Whether you’re in the midst of a house hunt or are happily in your forever home, here’s a peek into Indy’s real estate market, including stories of recent homebuyers, tips from real estate agents, and info on trending neighborhoods.
EDITED BY JULIA
SPALDING
FAST TRACKS
Auto racing just may be in Hoosiers’ blood. For those who are itching to touch rubber to dirt or pavement and prove their mettle at top speeds, the state has plenty of opportunities to feed the beast.
BY TONY REHAGEN
60
OH, THE HUMANITIES
A powerful local institution since 1969 and Indy’s most renowned public university, IUPUI is no more. Some fear the split between Purdue and IU could leave liberal arts programs on the sidelines.
BY JIM DEBROSSE
Rooms designed by Deanna Whetstone of Whetstone & Associates
CIRCLE CITY
11 SPEED READ
Indiana’s school voucher program is a boon to families who value having their pick of schools, but who benefits the most from it is an increasingly thorny issue.
14 THE HOOSIERIST
Our Indiana expert explains why you might be seeing golf carts on the road.
16 ASK ME ANYTHING
Athlete Matthew Anderson discusses his volleyball career, balancing the demands of work with family, and his hopes for the Paris Olympics.
18 BEST BETS
Five can’t-miss events in Indy this month.
GOOD LIFE
21 WANTED
Taylor Smith’s thoughtful, punchy floppy disk pop art is a conversation-starter.
22 SHOP TALK
Candle company Penn & Beech opens a new brick-andmortar in Fishers.
23 TRENDING
Turn heads with these bold, beautiful reds.
24 BODY+SOUL
Experience serenity and get a refresh in a salt cave in Carmel, or try out new scents from Clutch and Kindle.
25 TRAVELER
With its diverse fine dining and arts scenes, Minneapolis is an underrated destination.
26 PET PROJECT
A rescuer focuses on the pups who get overlooked due to controversy around breeding.
RESTAURANT GUIDE
A tour of the city’s best eats, from fine dining to favorite dives.
29 SWOON
The “wow factor” of Vicino’s shrimp pasta comes from the simplest of ingredients.
30 FIRST BITE
A Beech Grove pizza spot gets a new life, a chef advises us to start with one bite, and a cocktail bar will tell you its secrets if you keep them close. Shh.
32
TASTE TEST
Hurry up and grab these sticky-sweet Indy-area ice pops before they melt.
34 FOODIE
Healthy Soul founder Tawana Gulley shares her restaurant knowledge with kids through a culinary bootcamp.
36 REVIEW
Nicole-Taylor’s is mostly the same under new ownership, but a few innovative additions are proving popular, and more are in store.
STORY Carmel’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints’ Temple holds hidden beauty.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Moved to Tears
AUGUST 1 marks the two-year anniversary of my first (and, thus far, only) real estate closing as a seller and the official start of a two-part move across Marion County. After living in a charming 1926 bungalow on the city’s east side for nearly a decade, I wanted a change of scenery in 2022. As much as I loved my cozy, well-maintained abode with historic character to spare, I yearned for more space, more trees and nature, and more peace and quiet (read: fewer fireworks enthusiasts). The market was still very favorable to sellers, so I knew I could turn my house quickly and for a good price. But I was also apprehensive about making a hasty, regrettable decision on the buyer’s side of the equation. So I took a short break from ownership and rented a house—also on the east side—from my real estate agent for six months, during which time I decompressed from the first move and considered my future neighborhood options. Would I find my next home on the north side? In one of the suburbs? Outside of town on a rural plot with some acreage? Would I entertain the possibility of moving out of state entirely? The final answer to all these questions came when I spotted a listing for a spacious 1966 ranch in a secluded, tree-lined Pike Township subdivision. I visited just that one property, submitted an offer immediately, and dispatched the movers again in early 2023.
