Arts and Culture Timeline

James Blake presents the piano to his new wife Eliza. She gives small concerts in her home.

Under pastor Henry Ward Beecher, the church organizes a music school and sponsors a small orchestra to accompany the congregation’s choir.

Called the Indianapolis Thespian Corps, the community theater company first performs Pocahontas by social reformer, author, and Indiana statesman Robert Dale Owen.

The painter maintains a studio in the city for over 50 years and is the major figure in the early development of the visual arts in the city.

With the completion of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, musicians and actors begin coming to the city regularly from other parts of the country to perform.

Created as a venue for exchanging ideas to improve agricultural productivity, the state’s first fair runs October 20-22. Around 30,000 people pay admission to see exhibits featuring agricultural products.

Although Lieber starts the business for stationery and bookbinding, he later includes an art gallery, which becomes important for mounting art exhibitions.

Professor George Root organizes the four-day event devoted to instruction and performance.

Hays, a painter and early photographer, becomes the teacher of nationally known artist William Merritt Chase and painter John W. Love, who founds the city’s first art school.

The Metropolitan opens as Indianapolis’ first purpose-built theater complete with gallery, vaulted ceilings, and frescoes. It is later renamed the Park.

Eunice Beecher, the wife of influential Presbyterian pastor Henry Ward Beecher, sets her autobiographical novel principally in Indianapolis. Her depiction of the city is so unflattering that local schools and libraries ban it.

George Loomis begins teaching public school students music and creates his own teaching manual, Progressive Music Lessons, because no published instructional materials exist.

Governor Oliver P. Morton recruits Merrill to write the history of Indiana’s soldiers in the conflict, considered the most comprehensive history of the state’s military partcipation in the Civil War.

Governor Baker commissions portraits of Indiana governors. The collection grows to include portraits of nearly all Indiana governors.

Suffragist May Wright Sewall, along with other socially prominent women, organizes the club to offer women the opportunity to enjoy social interaction and intellectual actvities outside the home.

After the first Indiana School of Art closes, some of its former students, including painter William Forsyth, create the Bohe Club, short for Bohemian, to pursue sketching and etching.

Roda E. Selleck, an artist and educator, begins offering courses in drawing at the high school. The Art Department expands to include other media, as well as art history and appreciation.

The hall, which adjoins the City Market, opens as an important public meeting place with the Grand Army of the Republic Music Festival. The festival raises $5,000 for construction of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Circle.

A group of writers convenes at Plymouth Church to establish the organization and elects Crawfordsville novelist Maurice Thompson president. The association remains active until 1907.

Construction officially begins on the Civil War Memorial using the design submitted by German architect Bruno Schmitz and funds that the General Assembly appropriated for this purpose in 1887.

Located on the north side of Market Street just west of Illinois Street, the Cyclorama building exhibits life-size Civil War murals and later serves as a zoo.

The Propylaeum’s Articles of Association provides that stock is acquired, purchased, and held only by women. The building is to be used for cultural and educational pursuits, particularly for women.

Young women join the amateur theater group, first known as the Matinee Club. It reorganizes as the Dramatic Club in 1890 with the addition of male members.

The event follows the success of an 1886 music festival held for the dedication of Tomlinson Hall. It takes place annually until 1898.

Lewis becomes the first African American in the U.S. to work as an editorial illustrator and cartoonist.

Guy and Domenico Montani, local Italian musicians, help organize the city’s first musicians’ union and the third such union in the country.

Organized in the home of suffragist May Wright Sewall, the Contemporary Club cultivates intellectual pursuits and explores pressing social issues and concerns.

The Art Association of Indianapolis incorporates the art school, which T. C. Steele opened in 1889. The school closes in 1897.

The Indiana State Fair opens at its present site at East 38th Street and Fall Creek Parkway with 72 buildings, a mile racetrack, and a 6,000-seat grandstand.

Bowles, an artist and employee of the H. Lieber Company, founds the avant-garde art journal, the first magazine in its field. Hollenbeck Press prints the publication in Indianapolis until 1895.

The Central Art Association brings together the works of J. Ottis Adams, William Forsyth, Richard B. Gruelle, Otto Stark, and T. C. Steele in a show in Chicago, titled “Five Hoosier Painters.”

