Building Black joy brick by brick in Indianapolis
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A shot of the crowd during the 2024 BLACK: A Festival of Joy event at Riverside Park. Photo: Courtesy of GANGGANG
The annual GANGGANG festival celebrating the power of Black joy in Indianapolis has plans to grow bigger through the support of a new community-driven initiative.
Why it matters: The free summer celebration in Riverside Park aims to shift the narrative that Black people are a demographic in need by instead focusing on their contributions to society.
- Global efforts to reclaim Black joy and challenge stereotypes through celebration have become powerful survival tools for individuals who may feel devalued because of the color of their skin.
Driving the news: Earlier this year, GANGGANG, the creative advocacy agency responsible for the BUTTER Fine Art Fair, launched the Brick by Brick Fund.
- The effort was created to secure resources for the fourth annual BLACK: A Festival of Joy by inviting small businesses, creatives and individual community members to purchase bricks at three different donation levels — $500, $750 and $1,500.
- The group is also taking donations of any level for those who want to support the festival but are unable to purchase a brick.
- Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, one of the city's historic Black congregations, was the first organization to support the fund by purchasing a commemorative brick at the $1,500 level.
What they're saying: "This isn't charity. It's community architecture," said Nigel Long from GANGGANG. "Every brick purchased helps ensure the festival's growth as a space where Black culture thrives, unapologetically."
Zoom in: The music and food-based community festival debuted in 2022 in partnership with the Indianapolis Foundation.
- It also functions as a micro-granting program to "encourage and uplift uncompromisingly Black spaces and experiences in Indianapolis."
- Attendance has grown from about 1,500 in 2022 to more than 10,000 people in 2024.
- The festival has had a total economic impact of about $350,000 in its first three years, according to GANGGANG.
What's next: BLACK: A Festival of Joy returns to Taggart Memorial Amphitheater in Riverside Park in July.
- Dates and the full slate of programming will be announced in the coming weeks.