I don’t recommend moving twice in six months—it was exhausting— but my strategy paid off. The market cooled enough during my rental house respite that I was able to score an affordable price on my current home and avoid bidding wars with other prospective buyers.
The real estate scene has continued to morph and evolve since my adventures in selling, renting, and buying. Our August cover feature (p. 38) provides qualified advice from local agents, as well as a preview of up-and-coming neighborhoods, secrets of a home stager, and perspectives from recent homebuyers. Whether you’re actively preparing for your next move or perfectly content to stay put right where you are, enjoy this peek behind the doors of the Indianapolis housing market.
( CONTRIBUTORS )
Jeana Harris
Finding the perfect home is daunting, but that “can’t sleep, can’t eat” excitement upon landing the right one makes it all worthwhile. Stories of successful home searches, like those described in “Welcome Home” (p. 38), are among contributing editor Jeana Harris’ favorites to write. “I love going beyond the ‘sold’ sign to discover how a homebuyer found ‘the one.’ Whether it’s their first home or fifth, the experience is always unique, and no two wish lists are ever the same.”
Andrea Ratcliff Editor-in-Chief
Natalie Fitzgibbons
One of Indianapolis Monthly’ssummer interns, Natalie Fitzgibbons is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. She is summer editor-in-chief of IU’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, and a former editor of IU’s yearbook, Arbutus. Natalie has a penchant for newswriting, but she also enjoys fashion and design on the side, which helped her dive into learning the secrets of home staging for “Welcome Home” (p. 38).
Christiana Bertsch
Celebrating her one-year anniversary at Indianapolis Monthly, advertising art director Christiana Bertsch enjoys designing pages like Best Bets (p. 18) and producing special sections like College Guide (p. 65), helping readers make decisions about everything from what to do this weekend to where to send their kids to college. Outside of work, you can spot her exploring Fountain Square with her dog Eugene in search of pet-friendly coffee spots or running on the Cultural Trail.
FEATURES EDITOR
Julia Spalding
LIFESTYLE EDITOR
Christina Vercelletto
FOOD & DINING EDITOR
Eve Batey
MANAGING EDITOR
Camille Graves
DIGITAL EDITOR
Jeremy Reuben
EDITORIAL INTERNS
Natalie Fitzgibbons, Javon Manning, Edie Schwarb
BUSINESS
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting
BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle
PUBLISHER
Ivy Bayer
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Andrea Ratcliff
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Vu Luong
EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR
Maura Broderson
ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR
Christiana Bertsch
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
SALES DIRECTOR
Holly Whitney
Megan Fernandez, Stephen Garstang, Jeana Harris, Terry Kirts, Amy Lynch, Sam Stall
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Ryan Johnson, Jes Nijjer, Tony Valainis
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Amy Cecil Nancy Oliphant
Eileen Worcester
IndianapolisMonthly.com/ advertise-with-us
DESIGN DIRECTOR Margo Wininger
PUBLISHED BY CINCINNATI MEDIA, LLC, A SUBSIDIARY OF HOUR MEDIA, LLC CEO Stefan Wanczyk
PRESIDENT John Balardo
EDITORIAL / ADVERTISING OFFICES
Indianapolis Monthly 8909 Purdue Rd., Suite 130 Indianapolis, IN 46268 317-969-6954
Parents of college-bound high school students can consult this year’s guide to Indiana institutions of higher learning to gain information about virtual campus visits, online applications, cutting-edge curriculum offerings, and factors to consider when selecting a college or university. Get the stats on schools throughout the state to find the best fit for your child.
91 // REAL ESTATE ALL-STARS
Who are the top performing real estate agents and mortgage professionals in Indy? Our listings of qualified industry pros, compiled by Professional Research Services, can help homebuyers and sellers make informed decisions when assembling their real estate dream teams.
IN THE NEXT ISSUE ...
School Profiles
Families researching local education options will find details about the learning environments, focus areas, academic programs, extracurricular activities, and policies of a variety of Indyarea schools in this annual profile section.
