PEOPLE + PROPERTY PEOPLE + PROPERTY

With love and gratitude to all the good neighbors, friends, and participants of the House Life Project.

June 2018

PEOPLE + PROPERTY Additional programming support from INTRODUCTION 2015 through 2017 contributed by: Project Leader: Meredith Brickell Amanda Boyd Dear Readers...... 2 Creative Editor, Community Engagement Amy Gastelum What Have We Learned from Coordinator: Twinkle Van Winkle Andy Beck The House Life Project?...... 4 Curator: Laura Holzman Ann Marie Elliott Photographer/Filmmaker: Benjamin Martinkus HISTORY Kurtis Bowersock Bernny Owens Editorial Assistant: Bailey Shannon Brent Aldrich Eureka Street Curatorial Assistant: Madison Hinks Carl Gordon by Jordan Ryan...... 7 Design: PRINTtEXT Carmen DeRusha Cars and Crickets DePauw Research Assistants: Christopher Williams by Sara Baldwin...... 10 Gracie White, Aerial Patterson CoraLyn Turentine A History of Building Structures Danicia Monet by Chris Hill...... 13 Danielle Graves Generous support from the following Porch Parties...... 14 Derek Dalton funders over the past three years have Early Tinsley made this publication possible: Elle Roberts SPACE Fair Creek Films Efroymson Family Fund Fashawn Moore Along A Flyway Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust Felice Salmon by Manon Voice...... 17 DePauw University Fiona McDonald Flexible Fence IUPUI Museum Studies Program Gomez BBQ by John Clark...... 20 Indiana Humanities Gordon’s Ice Cream A List of Things To Do Eskenazi Health Jennifer Delgadillo in a Vacant House...... 21 Buckingham Foundation Jessica Kartawich Penrod Society Jingo de la Rosa WELLNESS The HLP Community Joey Ponce John Franklin Hay The Street Where We All Live Kara Heingartner Project Partners: by Twinkle VanWinkle...... 23 Katie Hudnall Spoonful Meal by Brittany Pendleton Katy Kuchler Renew Indianapolis Katy Renn and Bailey Shannon...... 24 iMOCA Leana Kruska HLP Recommended Readings...... 28 Lukas Schooler Thanks to Kurtis Bowersock, Katy Marvea Hill EQUITY Kuchler, Jessica Kartawich, and Kara Mat Davis Heingartner, our HLP photographers who Micah Wilson Black Spaces in White America carefully and consistently documented Mix Masters LLC by Danicia Monét...... 31 people, events, and projects over the Molly Trueblood Told/Retold past three years, and to the many other NoExit Performance by Andrea Jandernoa...... 34 community members who helped pro- Paula Katz What Does It Mean To Be vide additional images for this publica- Rabble Coffee a Good Neighbor?...... 36 tion. Randolph Loney Ray Duffey MOVEMENT Re-Generation Indy Rosie’s Ribs Movement to Humanity Scarlett Andrews Martin Shelley Given by Tatjana Rebelle...... 39 Stefanie and Paul Krievens Parade2017 (HLP Adaptation) Stephen Ball by Rebecca Pappas...... 40 Stevie Barlow How to Make a Mobile Garden StreamLines by Bailey Shannon...... 42 Teresa Brown The Bonfire Radio Theater Ensemble CHANGE Thomas Burnett About the House Life Project Too Black A Poem for Change Ty Higgs by Sharla Steiman...... 45 We are a community of artists and resi- Valerie Davis Sounds We Return Are New Again dents who use vacant houses to create Wes Janz by Jordan Munson...... 46 art inspired by the neighborhood. Wil Marquez A List of Things To Do Yadin Kol With This Newspaper...... 48 www.houselifeproject.org Zaviera Garth DEAR READERS

Welcome to the House Life Project’s People + Property. This pub- This and many other questions informed the trajectory of the HLP lication is a partial record of the creative work done for and at the as the project developed and changed over three years. This inqui- House Life Project (HLP) site, with specific emphasis on the 2017 ry-based approach was complemented by the HLP’s flexible and People + Property Series (P+P). Some of you have been deeply in- collaborative structure, which created space for anyone with ideas volved in the HLP and others may be hearing about this Near East- and initiative to contribute to the project. side initiative for the first time. Below is a bit of background that might be helpful. The HLP gained access to properties through a partnership with Re- new Indianapolis, the local land bank. The HLP relocated from one THE HOUSE LIFE PROJECT house to another when a property was sold. The project moved from 804 Eastern Avenue to 818 N. Tacoma Avenue in 2016, and then to From 2015 through 2017, the House Life Project worked with neigh- 605 N. Tacoma Avenue in 2017. bors to activate vacant houses with arts-based programming. Over three seasons and in three different properties, the HLP hosted more 2017: PEOPLE+PROPERTY SERIES than fifty artists, writers, and designers; provided art workshops for neighborhood residents; built and grew a mobile garden; hosted From May through October of 2017, the HLP People + Property community conversations about housing and neighborhood change; Series explored race and ethnicity as related to issues of vacant and helped connect neighbors with local social service agencies. housing. This work was guided by six key themes—history, space, wellness, equity, movement, and change—which informed monthly Community Conversations facilitated by local residents, organizers, “If these houses, many of which and activists who contributed their leadership, professional exper- tise, and personal experience. As an extension of the Community have been unoccupied for more Conversations, the HLP commissioned writers and artists to gener- than a decade, are going to remain ate creative works that explored a wide range of perspectives and questions about housing, race, and ethnicity. empty for a few years or more, These projects form the structure of this publication. We’re excited 605 North Tacoma Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46201 what can we do with them in the to share—for the first time—the poems and essays by our P+P writ- HLP location from April 2017 to October 2017 ers. The artists presented their projects at the HLP house between meantime with the people who live May and October 2017, and we’ve documented aspects of their in this community now?” work in this publication. Following the themes of P+P, we’ve also included other snippets reflecting the HLP’s activities. Look inside for images, lists, essays, and activities that share a sampling of the The HLP was established in 2015 at 804 Eastern Avenue in response projects we’ve done and the lessons we’ve learned by working to- to a question posed by project founder and leader, Meredith Brick- gether as a community of artists and neighbors on the Near Eastside. ell. Observing the number of vacant houses in the 46201 zip code, Brickell asked, “If these houses, many of which have been unoccu- pied for more than a decade, are going to remain empty for a few years or more, what can we do with them in the meantime with the people who live in this community now?”

818 North Tacoma Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46201 HLP location from August 2016 to April 2017

We would like to extend a special thank you to our Com- munity Conversation facilitators—Mat Davis, Scarlett Martin, Amanda Boyd, Valerie Davis, Danicia Monet, and CoraLyn Turentine—who led intimate and challenging discussions about history, space, wellness, equity, movement, and change. Also thanks to our zinemakers—Jingo de la Rosa, Bailey Shannon, CoraLyn Turentine, Danielle Graves, and 804 Eastern Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46201 Brittany Pendleton—for documenting the ways that every- HLP location from June 2015 to August 2016 day activities in our community and at the HLP connect to 2 these P+P themes. 3 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THE HOUSE

LIFE PROJECT?* www.houselifeproject.org

After three years of collaborating with neighbors to activate We are able to engage in genuine vacant houses with arts-based projects and programming, the collaboration with other people when House Life Project knows: we are nimble in our processes and do not predetermine the outcomes of our work.

Artists can be useful collaborators because of We can build relationships with local residents their willingness to grapple with difficult problems whether we are a community insider or outsider. and seemingly unanswerable questions for a sus- Both situations require a significant amount of tained period of time. time, careful listening, and setting aside or delib- erately acknowledging our own agenda.

Artists are most effec- We can become more comfortable Artists and others who are chron- tive when they work in with unfamiliar people and places if we ically underpaid for their work a way that allows them are willing to tolerate some discomfort. can advocate for themselves and to critique the institu- other underpaid, underserved tions they are affiliated people in the community. with. Artists, musicians, curators, and writers Neighbors can use an existing can use their knowledge of culture, space without investing much aesthetics, and creative practices to money to improve the functional- challenge dominant cultural structures Neighbors naturally ity of that space. There are count- and advocate for greater cultural di- gather on sidewalks, less ways to work around not versity. in the street, and on having things like electricity and nearby front porches. running water, including asking These informal spaces We can help with challenges that lie one another for help. are often more wel- outside our own skill set by taking the coming and inclusive time to connect our neighbors with We can help others through sim- than institutional ones. resources such as social workers, food ple acts like sharing our internet banks, funding sources, housing op- access, offering someone a ride, portunities, and more. or lending a bike or a phone.

Artists can advocate for more time, flexibility, and Artists and community members can be part of funding to ensure that their work meets a high stan- the solution if we are well informed and deeply dard for creative and collaborative projects. This involved in the process. may be especially important when collaborating with non-art organizations.

Not all artists are interested in engaging with community and not all community members are interested in art. That’s okay, don’t force it.

*Inspired by Frances Whitehead’s “What Do Artists Know?” http://embeddedartistproject.com/whatdoartistsknow.html EUREKA STREET HISTORY Jordan Ryan PREFACE

The House Life Project cannot separate our sense of place from Historical narratives on architecture fail to acknowledge numerous governmental, academic, material, and economic themes that influence how and what architecture is preserved and how and why architectural history is collected. History its history and our own history. History both informs and impacts contained in a protective bubble will not address issues both interdisciplinary and over time. the areas it’s rooted in, and the key to better knowing and working The first concern is putting UniGov on trial: UniGov, widely proven over the last forty years to be a political tactic to give within a place is through the lens of its story. preferential municipal treatment to suburban and white city-county populations over then urban city populations, took a great deal of funding out of the inner city. Adding to municipal issues is Department of Code Enforcement policy, which like most city agencies, goes through phases of underfunding and ultimately is reactive (responding to citizen complaints) and not proactive. Moreover, Indianapolis has no policy for aggressively using construction and maintenance liens on homeowners to keep properties from being demolished.

The way historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists, interpret architecture has changed over the last few decades. Ini- tially, historians seemed to be chiefly concerned with studying and preserving the 18th and 19th century manors of wealthy politicians and prominent citizens in a phrase I call “Architectural History So White;” the focus on the historical signif- icance of white men has been a disservice to telling other significant stories. Along with traditional architectural history, visual culture studies have seen an increase in Ruin Porn or Urban Exploring. It has been argued that the urban exploring trend tends to fetishize derelict and abandoned properties, aka Ruin Porn. Are these explorers concerned with residents who live nearby these properties?

Another growing field of study is Building Science. Building science studies building materials, structural systems, and the life cycles of buildings. Buildings have natural lifecycles and certainly not all buildings were constructed with the intention to stand a century later. Just because a structure is gone, doesn’t mean we can’t tell a story. How does this theme relate to working class neighborhoods, with mostly vernacular architecture that was built over 100 years ago?

Economics plays a vital role in the fate of historic architecture yet is seldom detailed. The Great Recession’s housing crash was a very recent historic moment, so historians have very little data and perspective and how to account the recovery efforts and in relation to gentrification. Bank foreclosures and specifically “zombie homes” are one aspect of the housing crash that ties directly into architecture and preservation. How does the private business sector’s neglect of downtown foreclosed homes impact this central discussion? While data is only beginning to come in, we certainly can obtain less quantitative information from residents, neighborhood associations, and the city government. Historians also need to Follow the Money: What are all of the financial methods that the city, state, and federal governments affect downtown revitalization efforts? What neighborhood are selected? Which residents are targeted? Under what stipulations? How are community development corporations, land banks, and other economic development nonprofits engaged, transparent, and held accountable? As a city, are we collecting enough information on residential displacement, extreme property value hikes, rent increases, etc?

