Lockerbie Pup-Up Public Place from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
In 2019, Big Car staff and more than 30 participating artists and neighbors returned to Lockerbie Marketplace for another season of programming. Hosting 34 total events, 27 musicians, five neighborhood walking tours, and four night markets, the greenspace buzzed with local talent.
Every Thursday from May to October, featured a live music performance and local food truck for lunch. Monthly musical themes included singer-songwriters, ambient music, classical music in partnership with Classical Music Indy, and hip-hop beats in partnership with Chreece – the annual Indianapolis hip-hop festival. On the second Thursday from June to August, we partnered with Commissary Barber & Barista to bring coffee cuppings outside during lunchtime. On the third Thursday of every month, Big Car hosted the Lockerbie Night Market & Sun King Beer Garden, highlighting local artisans, food vendors, and live music. The Carrington Clinton Trio kicked-off our monthly events. The event series wrapped up with a silent horror film screening of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and a live soundtrack by Bad Boys of A.V. and Classical Music Indy.
New to the Lockerbie slate of programming this year were Lockerbie Neighborhood walking tours led by local experts on the First Tuesday of every month. Each tour has different theme and featured a number of historical and cultural sites in the area. Monthly walking tours included Histories & Oddities of Mass Ave by Colin Dullaghan of Borshoff, Indianapolis Monuments by historian Bill Selm, Restoration of Lockerbie Neighborhood by Marjorie Kienle of Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis (HUNI), The Indianapolis Cultural Trail, and German Lockerbie History by Bill Selm.
Lockerbie Night Market from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
Lockerbie Marketplace Pop-Up Public Place (2018)
Placemaking at Lockerbie Marketplace continued strong for 2018! Throughout the year, much of the previous year’s favorite and free public-engagement activities were maintained; the night market, yoga, ping-pong, foosball, cornhole, chess and checkers. You can read over IndyStar project coverage on their website. New activities that Big Car and Spark Placemaking introduced for 2018 were big Jenga; My Wish for Lockerbie programming board; food truck visits by Brozinni’s Pizzeria, Oh my Spud, Box Burger, Beach Bum BBQ, Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort Food; and Music & Art Thursdays.
Music and Art Thursdays took place every Thursday from 11 am – 2 pm through the months of September – October. The project brought in several new collaborations with social-practice artists. This Includes Brittany Kugler and Lauren Ditchley, whose On the Menu project allowed participants to design food from various fabrics and beads. Ken and Roberta Avidor did live portrait sketching in the greenspace in the middle of the square. Michael Mirabile instructed workshop classes on Japanese woodblock printing. And Big Car’s Placemaker and Researcher in Residence Adam Rakestraw implemented The Lockerbie Story Project, a community storytelling project. There were also numerous Indianapolis local musical performers who participated in Music and Art Thursdays. Music ranged from the genres of folk and classical to experimental percussion to acoustic songwriter. Musicians include Rob Funkhouser, DouTones, Wes Cook, Corey Denham, James Furness, Peter King, and Jay Ewing.
Located right off the Cultural Trail, the night market and beer garden continued to be one of our major successes! Thanks to our friends at Sun King Brewing Company, the public could grab a beer, play games, wander the 20+ outdoor vendor merchandise, relax under some string lights, and listen to free tunes! Fusion jazz night with the Carrington Clinton Trio and honkey-tonk with The RoundUps seemed to be some of our most popular evenings. The night market in 2018 experienced about 1,000 total visitors, with a total of approximately 2,000 overall visitors to the space. This is up from 1,200 in 2017!
Thanks to our partners CitiMark and Gersham Partners.
See all programming photos here.
Lockerbie Marketplace (2017)
In October 2017, our Indianapolis Spark Placemaking crew teamed up with CitiMark and Gershman Partners to bring short-term public programming to the Lockerbie Marketplace small park area between Alabama, New York, New Jersey, and Vermont streets in the heart of Downtown Indianapolis. This previously underutilized green space is surrounded by a grocery store and other office and retail spaces located by the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. See photos here.
In addition to bringing this pop-up public space to the general public, our staff tested ideas to help inform long-term use of the green space. Through this testing period, Big Car staff members spent up to four hours every weekday at the Lockerbie Marketplace park space, testing placemaking ideas, hosting pop-up programming, and keeping up with games (e.g., ping pong, foosball, cornhole, chess and checkers) — all while observing and collecting data. After, we were able to share insights and ideas on long-term ways to design and program the space to benefit the public and others who work and live nearby and visit this area.
For the entire month of October, our Spark Placemaking staff led by our Placemaker and Planner-in-Residence, Amber Janzen, offered special programmings – like live music, yoga, a night market (watch in the video above), an outdoor film night, and more. These activities were all free to the public.
Lockerbie Marketplace (2022)
For another year, our Indianapolis Spark Placemaking crew teamed up with CitiMark and Gershman Partners to bring short-term public programming to the Lockerbie Marketplace small park area between Alabama, New York, New Jersey, and Vermont streets in the heart of Downtown.
For 22 weeks, we engaged 1,381 program participants for lunchtime activations on Thursdays with local food trucks, games (e.g., ping pong, foosball, and chess), music ranging from alt-jazz, classical, pop, and indie-pop, and our staff-led postcard project. Thanks to our friends at Sun King Brewer. Beer and chilled wine were available for purchase at the pop-up beer garden located right off the Cultural Trail on Alabama Street. Visitors enjoyed five happy hour and mini-market events featuring our Sunking beer garden, local Indianapolis music, food, and select artisan vendors.
We are so grateful to our partners at Hot Room Yoga and instructor Nikki Pelc for hosting several free outdoor pilates sessions and curator Chris Lafave from the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library for sharing their expert knowledge on renowned Indiana author, Kurt Vonnegut. Special artist-led activities ranged from energy readings by artists Ellen Robinson and Carlie Foreman, radio interviews for Indy’s Greenlight Podcast series, interactive sound art by Landon Caldwell, and 5-minute wheel-throwing lessons by artist Stephanie Williams. All of these activities continue to be free to the public.