Home Expert Profiles
Encompassing the full gamut of residential services, these builders and design professionals can help you construct and furnish the home of your dreams or customize and enhance your existing indoor and outdoor living spaces.
A COMMUNAL CELEBRATION AROUND FOOD THAT SPARKS JOY AND SUPPORTS FAMILIES.
INAUGURAL EVENT DETAILS: Thursday September 12, 2024 6:00 p.m.
SPEED READ
Indiana’s school voucher initiative is drawing students faster than the cafeteria lunch line on Taco Tuesday. Established in 2011, the Choice Scholarship Program allows parents to use state funds to opt out of the public school system and send their kids to a participating parochial or nonreligious private school. As another academic year dawns, here’s a quick review.
INDIANA’S VOUCHER PLAN IS GROWING BRISKLY. Enrollment in the Choice Scholarship Program ballooned in 2023–24 to 70,095 students, a 31percent increase over the previous school year and the largest year-overyear jump ever. The money the state handed out for vouchers also increased massively, reaching $439 million in tuition grants to parochial or other private schools. That’s a 40-percent increase over the previous year.
VOUCHERS AREN’T THE ONLY FINANCIAL AID ON OFFER. Parents can also avail themselves of education savings accounts and tax-credit scholarships. The Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program, which went into effect in July 2024, allows students with disabilities (and their siblings) to use dedicated scholarship money for approved educational programs, therapies, and other education-related expenses. Also, a School Scholarship Tax Credit is available to those donating to scholarshipgranting organizations.
SIMILAR PROGRAMS HAVE TAKEN HOLD IN OTHER STATES TOO. According to EducationWeek, as of June 2024, 29 states plus the District of Columbia offer some form of financial assistance to parents to facilitate school choice. The first was established in Milwaukee in 1990.
THE GROUP OF HOOSIER STUDENTS WHO QUALIFY NOW INCLUDES … PRETTY MUCH ALL OF THEM. When voucher programs initially gained traction around the country, they were often presented as a way to create more educational options for low-income families stuck with whatever public school their kids were assigned to. This was also the argument originally presented in Indiana. But in 2023, the Indiana General Assembly repealed most student qualification requirements (including previous enrollment in a public school) and allowed even higher-income families to get vouchers. For the 2024–25 school year, the salary cap for a family of four rose to $230,880. In other words, it’s now possible to have private school tuition underwritten with public funds, even for children who already attend a
THE LATEST STATE NUMBERS INDICATE THAT USE OF THE PROGRAM IS GROWING MOST RAPIDLY IN SEGMENTS OF HOOSIER SOCIETY THAT ARGUABLY NEED IT THE LEAST.
private school and whose family’s income is well above Indiana’s household median of $66,800.
THE “GIVING DISADVANTAGED FAMILIES CHOICES” MOTIVE FOR VOUCHERS HAS BECOME HARDER TO DEFEND. The Indiana Department of Education describes the typical Hoosier voucher student as a white, elementary school–age girl from a four- or five-person household with an income of almost $100,000. White students make up 64 percent of voucher users, up about 2.5 percent from the 2022–23 school year. The number of Black students with vouchers dropped half a percent over the same time span to 8.9 percent, while the number of Hispanic voucher-using students declined from 19 percent to 17.3 percent.
THE NUMBER OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS THAT ACCEPT VOUCHERS IS ALSO INCREASING. The Indianapolis-based pro-voucher group EdChoice reports that during the 2023–24 school year, 357 private schools participated in the program statewide. That’s a near-doubling of available learning facilities since the program was instituted in 2011. The two private schools receiving the most students and funds from the voucher program, both of which happen to be in Indianapolis, are Heritage Christian School (883 students and $5,697,076) and Roncalli High School (854 students and $5,651,614). Fourteen schools joined the program in 2023–24, the biggest expansion of any year since the program’s inception. Critics worry because private schools don’t have to meet the same reporting or transparency standards as public schools. Democratic state lawmakers tried to prevent voucher funds from going to private schools that discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community on religious grounds but were unable to overcome the state’s Republican supermajority.