There are no easy answers to these questions. But until public historians working with neighborhoods and architecture start investigating these themes, we’re doing a disservice to our audience.

INTRODUCTION

From a street of “modest, well-kept homes” and now a land-bank entirely built up, with single family and duplex residences occu- property. How did we get here and how do we move forward? Sim- pying most lots, and a trickling of commercial buildings and store- ple answers are a disservice to the community. Buildings age—but fronts along Michigan Street.1 like any community or city, buildings can be rejuvenated. The win- dow counterweights, the hardwood floors, the plaster walls can be Newspaper advertisements listed individual lots for sale for under restored and bring new life. But not all buildings, particularly ver- $500 during the 1890s on Tacoma Avenue, which at the time was nacular residences, are saved or deemed worthy of preservation ef- named “Eureka Street.”2 Around this time, it was no longer a ne- forts by property owners, developers, investors, and governments. cessity to live in or close to the city center, with improving streetcar Despite the ultimate fate of these residences, each and every struc- transportation networks, new commercial hubs and corridors estab- ture has a history. lishing outside of the Mile Square, and builder- and contractor-de- velopers planning new neighborhood developments, like St. Clair PLANNING/DEVELOPMENT Place, two and a half miles out of downtown. This new development strategy consisted of homebuilders purchasing large, continuous The story of the third iteration of the House Life Project (HLP) at tracts of land and operating as their own developers, typically uti- 605 North Tacoma Avenue, a shotgun house in the St. Clair Place lizing a handful of house plans. Besides St. Clair Place, this devel- neighborhood, echoes much of the downtown housing stock built opment trend occurred within the boundaries of the Old Northside, over a century ago. By the 1890s, streets and lots in the area were Meridian Park, Mapleton-Fall Creek, and Garfield Park, along with platted as the city continued to expand out of the Mile Square. Hous- many other near-downtown neighborhoods.3 es began popping up on the west side of Keystone Avenue, inching closer to Tacoma Avenue. Development contained in St. Clair Place Local contractors the Southern Lumber Company began developing progressed from key thoroughfares, from 10th Street south and from the St. Clair Place neighborhood in 1908. One of many advertise- Michigan Street north, culminating along the center thoroughfare, ments for the area describes the budding neighborhood as “a beauti- 6 St. Clair Street. Within a decade, the neighborhood was almost ful tract of land, on which new houses of five, six, and seven rooms are being built. These are ideal homes, finished in the latest architec- Gruelle, Impressionist painter and member of the Hoosier Group tural designs and finishes…”4 who depicted many downtown Indianapolis street and nature scenes REDLINING at the turn of the century.8 One lot north of the HLP site, at 609 Architectural variety, larger lots, new construction, and access to North Tacoma, was the residence of Julia Weigler, an early India- Contrary to the residential accounts of the neighborhood, the 1. Sanborn Map Company. “Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.” Indianapolis Collec- streetcar lines all appealed to homebuyers and investors. The bor- napolis policewoman.9 Notable craftsman George Copeland, a brick home-mortgage industry and the city itself marked the neighbor- tion, IUPUI Digital Collections, 1898, 1914, 1950 sheets. dering Woodruff Place neighborhood was a recent developer’s suc- and masonry worker with Wilhelm Construction Company, resided hood as declining, starting in the 1930s. The Home Owners’ Loan cess; nearby the Wonderland Amusement Park had opened in 1906 at 509 North Tacoma in the 1970s while he was the recipient of an 2. Indianapolis News, “C.E. Coffin & Co. Real Estate: Partial List of Bargains Corporation (HOLC), a New Deal program to integrate information in Real Estate,” 5/26/1887, p. 14; Indianapolis News, “For Sale-Real Estate,” and the St. Philip Neri Catholic Church was under construction. Institute of Architects award for his work on the Arsenal Technical from mortgage lenders and banks as well as real estate developers 5/25/1891. Southern Lumber Company continuously posted real estate articles High School campus.10 and investors, categorized the neighborhood as “definitely declin- through 1912, suggesting that most of the residences in the neigh- ing” only thirty years after its development. Ultimately, historians 3. Jordan Ryan. “’How Others Have Built’: A Sketch of Indianapolis Construc- borhood had been constructed and occupied by 1912. Most accounts throughout the twentieth century describe the neigh- have demonstrated that HOLC data was used by the industry to tion and Demolition Patterns, MA Thesis, IUPUI, 2017. borhood as a well-kept, secluded area, close to the city but seeming- perpetuate racial and economic segregation in neighborhoods. For 4. Indianapolis Star, “Real Estate-St. Clair Place: An Addition of New Modern ly tucked away due to its treescape and platting. In 1929, resident St. Clair Place, the documentation listed favorable factors such as Homes,” 9/11/1908, p. 11. Henry C. Welling [602 North Tacoma] gave an account of the street, nearby schools and churches and transportation access and unfavor- stating he able factors like resident age, number of duplexes, and proximity to 5. “Indianapolis City Directory Collection,” 1908-2001. The Internet Archive. the state women’s prison.13 The city also labeled the neighborhood Archive.org. “likes the high location of Tacoma Avenue and the fact that as declining in a 1969 Department of Metropolitan Development 6. Indianapolis Star, “Grocers to Dine, Dance,” 1/23/1934, p. 7. so many of the residents own their own homes. He thinks that (DMD) neighborhood plan, citing “housing deterioration… trans- factor lends stability to the type of people who live there and portation and street deficiencies. Substandard health, rising crime 7. Indianapolis Star, “News of the Day as the Pictures Record It,” 4/17/1930, p. 11. aids in building a community of interest for the street and its rate, a moderate level of welfare dependency…”14 This continues appearance. The many flower beds and fruit trees with the with a 1993 DMD study that enumerates issues with the neighbor- 8. Indianapolis Star, “For Sale-Real Estate,” 4/7/1910, p. 16. well-kept hedges and shrubbery marks North Tacoma Avenue hood, such as deteriorated structures, trash and litter, and lack of 9. Indianapolis Star, “Policewoman Injured,” 1/13/1944, p. 19. as a street of modest well-kept homes and happy families.”11 homeowner maintenance skills. However, most of the study’s strat- egies to improve the neighborhood place no responsibility, funding, 10. Indianapolis Star, “Institute of Architects Honors Area Craftsmen For Top This sentiment continues through the 1970s. In a news report about or effort within the municipal government and instead recommend Work,” 9/22/1977, p. 69. the neighborhood coming together to fight teenage vandalism and individual residents and nonprofits make the effort.15 theft, residents maintain that “the 500 and 600 blocks of North Ta- 11. Indianapolis Star, “Our Street: This and That About Some of the Neighbor- hoods That Make Indianapolis a Pleasant City of Homes,” 8/17/1929, p. 7. coma is normally a quiet neighborhood. Well-kept houses and old, “However, most of the study’s majestic trees line the street.”12 Moreover, the slight jogs in the orig- 12. Indianapolis Star, “Neighbors to Fight Thugs,” 8/15/1975, p. 21. inal street platting of Tacoma, Temple, and Eastern Avenues as well strategies to improve the neigh- as East St. Clair Street most likely played a role in the preventing 13. Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling, Richard Marciano, Nathan Connol- additional traffic and contributed to the quiet atmosphere of the area. borhood place no responsibility, ly, et al., “Mapping Inequality,” American Panorama, ed., Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayers, accessed October 8, 2017, https://dsl.richmond.edu/ funding, or effort within the panorama/redlining/#loc=10/39.7865/-86.1605&opacity=0.8&city=india- napolis-in&text=about.

municipal government and instead 14. The Polis Center, Study Neighborhoods from the Project on Religion and Urban Culture, “Near Eastside, A Timeline of Faith and Community: Near East- recommend individual residents side, 1838 to 1996,” accessed October 8, 2017, http://www.polis.iupui.edu/RUC/ and nonprofits make the effort.” Neighborhoods/NearEastside/NESTimeline.htm. 15. City of Indianapolis, Department of Metropolitan Development, Planning BROADER CONNECTIONS Division, “Highland-Brookside: Housing Improvement and Neighborhood Plan,” 1993, accessed October 8, 2017, http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/DMD/ Planning/Documents/1993CPSR010-HighlandBrookside.pdf. p. 33-47. Two blocks south of the HLP’s final location tells a story of creativ- ity, community and philanthropy. An empty lot on the other side of 16. Indianapolis Recorder, Advertisement, “Fashioned Dressmaking,” Michigan Street was the business address for Frances Spencer, a 8/22/1914, p. 2. dressmaker in the 1910s.16 Frances, a “self made girl,” was on her 17. Indianapolis Recorder, “Musicale and Dance,” 12/26/1914, p. 1. own at 9 years old, and found herself as a local dressmaker.17 Some- how against all odds, she also found time to take music lessons. 18. Indianapolis Recorder, “The Frances Spencer Benefit,” 2/13/1915, p. 1. Considered a promising pupil of the harp, Madam C.J. Walker was so inspired by Frances’ talent (as a musician, seamstress, and paint- er) that she organized and hosted a benefit at Castle Hall in order to raise enough funds for Frances to purchase her own harp. As stated in the Indianapolis Recorder: “Mrs. Walker is grounded in the belief that every particle of talent in the colored race should be conserved: that no promising young person should be denied by fate the oppor- tunity to reach his ideals.”18 (1915 citation). Miss Spencer’s story is just one of many waiting to be uncovered in the history of St. Clair NEIGHBORHOOD/RESIDENTS Place and the greater near-eastside area.

