique paper with cover art by members. The monthly programs touched on many topics related to the arts with papers given by members. In the early years of The Portfolio, musical entertainment, often with singing accompanied by piano, violin, and cello, concluded the evening. Skits Members occasionally performed skits as well. In the years before World War I, an outing was arranged to Das Deutsche Haus (Athenaeum) in November for a bowling party. The club also held an annual Christmas party. The Portfolio season concluded with a picnic.

As of 2024, membership in The Portfolio was by invitation and was capped at 75 persons. In addition to the club’s monthly meetings, The Portfolio maintained an endowed scholarship presented annually to a student at the Herron School of Art and Design, and another annual scholarship was awarded to a student majoring in one of the arts at an area college.