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:

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm: Awe: A Spirit & Place Festival Book Discussion

Ahead of this year’s Public Conversation, take a deep dive into Dacher Keltner’s book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. Join us for a cross-cultural, multi-generational dialogue as we explore how we might tap into the power of everyday awe. Book club-style conversation led by Dr. David Craig and artist Rachel Hellmann.

Dacher Keltner has spent his career studying emotions such happiness, gratitude, and awe. His research, and the research of others, shows how messy human emotions are, in fact, messy for a reason. Humans evolved a complex range of emotions — including gratitude and awe — to help us find connections that exist between our individual selves and our communities. As Keltner writes in The Gratitude Project, “Gratitude depends on the humble dependence on others.” And, in Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life, he writes, “Awe enables us to see the systems underlying the wonders of life and locate ourselves in relation to them.” This discussion invites attendees to explore these connections.

Location: MTI School of Knowledge, 4950 W. 34th Street, Indianapolis, 46205

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm: The Cultural Construction of Gratitude

While the act of gratitude is universal, its expression is based on cultural norms. Our event invites you to learn about and explore how different cultures express gratitude through interactive vignettes and meaningful conversation.

“Gratitude” seems simple enough, but when you layer in different cultural interpretations, it becomes far more nuanced than one might expect. A politeness learned from an early age in one cultural setting may be seen as rudeness in another. In three short vignettes, audience members will experience scenes from different cultures illustrating various ways gratitude may be expressed. At one point the scene will freeze and a narrator will invite the audience into the scene, first by asking what they saw then by engaging the various actors (who will remain in character) in dialogue. The audience will have an opportunity to experience how different communities view gratitude and its expression while building their own cultural competencies.

Location: Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, 600 W. 70th Street, Indianapolis, 46260

3:00 pm - 5:00 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

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm: A Blessing, not a Burden with Alex Kor and Graham Honaker

ASL provided by students in IUI’s Program in American Sign Language (ASL) and English Interpreting

By all accounts, Dr. Alex Kor’s life has been a miracle. The son of two Holocaust survivors, including the Mengel twin Eva Kor, Alex will discuss his book A Blessing, Not a Burden. Co-author Graham Honaker and Troy Fears of CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center join the discussion.

Eva Kor, Alex Kor’s mother, was known for her controversial choice to forgive the Nazis. She did not forgive them on behalf of anyone but herself, and her choice to forgive was a way of giving herself peace and freedom from anger. During this event, Alex Kor will explore what it was like being raised by two Holocaust survivors who also experienced immigration to the United States, continued antisemitism, and post-traumatic stress. Through it all, Alex has retained a deep sense of gratitude for his upbringing and life’s journey.

Location: Arthur M Glick JCC – Laikin Auditorium, 6701 Hoover Rd., Indianapolis, IN

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Heiliger Dankgesang: Notes of Gratitude. Music by Biber, Clark, Haydn, and Beethoven

Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (ICO) musicians Alfred and Colette Abel will be joined by their children Benjamin and Clara for an afternoon of masterworks expressing gratitude through music. Join us in giving thanks for this sacred space, transcendent music, and life’s gifts.

Heiliger Dankgesang: Notes of Thanks is an exploration of gratitude through music by the Abel Family Quartet.

The cornerstone of the program is Beethoven’s String Quartet op. 132, of which the transcendent middle movement, “Holy Hymn of Thanksgiving” stands as the heart of the work. Written in the final years of his life, Beethoven grapples with his own mortality, ultimately finding joy and gratitude for the gifts of life and the return to health after a life-threatening illness. Complimenting this, the program will also include works by Biber, Haydn’s “Emperor” variations, and Richard Auldon Clark’s “Mabon.”

Location: Episcopal Church of All Saints, 1559 Central Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46202