2017 Polis Center Annual Report 2017 Polis Center Annual Report | Page 16

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Ebenezer Baptist Church for its event,
Riverside Speaks, which brought together the
neighborhood’s past, present and future.
• Notable products and original materials created
because of the festival:
>A story map documenting the lives of local
refugees created by The Polis Center.
>A “how-to” on creating school or
community center programs that honor
the earth.
>A script created by The Sapphire Theatre
Company that facilitates dialogue on the
moral injury experienced by veterans.
Community Engagement & Capacity Building
• New collaborations brokered by Spirit & Place
will have lasting impact on several organizations
and the communities they serve. For example,
we helped the South Eastside Working
Class Task Force move from two years of
conversation to action. With our coaching, they
won a $1,000 grant from Indiana Humanities’
All IN Block Party program and partnered
with a local school to create an event exploring
the Appalachian roots and history of their
community. More than 125 students and their
families participated.
• Homes Before Highways: Communities Under the Exit
Ramp, coordinated by anthropology professor
Sue Hyatt in the School of Liberal Arts, was an
Awesomeness Award nominee in the festival
(building community category) that brought
attention to a little-known community that has
now been displaced by highways. Significantly,
one of the participants (who also attended
the Gentrify series) was inspired to begin the
Babe-Denning Working Class Task Force.
• A year-long discussion series called Gentrify:
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly drew over 400
community members. This youth-facilitated
event addressed issues ranging from cultural
classes to the difference between equitable
development and economic development.
Each discussion featured local voices and
national experts (via Skype) with robust
public discussion. This effort included an
online resource document, received front
page coverage from The Indianapolis Recorder
and NUVO, and launched an independent
community task group called From the Ground
Up, which continues to discuss relevant issues.
• The Civic Challenge partnership with Indiana
Humanities reached 89 people and featured:
>ALL IN for Civic Health, which shared
non-partisan information and resources tied
to voter registration and voting.
>Project on Civic Reflection workshop on
civic reflection dialogue practices, which uses
a short text, object, or video to prompt
conversation about underlying values, beliefs,
and assumptions.
• The Before I Die Festival, the first such festival
in the US, was a project of the IU School of
Nursing that was powered by Spirit & Place. The
Spirit & Place program director consulted on the
festival framework; connected the school with
cultural, humanities, and civic organizations;
drafted the project timeline and project director
job description; and helped build the school’s
capacity for public events. This festival occurred
April 15-17, coinciding with National Healthcare
Decision Day, and reaching 784 attendees
through 27 events that explored how we
approach death and dying. Events included book
and film discussions, cemetery tours, art exhibits,
pop-up “death cafes,” and more, plus a resource
guide.
• Darrell Nicholson, Clinical Assistant Professor
of Architectural Technology at IUPUI, asked the
Spirit & Place community engagement director
to recommend a creative and challenging
capstone project for his class. We connected
them with The Learning Tree and Indy Parks,
which were exploring the possibility of
converting an old fire station for community use.
Nicholson’s class took on the project, creating
more than 20 options for consideration. This
positive experience led Nicholson to engage a
second capstone class in another redevelopment
project (a 100+ year fire station in a different
neighborhood). Both projects will serve as stable
neighborhood anchors and significantly impact
the quality of life for local residents.
Budget and Funders
The operating budget for the festival was $359,598,
including in-kind services valued at $53,940. Major
funders included Lilly Endowment Inc.; Allen
Whitehall Clowes Charitable Trust, Inc.; Bohlsen
Group; The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF
affiliate; Christel DeHaan Family Foundation;
Christian Theological Seminary; and IUPUI,
among others.
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