VOUCHERS TYPICALLY DON’T COVER PRIVATE SCHOOL EXPENSES IN THEIR ENTIRETY. The calculation of a particular student’s voucher is based on family income. During the 2023–24 school year, the average award amount was $6,264, while the average price of private school tuition and fees was $7,749.
THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS USING VOUCHERS IS STILL FAIRLY LOW, BUT THEIR RANKS ARE SLOWLY GROWING. According to the Indiana Department of Education, only about 6 percent of all Indiana students use vouchers. Almost 87 percent of Indiana’s K-12 population attended public schools in the 2023–24 academic year, roughly half a percentage point less than the 2022–23 year. That percentage is expected to shrink again when 2024–25 numbers are in.
CONTROVERSY SWIRLS AROUND THE PROGRAM. The state still maintains that as many Indiana families as possible should be able to avail themselves of choices in education. Opponents point out that every voucher handed to a parent is essentially money out of the pocket of the public school system they rejected. Also, the latest state numbers indicate that use of the program is growing most rapidly in segments of Hoosier society that arguably need it the least. During the 2023–24 school year, almost 8,000 voucher students hailed from households earning between $150,000 to $200,000 annually. The number of students from households taking in more than $200,000 rose almost tenfold, from 354 in 2022–23 to 3,700 in 2023–24. The number of children from those two brackets accounted for more than half of the program’s total growth of 16,720 students in 2023–24. During that same timeframe, the number of voucher families making less than $100,000 grew by only 14 percent. —SAM STALL
Families may be looking to build a larger home to accommodate a new home offi ce, a study/quiet area for the kids, an additional bedroom, or even a family entertainment room. Carrington ensures a distinctively crafted home tailored to suit you and your family’s special wants and needs.
Putt-Putt
Q : FOLKS ARE TOOLING AROUND IN GOLF CARTS EVERYWHERE FROM BROAD RIPPLE TO CARMEL. IS THAT LEGAL? A: Golf carts have evolved into zippy, eco-friendly second cars in myriad areas. (Nineveh held its first Golf Cart 500 in May.) While state law excludes them from pretty much all public roads, local ordinances can and do override that ban. Since they typically max out at 25 mph, carts are often allowed on low-speed-limit thoroughfares and in specific residential neighborhoods. If you long to putter around, say, in the Geist Reservoir area, you’d better check with the local cops or your neighborhood association. Most often, carts allowed on public streets must have the same safety gear as a car, including headlights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals, and a rearview mirror. In some locales, carts must be registered and insured, and their operators need a driver’s license. So you’d want to rethink letting your 13-year-old hot rod around the cul-de-sac. —SAM STALL
( UNSPOKEN
RULES )
The Hangar
A MANNER-FESTO FOR THE NEWLY POPULAR DOWNTOWN ENTERTAINMENT CENTER.
Book a private golf simulator bay with a 15-by-10-foot 4K HD screen. Renting an e-bike and hopping on the Cultural Trail a block away is an easy date night. (Get the picnic basket add-on.) You can even take a wood-burning or glasspainting class. Grabbing a drink and taking in the skyline from the patio is always an option. All craft cocktails have local ingredients, like the Indy Fashioned with Hotel Tango bourbon.
Ask what the seasonal slushie is before you order, though. Peckish? Go for the Spare Tire Rolls. They host Colts away game parties. Make a reservation.
23,987
Not many, as opposed to California at 1.1 million, but a spectacular number compared to Alaska, the Dakotas, West Virginia, and Wyoming, all with a paucity of charging stations, at zero.
ask THE HOOSIERIST
STEP INTO MOTHERHOOD WITH THE BEST
When the family is about to grow by two feet, you’ve got a whole team ready to help you find your footing. Franciscan Health’s labor and delivery specialists take all the steps to motherhood with you – from prenatal to postnatal, and every step in between, including advanced care for high-risk pregnancies and breastfeeding support services.