Herron bequeaths $250,000 to the Art Association of Indianapolis with the stipulation that the funds be used to build a museum and art school bearing his name.

Four private music teachers establish the school, which merges with the Indiana College of Music and Fine Arts in 1928 and is renamed the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music. The conservatory becomes part of Butler University in 1953.

Herbert Lieber gives the dedication speech, lauding the structure as the “embodiment of the Americanizing process.” Designed by Bernard Vonnegut, the building becomes the center of German American culture. 

The book propels Tarkington, an Indianapolis native, into the national limelight. In Indianapolis, the book is less well received, with residents feeling mocked.

Using a bequest left by John Herron, the Art Association of Indianapolis establishes the Institute to operate an art school and museum. The art school opens with 10 pupils and 5 teachers on Talbott Street at T. C. Steele’s former home.

At the gala event, Civil War general and author Lew Wallace serves as master of ceremonies, and  Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley recites a poem that John Philip Sousa transformed into a march.

Hubbard creates the folksy character, who spouts country wisdom, during the 1904 presidential election. The character becomes the basis of Hubbard’s nationally syndicated newspaper column. Books featuring the character begin publication in 1906.

The city’s first movie theater—the Bijou, a converted vaudeville house—opens on East Washington Street. Bijou shows half-hour films viewed during the lunch hour.

The Indianapolis ragtime pianist-composer publishes “Dusty Rag” in May.  She publishes 19 pieces between 1908 and 1912, several of which are financial successes.

Ona Bryant Talbot begins her own organization aimed at bringing internationally known music artists to Indianapolis audiences.

The Shuberts, important U.S. professional theater owners and operators, lease the theater from 1910 to 1930 and bring in a variety of events and shows, including Broadway musicals. It serves as a home for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 1930 to 1962 and is renamed Old National Theatre in 2014.

A Hoosier Chronicle,  a novel written by Indianapolis author Meredith Nicholson, explores politics and society in central Indiana, particularly Indianapolis, in the early 20th century.

Tarkington bases his juvenile Penrod stories upon his own experiences growing up in Indianapolis. First serialized in magazines in 1913, the stories are collected and published in book form and followed by two other collections.

Founded as the first community theater in the city, it becomes known as Civic Theatre of Indianapolis in 1929 and then Booth Tarkington Civic Theater when it moves to Carmel in 2011.

St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild provides funding to beautify City Hospital’s new Burdsall Unit. Sixteen Indiana artists create large-scale murals to cover the units’ interior walls.

Former cartoonist John Barton Gruelle patents his Raggedy Ann doll. Three years later, he publishes Raggedy Ann Stories, followed by a Raggedy Andy volume. 

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane calls for the national observance of poet James Whitcomb Riley’s birthday. Locally, the full day of events celebrating Riley includes national dignitaries and literary figures,

Led by A. L. Block and Robert Lieber, investors contribute over $500,000 to build a new theater. Circle Theatre opens as Indianapolis’ first building constructed specifically for feature-length motion pictures.

After winning the top prize in the Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution-sponsored juried flag competition held for the state’s centennial in 1916, Hadley’s design becomes the official state flag.

The new building, constructed on St. Clair Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania streets, becomes the anchor of the library system.

The Indianapolis author wins the prize for the Magnificent Ambersons, set in the thinly disguised Indianapolis Woodruff Place neighborhood. He wins a second Pulitzer in 1922 with his novel Alice Adams, also based on life in the city.

The club serves as the center of Slovene community activities.

A branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians, the club works to identify and to develop the musical talent of young African Americans.

Indianapolis native Noble Sissle writes and produces the musical with three other musicians. It marks the revival of African  American folk humor, jazz dance, and Ragtime. 

The James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home on Lockerbie Street opens as a fundraiser for the construction of Riley Hospital for Children.

Carey and several other civic leaders found the museum in the Propylaeum’s carriage house. Children and their families donate to its collections.

The Indiana Historical Bureau promotes the study of Indiana history by providing resources to aid citizens in learning about the state and its people.

A member of the interwar period “Lost Generation” Paris group of authors, the Indianapolis native begins her 50-year career writing for the New Yorker with the appearance of her first semi-monthly “Letter from Paris.”

Ruth Page, a ballet dancer, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. She most likely is the first Indianapolis native to appear on the Metropolitan Opera stage. As a choreographer, she pioneers the use of American themes in the Russian-dominated field.

