Spirit & Place Festival

Where do fiber arts, the Bible, Japanese avant-garde dancing, monarch butterfly conservation, Sikh poetry, psychedelic medicine, race conversations and trauma-informed care meet?

For several years in Indianapolis, I was privileged to take part in the annual Spirit & Place festival, volunteering at events uniting communities through arts, humanities and religion.

Every November, nonprofits, churches, temples, community organizations and more around Indianapolis come together under the public umbrella of Spirit & Place. It is a fascinating experiment in community development and networking among divergent groups.

Often, nonprofit leaders in one area of work—i.e. religion or art—become well-connected with other nonprofit leaders and efforts in their own area of focus. This helps each leader and organization develop better programs and functions, but it misses a huge opportunity for innovation: ideas from outside the field.

Imagine the innovations in service that might be developed when a trauma-informed care organization builds relationships with a poetry group? Or with a church? The expertise of each can develop the other in ways never before imagined.

This is exactly the sort of innovation and growth that the Spirit & Place Festival facilitates. By bringing diverse organizations—and their respective supporters—together, the Festival opens doors to a stronger, more vibrant and innovative nonprofit scene in Indianapolis.