The 605 Tacoma Avenue home was most likely one of the earlier residences built by the Southern Lumber Company, as it first ap- pears in the 1908 City Directory, with occupant Allen I. Altizer, a car repairman. A synopsis of city directory entries over ninety-three years reveals the majority of owners and boarders lived in the house for five to ten years.5 Further newspaper research on the residents summarizes that individuals ranged from working-class and mid- dle-class, reflecting an economically diverse history. There was Fred Steinberger, resident from 1916 until 1920, who went on to Jordan Ryan is a graduate of IUPUI’s Public History M.A. become the president of the Indianapolis Retail Meat and Grocers’ program and also holds a B.A. in Art History from the Her- Association.6 Eskel Roy Peek, who lived in the house from 1924 un- ron School of Art & Design at IUPUI. She is the Architectur- til his death in 1932, was one of the craftspersons employed to paint al Archivist for the Indiana Historical Society. Her research the interior of the Indiana State Capitol during restoration efforts.7 focuses on architectural history, historic preservation, and urban history. In her free time, she enjoys restoring her 1867 Examining nearby residents suggests a similar diverse economic workers cottage in the historic Fountain Square neighbor- background. One block south, at 537 North Tacoma, resided R. B. hood. 9 ty-six. Together they have lived in many different types of homes in CARS AND CRICKETS: “We should all agree that we have this area. the right to not have to worry Twelve years ago, Mattie and her husband had become addicted to A DOCUMENTARY PIECE ON THE HLP crack and were living in a boarding house. They kicked the habit Sara Baldwin about our kids being killed. We together, and that’s when Mattie applied for Section 8 housing and got a house in St. Clair Place. Eventually, they left the Section 8 should all agree that we have the housing and after a few moves ended up on Tacoma Ave. There is a place in our city where the sound of cars and crickets It was in June of 2015, with financial backing from the Efroymson right to an education. There are Mattie was intrigued by HLP when they moved in near her home. compete for the airwaves. Family Fund, that Brickell and company began the first season of HLP setting out to repurpose the liability of an abandoned house certain things that we shouldn’t “I came down the street to the House Life Project and my whole Sitting on the porch of 605 Tacoma Ave, a constant hum of chirping into a place of art and community engagement. life changed for the better,” Mattie said. “Meredith loves art and she insects vibrates for what feels like eternity before an accelerating car have to argue about.” does her thing. I was comfortable with her.” passes by, subjugating all sounds of nature, subwoofers pounding The HLP evolved into a social practice organization focused on col- The HLP quickly became a part of this shared domain. During HLP out a beat. lective experiential learning, hosting artist talks, community con- Porch Parties, which Amanda and her kids almost always attend, The Cole’s house on Tacoma was sold while they were living there. versations, and neighborhood get-togethers, including Tuesday eve- you’ll see neighborhood kids come up to her and talk to her. She The new landlord refused to make home repairs, which eventually The front yard of this particular house is often strewn with orange ning “Porch Parties” during the active season. asks them about school and their families. She gives them a hard led to a pipe bursting. He insisted that Mattie and her family were chairs, a jumble of snacks and art supplies, and—on some nights—a time about grades and homework. responsible for repairs, as well as a water bill that was upwards of varied group of kids and adults talking, laughing, creating. On other “The first year we really didn’t have programming, and the idea $800. nights, the house is silent and empty. was that the artists would just use the space,” Brickell said. “We fig- So what does positive change look like to Amanda Boyd? ured out the Tuesday Porch Party thing quickly. We learned so much “The water company told me to call a plumber and turn the water Across from 605, a family works hard remodeling a bright yellow about who our audience was—including all of these neighborhood “There are certain things that we all have to agree on,” Amanda said. off. I don’t know any plumbers. So the water just kept running,” home. In the street, a group of kids plays a raucous game of basket- kids who wanted to come over and hang out. The second year we “We should all agree that we have the right to be healthy, to eat, to Mattie said. “I showed [Meredith] what was going on in my house. ball on a movable hoop. Next door, paint chips flutter to the ground created the programming for them.” be safe. We should all agree that we have the right to not have to Meredith was the one that called [my landlord] and got him to come from a home with mismatched shutters. On blocks surrounding this worry about our kids being killed. We should all agree that we have over there and fix the water. When she walked in there, she seen that street, some homes have been purchased and rehabbed by a commu- the right to an education. There are certain things that we shouldn’t the house needed to be condemned. On my soul, it needed to be torn nity development corporation. have to argue about.” down.” In this neighborhood we are caught between old and new, quiet and MAKAYLA AND AMANDA This extreme damage to the home and disagreement with the land- loud, poverty and wealth, development and decay. These variances lord led to Mattie and Larry vacating the premises. Older, slight-of- are competing for control and yet working in tandem, creating a rare Makayla Boyd, who is ten, is one of those neighborhood kids. She frame, and with a disabled partner, Mattie was unable to carry much. narrative that unwinds more each day—a story that is told through said that when her family first moved to Tacoma Ave with her moth- RANDOLPH She left behind many of her belongings and personal items. She and residents, organizers of change, artists and writers. er, Amanda Boyd, she felt out of place in her new surroundings. her husband moved into a boarding house with their daughter. Randolph L. has been a homeowner in Willard Park for more than This is St. Clair Place, home to the House Life Project. “She was really young when we got here. She was five, about to turn five years, three quarters of a mile west of the HLP. He has helped six,” Amanda said. prepare the houses when the HLP moved to a new site, removing “I came down the street to House debris and taking care of any safety issues. Life Project and my whole life Born and raised in Indianapolis, predominately the Haughville neighborhood, Amanda has lived in many different parts of the Housing equality is one of those “certain things” that he feels is an changed for the better.” city. Her mother passed away when she was nine years old, and her inalienable right. MEREDITH grandmother took her in. She describes a childhood filled with love “This is the worst thing I ever went through. I have not experienced and loss, hardship and happiness. She got married and moved with “When I moved into the neighborhood, it was one of those things no landlord that does that,” Mattie said. “I didn’t sign a lease or The House Life Project (HLP) was founded by Meredith Brickell, her husband and children to the outskirts of the city. Following her where I figured as a black person I would try to kind of uplift the nothing, that’s why I didn’t go to court. He should have gave me a local artist and Associate Professor of Art at DePauw University. A divorce, she decided that she wanted her kids to grow up in a more neighborhood and make sure my house is decent,” Randolph said. lease like the last landlord.” resident of the Near Eastside, Brickell began spending time in the diverse neighborhood. “I noticed in the neighborhood there were a lot of slumlords. The yards of abandoned houses, gathering materials for a series called neighborhood was mainly black and renting. I figure ok, I’ll come in Meredith helped Mattie and Larry apply for in-home medical care Construct. As she was loitering in these vacant properties, Brickell Before making the move to St. Clair Place, Amanda had been deal- there and try to make a difference.” with Eskenazi Health and a new place to live through the Engle- met and spoke with many people who shaped her view of the area. ing with illness and wasn’t able to work, though she had put herself wood Community Development Corporation. through nursing school. She was considering moving in with some With the help of a couple of young people in the neighborhood he “I recognized that I was aestheticizing those places in a way that family when the John H. Boner Community Center’s Housing Ser- began fixing up his home, living on the third floor while he remod- “Englewood CDC is providing a lot of housing for low-income res- did not acknowledge the current problems. I think that was an okay vices called her. eled the rest. He was hoping to help encourage minority home own- idents. We’ve helped connect three families with Englewood,” Mer- place to start, but I was very aware that I wanted to understand it ership by teaching his neighbors that you can purchase a house for edith said. more deeply,” Brickell said. “They were like ‘Hey we got a house for you.’ Boner Center owns cheap and fix it up yourself. houses in this area and I was on the waiting list for a three-bedroom “Meredith listened to me. I told her my situation. I didn’t know she She enlisted the help of Katy Brett, who at the time was the Director house,” she said. “We ended up moving into the house on Tacoma. “As time went by, I noticed that a lot of whites were moving into the had all these connections,” Mattie said. “She put me on the map. I of Renew Indianapolis, as well as Paula Katz, who soon became It took some getting used to for all of us.” neighborhood. The places were looking better. The sidewalks were appreciate her very much.” the Director of iMOCA. Together they wrote a proposal that would being remodeled. Here I’m trying to tell people to purchase these allow them access to an abandoned house. The project would be Within a few years, the HLP moved into the vacant house next door properties, but next thing you know the properties weren’t available Mattie has since gotten back on her feet, moved into her new home driven by artistic exploration of the house itself as well as the com- to the Boyds. in the tax sales,” Randolph said. “Now that the neighborhoods are with Larry, and has plans to return to work when her foot heals. She munity around it. being fixed up and a lot of whites are moving in, the prices of the has started making her way back to HLP events. “Of course we are very protective of our neighborhood. Everybody properties have doubled and tripled. In the eyes of a black person, “If some of these properties have been vacant for a decade or more, knew everything about what was going on on the street. We seen it looks as if now that the whites are moving in, the property values “I have to come down there on Tuesdays,” she says. “That’s my what could we do with them in the meantime?” Brickell said. “We Meredith looking at the house. It was next door to us and aban- are going up.” home.” knew we weren’t going to fix them. Using the houses in the current doned. My kids come and get me because they think I’m gonna go condition became a big part of this [project].” save the street,” Amanda said. “That’s how I met Meredith.” Randolph says that, to him, it feels like the city is profiting from people losing their homes. “We learned so much about who Sometimes, she says, she really did have to “save the street.” There were regular fights and even a few shootings. our audience was—including all STEPHEN of these neighborhood kids who “One of the kid’s parents [on our street] would get in fights. I would Stephen Ball moved to St. Clair Place twenty-nine years ago, while go down and try to de-escalate the situation,” she said. “I would talk MATTIE looking for a home close to the city and easy to commute to his wanted to come over and hang out.” her down and take the kids to my house. Lots of the kids spent lots workplace. of nights at my house—and lots of days at my house.” Mattie Cole is a staple at HLP Porch Parties and events. She is six- ty-three years old and works for a food service company at a local “When I first saw the house that I’m in now, it was a carpenter cot- 10 university. She lives with her disabled husband, Larry, who is six- tage. Carpenter cottages were the immigrant starter home and there were thousands of them all over the city. This one was owned by a After that he started going to poetry readings and eventually started ninety-one-year-old Russian man. He had two extra lots and a cher- publishing pLopLop, a zine that combines poetry, prose and artwork. A HISTORY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES ry orchard. Peach trees, pear trees, raspberry patch, kept bees, had He became more focused on the visual aspect and is now makes currants and gooseberries,” Stephen said. “I just fell in love with the surrealist paintings and works often with Big Car Collaborative, a property. The house had to be totally remodeled.” social practice organization. Chris Hill

Throughout the years, Stephen has seen a series of organizations Materials: house wrap, OSB sheathing, woven fiberglass insulation, felt attempt to improve this area. “But fences can also unite people—when you talk to your The first, Stephen says, was Eastside Community Investment (ECI), around when he moved in twenty-nine years ago. ECI rehabbed a neighbors, you kind of end up by number of duplexes and houses, and then that phased out for differ- ent reasons. Near East Area Renewal (NEAR) has been around now the fence.” for about ten years. Stephen says he thinks that the quality of houses they are building is really good. These homes are concentrated on John was approached by Laura Holzman, the HLP curator, and asked the western end of the neighborhood, closer to Woodruff Place. to do a piece involving the fence in front of HLP. Missing several large sections, the chain link fence bordering 605 Tacoma and the “When you walk down Tacoma, you see a number of boarded up sidewalk seemed to serve no real purpose other than discouraging houses. Within three blocks of all the new construction going on, entry into the yard. “The idea came to soften the fence,” said John. this exists,” Stephen said. “I think part of that has been delivered in conscience, to build a stable base closer to Woodruff Place and then John’s vision for the fence was one of yarn imitating laser beams build outwards toward Rural Street.” and organic growth. He began intertwining the yarn with the chain link and bringing it upward into nearby trees. He added in found As for the HLP, Stephen says he loves its creativity and the outlet it objects, like vintage ties and colored pencils. “The dictionary defi- provides for neighborhood kids, but wishes there was more involve- nition of fences are to keep things in or to keep them out—contain- ment and cooperation from other neighborhood organizations, like ment,” John said. “But fences can also unite people—when you talk NESCO (Near Eastside Community Organization). to your neighbors, you kind of end up by the fence.”

“We need all the activity that we can muster,” Stephen said. “Any- The work became collaborative as passersby and Porch Party at- thing to involve the kids in something positive and creative.” tendees began adding to the fence-scape, weaving their own narra- tive. “Everybody is collaborating [at the House Life Project],” John said. “There’s no barrier to entry—it’s very open and anyone can participate.” “Seeing beneath the incomplete exteriors of these buildings under construction made me JOHN think of history as an excavation of the present.”