Step into your new role as mom with confidence! Connect with our OB Nurse Navigator to choose your provider today.
Matt Anderson, Olympian
HE LED TEAM USA TO A BRONZE MEDAL IN INDOOR VOLLEYBALL AT THE 2016 RIO OLYMPICS WITH HIS OFFENSIVE PROWESS. NOW, THE 6-FOOT, 10INCH ZIONSVILLE RESIDENT AND HIS TEAMMATES AIM FOR NOTHING LESS THAN A GOLD MEDAL IN PARIS. HE CREDITS HIS FAMILY WITH HELPING HIM GET THERE. BY MIKE BOTKIN
You’re originally from the Northeast. How have you liked living in the Hoosier state?
I grew up in West Seneca, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. My wife Jackie is from Indianapolis. In trying to find a place of our own to call home, we fell in love with our house in Zionsville— so much so that we got married on our property. I love the area. I’m not there as much as I’d like to be with my
professional contract obligations and Team USA training, but I’ve been able to make a few friends through Jackie and our kids.
How did you wind up falling in love with volleyball?
The sport has been in my family. My grandfather played in the senior games, and two of my older sisters played high school, club, and college
volleyball. I started to play my freshman year in high school after becoming bored with soccer. The real love of the game followed quickly after that. Being part of a team carried a sense of belonging. The transition to high school can be tough, but with volleyball practice starting early in the fall, I went into high school with built-in friends, some of whom I’m still close with to this day.
Who was your inspiration when you were first starting?
I wasn’t aware of who the best players in the world were when I first started playing. My inspirations then were the older guys on the varsity team at my high school. I wanted to be as confident as they were playing and as cool as they were off the court. That theme was constant as I continued at Penn State and throughout my years on Team USA, always striving to fill the shoes of those who had gone before me.
You seem to have a quiet confidence about your team. Why is that?
A majority of this team has been together and competing together for Team USA since 2013. During those 11 years, we’ve shown that we are able to win in big moments. Our dedication to our pursuit of Olympic gold has never wavered. We have worked hard to refine our systems of play. Every single one of us has fully invested in that process.
At the last summer Olympics in Tokyo, your team didn’t advance beyond pool play [the qualifying competition for the medal round], stunning fans. Were you and your teammates bitter over that unexpected outcome?
It’s hard to translate the feelings about our performance in Tokyo into simple emotions. “Heartbreaking” is a term that comes up often because of the amount of time and effort we individually and collectively put into preparing for those games. It amounted to five years. And we had great performances along the way, so we were slotted in as a favorite. And then not to advance from pool play … it was shock, followed by grief.
How is this team going to grab the gold in Paris?
We’ll do it by leveraging our strength, which is in the way we can adapt our game plans to specific opponents and still stay true to our core system of play. We’ve really worked hard over the past few years, especially to implement new strategies that give us more ways to win by exploiting the weaknesses in other teams.
You are a three-time Olympian, soon to have four under your belt, at age 37. Have you got a fifth in you?
I realize I am very fortunate to have had this long career. Of course, I also understand the finiteness and fragility of being a professional athlete. As I continue to play, my body feels the wear and tear more. But I’m dedicated to putting everything I have, physically and mentally, into the Paris games. Then, with the support of my family, I’ll take it year by year after that. The Los Angeles 2028 games are still far off.
You’re clearly a big family guy. Did you grow up in a close-knit family?
You’re right; my family is everything to me. And yes, I grew up spending every weekend and holiday with aunts, uncles, and cousins. My cousins were my first friends, actually, and they remain a great reminder of who I am deep down inside. My brother and I inadvertently started a holiday tradition by dressing up as Uncle Eddie from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation one Christmas. The next year we wore Batman and Superman jumpsuits. Our dressing up for Christmas eventually expanded into themed New Year’s parties the whole family participated in. I remember a masquerade, a discothemed party, and a pajama party. I want to give my kids an even better childhood than I had.
