The Arts Council of Indianapolis seeks more than 300 central Indiana-based artists to activate downtown Indy with new outdoor art, music, and cultural experiences for residents, fans, and visitors as the city welcomes 68 NCAA men’s basketball tournament teams from across the nation in March. The initiative will put a spotlight on the city’s creative talent for local, national, and international audiences, while offering paid opportunities to artists who have suffered severe income losses during the pandemic. 

The deadlines to submit information are February 15 for visual art opportunities and 17 for performers.

Artists can learn more about the opportunities in the Indy Arts Guide’s classifieds section. Artists or teams of artists are sought to:

Present dance, music, spoken word, and other performances in public spaces such as Monument Circle, Lugar Plaza, and Georgia Street and other pop-up locations. 

Provide existing visual artwork and literary art/poetry to be installed via high-quality digital reproductions in vacant downtown storefront windows. 

Create new, temporary, site-specific art interventions in vacant downtown windows and storefronts to serve as colorful backdrops.

Create dimensional, interactive, 10×10-foot basketball-court themed murals in four central locations. 

The arts and culture experiences are being led by volunteers on the Final Four Local Organizing Committee’s “Welcome Committee” including representatives from Through2Eyes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Yelp, Arts Council of Indianapolis, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Indy Chamber & Indy Music Strategy, Indiana State Fair, and Rottmann Collier Architects. Together with the Arts Council, the Welcome Committee is working with The Indianapolis Cultural Trail as Executive Producer and Venue Host for the performing arts series and the storefront series is a partnership with Downtown Indy.   

In addition to individual artists, the Arts Council will also work with creative collaborators, curators, production talent, and community partners in this programming including: GangGang, Indy Jazz Fest, Indy Music Strategy, Musical Family Tree, Rokh, St’artUp317, Indianapolis Movement Arts Collective, Classical Music Indy, Indiana Black Expo, the Indianapolis Public Library Center for Black Literature & Culture, and Arte Mexicano en Indiana. 

These art activations are part of a city-wide effort to enhance and promote downtown Indianapolis during March Madness, and ensure a welcoming and safe environment. Indiana Sports Corp received a $905,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to fund these and other beautification/vibrancy efforts led by civic partners including Indiana Sports Corp, Visit Indy, Downtown Indy, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, IndyHub, Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick, the Indianapolis Urban League, Indiana Humanities, Indianapolis Airport Authority, and the Arts Council of Indianapolis.