General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I, attends the event and lays the memorial’s cornerstone.

The state-of-the-art movie palace is the largest in the state. It also includes the Roof Ballroom, where some of the most famous musicians of the big band era perform, including Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, and Cab Calloway.

Irvington holds its first Halloween festival, celebrating the holiday with a costume parade and contest, decorated streets and storefronts, and a street dance.

Completed eight years after the death of Madam C. J. Walker, the finished segments of the theatre building open during Christmas week. The entire building opens in August 1928 during the annual Madam Walker Convention.

The duo’s first recording, “How Long, How Long Blues,” sells hundreds of thousands of copies and establishes the pair as innovators in the newly emerging urban blues style.

A colony of Irvington artists begins holding exhibitions featuring their works along with lectures, gallery talks, and art demonstrations. It takes place annually until 1937.

Following the release of the first talkie, The Jazz Singer, in 1927, the Apollo Theatre installs the first permanent movie sound equipment in the city and shows its first regular sound feature. By 1930, most major movie theaters are wired for sound.

Pro Patria, the 25-foot-tall, seven-ton statue, is created by New York artist Henry Herring. The work is reputed to be the largest sculptured bronze casting made in America at the time.

Ferdinand Schaefer begins the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and serves as the orchestra’s conductor until the 1937–1938 season. The first concert takes place at Shortridge High School.

Denver and Sea Ferguson, African American leaders in the jazz and entertainment scene, open the Trianon Ballroom at 244 West Vermont Street, followed by the Cotton Club, also on Vermont Street, in 1933. In 1937, they open the Royal Palm Gardens and Sunset Terrace Ballroom on Indiana Avenue.

Painter and educator, Donald Mattison becomes the head of Herron and replaces many of the faculty members to boost the school’s national reputation.

The pharmaceutical entrepreneur and philanthropist purchases the William Conner house in Hamilton County to preserve the site where state capital commissioners first met in 1820 and to recreate pioneer Indiana for the visiting public.

The Society of Printmakers is the first outlet for the work of artists of the genre in the state.

Ten women form the Indianapolis Art Students’ League with commercial artist and fine arts painter William F. Kaeser as their first teacher. The organization incorporates in 1938 and changes its name to Indianapolis Arts Center in 1996.

Designed by Indianapolis-based architecture firm Pierre & Wright, the building is the first permanent home of the Indiana State Library, Indiana Historical Bureau, and Indiana Historical Society.

Entertainment entrepreneur Denver Ferguson opens Indiana Avenue’s Sunset Terrace that attracts some of the nation’s most prominent Black performers.

After a successful engagement at the Sunset Ballroom on Indiana Avenue, the family moves to Indianapolis and establishes a jazz family dynasty that includes the Hampton Family Band and the Hampton Sisters (Virtue, Aletra, Carmelita, and Dawn).

Musical conductor Fabien Sevitsky initiates creation of the choir to accompany the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Murat Temple.

The upscale theater opens with much fanfare, attracting 28 Hollywood stars. In 1977, the space is remodeled into a nightclub and music venue.

Located in the Lawrence Township district, the drive-in can accommodate 500 cars. The theater opens with two showtimes of That’s Right, You’re Wrong. 

Amateur violinist Leonard Strauss and a core of local music enthusiasts presents the society’s first concert on April 12, 1944, with the Musical Art Quartet. The concert attracts nearly 500 attendees. 

National legend Basie recognizes Johnson’s talent, and the trumpeter, who honed his skills at Indiana Avenue clubs, spends a year touring and recording with the jazz musician’s band.

David Kresz Rubins, a sculptor and faculty member at the Herron School of Art, creates the 3-foot-tall bronze sculpture. Ayres employees place it on the building’s clock the day before Thanksgiving, sparking a new tradition.

The summer stock theater contracts nationally recognized stage and screen personalities to headline casts composed largely of local talent.

The Indianapolis native’s thriller novel is well received and adapted into both a play and a film a year later.

Indiana architect Robert Frost Daggett serves as architect for the building on the Butler University campus, which houses the largest telescope in Indiana.

The all-volunteer nonprofit organization produces musicals and other programs to provide education and training to nonprofessionals in the theater.

