Historic Spaces

Buildings, monuments, and spaces carry the history of our city. They are the symbols we point to to tell the stories of our past-- the wars fought, the decisive events, and the place our grandmothers went to school. These buildings, whether carefully preserved or in a state of disrepair, serve a similar function as archives in a museum. They signal the collective memory of the city as we walk or drive past these public tributes to a moment or a group of people in history.  

Resounding Color, Nathan Foxton, Oil on Canvas, 2017

Downtown Indianapolis is full of historic structures, including the Indiana World War Memorial and Museum and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. The Sailors and Soldiers Monument in Monument Circle, in particular, serves as a symbol of Indianapolis itself as it occupies a central position in the heart of the city. Harrison Center artists have attempted to capture its iconicity, rendering it in a variety of mediums, over multiple years, and from various perspectives.  

Paintings from Left to Right: Sunday Morning by Jed Dorsey; Soldiers and Sailors Monument by Courtland Blade, Sunday Morning Light by Anna Afshar. The monument was finished and dedicated on May 15, 1902, with Episode 3 of the podcast on Historic Spaces airing on its anniversary.

It’s not only the government funded buildings designed by globally-renowned architects that tell a city’s story-- it’s the historic homes, churches, old libraries, and, say, the local stables for a Sanitary Milk Plant.

The Polk Stables is the last remaining portion of the Polk Sanitary Milk Plant which was torn down in the 1960s. The building was built in the early 1890s and continued to influence and nourish the surrounding community for the next half century. While today it stands as an unassuming brick building at the corner of Lewis and 15th Street, its story and local importance captured the attention of us at the Harrison Center and have inspired a number of art projects and initiatives. Resident artist Abi Ogle installed and painted milk bottles on the building’s filled in windows; magnetic polka dots were installed on the large metal door, referencing Andy Warhol’s pop art interpretation of the company’s logo; and a music video was filmed inside the empty first floors. “Polka Hip Hop,” one of the songs featured on Episode 3 of the podcast Music in Place, was created by DJ and music producer Matt Hale, mixing vintage polka records with modern beats to merge the German heritage of many of the early residents with the later African American history of the neighborhood.

Recently, Bruce Buescher, an architect and artist who completed a residency at the Harrison Center, created a short film that blended a time lapse of the building as it stands today with photos from the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood over the last century. As part of our social distance art  initiatives, the film was projected on the side of the Polk Stables building and served as a drive-in theatre. 

Indianapolis is full of historic spaces-- monuments we construct on purpose to mark a moment in history and buildings that become historic because of who lived there or what it came to mean for a community. Some structures, like the Indiana World War Memorial, tell us the story; other buildings, like the Polk Stables or a historic home, need their story told, by neighbors and artists to remind us who we are as a people and as a city.

Learn more about place based music honoring our city in Episode 3 of Music in Place with Macy Lethco, linked below!

Listen to the playlist of songs from Episode 3!