Hoosiers may be humble, but All-Star artists make sure Indiana's stories get their due
Indiana will be synonymous with basketball this weekend, one inextricable from the other. It's always been this way, of course, and there's plenty of famous proof, like the Milan Miracle that gave way to the film "Hoosiers" and the Oscar Robertson-led Crispus Attucks team that became the first from a Black school to win a state championship.
The platform for these and many more stories for NBA All-Star is Indianapolis, a city that continually stands in league with its larger event-hosting peers but one whose cultural variety isn't always given its due in national conversations. Hoosiers are humble, but make no mistake: The impacts of today's and yesterday's residents ripple throughout the country.
This weekend, Indiana creatives are more than happy to tell those stories through free entry to concerts and art installations — sometimes glowing, sometimes painted, sometimes sculpted — all over downtown. And they'll do so with a depth that illuminates not only the state's love of basketball but the way the sport has shaped families, culture, rivalries and rights.
All-Star Weekend things to do: Your guide to Indianapolis entertainment, concerts and free events
"We have a different mindset. People are always saying how we're so humble here and we're more personable and more approachable, which I think is a true testament to what we do but also that we're not just people that are just on a video or a picture or a song," said Oreo Jones, a member of the All-Star Arts and Culture Committee.
"I feel like there's a story behind everyone, and it's bigger than just the music itself."
'A place that has unique culture'
As a lifelong Pacers fan, artist Mike Graves has noted basketball insiders' and fans' respect for the team that was an American Basketball Association dynasty before it joined the NBA.
That said, those who aren't in the know have had a tendency to misunderstand Indianapolis. The long-running Indiana Beach commercial slogan — "There IS more than corn in Indiana" — brings its share of ribbing every summer, Graves said.
"They think the cornfields stop on the other side of Meridian," he said with a laugh.
While farming and motorsports remain points of pride, Hoosier artists are telling stories that have flown under the radar nationally. And the city is expanding on the way it's incorporated entertainment into sporting events, harnessing art, music, fashion and more into four days, said Julia Muney Moore, the Indy Arts Council's director of public art.
"It was like, how do we tell (people) who we are? And that's kind of a different focus since the (2012) Super Bowl, of letting people know that they're in a place that has a unique culture and to elevate the makers of that culture," she said.
The ways artists are telling Hoosier stories are as personal as they are nationally relevant. Twenty-four big moments fill gigantic basketball sculptures, street art reverberates along sidewalk galleries, and projections glow on the sides of buildings.
The green and gold paint strokes Kevin James Wilson applied to the basketball sculpture honoring Crispus Attucks' state championship are rooted in his study of art there. Artist Shaunt'e Lewis illustrated family basketball dynasties, Koda Witsken explored Indiana's influence on Title IX, and Kyle Ragsdale depicted the state's talent pipeline to the pros.
And Graves, who is the co-curator of the All-Star sidewalk galleries, worked on a piece full of Easter eggs for Pacers fans as part of the art painted under the Pennsylvania and Delaware rail underpasses.
Indy artist hopes momentum is 'contagious to creatives in other markets'
The members of the Eighteen Artist Collective, which formed after painting the 2020 Black Lives Matter mural on Indiana Avenue, are among the 30 local and national artists who made 39 pieces that will be shown at a special edition of Butter, the Black fine art fair that launched in 2021 and has built equity into its business model.
Some Butter artists have infused sculpture, photography, paintings and other mediums with basketball — how it has influenced families, culture and community, said Deonna Craig, the fine art fair's director, whose abstract works in the exhibit are inspired by the electricity of a sports crowd and women's contributions to basketball.
"There are a lot of dreamers in Indiana and a lot of stories to be told just about life as a person of color in Indiana, the art scene here in Indianapolis, how what we're calling a cultural renaissance is happening," Craig said. "So if we can kind of show the rest of the nation what has taken place in just a short three-and-a-half, four years here — it's just us coming together and putting our foot down and saying this is how we as creatives want to be treated. This is what we can contribute to our city, and now we're seeing the fruits of that labor.
"If we could kind of be contagious to other creatives in other markets, what could a nationwide creative takeover look like? That's what we're aiming towards."
Hip-hop festival Chreece has steadily grown as well, and its return during the All-Star Game will showcase local names alongside a big national one: Sonny Digital, who's worked with Drake and Gucci Mane.
The musicians will be at Nap City: The Basement inside The Suite, which is set up in the former Rock Bottom near Washington and Meridian streets. The venue nods to the BET show "Rap City." Among those on the bill are Maxie, the creator of the Nap or Nothing clothing store, and Double A, who foundedNaptown Thrift. Jones, who founded Chreece, notes their community involvement as he talks about their ability to match talent on the coasts.
"What we have to offer is amazing artists, musicians, people that are the lifeblood that make this city so great," he said.
Indianapolis artists 'can be seen and heard without having to move away'
Visitors and residents alike will see Hoosier creatives' work alongside national counterparts across downtown. Not only will local talent prove itself, organizers say it will offer a larger platform for everyone else to see it, too.
Since Ganggang first launched Butter, it has aimed to include more Black Hoosier artists in the national dialogue, and All-Star is a major opportunity toward that goal, Craig said. The weekend also will show young artists that they can stay here and create street art — a medium that has been embraced more by society and the NBA as the years have gone by, Graves said.
"You can grow up here being a graffiti artist and do big public works for major sporting events and be seen and heard without having to move away," he said. "And you can have respect when you go somewhere else and you say you're from Indianapolis."
During a weekend known for exclusive parties, celebrities and brands, the price to experience this high-quality art is free, Jones said. And that points to another attribute Indiana artists can share about their home: Hoosier hospitality.
"With the Super Bowl and All-Star and all these big events, there's a lot of exclusivity and there's a lot of these parties that are either really expensive or you've probably got to know someone (who knows) someone to be able to go," Jones said.
"I think it's always important with what we're doing and what folks are doing around places (to) add inclusivity."
If you go
Find an overview of free All-Star art and music: Includes times, dates and locations at tinyurl.com/5n84aak3
Find the art installations: A map to the giant Hoosier Historia basketball sculptures is at indyarts.org/all-star-2024, where you'll also find details about more All-Star art.
Special edition of Butter: Feb. 16-18 at the Indianapolis Artsgarden above Illinois and Washington streets. Free with RSVP at tinyurl.com/5e3h8sy4.
Chreece Presents: Nap City the Basement: In The Suite, with the Henderson Bar, International Marketplace Food Hall offerings, comedy by Made Man Improv and retail curated by Cargo Streetwear Boutique. Feb. 16-18 in the former location of Rock Bottom near Washington and Meridian streets. Free with RSVP at tinyurl.com/36p3y7em.
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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NBA All-Star Weekend Indianapolis: Local artists tell Indiana's story
