FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — As part of the 2014 Spirit & Place Festival, debate teams from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Butler University will square off on the question of whether Indianapolis has become a city with more or less access and opportunity for its residents.
The annual Spirit & Place Festival, the city’s largest collaborative festival, explores the theme of “Journey” through 38 performances, including the debate, exhibits, documentaries, conversations and other programs, Nov. 7 to 16 at venues throughout Central Indiana; 91% of the programs are free of charge
The festival’s mission is to stimulate conversation, community building and civic action through creative collaborations among the arts, religion and humanities.
From the instruments of mobility in various forms — education, money, waterways, trails, bus lines, bike lanes, policies — to the reasons for movement — quality of life, self-expression, community development, health, persecution, pilgrimage — festival events explore the dynamic passages of peoples, places and ideas through the lenses of veterans and dancers, African American and visual artists, ex-offenders and Native Americans, and more.
“Taking It ALL-IN,” the festival’s opening night event, takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, at Old City Hall, 202 N. Alabama St. The event features fun, food and music for all ages.
The IUPUI-Butler debate about the city’s journey, “Debating Our Progress,” takes place from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, 708 E. Michigan St.
Now in its 19th year, the 10-day festival will close with an exploration of life’s final journey in a conversation about end-of-life issues from the perspective of a caregiver, patient and physician.
The 19th annual Spirit & Place Public Conversation takes place at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, in the Christian Theological Seminary’s Shelton Auditorium. Speakers include Gail Sheehy, author of “Passages”; two-time cancer survivor and New York Times No. 1 bestselling author and poet Mark Nepo; and Dr. Timothy E. Quill, director of the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Palliative Care, University of Rochester School of Medicine.
Other 2014 festival events involving IUPUI students, faculty and/or staff include:
- Immigrant Simulation Experience
The Spirit & Place Festival is a collaborative community project managed by The Polis Center, part of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. The celebration engages more than of 18,000 people annually.
Major Spirit & Place partners include: Lilly Endowment Inc.; Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation; Bohlsen Group; IUPUI; The Polis Center at IUPUI; Values, Ethics, Social Responsibility and Pastoral Services, Indiana University Health; University of Indianapolis; Center for Service and Learning at IUPUI; CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions; Goldstein Group Financial Advisors; The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF Affiliate; IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI; The Lacy Foundation; Walther Palliative Care Research and Education Program; and more than 200 other community partners and donors.
For more information, call The Polis Center at 317-274-2455 or visit www.spiritandplace.org.