Artist and Near Eastside resident John Clark has a long history of After observing houses being built and remodeled on the Near East- ABOUT THE ARTIST involvement with community-based art. John, who fell in love with CONCLUSION side, Chris Hill became interested in the materials just beneath the a Hoosier woman and moved to Near Eastside from Tampa, says he exterior siding. He came to view insulation and protective wrapping Chris Hill’s art responds to the social projections by, for, or about owes his career as an artist to his move to Indianapolis. It’s a beautiful thing, where one abandoned house can become the not just as materials for keeping out wind and water, but also as marginalized people that appear on architectural surfaces. His work heart of a block, uniting people over food, art and community con- metaphors for the way housing has been used to keep out people addresses viewers in ways that are personal, political, and poetic. “When I moved to Indy I got involved in the literary scene. This versation. Along the way, people have been helped through hard and activities who have been considered unwanted. By pairing con- Hill was born in Oklahoma and currently lives in Indianapolis. He was in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s,” John said. “There was a contest. times. Connections have been made that built friendships and fur- struction materials with text from historical documents, Hill’s work has an MFA in Photography and Intermedia from the Herron School I entered it and won my first publication—on a bus.” Inside the thered careers. When you regularly interact with your neighbors in raised questions about who has been excluded or included by hous- of Art and Design at IUPUI. bus where they have advertisements, John’s poetry was on display. this way, suddenly that ominous chain link fence becomes a safety ing practices and other societal structures. net made of old ties and ivy and yarn that stretches skyward.

Sara Baldwin is an Indianapolis native who grew up writing and photographing the world around her. Sara’s interest in documentary work began in her early teens. More and more as she started venturing out on her own, she docu- mented the people and things she saw, including neigh- borhoods like Broad Ripple and Fountain Square, and a few DIY/all ages punk shows in Indy. When she went off to college at Indiana University, Sara continued documenting artists, musicians, and shows in Bloomington. Sara’s works have been printed in several Midwest publications, and she now writes for Current Publishing. She also owns Lux & Ivy, a sustainable and locally focused clothing store located in South Broad Ripple. Through Lux & Ivy, she has self-pub- lished a handful of fashion look books in zine format. She has two young sons, Oskar and Sage.

12 PORCH PARTIES

From 2015 to 2017, the House Life Project (HLP) hosted a total of seventy Porch Parties at three different vacant houses in the St. Clair Place neighborhood. Early on, the HLP team recognized that these weekly events were an effective ways of building relationships with local residents. Porch Parties created opportunities to meet new neighbors and deepen ties with those already acquainted with the project. Although these Porch Parties may appear to simply be a series of unassuming, casual events, they became the backbone of the HLP.

Each Tuesday evening during the warmer months of the year—April through October—the HLP porch and front lawn hosted neighbors, artists, community organizers, local business owners, and more. People would drop by on their way home from work, or walk down the sidewalk after dinner to say, “Hello.” This recurring gathering offered an informal opportunity to build community with people who lived in the area, as well as with others who were drawn to the HLP because of interests in public art and housing-related issues.

The HLP always offered drinks and snacks, and others pitched in with fresh vegetables from their garden, a homemade peach pie, or chips and salsa from a local restaurant. At some Porch Parties there was an art project to help with, or an event to participate in, but most of the time, these social events were simply an opportunity to gather and share stories, questions, resources, and laughter.

SOME TIPS FROM THE HLP ABOUT HOSTING PORCH PARTIES

• Keep a regular schedule, for example, be there every Tuesday night from 6 to 8pm.

• If you say you are going to be there, make sure you are there.

• Everyone is welcome, so encourage people to bring friends along.

• Offer some juice boxes, seltzers, fresh fruit, and popcorn.

• Invite other folks to bring food and drink, but it’s definitely okay if they don’t have something to share.

• Set up a table and chairs with some paper, markers, and other art supplies.

• Walk down the street and invite the people you meet to come to the Porch Party.

• Introduce people to one another.

• Someone might be having a bad day. Make sure there is plenty of forgiveness and second chances.

• Ask people to contribute their ideas to projects in progress.

• Sometimes it is fun to have a special event or activity, but do not over-schedule the time you have together.

• It’s okay to keep it really simple, especially if you are hosting often.

14 15 ALONG A FLYWAY SPACE Manon Voice

The House Life Project intentionally occupies homes considered THE RULER THE HIGH RISE uninhabitable and reframes them as a creative space to contest At 12, Estella knew the parameters President Lyndon B. Johnson appeared in monochrome the stigma of such properties and the neighborhoods that contain Of her entire life across the blurred television screen Her daddy had dragged all 7 of them using two and three word special phrases them. We build community on the front porch, an iconic space that one by one, limb by limb to the ends of the field like “federal dollars,” “public housing” blurs the line between public and private. 15 acres whole “low income subsidies” His tattered straw hat lowered over his eyes “war on poverty.” The width of his belt under his foot Where the crops stopped growing there This time, the promised land was on Laid the law, State Street between Pershing Road and 54th From this place in the Robert Taylor Homes high rise apartments. Was nowhere else. Now single mother of Ryan and Karim, Sylvia drove the Dan Ryan Expressway once a week to see the con- struction. But like dreams stretching over the cross hatch of cotton field rows, “This is only temporary” she told herself, “until I can get back on She saw her children and their children my feet,” and like so many other single mothers, Growing up here she meant it Owning the land, although 41, with lupus, heart problems Picking greens and tomatoes for harvest and newly qualified for disability. She would teach them how to wash greens properly 20 years in a factory that was situated next to a controversial hazard- and tell them the secret seasonings ous power plant she worked and worked overtime and sent money Her granddaughters would stitch and home to mama when she had extra. wear proudly the embroidery of their parents She sent her kids to tutoring so that they could stay off the street And their hands would be softer and prettier. while she grinded out more hours. Her children would know the sun as sweet kiss, As honey made tea set out til Sunday. On moving day, the children hardly finished their cereal although they complained about having to share a room. Not the sun of despair and unforgiveness The apartment had the new smell and standard amenities. Of sweat and drip that made a hardened earth of their clay The halls were already blaring with loud music and the smell of And of their hearts. alcohol and toddlers barefooted and in diapers. She looked out of the window at the 28 other densely packed High rises stretching for two miles. THE EXODUS It was 1962. Chicago was a $30 bus ride from Greenwood Mississippi Sylvia swallowed fear with the half-baked pan of cornbread Her mother, Estella, wrapped in foil along with her favorite baked chicken. She had never been cramped with this many people in her life though they all looked the same kind of hard work and weariness, nerves and eager The air was overcome with chatter and cheap fragrance She took the window seat and as the sun went down, felt herself leaving her body, under the wide rural moon glow. She was 21.

On 79th St The air stifled not with heat but electricity a different tinge of blues more amplified burst out of bars and saloons she heard someone sing a Muddy Waters tune and but it wasn’t like in Clarksdale.

She would walk down the street And not quickly get used to the howl of men Or so many women in tight fitting worldly clothing Laughing on street corners Right along with the boys, as they called them Taking their liquor bottles right out of their mouths Before drawing a swig themselves cursing and laughing over their heads Like they owned this place.

17 2002. In 6 months he was coming home, In 2 months, their feeble grandmother, Estella, who they would care The duplex or “double” as Sylvia called it, in the humble, historic for together—as their mothers dying wish—was leaving her home Fountain Square of Southside Indianapolis in the South to come and stay. was closer to her brother, Ryan; Karim could visit him on the week- ends In ten years Karim had saved enough money to purchase the duplex and find a place to “start over,” as her mother pressed her to do her that she rented. before passing that June. Ryan would live on one side, Karim and her grandmother on the The rental ad called the neighborhood a walking community, other. with nearby local grocers, small boutiques, two diners, a nostalgic She had written them both over the years, with details of renova- library and a park all within a five block stretch. tions, photographs of new hung art pieces, and the décor on her beloved dining room table which she changed often. She enjoyed the freedom of walking to Bud’s, the family owned supermarket, She often wrote how excited she was to have them “home,” where she knew the names of all the cashiers and their children. but couldn’t describe the forlorn feeling she felt on her drive down Her feet crunching the leaves on the sidewalk, Virginia Avenue everyday. the sun slanted high above her head, She hadn’t told them how the neighborhood had changed over the she passed Peppy Grill diner and imagined the lives years, with houses next to her tripling and quadrupling in value. shared over drip stained coffee mugs. and how she couldn’t keep up with so many new neighbors and She would stop in the small library on the corner of Virginia and faces, THE PROJECTS She wrote about simple things Prospect many who were young, white and without children. the southern sunsets of the south, Sunday sermons (with scripture and rent a black and white movie She still walked to the library on Saturdays, although By 12, Ryan was a boy-man references) and what fruits she had gathered from the local farmers to play muted in the background while she listened to blues on vinyl every month there was a new trendy store or restaurant with people By 12, Ryan was a boy-man that week. and drank black tea in the evenings and thought of her mother. smiling over wine glasses with lives and laughter she didn’t recog- Chock full of adrenaline and fast talk nize. cutting cuss words in half at one end of his sharp tongue, the other One week he wrote her back, “what is a plum?” And she responded Though it was autumn now, half, Southside slang. with a picture. Her beige and lovely wrinkled hands had held one, and it was not Chicago She hadn’t told them about the young man who called himself an He knew gang signs and territories fresh and ripe, dewy, deep purple. she finally had a yard investor and wore clear rectangular glasses with a long ginger beard and which Lords controlled which buildings. and the routine of raking leaves and always a blazer over jeans and who knocked on her door just His first job was to “signal for pigs.” He had remembered caring for a cat about every week with a new incentive for her to sale her home. When told this by the man who promised to protect his mother and he had not cried when one bullet and checking a mailbox. Or how she felt something akin to violence as he would without ask- sister ricocheted off his shoulder She had neighbors who waved when they pulled into their drive- ing, step his foot past the threshold of her front door, already having plus pay him a weekly cash allowance, another exploding into his bicep ways. invited himself in when he discovered that she lived alone and was Ryan did what any 12 year old boy-man would do ripping his flesh in two. the owner. he quit school and obeyed his new “father.” He remembered the water that appeared for a moment and then the At night she bulbed her duplex Although she had went back to school to get a degree in nursing, blood and his meek soft pinky flesh how the water and blood ran with bright party lights (another promise she kept to her mother), she quickly felt intimidat- At 14, his father was the one who didn’t take him to the hospital but into each other and darkened together. and lit candles that glared against the windows ed by his quick wit and the way he rolled numbers off of his tongue instead wrapped It was the first time he thought of his flesh as a kind of fruit. lifting her house in tints of two. from memory. When done, he patted her on the back and gave her his gunshot wound in his rooftop rifled replete apartment and called him Sometimes— pseudo side hugs, telling her “what a great job you’ve done with the “A real nigga;” laughing in between joint puffs, as he cleaned and she would lie on the floor angel winged place,” and that now she could live anywhere she wanted with the THE DOUBLE scraped his skin with a butter knife. and sing with her eyes closed. money she would earn from the sale. A kind of glory “Less scar tissue,” murmured from his purple lips and then another It was not Chicago, separated “I will think about it,” Karim said on the investor’s last visit. puff. Hyde Park or Michigan Avenue the scarred and aged wooden floors . The smoke circled Ryan’s eyes, like Karim dreamt watching white women the burned counter tops Closing the door behind him, she looked around. and then he laughed too, in Macy’s commercials during Christmas time. the bad bathroom plumbing Her decorations felt common. erected manhood She imagined their fireplaces, and porcelain bathroom sink bowls lifting them into a new belonging. The lights fell dull. pupils bulging from shock. with lilac candles cornered atop charcoal marbled counters, Her art and pictures seem to limp on the walls that held them up. their dining tables with quilted napkins placed neatly beside spar-