Tony Hulman, the track’s owner, creates the museum along with Karl Kizer, who becomes its first director, to house the Speedway Hall of Fame and a collection of vintage racing cars.

Brown works for the Indianapolis Recorder, documenting African American life in the city.

A group of students from the Herron School of Art initiate the first Talbot Street Art Fair, located in the Herron-Morton Place neighborhood.

Emma Lou Thornbrough’s book sets the standard for histories of the Black experience in northern states.

Four civic-minded individuals create the first 500 Festival in just 60 days, which includes a parade, ball, and square dance. This community-led endeavor celebrates sports, health, and education.

The Eastside Art Center organizes the art show, which is likely the first in the nation to take place in a shopping mall.

Montgomery makes a name for himself while playing in clubs on Indiana Avenue. He records his first album with brothers Monk and Buddy on the Riverside record label. 

Arts for Learning, a community-based arts education program, educates school-age children about the arts. It is the largest and oldest provider of professional arts programs for children in Indiana.

Compared to New York City’s Lincoln Center, Clowes Hall provides a world-class venue for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra until 1984 and hosts a variety of musical performances, including traveling Broadway shows.

The Irvington Historical Society is created to document and collect the history of the east side neighborhood.

The effort to establish a zoo, initiated 20 years earlier by newspaper columnist Lowell Nussbaum, finally succeeds. The zoo is located in Washington Park on East 30th Street.

The Beatles play two shows at the Indiana State Fair, one at 6 p.m. in the Coliseum and the second at 9:30 in the Grandstand.

The Cathedral Women of Christ Church Cathedral organizes the Strawberry Festival to raise funds for charity. The women sell 100 homemade strawberry shortcakes during the festival, selling out in two hours. 

Located in the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the museum opens as part of Hook’s Drug Stores’ commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Indiana’s admission to the Union.

First known as the Festival Music Society, the group promotes early classical music through educational opportunities and performances. The organization holds its first Early Music Festival in 1967.

Previously housed in various locations, including a basement, the museum finally has its own building—the renovated former Indianapolis City Hall at Alabama and Ohio streets.

The Herron School of Art becomes part of Indiana University, and the Art Association of Indianapolis makes plans to move the museum to Oldfields, the former estate of J. K. Lilly Jr. The Art Association becomes the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1969.

The Penrod Society, established earlier this same year, holds its first art fair. The fair goes on to become one of the largest single-day arts fairs in the country.

An Indianapolis native, trombonist, and composer, Baker establishes one of the first jazz studies programs at an American university. It becomes a highly respected and internationally recognized academic jazz program.

In his first book, Knight focuses on his experiences in the Indiana State Prison after his arrest for robbery. It establishes him as a poet of the national Black Arts Movement, in which artists embrace and celebrate their African American heritage.

Established by the first Indian families that come to the city, the India Association of Indianapolis promotes the cultural activities of India, fosters cultural exchange, and carries out educational and charitable activities.

Housed in the Old Pathology Building at Central State Hospital, the museum preserves the building and collects artifacts related to the history of medicine.

Vonnegut, an Indianapolis native, suddenly becomes famous with the release of his anti-war book, based on his experience in surviving the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. The book becomes a bestseller and instant classic.

The novel explores the narrow-minded and confining attitudes of Indianapolis during the 1950s. Despite being poorly received in Indianapolis, it quickly climbs the bestseller list.

The institution, formerly known as the Herron Art Museum, opens at Oldfields, the former estate of J. K. Lilly Jr., with the new Krannert Pavilion.

Dave Lucas and Joe Halderman establish Sunshine Promotions to promote local rock concerts in Indiana. The company later builds Deer Creek Music Center, now Ruoff Music Center, a 20,000-capacity amphitheater in Hamilton County.

The Indianapolis Art Center and the Broad Ripple Village Association cosponsor the event to highlight the work of local artists. Approximately 100 artists participate in the first fair.

The annual exposition holds its inaugural event, a one-day gathering, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. It aims to highlight the talents and achievements of African Americans and identify and address their challenges.

The need for interpreters and translators for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Conference of Mayors in 1973 sparks the formation of the International Center. It later grows to provide services to local ethnic groups.

Well-known as a community leader, Indian immigrant K. P. Singh establishes his business to market his hand-drawn drawings and prints of Indianapolis landmarks and other buildings across the world. His artwork is featured in many public and private collections.

