Arts and culture
This map shows the locations of nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Indianapolis. Together they form the arts and creative sector of the city.
Indianapolis/Marion County
Arts and Culture
Arts and culture organizations serve as anchoring institutions in communities that provide social, aesthetic, and economic benefits to citizens and visitors. Arts are inherently valuable, create and cultivate shared senses of identities, and attract visitors. Data have shown that arts engagement improves our lives in a myriad of ways. Indianapolis arts and culture organizations, when viewed together, form a vital arts ecosystem that spans performing, visual, historic, and public art.
Indianapolis Arts Organizations
Arts organizations fall into eight general categories, as shown below. View the full interactive map to show (or hide) various categories of organizations by clicking on the category name in the right-side list and to learn more information about each organization.
Public Art
Public art, a phrase coined in the 1960s, encompasses a variety of artistic forms. Historically, art that is accessible to the public has appeared architecture, sculpture, landscape design, monuments, fountains, and plazas, and integrated as cities were built. Public art may be an item designed for installation at a site, or it may be the design of the site itself such as trails, canals, or streetscapes.
Many citizens, from elected officials to community members, find that public art enhances neighborhood beauty, pride, and value. For many passersby, public art jumps out and challenges us to engage with it because you can encounter it anywhere. Indianapolis boasts a wide variety of installations of public art, captured in the map. View the interactive version of the map to see the category of art, its photo, and location.
Public Art Locations
Funding the Arts
Well-rounded education, accessible to all citizens, is a crucial component of a productive society. For nonprofit arts organizations, art costs more to produce or exhibit than earned revenue (such as ticket and gift shop sales) can cover.
2023 Annual Revenue Data
Revenue Data
Have you ever heard that ticket sales don’t cover the cost of an artistic exhibit or performance? It’s true! For the 80+ nonprofit arts organizations represented in Indianapolis, program and ticket sales are only 28% of their revenue. Private donations are 45% – almost half – of revenue, with investments, memberships, and special events making up the remaining 24%. This chart shows how important donations (known as philanthropy) are in supporting arts and the creative sector.
Arts Organization Revenue
Funding the arts varies among individual arts organizations. You can observe the relationship among philanthropy, earned revenue, investment, and other sources of many of Indy’s arts organizations below.
Click on the arrows to reveal the charts and compare the 2022 funding mixes.
Organizations: A–H
Organizations: I
Organizations: K–W
Representation, Equity, and Access
Representation, equity, and access are crucial to a vibrant arts and culture ecosystem. The Indy Arts Council compiles racial demographic data for the 85 Indianapolis/Marion County arts and culture organizations supported by its Annual Grants Program. The charts indicate racial diversity among audience, board, and staff as part of the arts’ investment in a diverse and equitable cultural community. The data show changing racial diversity from 2020 to 2023 as the percentage of population who identify as people of color/BIPOC.
Organizational Equity Report Data
Atlas Sources
Cherbo, Joni Maya, Ruth Ann Stewart, and Margaret Jane Wyszomirski, eds. Understanding the arts and creative sector in the United States. Rutgers University Press, 2008.
Meagher, Trevor, Karabi Bezboruah, and Jiwon Suh. “Fighting for survival: Analyzing strategic trends in arts advocacy.” Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing 29, no. 1 (2024): e1822.
Public Art Directory: https://www.indyartsguide.org/public-art/
Indy Arts Organizations: https://explore.indyarts.org/#orgs
Indy Arts Council Annual Grants Program Participant Organizations 2022 Form 990 (Guide-Star) “Organizational Equity Impact Report,” Indy Arts Council (2023).
Additional Information
Read these Encyclopedia of Indianapolis Entries for more information.