1982. kling silverware THE (NEW) PROJECTS Everywhere the young investor had landed his eyes, in wait for each guest. she was ashamed in ways she could not explain. The inside of prison was the same as the outside Pendleton was a 45 minute drive east She kept her longings intricately enfolded from Fountain Square. animals, rage, fear, control, blood, hierarchy much like those napkins and always black, even the brown were black. Ryan was broad shouldered, coy and covered in jailhouse tattoos. privatizing them in library books He had the same white toothy smile, and when he reached for her, and cafe nooks. A 6x8 cell, steel walls, a barred door and a window where he was she remembered never having hugged him. She secreted places she had never visited The two bent toward each other in soft whispers separated by a cold observed from the outside was the first time Ryan felt protected and and kept folders of Frank Lloyd Wright sketches and idealized the contained his whole life. metal table in a white sterile room with high fluorescent lights stained glass windows of the Renaissance. that made her eyes twitch. She studied how corners turn to let light By then, the new magic words in, saw height and depth in doors were “war on drugs,” “gang warfare” and “black on black crime.” and stories beneath floorboards. He watched Reagan throw his mighty fist on the podium with the She knew the sound of Christmases, spit of his anger and how Spring held a home Manon Voice is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a as he watched from in crawling vines, the pace of petals unfolding poet, spoken word artist, freelance writer, hip-hop emcee, the tv room of Pendleton Correctional and which smells, and social justice activist. She has performed on many di- Facility. to taste. verse stages in the power of word and song and has taught and facilitated art, poetry, and spoken word workshops He wrote his grandmother once a week Alone, through organizations such as Regeneration Indy and Wom- although he was knew his spelling was From the 16th floor of the 8th Robert Taylor building facing west, a en Writing for a Change. In 2017 Manon Voice was awarded bad window, for years. the Power of Peace Award from the Peace Learning Center she kept writing him She could only imagine what she now knew of Central Indiana for her work in the community. Manon making sense of his errors. like a connoisseur; Voice seeks to use her art and activism to create a commu- She used words like “baby-boy” and “honey,” words he had to read The spiritual architecture nal space where dialogue, transformation, discovery, and twice to interpret. Of everywhere. inspiration can occur. 19 FLEXIBLE FENCE: A SOFT SPOT A LIST OF THINGS TO DO IN A VACANT HOUSE John Clark

Materials: Chain-link fence, found objects Host a series of Cultural Competency workshops Host community conversations Host Nutrition Education classes Share resources on wellness, housing, and other local services

Invite artists to create art and install projects Take photos with the Polaroid camera Take pictures of your friends Host an art exhibit Make zines Make a puppet Make faces out of clay Set up a still life and draw it Draw a picture of the house Draw with chalk on the sidewalk and porch Draw a map of the house and where it sits in the neighborhood Open up the doors and windows to let the light and fresh air in Use the window as a frame to take a picture of the house next Sit in the sunshine door Step out of the sunshine to stay cool Hang up signs Hide from a rainstorm Hang up drawings and pictures Explore the closets Hang up curtains Check the cabinets for boxes of spaghetti Paint the ceiling black Throw a porch party Paint the walls pink Paint the windows or the window boards Meet your neighbors and invite them over Build a long table that goes through the entire house Walk down the street and invite the people you meet Learn to cross-stitch Introduce people to one another Learn to use audio recording equipment If you see someone walking by, say “hello” and invite them up Give someone a tour of the house Make a tent out of a ladder and an old bed sheet and read “What was once a barrier becomes a meeting place where collaboration happens.” books inside Play pretend Gather and share favorite recipes Tell stories Measure how tall you are and mark it on the door Fences divide space. They separate the yard from the street. They ABOUT THE ARTIST Draw on the walls Sit on the porch and think a while or meditate mark the boundaries of private property. They say, “Don’t come in Mop the floors Observe the clouds unless you belong.” John Clark’s collaborative project challenged John Clark is a visual artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is a Have a dance party on the back porch that idea. Through playful experimentation with weaving, wrapping, co-founder of Big Car Collaborative, and the creator of pLopLop, a Play the drums on 5-gallon buckets with sticks Bring your dog and cutting, he and the HLP community members who joined him micro-press arts magazine launched in 1991. Clark is an avid reader Borrow Carl’s generator and plug in a local dj Go on a parade transformed the chain-link fence in front of 605 Tacoma Avenue and collector of books by and about experimental, innovative artists. Watch a dance performance where dancers move in and Try new things from a barrier into an invitation. He lives on the Near Eastside. around the house Ask questions Dance around the outside of the house with them Give a high five to someone Host a spontaneous dance-off Give people a lot of second chances Listen to music Have a writing workshop Mow the lawn Write a poem about the house Build a mobile garden Host a spoken word event Plant flowers Read a poem out loud Plant seeds Make up a story about the people who used to live in the house Water the garden Write an obituary for the house. What has it done? What has it Taste a radish for the first time seen? Who has it loved? Grow tomatoes Write letters to the future owners and nail them to the walls Draw vegetables Imagine what it could become Taste herbs from the garden Make a salad with construction paper Fill in the blanks

Eat snacks and drink juice boxes Grill out Share ice cream donated by Gordon’s Ice Cream

Try on costumes and masks Do pull ups on the bar in the closet Play tag Play curb-ball Store basketballs in the back room Store your collection of interesting found objects Solve a rubix cube Look for half buried matchbox cars in the yard

20 21 THE STREET WHERE WE ALL LIVE WELLNESS Twinkle VanWinkle I’m not sure when I found out about the place. And not sure even What makes a neighborhood well? Whole? Not just alive, but living when I felt like I fit there, but it seemed immediate. 605 called to me fully? in a way that nothing had in a long while. As I sat inside the front The House Life Project considers issues of food access, room of the house, my mind was easing. . .it was a place I knew that Who tends the garden that is a neighborhood through the years? environmental health, housing conditions and personal support even though I didn’t know most of these faces yet, I belonged there. Who nurtures the seeds planted deep within the ground that was I could smell the sweet scent of oranges and hear the unbridled once a dark forest? These things I’d maybe felt before, but never felt networks. We explore the ways that individual resourcefulness and laughter of kids in the yard, as it floated through the open windows. deeper. Never questioned with this intensity. generosity contribute to collective wellness, and the forces that No screens, no nothing. Afterward we would board those windows up with large sheets of particle board, hand-painted by a neighbor The sweat would gather on my forehead as a mosquito—or ten affect these informal support networks. with colorful art, until we could come back and gloriously swing mosquitos—settled on my hand. A few of us would sit in peaceful them wide open and let the spirit of the house flow out once again. silence sketching, writing, smiling and secretly knowing these mo- ments were precious. The traffic passed. The leaves sang quietly in On first glance one may dismiss this street—Tacoma Avenue—but a summer breeze. As we shared worn down crayons and pencils, a it wasn’t something that turned me away. It may have seemed di- noisy stream of children would run through the front room, trailing sheveled, the years wearing it down, but there were raw, elemental to the back door, in some way in that same moment with those at layers of substance, with life flowing down the sidewalks, pavement the table, but a different element all together. Like a overture in a and into the yards, out of the doors of those who lived there. I symphony. All parts of the larger piece. saw the rare beauty in what happened when neighbors met on the stoop of 605. Young folks, old folks, black, white, and brown folks, These were healing moments. They would lay upon those there in a sipping a juice box, eating an apple, talking about things deep and way that we all seemed changed. The history was not forgotten, but sometimes . . . not so deep. The canyon between each person’s dif- acknowledged. We were equals and our hearts were learning new ferences bridged momentarily as life surged through what was once things. a broken-down empty space. As I laid a hand on the doorknob each week and pushed the door wide, the space gusting out a cool, dusty sigh, was like a taking “I saw the rare beauty in what a revitalizing breath, wondering what this time I had in the space would provide me. I’d gaze down the street as I sat on the edge of happened when neighbors met on the porch and look at the other boarded up buildings, all searching, the stoop of 605.” too, for someone to discover their secrets, and you could almost feel a longing in them as they looked across at our little 605.

A garden grew. A new friend was made. Music was played. A poem When it was time to go, I’d drive home—away from the three small was born. Art flowed out of the dusty cracks of this structure, this rooms of 605, with a heart full of hope, a hope for healing. space, that before was dismissed, ignored. . .invisible.

Twinkle VanWinkle is a writer, chef and good, clean, fair food advocate living in Indianapolis. She has written poetry, rec- ipes and stories weaving together her life experiences and those around her. She writes freelance, and has published works locally, regionally and co-edited a cookbook featur- ing recipes and stories of Indiana’s small farm community.

22 23 SPOONFUL MEAL

Brittany Pendleton and Bailey Shannon

Materials: Assorted fabric, compostable plates and utensils, cardstock, spoons, and more

“How does food bring us together?”

On August 6, 2017, Brittany Pendleton and Bailey Shannon hosted ABOUT THE ARTISTS the Spoonful Meal, a potluck dinner for fifty members of the HLP community, at 605 Tacoma Avenue. A one hundred foot–long table Brittany Pendleton is a practicing artist with a background in ju- cloth anchored the meal. It reflected the many different perspectives venile justice. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, she now lives in that come together at HLP by combining a range of found fabrics, Indianapolis. Pendleton has an MFA in Photography and Intermedia including bed linens that once belonged to Pendleton’s great aunt. In from the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI. the weeks leading up to the Spoonful Meal, the artists collected rec- ipes from HLP community members. Each place setting included a Bailey Shannon is passionate about growing food and community. card with one of those recipes for guests to take home with them. By She ran HLP’s Mobile Garden, works part-time for an organic veg- sharing food and conversation in the HLP yard, guests at the Spoon- etable farm, and is Assistant Editor at Englewood Review of Books. ful Meal celebrated their collective communities and food cultures. Shannon lives in the Englewood neighborhood on the Near Eastside.