The equity dance company brings dance into public schools. The group holds its first concert in 1978.

Covering the period from 1817 to 1866, Fletcher’s multi-volume diaries document the early history of the city.

The National Endowment for the Humanities collaborates with a group of five Indiana residents to establish the nonprofit to help carry out its work in the Hoosier State.

After coming to Indianapolis for IMA’s opening in 1970, the iconic Robert Indiana sculpture becomes a permanent museum installation.

The theater company first resides at the Athenaeum. In 1980, the company moves to its present location, the Indiana Theatre on Washington Street.

Indianapolis Ballet Theatre forms as an outgrowth of the Civic Ballet Society of Indianapolis. Initially performing only for Indianapolis Public School audiences, the ballet programs prove successful and expand.

Beginning as part of a chain of dinner theaters, Beef & Boards becomes a privately owned venue that produces professional Broadway shows and plays featuring its own resident acting company.

Holy Trinity parish begins hosting Indy GreekFest, a festival aimed at celebrating and sharing Hellenic heritage and the Orthodox Christian faith.

Artist Elmer Taflinger designs the piece to display sculptor Karl Bitter’s “Races of Mankind,” which had been created in 1896 for the St. Paul Building in New York City.

Following a complete renovation, the entire home of the Indianapolis U.S. president opens as a house museum with regular hours.

One of the first African American acting companies in Indianapolis, Soul People introduces actors and audiences to theater from a Black perspective.

Opera enthusiasts organize the new opera company as a nonprofit corporation. Its first season is limited to a one-night performance of two short works.

Under the management of the International Center, the festival begins as part of the nation’s bicentennial. It provides a platform for various ethnic groups to showcase their contributions to the culture, history, and economy of Indiana.

New facilities for the Children’s Museum open with visits from U.S. First Lady Betty Ford and other dignitaries. It includes five floors of exhibit space, the Ruth Allison Lilly Theater, classrooms, and administrative offices.

The Broad Ripple movie theater, which opened in 1938, becomes a successful music venue, featuring local and national bands.

The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation establishes the author lecture series to recognize Marian McFadden, director of the Indianapolis Public Library from 1944 to 1955 who left over $150,000 to the library.

Created as a nonprofit organization, the Madam Walker Urban Life Center, Inc., begins work to save the historic Walker Building from deterioration and demolition.

The free quarterly newsletter from the Indiana Historical Society includes articles on the political, social, and cultural history of Black people in Indiana.

Named for P. E. MacAllister, Indianapolis businessman and philanthropist, the competition brings together young opera singers nationwide to compete in Indianapolis for the largest nonrestricted monetary awards in North America.

The first annual festival to celebrate the Latino community is a day-long event that takes place at the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza. It becomes part of La Plaza, Inc. in 2004.

Ophelia Wellington conceptualizes Freetown Village out of her desire to teach African American history. The organization begins as a live-action exhibit in the Indiana State Museum, portraying Black history. Freetown actors later travel the Midwest and recreate Indiana’s post-Civil War Black settlements.

Planning for the first quadrennial competition began in 1980 when Cathedral Arts asked Indiana University violinist and teacher Josef Gingold to be the founding jury president of a violin contest based in Indianapolis.

Previously a small, Mass Ave bar serving first and third-shift factory workers, it expands to include a stage for jazz performances.

The nonprofit theatre opens under the leadership of founding artistic director Bryan Fonseca. Actors and crew are local residents.

The orchestra plays its first concerts in the medieval cloister of Trinity Episcopal Church.

A benefit concert, featuring 14 leading Indianapolis jazz groups, highlights the day honoring Grandy’s jazz contributions.

Hal Yeagy Jr. transforms the city’s oldest continuously operating bar into a blues venue that gains national recognition.

Taylor is cast in his most memorable role as Anthony Bouvier on the long-running CBS comedy series.

The Pan American Arts Festival, which runs through the Tenth Pan American Games in August 1987, celebrates the arts in the Western hemisphere. The Arts Council of Indianapolis works with nearly 40 local arts organizations to produce 200 events.

Preserving the most significant architectural elements, the $30-million restoration focuses on retaining the experience of a station in its conversion to over 100 restaurants and shops.

The ensemble performs and promotes music of the 17th and 18th centuries using period instruments and historically informed performance practices.

