Each shelter will be comprised of ecoresin panels, which are made using 40% post-industrial re-grind content, mounted in a stainless steel frame. The shelters will be installed on TX Active photocatalytic cement pads. These pads will be self-cleaning and will help reduce many pollutants deemed harmful to human health and the environment.

Download the call for poets here or call 317.713.3333 for more information about the Cultural Trail public art program.

A call for poetry begins this week and submissions are due November 22, 2009. Published poets living in or with ties to Indiana are invited to submit work based on subjects such as community, neighborhoods, landmarks, shared spaces, transportation, history and the future. Poets must have published at least one poem in a print magazine or anthology prior to submitting work for “Moving Forward.” Selected poems may have been published previously.

Bloggers from the Indianapolis area are getting together at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Bloggers Anonymous at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Friday, April 24 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. In conjunction with AMP (Art Music People). If you’re a blogger, or want to be one, this is the world’s biggest blogging event held at an art museum.

Isn’t that a great photo? I love photography with unique perspectives or viewpoints that make you see things in a completely different way than you normally would otherwise.

Are you looking for some great photos of Indianapolis? Are you a photographer and would like to share your photos of Indianapolis with others?

There’s an I Choose Indy flickr group where you can both find and share great photos of Indianapolis with others. There’s even a great city street map with locations highlighted where photos exist.

A quick scan of the group gives you photos of the Indy skyline, local professional sports,  and many other great photos of local events and attractions.

Spirit & Place is a national model for engaging arts, humanities, and religion in collaborative action to promote civic engagement, respect for diversity, thoughtful reflection, public imagination, and enduring change in the communities where we live. It honors the places we call home and uses the traditions and creative capacities of individuals and organizations to help all citizens develop richer lives in community with each other.

Our mission is to serve as a catalyst for civic engagement and enduring change through creative collaborations among the arts, humanities, and religion.

See if any of these spark a bit of interest or curiosity for you, Imagining Creation, Bountiful Bowls, IMAGINE-nation, Re-used threads, Exploring Imagination, Imagine there’s no heaven, Sexuality & Imagination.

If by chance none of those really spoke to you, you can check-out a complete list of events on the Spirit & Place website.

This winter, the IMA will debut Winter Nights, a counterpart to the IMA’s popular Summer Nights film series. Winter Nights will feature classic films with familiar names. All films will be screened in the IMA’s Tobias Theater (aka The Toby) which will open this fall. (Which means…unlike Summer Nights, the IMA will provide the seats AND climate control.)

Below are some of the films that you will get to see this winter on The Toby’s big screen:

• The Maltese Falcon (dir. John Huston, 1941, 101 mins, B & W)
• La Dolce Vita (dir. Federico Fellini, 1960, 180 mins, B & W)
• The Bank Dick (dir. Edward F. Cline, 1940, 72 mins B & W)
• Blade Runner: The Final Cut (dir. Ridley Scott, 1982, Color)
• The General (dir. Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton, 1927, 75 mins, B & W) with live accompaniment by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.
• Lolita (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1962, 152 mins, B & W)

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL FOLKS! Back by popular demand – the IMA’s Film Poll. We want to know what you want to see. Polls close soon, and at that time the movie that has the most votes in each one of the categories below will be chosen for the 2009 Winter Nights Series. You can vote as often as you like, so vote every 15 minutes, every day or just once. It’s up to you, my friends!

I moved to Indianapolis from Denver quite a few years ago and have fond memories of the 16th Street Mall – a street closed to pedestrian traffic and free buses that moved between shops, restaurants and art stores. I’m so happy that Indianapolis is doing something similar – on a much grander scale!

Be sure to also check out the interactive Google map that I built for the folks.

This is going to add so much to this city!

• The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
• The Lilly Endowment
• The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation
• The Clowes Family Fund
• The Stephen and Tomisue Hilbert Foundation
• The Chrystel DeHann Family Foundation

The list goes on and on of local Indianapolis Philanthropic institutions that give millions of dollars a year to organizations here in Indy and around the world. Even our local community foundation, The Central Indiana Community Foundation, is world class. As one of our countries oldest community foundations, CICF consistently is one the nations best financially performing community foundations.

With such a vibrant and growing history of philanthropy in Indianapolis, it should be easy for anyone to see why we choose Indy to start a new non-profit designed to engage young people to become stakeholders in our community through volunteerism. Volunteerism is the essential first step for anyone’s personal development as a philanthropist. The goal of the Emergent Leadership Institute(ELI) is to help Indianapolis students find their path to civic engagement. Through our online volunteer center, www.helpindyonline.com(HIO), local young people (ages 14-24) can search our database of hundreds of volunteer listings, from over 120 different non-profits right here in Indy. In 2006 we were able to track over 520 students that HIO helped place in volunteer roles around the city. In the fall of 2007 we will be launching our second program, Community Access Points (CAPs), with our educational partners in the Lawrence school district. We believe this program will assist hundreds of students in Lawrence’s three high schools to become civically engaged.

There are no free lunches for non-profits here in Indy. Some of the funders on the list above, along with others, have graciously come along side us to support our values and goals. Those that haven’t, we are actively building relationships with in anticipation for the day when they throw their support our way.

We know over time the community and these funders will see that by the Emergent Leadership Institute engaging students as stakeholders in our community through volunteerism, that those same students will then become the next names added to the long legacy of philanthropist in Indianapolis that have help take care of this city.

I’m 38 years young and a native of Indianapolis. I grew up in the back room of a bakery (Wilson’s Donut & Bake Shop) on West 16^th Street just outside of Speedway. My family originated in the Whitestown / Zionsville area where they farmed land in nearby New Augusta. My best buddy, my grandmother, is 91 years of age these days and is full of stories about this wonderful city. She’s watched the city grow around us and she’s kept me informed throughout the years by saving nearly every news story that ever made it to her doorstep. Grandma knows I’m a collector of Indianapolis memorabilia. In fact, it is probably on the count of her interest in the city that I became so fascinated by it all. She’s always kept an eye out for me as she insures I never miss the latest news.