25 26 27 HOUSE LIFE PROJECT RECOMMENDED READINGS

Spatial Justice: Rasquachifica- The Principles of Ethical Reciprocal Generosity Bougie Crap: Art, Design and tion, Race and the City Redevelopment Mary Jane Jacobs Gentrification Roberto Bedoya Isis Ferguson What We Want Is Free: Gener- Rebekah Modrak Creative Time Reports, 10 Oct. Common Edge, Mar. 2016 osity and Exchange in Recent ∞ Mile Detroit, Nov. 2016 2014 http://commonedge.org/the-principles-of-ethi- Art, edited by Ted Purves. http://infinitemiledetroit.com/Bougie_Crap_ cal-redevelopment/ Art,_Design_and_Gentrification.html http://creativetimereports.org/2014/09/15/spa- State University of New York, tial-justice-rasquachification-race-and-the-city/ Ferguson considers the com- 2005. Print. Modrak explores the emer- plex relationship between the Expanding on the ongoing gence of “bougie crap” as arts and redevelopment ef- Art curator Jacobs writes conversations about place- an early indicator of gentri- forts. She identifies nine “Prin- about the potential for par- making, Bedoya explores the fication. She critiques these ciples of Ethical Redevelop- ticipatory art to engage tension between the cultural goods, which she defines ment” that have emerged from new audiences through an sensibility of rasquache and as “expensive consumables Place Lab, an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and ex- Lipsitz’s idea of the “white that evidence wealth, power initiative led by Theaster Gates periences. She gives a brief spatial imaginary.” He exam- and discriminating taste,” as a at the University of Chicago, history of this kind of work in ines existing power structures physical manifestation of the where she works. the twentieth century and cites that favor the dominant white ongoing exploitation of low a small selection of artworks culture and the role of cultural income communities. as examples. She argues that aesthetics. Dead End on Shakin’ Street inviting an inclusive audience Thomas Frank into a reciprocal experience White Flight and Reclaimed The Baffler, May 2017 of art challenges the well-es- The Case for Reparations Memories tablished hierarchies of the art Ta-Nehisi Coates https://thebaffler.com/salvos/dead-end-on- We Live Here. St. Louis Public shakin-street world and allows art to func- The Atlantic, June 2014 Radio, 18 Oct. 2017 tion on many more levels. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ Frank challenges the effective- https://www.welivehere.show/ archive/2014/06/the-case-for-repara- posts/2017/10/18/white-flight-and-reclaimed- tions/361631/ ness of many municipalities’ memories> recent pursuit of “vibrant” All Over the Place A podcast episode based in Coates makes the case for places. He contests that this Lucy R. Lippard St. Louis that shares the per- reparations largely by way of desired vibrancy is not mea- The Lure of the Local: Senses sonal stories of two women his comprehensive study of surable, equitable, or proven of Place in a Multicentered who grew up in the same the racist housing practices to be effective; yet, it is what Society. neighborhood in different and policies in this country many cities are pursuing as a The New Press, 1997. Print. decades. One woman’s fam- that have systematically pre- means of attracting and main- ily left the neighborhood in vented African Americans from taining residents and busi- In this introductory chapter, the era of redlining and white acquiring personal wealth nesses. Lippard outlines the inter- flight; the other watched her through homeownership. twined elements of place, community falter as a result of Coates spends a fair amount including landscape, home, the systematic disinvestment of time reporting on the Con- A Place Where the Soul Can culture, identity, nature, travel, of the area. Both women com- tract Buyers League, a group Rest spirituality, art, and more. As municate the tremendous loss of African American families in bell hooks with much of her writing, she they feel as a result. Chicago who were exploited Belonging: A Culture of Place. offers readers her personal via contracts to buy homes New York: Routledge, 2009 experiences alongside histori- after they were shut out of Print. cal, anthropological, and other What Do Artists Know? conventional mortgage oppor- perspectives. Frances Whitehead tunities available to whites. hooks explores the complex- The Embedded Artist Project, ities of the front porch, espe- 2006 cially its role as a liminal space http://embeddedartistproject.com/whatdo- How Racism Takes Place artistsknow.html Forced Out between the interior and ex- George Lipsitz Matthew Desmond terior of the home. She offers Temple University Press, 2011. In this concise document, The New Yorker, Feb. 2016 her personal experiences as Print. Whitehead has outlined a list http://www.newyorker.com/maga- entry points for considering zine/2016/02/08/forced-out https://books.google.com/books/about/How_ of “skills, process and meth- the porch in relation to gender, Racism_Takes_Place.html?id=lv0musrlBGYC odologies” used by artists. Desmond reports about the race, and class; civility and This knowledge claim is an housing problems faced by community; and the politics of Lipsitz studies how contem- articulation of tangible things tenants, especially the pun- public and private spaces. porary places are the result that artists are good at, which ishing pattern of evictions, of historical and present-day many people (artists included) in Milwaukee’s low income racism, resulting in fewer often struggle to express. neighborhoods. The story opportunities for those limited offers perspectives from not to some spaces and distinct only the tenants but also the advantages for others who landlords who provide housing move more freely. He explains in these areas. Desmond also how the “white spatial imag- reports on the role of housing inary” dominates our society assistance, past and present. and the ways that the “black spatial imaginary” counters this dominance.

28 29 BLACK SPACES IN WHITE AMERICA— EQUITY OF PLACE EQUITY Danicia Monét We are at war. However quiet and unassuming, war indeed is roar- ing at our doors. It’s not a war of riots and bloodshed, but a war of privatized plunder and deceptive political tactics. We know that access to affordable housing and other essential resources is not equitable due to policy making and systemic THE BATTLEFIELD causes. The House Life Project is a safe place to explore layered It’s 5:00 p.m. on a tacky summer afternoon in Indianapolis, Indi- and faceted issues of inequality within and beyond housing. ana—a metropolitan city in America’s quaint Midwest. A billow of smoke rolls out of Rosie’s Riblets, a pull-about meat smoker that sits on the sidewalk near the corner of Rural/Keystone off 10th Street (A Black Space) on the Near Eastside Neighborhood. Rosie, the owner, is a short woman. Her darkness seeps out tones of red and her eyes are no nonsense even though she is quite charming and sweet. She is selling $5 plates of rib tips to passersby. The pull-about smoker, lacks frills but the food makes up for it with flavor and taste (A Black On a nearby street, Tacoma, which branches off to the south of Space). 10th Street, sit three abandoned homes. They huddle together as if in close conversation—reminiscing their days of glory, before the A line has formed consisting of two Black men, three Black women families moved away, leaving them lonely and forgotten. Remnants and a young Black boy, regulars on the block who are waiting pa- taunt their spirits—a shoe, a crumbled and faded photo, a worn toy tiently to be bestowed their tangy smoky goodness. The food truck chewed on by stray animals and rats no doubt—perpetually rubbing is perched between a membership based local grocer—Pogue’s Run, salt in a wound. Once beautiful, brightly dressed and adorned with a grocer that serves specialty, fresh, locally sourced goods and has the energy of laughter and activity, these single-family homes now struggled to adequately serve the cultural and lived needs of the res- lay barren. (A Black Space) idents of the Near Eastside neighborhood—and a buzzing Marathon gas station. On the west side of Keystone, a street vendor is selling Watching neighbors chat on porches and kids play basketball in the ornamental rugs, gold and black lion statues, animal printed fabrics, street, I strike up conversation with a woman who tells me she is etc. (A Black Space). a long-time resident. She lives in a double on the block and her words are full of disenchantment. Tarps cover rubble on the lawn of The Near Eastside is a community going through war, the war of a nearby home. Most days the area rumbles with construction, dull- development, teetering the burgeoning scales with displacement or ing friendly conversation. I ask her how she feels about the changes. radical community-based design. Her commentary is indifferent as she is preparing to pack and leave the neighborhood. She looks tired. She was not the owner of her It’s a lively area at just about all hours of the day. Residents me- double and the landlord recently sold it. A resident of fifteen years, ander about. A group of Black men are laughing at the nearby bus she must now find a new place to call home. “I see more and more station. Two women, one Black, one Latina exit the bus and head of them and less and less of me” she says, referencing the influx of east chatting in spanglish. A White woman and a young child walk young white families who have moved into two homes on the tail into Pogue’s Run Grocer. Another young White woman jogs west end of the street. with headphones in her ears. And a White couple tries to enter a new local eatery across the street called Love Handle—a sandwich shop—but it’s closed. “Equitable and just design

At first sight, the community is one traffic wants to cross through demands a level of intentionality, quickly. This is a main thoroughfare in the city and it is full of Black accountability, and mindfulness faces. A report authored by the neighborhoods CDC - NEAR - Near Eastside Area Renewal, shows that the area has a median income of for which the designer and user $28,635, 17% unemployment and 43% people of color. Buildings are small. Some debris floats about—but by all accounts it’s a fairly must collaborate with clean residential area even though 27% of the homes are abandoned or vacant. transparency and honesty.”

The Dirty Dime, as it is fondly called by residents, isn’t all that When thinking about urban development, one is inclined to believe dirty. If you visit the area enough it begins to feel like home in its that it all magically “just” appears. New buildings pop up on lots, quintessential sense. Residents are friendly, and talkative. A light unknown neighbors materialize with dogs and strollers, all of a sud- skinned Black woman compliments my hair. Up ahead two Black den your neighborhood is addressed by a foreign moniker and is men give a head nod and clasp palms as they pass one another. Ad- being mentioned in the news as “trending.” However, new buildings jacent to the gas station are homes where kids play outside. It’s a didn’t just pop up overnight out of thin air, new neighbors didn’t just place that boasts all the necessities of a vibrant built environment. materialize, and the name that your neighborhood now answers to Shelter, food, education, healthcare, safety, commerce, public and wasn’t picked out of a hat. There are key actors at play towards these civic access. (A Black Space) changes. The development was meticulously planned and designed. The question to ponder is whether spaces and places are being justly Relatively new apartments are situated just up the road, corner designed with the fate of current residents in mind. stores and pubs see steady patronage, an elementary school and high school anchor the east and west spokes of the street, a clinic is pres- The design process for communities is murky and riddled with gaps. ent and organic public spaces are adopted even though a few blocks Concrete, systematic approaches towards minimizing the damage north lives Brookside Park. With all of this industry, the predomi- to the social and economic framework for families in communities nantly Black neighborhood is one primed for imposing development on the development docket are waning. Equitable and just design and in danger of rapid displacement—war. demands a level of intentionality, accountability, and mindfulness 32 31 thing is, once your neighborhood feels the effects of gentrification it is too late. Striking preemptively is the key. One in twenty neigh- borhoods eligible for gentrification actually gets gentrified. So what about the other nineteen?