Founded in the 1970s in Connecticut, the theater group moves to Indianapolis and performs at the Hilton Hotel for two seasons before moving into the Athenaeum’s renovated ballroom in 1990.

The Historical Society’s ownership of the W. H. Bass Photo Company Collection makes available to the public the largest surviving historic collection of photographs of 20th-century Indianapolis.

The cultural and educational organization fosters cultural exchange between Indiana and Japan.

The Washington Park Zoo closes in November 1987 and by early December, the zoo’s 500 animals are transferred to the new facility in White River State Park. 

The Indiana Historical Society quarterly history magazine focuses on little-known people and events from Indiana’s past.

The Arts Council of Indianapolis (ACI) releases a study of arts organizations in the city, carried out immediately after its incorporation in 1987, with the aim of devising a plan to better serve members of the arts community.

Sunshine Promotions of Indianapolis opens the $12 million Deer Creek Music Center, now Ruoff Music Center, located near Noblesville. The first concert, a benefit event, features gospel singer Sandi Patti, an Anderson, Indiana, native.

Located in White River State Park, the museum showcases Native American art and Western American art. It is named for its founder, Harrison Eiteljorg. 

The foundation continues the legacy of philanthropist Allen Whitehill Clowes supporting charitable organizations that promote and preserve the arts and humanities.

Asante, a storyteller and performance artist, starts the African American children’s theatre, a community-based performing arts group.

The Pride Festival takes place at Monument Circle. With 3000 attendees at the festival, it becomes the largest event centered on supporting and celebrating the LGBT community.

Founded in 1959 in New York City, the museum moves to Indianapolis because of the city’s growing reputation as a sports center. It subsequently moves to IUPUI in 1994 before transferring its entire collection to the Children’s Museum in 2018..

Jeff Sparks, then executive director of a children’s home, founds the nonprofit organization to inspire “filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of film.” Heartland curates and supports a variety of cinema from filmmakers and storytellers from around the world. 

In his thinly veiled autobiographical novel, Indianapolis native and acclaimed critic Pinkney writes about a young, middle-class Black man growing up in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis in the 1960s. It wins the prestigious Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction.

The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art holds its first Indian market to build support for and interest in Native American arts and cultures.

With a growing demand for classes, exhibitions, and services, the Indianapolis Arts League builds a new 40,000 square-foot facility in Broad Ripple. The new building opens in 1996, and the League changes its name to the Indianapolis Art Center.

The chorus seeks to present the LGBTQ community in a positive light, promote a spirit of pride, and build bridges of understanding.

The jazz club and restaurant moves into the former home of Crazy Al’s—a punk and new wave venue. It quickly becomes a hotspot for Indianapolis jazz musicians.

President Bill Clinton and the families of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy attend the event for the memorial that commemorates the spot where RFK made his famous speech upon hearing the news of MLK’s assassination, April 4, 1968.

Incorporation of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra formalizes the program that Betty Perry initiated to remedy the lack of classical music training for African American youth.

The Museum celebrates and preserves the history and contributions of Central Indiana Fire Departments. The Museum opens in the remodeled Fire Station #2, the oldest remaining fire station building in the city.

Indianapolis native Kenneth Brian Edmonds wins two Grammy Awards, one for his R&B Song “I’ll Make Love to You” and the other for Male R&B Vocal Performance in “When Can I See You.” He goes on to win his 13th Grammy in 2024 for his work “Snooze” from SZA, tying him with Michael Jackson for most wins.

It takes decades before survivors of the USS Indianapolis raise enough money to erect a memorial, which is located at the north end of Canal Walk. The dedication takes place on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy. 

The Arts Council of Indianapolis operates the Artsgarden, built with funds from Lilly Endowment, Inc., as a performance and exhibition space.

The community center organizes to provide Chinese families in Indianapolis a place for children to learn Chinese language and culture. Its mission includes teaching Chinese to non-Chinese-speaking families and to promote Chinese culture and heritage.

The festival highlights Irish culture and the contributions Irish immigrants have made to the city.

Indianapolis native and internationally known architect Michael Graves designs the building located in Broad Ripple.

The Spirit & Place Festival springs from the Project on Religion and Urban Culture, an initiative of The Polis Center at IUPUI. It brings together the arts, humanities, and religion to frame programs that address issues of concern to Indianapolis. The first festival features a conversation between John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, and Dan Wakefield at Clowes Hall.