My grandma (Thelma is her name), wasn’t telling a tale when she insisted that she walked “…miles to and from school, up and down hill both ways, knee deep in the snow.” Perhaps she stretched the truth a bit when she mentioned the part about being “barefoot”, but nonetheless it is hard to believe there was once farmland that covered the entire Westside where Lafayette Square Mall, an abundance of businesses, and many different homes, condos, and apartment communities now reside.

As far back as I can recall, I remember my dad and grandfather at the bakery preparing for the nightshift delivery route. I think it was those moments in time that I remember the most as the memories that shaped my own impressions of the city. It was during the nightshift deliveries with my grandfather that I saw the worst of the city while yet; even then, somehow I dreamed that it may someday be so much better. As a child my mind was filled with wonder for how we may someday turn this city around. I barely understood what it was all about, but I knew that Indianapolis could be so much better than the boarded up windows, closing of stores, and prostitution that was common around 13^th, Alabama, and Pennsylvania Street.

Perhaps there was symbolism in the darkness that fell over the city during the night shift with grandpa as my early childhood exposures to the city left me feeling sad and often afraid. In fact, the most fear filled moments were in the times that my grandfather and I would descend the ramps of the parking garage of the Federal Building which in the wondering eyes of a child less than ten, seemed to be a deep plunging ride on a roller coaster to the tunnels in the underground. Perhaps one of my most frightening experiences of the nighttime delivery route was navigating the dark and dingy tunnels with a cart stacked high with boxes that carried dozens of freshly baked donuts to the cafeterias and offices that would soon open in the early morning hours.

With grandpa by my side, the city was dark and it always seemed cold. In the alleys behind the Indiana Bell Building was where I met face-to-face with my first rat that was as big as a cat and humongous bugs that were the size of my little boy’s sneakers. These were the creatures that could only be seen at night, or so it seemed.

But it wasn’t all bad. The best part about the route was stopping off at Peppy’s Grill for a piping hot scrambled egg sandwich with lots of mayonnaise on fresh white bread. I’d sit in the truck and wait as grandpa would run in to drop off the donuts, say “Hello” to his friends, and return with my early morning treat.

As I grew older, I listened to all the rhetoric about the “hole in the ground” – the Circle Center Mall. At that time, Mayor Goldsmith and others were working to revitalize the city and back then the citizens were in disbelief that the proposed changes were a good thing. While city leaders wrangled and news media bantered the propaganda back and forth, the taxpayers cared only about who was going to pay for the emerging changes within the city. Even then, I knew the potential for this city was great.

Today, I’m the proud owner of a buisness and a custom built home that are both located in downtown Indianapolis in revitalization neighborhoods. My home, located just to the east in the emerging neighborhood of Holy Cross, is situated high above the city on a piece of land that appraisers have suggested is second only to Crown Hill Cemetery, as the highest piece of land in the city. I designed my home with an entire back wall of windows from ground to roof where I am fortunate to have one of the best panoramic views of the city skyline. From almost every room of my home, I have observed the metamorphosis of this great city for the past five years.

It’s hard to believe from where we came, to where we are today, Indianapolis is thriving with positive change. From my view above the city, I’ve watched as the construction cranes have emerged and disappeared, signaling progress on every side of town.

I’ve watched the city give birth to condos on Mass Ave. on the eastern side of the city, the new library renovations in the center, the new life sciences buildings, the new School of Informatics, and many other construction projects that are currently underway on the IUPUI campus to the west. I’m excitedly awaiting the assembly of the retractable roof on the Lucas Oil Stadium as I can see the infrastructure going into place directly to the southwest which is the exact same angle in which I observed the new Simon Office Building and the Conrad Hotel as they emerged into the skyline.

I’m anxiously awaiting the final outcomes of the plans that will bring new life to the Market Square Arena property to the south. In fact I’m hoping this will be the project that will balance out the shape of the city skyline as Riley Towers can be seen as two candle sticks to the North which, from my view, seems to be perpendicular to the MSA property. I’m also excited to note that City Market will soon emerge as a new and exciting place to be.

With new buildings — comes people. With more people — comes economic strength. Perhaps most important to me is our successful emergence in arts and cultural diversity. Who ever said “…there’s more than corn in Indiana” could not have had any idea how much more there would someday be in Indianapolis. With arts, cultural diversity, innovation, science, sports, conferences, tourism, and academics, I can think of only one thing that will make this great city even better — mass transportation (which I hear is on the way!!)

As a downtown resident, a recent graduate of the IUPUI School of Informatics (also located downtown), and the President & CEO of a rapidly growing medical animation and video production firm (www.medicalanimatics.com) with offices near the center of the city, I Choose Indy because it’s a great place to call home, to start a business, to explore arts, culture, and diversity, to study, to connect to others, and to pursue dreams.

My grandmother is proud that I Choose Indy. If I could only see my grandfather once again, I’d take him on one final loop on the night time delivery route around the city where we’d even stop off at Peppy’s Grill and enjoy a scrambled egg and mayonnaise delicacy for old time’s sake. We would sit and talk about the old times and all the amazing changes that have happened in this city. And, I know that grandpa would be impressed with all the people that we would see in the center of town, even after dark. No longer is the night time in the city a place to be afraid. As a matter of fact…night time is one of the best times for catching up with friends for fun around the town. I Choose Indy – and so should you!

Medical Animatics, Inc.
State-of-the-art 3D animation, video, and application development for medical, health education, science, and sports.
1321 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 536.6035