Herein is the war cry. People of Color traditionally exist within com- munal settings even if not present in America’s twenty-first century. Westernized rugged individualism contradicts the inherent com- munal nature with communities of color, causing damage to what could be exponential growth for the Black economy (Black Spac- es). Adopting practices of “we instead of me” lays an impenetra- ble foundation towards protecting our communities from predatory agendas. Without question, it should not be the responsibility of the marginalized to defend its worth to those in power. Design justice in communities of color can and should be free of alienating and diminishing identity politics. But this only comes by way of a con- centrated mass making such demands. “What was known as ‘redlining’ now takes on the shape of place- making. A soft social practice that Indianapolis Gentrification Map, 2000 Census – Present. Image created with Mapbox, inevitably leads to the attention OpenStreetMap. of development dollars, typically that begin to detail the correlation between economic success and Indianapolis Redlining Map (detail), from Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling, Richard Marciano, Nathan Connolly, et al., “Mapping Inequality,” American Panorama, ed. Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayres https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=11/39.7865/-86.1605&opacity=0.8&city=indianapolis-in. neighborhood conditions. To peer out the window of one’s home adding up to rapid change (i.e., and see like faces in your neighborhood positively affects one’s so- gentrification) upon which, if not for which the designer and user must collaborate with transparen- and Indy resident Benjamin Harrison to imply that Indianapolis is cial behaviors and psyche. cy and honesty. This can be painstakingly slow, which does not fit above average, an exemplar. But with respect to matters of inclusive monitored carefully, culminates the agenda of the bottom line for most developers or city govern- practice, Indianapolis found itself marred in shame, touting similar- From the 1930s through the 1960s, Black people across the coun- ments—cash flow and expansion. ly average ideals that demeaned the Black experience of the day. A try were largely cut out of the legitimate home ownership market. to displacement.” large part of this segregation played itself out by way of residential Ta-Nehisi Coates made a compelling statement: “Redlining de- Gentrification is the term we know best, yet it is a term for which discrimination also known as redlining—a housing practice that cat- stroyed the possibility of investment wherever Black people lived.” Divestment within the urban core (Black Spaces) or where ever the mass majority has succumbed to, a definition where there is a egorized residential areas based on racial demographics. For people of color, too, can invest in the wellbeing of their com- Blacks or People of Color reside was and has been an intentional victor and a victim. Recently the lexicon is expanding to include munities. The steps are easy in speech and slow moving in prac- practice for generations. What was known as “redlining” now takes phrases that attempt to project more inclusion such as “the resilient Redlining was a denial of housing and financial services based solely tice; legacy of ownership and excellence is everlasting. Residents on the shape of placemaking. A soft social practice that inevitably city,” “the livable city,” and “the green city.” What about “the just on race. After the Great Depression, the Federal Housing Adminis- must take the time to become educated and familiar with the local leads to the attention of development dollars, typically adding up city”? Continent to continent, the contemporary news bleeds black tration (FHA), which was born of the National Housing Act of 1934, and national policies that affect their quality of life. Residents must to rapid change (i.e., gentrification) upon which, if not monitored ink surrounding the injustices that exist within cities, in our own teamed up with the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) to commune with their neighbors in order to gain a greater apprecia- carefully, culminates to displacement. backyards. Ferguson to Paris, Flint to Puerto Rico, our communities make access to housing more affordable. The sole purpose of the tion for their livelihood as one’s own. Communities of color must (Black Spaces) are experiencing a radical juxtaposition with respect National Housing Act of 1934 was to make credit more available to manage a balance between the individual and collective wealth with Reports from Trulia found that Indiana recorded 86,500, its largest to justice in the ethics of development and design. lenders and better housing more accessible to low- and moderate-in- tomorrow in mind, and, as a collective, must not fear ownership as number ever, of pre-existing home sales in 2016, accounting for a come families. However the Act, in fact, only made housing more the alternative is to be owned. People of color must act with repute 7.7% increase over the previous year. The report went on to say that Just living, in the act of morality, is free of the burden imposed by affordable to Whites. The Act unequivocally denied loans to Blacks and fortitude—collectively—in order to save Black Spaces for gen- national homeownership rate dwindled to 63.4%, the lowest aver- governing policies that do not speak to the cultural sensibilities of or residents in majority Black neighborhoods. erations to come. people of color. The history of urban spatial design tends to skew age in fifty years. To boot, the biggest weight holding down the rate more towards destructive rather than fundamentally developmental The neighborhood ranking system was a simple and effective color- could be linked to racial inequality as White Americans are 30% with regards to communities of color. Middle-class regions of col- and letter-coded map. Green (A), blue (B), yellow (C), and red (D) more likely to own than Black Americans. or stand in violation of traditional white supremacy. And in doing painted the future. And lenders made sure to stay within the lines. so, these communities do not exist under a blind decree of justice. Areas in green (A) were prime locations to expand residential foot- ORGANIZING Instead they operate in opposition. Gentrification and displacement prints and banks were all too eager to finance loans for these areas. creep upon us by way of a few distinct cracks in the system—lack of An A-grade area, as one appraiser said, would not include “a single The burden of having to represent is itself the shadow of racism. knowledge, lack of ownership, and disorganization. foreigner or Negro.” Blue zones (B) were still desirable but diver- Just design for communities (Black Spaces) comes as a direct meth- sity was increasing with an influx of Jewish/Irish residents. Zones od of repealing the effects of racism and racially charged policies. KNOWLEDGE in Yellow (C) were considered to be on a rapid decline and areas The innocuous and purposefully confusing term “gentrification” has in red were given the lowest grade of (D) with an assessment that taken on such an amalgam of a definition that the majority of soci- “The difference between de jure and de facto segregation is the dif- the neighborhood was primarily occupied by African-Americans. ety doesn’t understand how it happened, let alone when. The tricky ference between open, forthright bigotry and the shamefaced kind A-grade areas in Indianapolis were traditionally located in the sub- that works through unwritten agreements between real estate deal- urbs while C- and D-grade neighborhoods, where 98% of the Black ers, school officials and local politicians.” Shirley Chisholm population of the day lived, were found in the inner city.

Indianapolis, Indiana, is presented as space with “Hoosier Hospital- “There was not, no matter where one turned, any acceptable image ity.” Many Black Americans share a similar linkage to the Midwest of oneself, no proof of one’s existence. One had the choice, either of Danicia Monét is a creative director, designer, and planner or North. Our grandparents made pilgrimage North from the South “acting just like a nigger” or of not acting just like a nigger—and based in Indianapolis. The basis of her work is rooted in seeking space where they could stand with respect and honor, place only those who have tried it know how impossible it is to tell the creative place-keeping. She manipulates traditional plan- where they could make a living, raise a family, establish roots with- difference.” James Baldwin ning techniques to develop unique community building op- out threat of death or indignity. But, our humble Midwest is not portunities. She challenges the ideas of public space and delinquent of rough encounters with race relations and diversity. BELONGING place-making utilized by city planners to encourage a new people-centric status-quo. She is currently Executive Cre- Part of its lesser-known history involves a 1971 lawsuit of de jure A strong sense of ownership within a space creates the foundation ative Director and UX Designer at Rokh and Programs and segregation/racial separation within the Indianapolis Public Schools for tried and true resident engagement, sustainability and quality of Facilities Manager at the Purdue University Black Cultural (IPS). Proof that this very space branded with excellence in equity life. A study by the University of Pennsylvania released findings Center. waving a slogan of “No Mean City” tagged by former President (https://ldi.upenn.edu/healthpolicysense/neighborhood-matters-block-block) 33 TOLD/RETOLD

Andrea Jandernoa

Materials: Metal leaf, screws, nylon thread

“All too often, value is ascribed to a place only as determined by developers, elected officials, philanthropists, and other outsiders.”

Who controls the narrative about a place? Andrea Jandernoa ex- ABOUT THE ARTIST plored this question with an installation that represented multiple narratives in response to the physical characteristics of the HLP Andrea Jandernoa is an artist and educator working in the Indianap- house. In the first phase of this installation, Jandernoa wrapped olis area. She maintains a studio space at the Circle City Industrial thread to connect screws she put in preexisting holes in the house. In Complex where she creates and exhibits oil paintings. Through work doing so, she wove a story about the place from her perspective as that examines the interactions between narrative, power, privilege, a self-described outsider. She then cut away the thread, challenging and identity, Jandernoa aims to challenge inequitable social and po- the legitimacy of an outsider defining 605 Tacoma Avenue or St. litical structures. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Integrative Clair Place, and leaving the screws to be re-connected from another Studio Practice at the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI. point of view. For the installation’s second phase, she invited HLP neighbors to re-wrap the thread in order to tell a new story from their insider perspective. Their contribution remained on view for the du- ration of the 2017 season.

34 35 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR?

Throughout the duration of the House Life Project, our activities • To join together in crisis, to help someone who is sick, were often guided by ideas of neighborliness. For example, when someone who is hungry making decisions about an upcoming event, the HLP team might • Help them cut their yard have asked, “What would we do if we were inviting some neighbors • Knock on their door and make sure they’re up over?” • Watch out for my dog and my cat • Make sure they don’t trash the neighborhood Throughout the summer of 2017, the HLP community had a series • Contribute of conversations about what it means to be a good neighbor. Here • Look out for someone who is home alone, if you can are some of the ideas that were shared: • Introduce people • Use the doors, not the windows, to go in and out • No profanity • Don’t complain about no more juice boxes • People kept to themselves, I was the one initiating things. • A good neighbor may leave a note or a pleasant surprise • Take care of younger kids Now people are out walking their dogs, saying “hi” (goat statue, cookies, fresh vegetable, invitation, gift, news • If someone is hurt, stop and ask if they are ok and if you can • Sharing extras, leftover, surplus about construction project) help. Get an adult. • Reach out to neighbors • Is more than just being nice to the people who are a lot like • Clean up after yourself • Give me food you • Be respectful—don’t talk back • Being a good friend to my parents for a long time • A wave is a nonverbal way of saying hello • Treat others how you want to be treated • Helping people, like fixing the basketball hoop • Being friendly to the people who live near you, even if you • Be respectful of people’s artwork • Being respectful don’t know them • Keep hands to yourself • To have fun with other people • Bus stop club • Be a good listener—pay attention • Going out of one’s way to get to know each other’s • Sharing your personal space on a regular basis • They hear what you say names. “Hi, I’m ______, this is my husband, • You can have a plot of land, but you share the sounds, the • Not talking over someone ______. smells, and the conflicts • Not destroying property • Welcoming people to the neighborhood • Thoughtful about the collective responsibility, the ways you • Playing with everyone • Be social and if you see you need to step up and do some- affect other people • Give newcomers a tour thing, offer to help out • Tolerant of others’ differences • Offer a drink and snack • Compassionate. Think about the person next door like they • Cut you some slack • Share food and drinks are your family. • Sharing your garden • Share art supplies and ideas • Make it a better place • Letting people use space, things, etc. that you can share • Don’t tease • Create a better atmosphere • Reciprocity • Brings me food, and things • Focus on the positive • Taking care of your property and respect the next door • Making a connection • Neighbors should help each other. What’s the point of be- neighbor’s choices • Communicating ing in a community if you can’t help each other out? It’s • Talk to your neighbor instead of calling the cops • Don’t walk across my fresh cut grass ridiculous that we outsource everything when we have so • To care for real, not just pretend to care • Look out for you much we can share here. • To know your neighbors and to care about the people in • He gives me things for free • Being a good neighbor is being available. As a kid, I knew your neighborhood, which ideally you do not need to clarify • Spend time together that I could go next door and say “hey, our electricity is out • To always lend a helping hand • Respecting your privacy and I need to use your phone.” • Respect • Revolves around being caring, to let people know you are • Willingness to share space • Kindness, how ‘bout that? available to help • Good neighbors look out for you, but they may never even • Welcoming come into your house Listen: What Does it Mean to be a Good Friend? a “short list” • Communicating—asking if people need help with ______• Be a good neighbor even if you don’t have much in com- created during an HLP workshop led by the Bonfire Radio The- • Watching out for other’s people and property, always need mon ater Ensemble to do that https://www.houselifeproject.org/index.php/goodfriend/ • Being inclusive in conversations 37 MOVEMENT TO HUMANITY MOVEMENT Tatjana Rebelle When you are given a chance to enter a space to bring it to life, there She would become the champion of all people making the best of is a sense of excitement that overcomes you. The explorer in you their situations and doing everything they can to keep it together. wants to take it all in and dream of the possibilities that can arise Her landlord would represent the elite and how much power they The House Life Project is a purposefully transitional project for from its newness. That is how I felt when I was asked to be a part have to alter a family’s life. The relationship between the two would practical and political reasons. We move when a house sells to a of the House Life Project. It was my chance to use my writings to symbolize the power struggle and the options not afforded to people showcase an abandoned space, within a neighborhood that has been below a certain income bracket. Her story would be one about the developer or homesteader, which helps us explore the means by forgotten. Going to 605 Tacoma became an adventure and a chance struggle to hold on despite. Her story would show that within every which residents move to, from, and through places. for me to tap into something that was beautiful, with other artists house that isn’t abandoned, there is a family just trying to keep their and writers. It was a chance to bring life amongst a street overrun head above water. She would be a made-up character that turned out by boarded up homes, through porch parties with neighbors, dinner to embody my own life experiences. Experience of knowing what it with recipe swaps, and conversations about community and life. Ev- is like to feel stuck. Stuck because of the seven places you applied ery event I went to, I was more enthralled with thinking about what to live at, only one would accept you. Knowing what it feels like I was going to be able to do to help. Even now, I wonder what am to be trapped by a credit score, that doesn’t showcase how you can I going to be able to say that can bring life to this space, street, and feed a family for a week with the last $20 to your name. A credit neighborhood? What am I going to do to bring to light the concept score that means you pay more for the same thing that other people of movement? Do I use the reduction of traffic as a metaphor? Or get because your interest rates are higher. Knowing what it’s like to does the afternoon pick-up game using the hoop someone found in have the police knock on your door, to tell you have days to a week the alley become a symbol of the unity and vitality of strength of to get out. That knock always sounds different. You can feel the hes- a neighborhood? Could movement be interpreted to talk about all itation. You can feel the darkness, as you go to open the door. That is those that left the neighborhood, and the reality of gentrification? when you realize you have no options. Her sitting at her table, bills Perhaps, a story about a single mother working three jobs in hopes stacked, tears running down her cheek; that is not a lone experience of supporting her family? of some made-up woman. That is a reality shared by all too many of us. That is what happened on Tacoma Avenue, Washington Bou- Her name would be Nia, she would have four boys all varying ages. levard, Meridian Street, Keystone Avenue, County Line Road, and They all live together in the two bedroom house, sharing everything maybe even the house next door to you. and devoid of privacy. I’d talk about how she was at the mercy of a landlord that lived across the country. A landlord that never re- “Let us not only do what we can to sponded when something went wrong in her house. A landlord that had no attachment to the people that lived in his building. A building bring life to the buildings board- falling apart and that barely held in heat in the winter. I’d tell of how the only working faucet was the tub. A tub that was full of dishes. ed up and abandoned, but also let Explain how showering was a thing of the past and cleaning up was us not forget about the people still with a washcloth, in a bathroom that tripled as kitchen and laundry room. I’d talk about how hard she had to work to get food on the living on those streets. Let us not table and keep the lights on. Speak of the danger of her walking blocks, having to wait for a bus that rarely showed up on time and forget the humanity of the people how walking home at night without incident, became her testimo- ny of her religious beliefs. Explain how the only time she gets to that live within the walls.” herself is when she comes in from her third-shift job. Every night Those abandoned houses on Tacoma aren’t just signs of negligence she checks to make sure all her boys are accounted for, and as she of property. They are symbols of families, landlords, economics, and sits at her tiny table in her kitchen, with nothing but the flickering humanity. We must not lose sight that for every empty home, there street light to glance at the stack of bills with PAST DUE stamped is one next to it, full of life and possibilities. Let us not only do what on them, she cries. Nia would be hiding the eviction notice from her we can to bring life to the buildings boarded up and abandoned, but boys. The eviction, issued by the state, because her landlord decided also let us not forget about the people still living on those streets. Let to not pay taxes and didn’t want to expound any energy into selling us not forget the humanity of the people that live within the walls. it. Concerned more with paperwork than with the family calling that property their home. Let us not forget to finish the story of Nia. A made-up woman that embodies the stories of my life and others around me. On every That would be how I would write about stagnation, forced moving street, in every city there is a Nia. They are who we should be focus- due to circumstances and how choice, ultimately, is a sign of privi- ing on. May this story of a fictional woman call your spirit to set out lege. Nia would become a symbol of how so many people don’t have on an adventure and find the humanity within every space you enter, a choice of where they live, or where their children go to school. regardless if it’s empty or full of life.