The award recognizes the Indianapolis author’s contributions to raise science fiction to a creditable literary field.

The Crispus Attucks Museum opens at Crispus Attucks Middle School to raise consciousness about the heritage of the school and African American life and culture.

Designed by Eric Fulford and Anne Reed of Ninebark Studios, the memorial pays tribute to Indiana Medal of Honor recipients, dating to the Civil War. It is located on the north bank of Indiana Central Canal.

Part of the White River State Park and the Indianapolis Zoo, the gardens showcase more than 16,000 plants, exotic and native. Many species are rare or historic in value. 

The Indianapolis Jazz Foundation establishes the annual Indy Jazz Fest—a community celebration of Indianapolis’ rich jazz legacy. The festival takes place over four days and features a long list of local and national jazz stars.

The Hall of Champions includes a grand hall honoring the heroics of past college athletes as well as a museum area with a theater and Exhibition Center.

The nonprofit community arts center, cultural promoter, and neighborhood activist organization opens in the building that was originally First Presbyterian Church in the Old Northside.

The Harrison Center for the Arts hosts the festival (formerly First Independent Music + Art Festival) to showcase original works by local musicians, visual artists, and crafters.

Created as a “museum without walls,” the contemporary art museum mounts exhibitions around Indianapolis to connect people to inspiring and innovative art.

The Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association promotes art, artists, and art dealers within a 20-block square of the center of the city. The organization dissolves in 2017.

Having outgrown its space at the old City Hall, the Indiana State Museum’s board approves a move to White River State Park. The museum’s new location adjoins a preexisting IMAX movie theater. 

The tabletop gaming convention moves to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis from Milwaukee to better accommodate the growing number of attendees. Gen Con soon becomes one of Indianapolis’ largest conventions. 

Jim Walker and wife Shauta Marsh cofound Big Car Collaborative, which focuses on socially engaged art and cultural community development. The studio and gallery space features monthly exhibits.

In connection with the exhibit that transports museumgoers to the world of the dinosaurs, the museum also funds a $27.5 million project for paleontological research.

At the age of 40, Angela Brown, who finds her niche in classical music while in college, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Verdi’s Aida. 

The Arts Council, in partnership with the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission, creates and launches, Thomas Otterness in Indianapolis, which features 25 bronze sculptures of the famed public artist placed throughout the city.

The art school moves into the newly built Eskenazi Hall, a facility that triples the amount of space available to Herron students and includes a library, auditorium, gallery space, and several computer labs. It marks the unification of all IUPUI schools in one location.

As part of the 1999 new campus master plan, the art museum expands to feature the new Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion, the Wood Gallery Pavilion, and Deer Zink Special Events Pavilion.

IndyFringe’s inaugural theatre festival launches with over 100 shows performed over 10 days. The festival goes on to become an annual summer event featuring local and national performers.

Hosted by the Asian American Alliance, Inc., Asian Fest celebrates the diverse Asian cultures of central Indiana.

Building on its awards of the same name established in 2005, the Children’s Museum opens the award-winning exhibition that features local AIDS activist Ryan White, holocaust victim Anne Frank, and civil rights activist Ruby Bridges.

Demolition of the mid-1970s annex and stacks makes way for the steel and glass tower that surrounds the historic 1917 building. The renovations double the size of the library.

Renamed The Cabaret, the professional nonprofit theater company leaves the Athenaeum and performs in a variety of venues. The Metzger Building, at 9th and Pennsylvania streets, becomes its permanent home for the 2018 season.

The first annual GermanFest at the Athenaeum highlights the strong German heritage in Indianapolis and raises funds for the maintenance and care of the building.

Julia Whitehead founds the museum to commemorate the life and work of critically acclaimed author and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut. The museum opens in 2011 and moves to a new location on Indiana Avenue in 2019.

The interactive art and nature park is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. and includes art installations by national and international artists.

The free celebration of art and music forms through the unification of three previously separate gatherings: Fountain Square Art Fair, Fountain Square Art Parade, and Masterpiece in a Day.

The anchor of Carmel’s Center for the Performing Arts, the Pallaidium costs $126 million to complete. It includes 1,600 seats and boasts acoustic refinements throughout the hall.

