A celebration of the arts, humanities, and religion.

The Spirit & Place Festival is a multi-day festival of events independently created and hosted by the community and supported by the Spirit & Place organization, which is housed on the campus of IU-Indianapolis.

Festival Schedule:

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Growing Gratitude: Celebrate, Connect, and Care for Creation

ASL & Spanish Language Interpreted.
ASL assistance provided by IUI’s Program in American Sign Language (ASL) and English Interpreting

Join in a joyful celebration to show our deep appreciation and connection with each other and Mother Earth. Listen and share stories and songs. Dance, breathe, move, create, and even cook in an expression of gratitude for the earth, skies, seas, and all living creatures.

Children, teens, and their families will enjoy a story with IndyPL library staff and also have an opportunity for creative expression and acts of service or advocacy with our event partners. Activities might include listening to and/or participating in songs, dance, artwork, planting seeds or harvesting from the gardens outside of the church. Attendees might make a refrigerator sign or discover cooking ideas to help prevent food waste. Families might even make treats for animals, engage in yoga, make a craft out of recyclable materials, write a thank you letter to the earth or an advocacy letter to an elected official.

Location: Friedens United Church of Christ, 8300 S. Meridian St., Indianapolis, 46217

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Adventures in Gratitude

Discovering new ways to express “thanks” can be an exciting adventure! This self-directed open-house event for all ages invites us to experience gratitude for small things and the big things using our bodies, minds, voices, and spirits.

This event recognizes gratitude is not just something we feel, but something we do—and it is something that multiplies when we share it with others. Join us and expand your toolbox for “doing” gratitude!

Upon arrival guests will receive a map containing descriptions of the event spaces open for exploration. Singing, moving, writing, visual art, and meditation—explore it all for as long (or little) as you wish! Each person or family group is invited to choose what calls to them. For example, creating gratitude-focused lyrics for simple call and response songs, writing or drawing a thank-you note, expressing thanks in movement, or sitting in peaceful quiet.

Location: Irvington Presbyterian Church, 55 Johnson Ave., Indianapolis, 46219

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm & 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Balsa Wood, a play by Lou Harry

On the road away from rather than toward anything, Robin finds refuge in the home of Carrie, an iconoclast with an open heart and an open door, who provides a place—without judgment—for human strays. An audience-inclusive discussion about unspoken gratitude will follow the performance.

Intimately staged for a limited number of audience members at each performance, Balsa Wood centers on characters struggling with their pasts and finding connection with those who, on the surface, are different from themselves. Yes, it has intense moments, but it also has humor and provides a chance to see through the surfaces of those who seem unfamiliar.

In a post-performance discussion, audience members are invited to become part of an open discussion about unspoken gratitude and people they’ve known or witnessed who have done something for others without expectation or acknowledgement.

Location: Super Tortas, 2641 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, 46222