Tatjana Rebelle is a mother, activist, writer, performer, and promoter. She has lived in Indianapolis most of her life, which is where she learned to use her writing to deal with growing up in the Midwest as a bisexual, biracial daughter of an immigrant. She is the founder and host of VOCAB, an all-inclusive monthly spoken word and live music event that has recently moved to the White Rabbit in Fountain Square. She has been fighting for social justice for commu- nities of color and LGTBQ rights for several years, as well as embarking on bringing art and activism to the people that need to hear it the most. 39 PARADE2017 (HLP ADAPTATION)

Rebecca Pappas

Dancers: Lauren Curry, Stephanie Metzger, Rachel Newbrough, Rachael Wiecorek, and HLP community members

“I believe that when people dance together, they’re moving forward ideas together.”

The Porch Party on September 26, 2017, featured a joyful dance ABOUT THE ARTIST event that invited participants to connect with the HLP house in new ways by moving, and watching others move, in and around 605 Ta- Rebecca Pappas makes projects that address the body as an archive coma Avenue. Choreographer Rebecca Pappas debuted Parade2017 for personal and social memory. Her work has toured nationally and in Indianapolis’s Garfield Park at the beginning of summer 2017. internationally. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Ball State She then adapted the piece for the specific HLP site and communi- University and a Guest Artist in the MA in Social Practice Art pro- ty. It included choreographed movement performed by profession- gram at University of Indianapolis.. al dancers in sparkling costumes, as well as participatory elements that other HLP community members brought to life. All who joined us that day shared in a celebration of community movement, resis- tance, dance, and history.

41 HOW TO MAKE A MOBILE GARDEN

HOW TO MAKE A MOBILE GARDEN Bailey Shannon OUT OF A BIKE TRAILER 1-2 3 Estimated cost: $100–$120 1. Find a bike trailer you like. Search on- Assemble the bike trailer without the Tools and materials needed: line (Amazon, Craigslist, Ebay). wheels.

• Bike trailer 2. Gather your tools and materials. • A drill with driver and drill bits • Saw (power or hand saw) • 3” deck screws • 1 2” x 10” cedar board, 8’ length • Landscape fabric • Staple gun and staples

4 5 6 Drill holes in the bottom of the trailer bed Cut the cedar board to fit the interior of Connect the boards with screws then for water drainage using a metal drill bit. the bike trailer. The boards will be the attach the box to the trailer by drilling walls of the garden box. through the bottom of the trailer.

Do you want to grow your own food, but don’t have any yard space? If Container gardening is another option. You can use anything that you are renting, living in an apartment, or simply wanting to take your you can drill holes in the bottom of and fill with soil. A general garden with you wherever you go, try building your very own mobile rule is that whatever you grow will only get as tall as the amount garden. See the following page for a step by step guide. of space for its roots . . . so the bigger and deeper the container, the bigger the plant. Be creative!

CONTAINER IDEAS • plastic garden planters • a colander • an old boot • an old sink • a bowl or mug • a watering can • a tire • instruments (a guitar or • a Rubbermaid box cello or violin . . . or a tuba) 7-8 9 10 • an old trash can • a toy truck • a wagon • a tin can 7. Put the wheels on the bike trailer. Fill the garden box with good gardening Plant seeds! • a water bottle • a suitcase soil. • a milk jug • a wheelbarrow 8. Line the box with landscape fabric and • a bucket • cinder blocks staple it to the boards. • a helmet • a tea cup • a dresser drawer • a tool box • a filing cabinet

43 A POEM FOR CHANGE CHANGE Sharla Steiman

Change is a retro-active disease We know that places change, some slowly over long periods of Always in need Trying to unease time and some more rapidly. The House Life Project, a site of The fear of change itself change itself, is dedicated to critically examining the effects of Despite the wealth Despite the health past and present policies, financial investment, and neighbor to We have to fight against neighbor relationships within a community. In the sense Of pure resistance In this instance I see in the distance Another abandoned house Another abandoned spouse Immobile like a picture or mobile like a fixture Stuck in the mixture Of stamina and depression The unlearned lesson I keep guessing Is that change a never-ending fight No matter how much bite You apply All you can do is try Even if you die Even if you spy Inside yourself too much Like a punch No matter the bunch Stick to your hunch And make change.

Sharla Steiman is a twenty-two-year-old playwright, poet, and rapper. From 2011 to 2013, they have had plays in the Indy Fringe Festival, as well as DivaFest, plus awarded win- ner of the IRT Young Playwrights in Progress. Sharla creates art that challenges and reflects the realities of society and interpersonal relations.

45 SOUNDS WE RETURN ARE NEW AGAIN

Jordan Munson

Materials: Music box, paper loop, hole puncher, interactive computer system

“For me, the music box was a very poetic way to express change in a community. Each time someone added to the piece the evolution enriched the work in unexpected ways.”

As the HLP wrapped up the 2017 season, we considered the process ABOUT THE ARTIST of shifting, adapting, and remaining constant through an interactive sound installation designed by Jordan Munson. At the heart of the Jordan Munson is a sound and video artist whose work explores installation was a music box. The HLP community members were memory, ephemera, and our relationship to technology. Often using invited to punch holes in a long paper loop that determined the mel- found media and experimental instruments, his compositions em- ody that the music box played. At our final porch party on October ploy layered textures to build subtly changing landscapes. Munson 17, 2017, Munson used digital technology to manipulate the melo- has performed alongside artists such as R. Luke DuBois, Bora Yoon, dy, creating an ever-growing sonic texture that reflected the many and Nico Muhly. With collaborators Scott Deal and Michael Drews, layers of change that have occurred in and around the HLP. he is a member of the electroacoustic ensemble Big Robot. Munson is a Senior Lecturer in Music and Arts Technology at IUPUI, as well as an associate of the Donald Tavel Arts and Technology Research Center. He holds degrees from Indiana University in Indianapolis (M.S.M.T.) and the University of Kentucky (B.M.)

47 A LIST OF THINGS TO DO WITH THIS NEWSPAPER

Read it Roll it into a pillow Give it as a gift Use it as a blanket Wrap a gift with it Put it up as wallpaper Make holiday cards Spread it out as a tablecloth Use it for a collage Fold it up under a hot dish to protect the table Use it as a coloring book Wipe your hands on it if they’re dirty Sit on it instead of the ground Make a book cover Use it to cover something you want to hide Make a paper boat Make origami animals Stuff some in your running shoes to absorb the water after Make a papier-mâché dog stepping in a puddle Use it as the fluff for a handmade stuffed animal Use it as an umbrella Hang it as a curtain for a puppet show Dry off with it after getting caught in the rain Put it on your windshield to keep your car cool on a sunny day Make a paper hat Make a bow tie Use it to teach a class Make a bib for a baby Use it to start an argument Make a shirt or a pair of pants Make a fake beard Compost it Stuff it into the sleeves of your shirt to make your muscles look Recycle it bigger Sell it Deliver it Measure how tall you are Play I-Spy Count how many times the word “house” appears in it Try to find your name in it Ball it up and play basketball

Shred and use as cat litter Put it in the bottom of your bird cage Scoop up a bug to escort it out of the house Set it out to catch paint drips Burn it as kindling for a fire Drain extra grease from Chef T’s beignets Make a funnel for putting oil in your car Use it to kill weeds in your garden Make seed starting cups for your plants Clean your windows—streakless! Wrap your glass candleholders in it when you store them away Pack your prized possessions with it 48 Marvea Hill, 2016