Following a major capital campaign to which the Cook family of Bloomington contributed $17 million, Indiana Landmarks moves to the center, which originally was the building for Central Avenue Methodist Church.

The city commemorates the 10th anniversary of the tragedy with the dedication of the memorial. The structure contains two steel beams from Ground Zero in New York City.

Six years after the groundbreaking ceremony, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail is complete. The 8-mile urban bike and pedestrian path in downtown Indianapolis connects neighborhoods, cultural districts, and entertainment amenities. It also serves as the downtown hub for central Indiana’s greenway system.

NOPAL Cultural launches its first Dia de Muertos event at Studio B Gallery on Massachusetts Avenue. The organization begins its partnersip with the Eiteljorg Museum for the event in 2014.

The show, based in Indianapolis, is a weekly educational web series on YouTube that connects viewers to contemporary art through the artists who created it.

The feature-length film adaptation of local writer John Green’s book The Fault in Our Stars premieres at the Seattle Film Festival. It later opens number one at the box office. Set in Indianapolis, it features several iconic city locations. 

Chreece, a combination of “cheers” and “peace,” is a single-day festival created to bring together and celebrate hip-hop artists from Indiana and the Midwest.

The fair, held at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, provides a forum for regional artists to showcase and sell their work in a historically artistic setting.

The award recognizes the significant contributions she made to document Indiana’s Black heritage.

The young adult teenage detective story is set in Indianapolis.

Newfields becomes the home for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Fairbanks Park, The Garden, Lily House, and the Elder Greenhouse. Newfields’ Miller House and Garden extends the Newfields brand into southern Indiana.

The center, located in the library’s West Reading Room, features a collection of books, interactive displays, and research tools to aid in exploring the Black experience in Indianapolis.

Modeled after traditional German holiday markets, the Carmel holiday festival opens in center green at the Center for the Performing Arts.

The museum partners with IU Health’s Riley Children’s Hospital for its 7.5-acre “Sports Legends Experience” designed to encourage families to be active together. The collection of the National Art Museum of Sport transfers to the Children’s Museum as part of the project.

The Landmark for Peace memorial, site of Robert Kennedy Jr.’s famous 1968 speech upon the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., is designated the Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading organization of advancing the arts and arts education, presents Jiffy Lube of Indiana with the Arts and Business Partnership Awards for its “Every Part Matters” murals painted on the exterior walls of nine oil change locations in Central Indiana.

The Murals for Racial Justice Project, an initiative of the Arts Council of Indianapolis,  commissions 22 Black artists to create 24 temporary murals on boarded-up storefronts in downtown Indianapolis. The works are later recreated on banners displayed at the Central Library and available for educational use by the community.

A block party is organized by Indy10 BLM to celebrate the start of the Black Lives Matter street mural painted on Indiana Avenue between the Walker Theater and the Urban League. Funding for the project, which hires Black artists to complete each of the letters, is provided by the Indianapolis Urban League and the Central Indiana Community Foundation. The street will later be repaved, covering the mural, as part of the planned expansion of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

The Indiana State Museum opens “RESPONSE: Images and Sounds of a Movement,” which features six murals. The Arts Council of Indianapolis hosts “Art & Activism: One Year Later.” The Indianapolis Public Library holds a panel discussion with the previous summer’s mural artists and displays their work. 

Cultural development firm GangGang establishes the Black fine arts fair with the goal of making the city an arts destination while educating the public about Black fine art.

A legacy project of the Indianapolis Bicentennial Commission, the digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis updates and expands upon the original 1994 Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, adding new content to reflect developments in the culture and landscape of Indianapolis since 1994.

The Arts Council of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Bicentennial Commission partner with Rokh Research & Design Studio to complete an inventory that reveals 3,090 works of public art across Marion County.

The inclusion of 10 Black authors’ names whose works span pre-Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond are added to the walls of Central Library. The library aims to add additional names of authors of color in the years to come.

The Park Tudor graduate and inaugural 2019 Indianapolis Youth Poet Laureate is chosen among 65 finalists to become the National Youth Poet Laureate.

The exhibition is a collaboration between Newfields and the 18 artists who originally came together to paint the Black Lives Matter Murals on Indiana Avenue in August 2020. Open through September 24, 2023, it highlights the original works of each of them.