Visionaries
The Harrison Center, in partnership with Indianapolis Power & Light Company, are pleased to present “Visionaries”, a public art installation by Owens + Crawley a local artistic team comprised of Quincy Owens and Luke Crawley. The four sculptural pieces, installed on light posts along E. 16th Street between the Monon Trail and Dr. Andrew J. Brown Ave., were designed to complement PreEnactIndy, a celebration of Monon 16 to take place on Saturday, October 7 from 10am to 5pm. This Indianapolis theater and arts collaboration is the first of its kind and will serve as a national model for creative placemaking and neighborhood revitalization.
For the Visionaries project, Owens said they wanted to create a unique visual marker for Tinker Street, harkening back to the way that lampposts used to identify particular districts. The design and colors were chosen to pay homage to the stained glass you might see in one of the many churches located in Martindale-Brightwood. The sculptures will be named to honor St. Rita Parish, New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, St. John Missionary Baptist Church and St. John African Methodist Episcopal. These institutions' rich histories reach as far back as the late 1800s. Playing significant roles in the civil rights movement, these congregations have impacted and continue to impact the community in myriad ways.
About PreEnactIndyPreEnactment theater envisions a neighborhood that OUGHT to be—just, equitable, and economically vibrant. PreEnactIndy's stage is an entire three blocks of 16th Street from the Monon to Andrew J. Brown. Every vacant lot/building, existing business, street lane and sidewalk is part of the stage. Set designers will build temporary facades on the vacant lots and spruce up abandoned buildings. Actors will portray an equitable way of living and will model a neighborhood that is revitalized, but is also inclusive. Partners from the professional theater community include the IRT, Ashante Children’s Theater, NoExit, Sapphire, Freetown Village, and many more. Three schools and 20 neighborhood groups are also participating.
The performance is Saturday, October 7 from 10-5. Free and open to the public, the event will blur the lines between a community festival and theater production.Unique and vibrant communities benefit the whole city. Actors, artists and designers will replace blight and vacancy with active businesses that the neighborhood wants and needs, that are accessible to the whole community.
About Owens + CrawleyOwens + Crawley meld art and science to create sound and light sculpture, both site specific installations, and permanent public art. Owens creates abstract work out of a spontaneous spirit-filled place that taps into a universal human connection. Crawley deliberately dissects, analyzes and categorizes segments of sound, light and/or visual elements to quantify in order to rearrange them into new, well thought-out systems. Both artists work from different realms of the mind, each providing part of the complete existence of human reality. This is the second public art installation along historic Tinker Street (the historic name for what is now 16th Street) for Owens + Crawley. In 2013, the team installed “Colonization of Community” at the 16 Park Apartments. This sculptural installation includes an audio component incorporating the voices of neighborhood residents expressing their hopes and dreams for their community.
