Place-Based
Residencies & Fellowships
We design our Place-Based Residency and Fellowship programs to nurture creativity and provide essential resources that help participants realize their visions.
This program focuses on collaboration and innovation, and offers studio space, mentorship, and community connections.
Join us in celebrating the transformative power of art while contributing to a vibrant cultural landscape.
The Harrison Center is proud to offer residency and fellowship opportunities for artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs, made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other funders. These opportunities vary in duration, from 48 hours up to one year.
Explore projects from over the years.
Deep Currents
In 2022, the Harrison Center and Nabil Ince/Seaux Chill received the Joyce Award for an 18-month music residency to produce Deep Currents. This five-movement audiovisual art piece celebrates the past, present, and future of Black Indianapolis. The project specifically looks at the stretch from Martindale-Brightwood to Riverside, and celebrates the flow of Black culture across our city.
The Harrison Center hosted the project and presented it to the Indianapolis community through a partnership with GANG GANG, BLACK: A Festival of Joy, and the Madam Walker Legacy Center.
Greatriarchs
In 2018, Artist Abi Ogle spent time with long-term residents of the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood on their porches, listening and sketching their portraits while they talked. Over a series of residencies, Abi painted eighteen 6x4-foot paintings of these neighbors informed by visual themes drawn from African American art history, to hang along the 16th Street corridor in the Hillside area of Martindale-Brightwood.
Other artists, Danielle Harrell, Cierra Johnson, and Tashema Davis, added to this body of work. The Greatriarch Project has grown to include portraits of 47 long-term residents and a variety of projects that remind us that every neighbor has a story that deserves to be heard.
Learn more about this project and find out how to get involved.
Winter Window Walk
In 2015, artist in residence Stefan Eicher led a team of artists to transform the Harrison Center's street-level windows into imaginative displays. Since then, annual installations have dazzled, including a working miniature Ferris wheel and a display that created a warm and snuggly home for live kittens to spur community adoption.
The Winter Window Walk has continued every winter since as a free, self-guided experience that visitors can enjoy from dusk to dawn from November through February. This annual contest consists of a juried panel and public voting to award cash prizes, which takes place at the December First Friday event.
Music
Music created by Harrison Center fellows and residents embodies a rich tapestry of cultural narratives, reflecting the diverse experiences of the Indianapolis community.
Podcasts
The Polklore Podcast is a four-part podcast series created by Michelle Andrea, the first fellow of the Polk Fellowship program. It was thoughtfully created to illuminate the impactful work carried out under the Polk Fellowships and Polklore Micro-Museum.
Music in Place is a podcast that focuses on place-based music. The songs you'll hear on Music in Place have been specifically written by resident musicians at the Harrison Center to celebrate Indy, its culture, people, and history.
Videos
During his three-month fellowship, videographer Asa Gauen launched a series of videos providing an in-depth look at studio artists’ creative processes and workspaces. Since then, Asa relocated from NYC to Indianapolis, became a Harrison Center studio artist, and launched Yardbox Films. His "Studio Visits" series has continued with the help of other interns and fellows.
Explore more visual narratives created by Harrison Center fellows, residents, and interns, highlighting various projects, performances, and collaborative efforts that celebrate Indianapolis's rich cultural history.