About the Spirit & Place Festival

The Spirit & Place Festival is a distinctive event in Indianapolis and the nation.  As a signature civic engagement project of IUPUI, Spirit & Place brings together cultural, religious, and community institutions to create “never-seen-before” programs—and often "never-seen-again"—which prompt citizens to think and act differently on behalf of their communities. Its mission is to be a catalyst for civic engagement and enduring change through creative collaborations among the arts, humanities, and religion.

The Spirit & Place Festival grew out of a project conducted by The Polis Center in the 1990s that examined the relationship between religious practices and urban life. The notion of place shaping identity emerged when Indiana natives Kurt Vonnegut and Dan Wakefield, along with John Updike, were invited to speak at Clowes Memorial Hall in 1996 through a collaboration with Butler University. Engaged in a “public conversation,” rather than a keynote speech, this lively presentation was augmented with literary readings and discussions hosted by 10 other organizations that same weekend—and so began the model for the Spirit & Place Festival.

Now celebrating its 16th year, Spirit & Place is a dynamic festival that reaches over 20,000 people annually. Each year, artists and authors, entrepreneurs and neighborhood organizers, and storytellers and scholars, come together with neighbors, families, and friends to explore an annual theme through 40+ programs created by over 100+ community organizations. These adjudicated events, which range from exhibits and performances to workshops and panel discussions, are held in a variety of venues throughout Central Indiana.. 

Spirit & Place, which received the 1999 Cultural Vision Award and the 2001 Indiana Achievement Award, provides vital space for community reflection and action around the values that define us.