You travel 50 weeks out of the year to locations as far away as Korea, Italy, China, and Turkey. Surely that is difficult?
Yes, plain and simple. Jackie is the best thing in my life, providing constant support and love, as well as
“JACKIE IS THE BEST THING IN MY LIFE, PROVIDING CONSTANT SUPPORT AND LOVE, AS WELL AS CHALLENGING ME TO BE BETTER FOR MYSELF AND OUR FAMILY.”
challenging me to be better for myself and for our family. My children, Jamie and Juno, are my inspiration to be the father that they deserve, the one I know I’m capable of being. But I can only be that father when I’m active in their lives and present. However, I feel setting the examples of dedication, consistency, sacrifice, and grace as I pursue my professional goals is valuable to them as well. Finding the balance between work and home requires consistent attention, but I’m committed to doing it.
Has that ongoing challenge affected your focus on the court at all?
At times it has been very trying. It’s a delicate balance that I fight for daily. Juno and Jamie are still so young, and it’s been difficult to miss their early childhood milestones. Being away from my wife is just as hard, if not worse. I’ve considered retirement a few times since starting a family. But right now, I’m confident in my abilities to be fully invested in our team’s mission to bring home gold from Paris.
Was the struggle to maintain a worklife balance part of the reason you quit volleyball for a time?
I was pushing everything aside for the sake of my volleyball career and the teams I played for. I sacrificed my personal life with everyone dear to me, which only made me a selfish and lonesome person. So I stopped playing to address the major derailment of my relationships with the people I cared about most, my family. I returned to volleyball a few months later, after time in therapy and being more open with my loved ones. Before I took the break, I was sure it would only hurt my abilities on the court. But ironically, it enriched my life so much
that it carried over to the court and significantly increased my enjoyment of playing.
During your offseasons, you played for Russian volleyball team ZenitKazan. Being a fan favorite, your jersey was hung from the arena rafters in St. Petersburg. What accomplishment is most memorable to you from your time in Russia?
We won 18 gold medals in the seven seasons I was with them, including winning the CEV Champions League Competition [the top men’s volleyball competition for the whole of Europe] for four consecutive years. ZenitKazan is one of the best club teams of the past 20-plus years.
How about when it comes to Team USA? Which achievement are you most proud of?
Two come to mind. We played 11 matches in 15 days at the 2015 World Cup to win the title for the United States for the first time in 30 years. That was a big accomplishment. And, of course, taking the bronze home from Rio.
What’s next for Matt Anderson once his competitive days are over? Or have you not thought that far ahead?
I actually have thought about it, although I haven’t allowed myself to fully dive into all the possibilities. I have spent the last 20 years on someone else’s schedule, having my days planned out for me by coaches, trainers, travel agents. It will be foreign to me to have full control of my daily life. All I know for certain right now is that I will take some time to be fully present at home with Jackie and our kids, enjoying the fruits of my hard work, before embarking on anything else.
(1) Indy Art & Soul Night at The Alley
August 2
Singer/songwriter Allison Victoria, Dexter Clardy of Shvdy Rollins, and spoken word artist Jus Will are the spotlighted artists. Attendees can access Gallery 924’s opening night after the show. thecabaret.org
(2) State Fair
August 2–18
The big summer event is themed “The Art & Nature of Fun” in partnership with Newfields. Don’t miss the Great American Duck Races, the walk-through lantern sculptures of Illuminate! Outdoors, or the street corn pizza. indianastatefair.com
(3) DCI World Championship Finals
August 8
Drum corps semifinalists beat a path to Lucas Oil Stadium to show off their precision and artistry in brass, percussion, and color guard sections in “Marching Music’s Major League.” dci.org/events
(4) Indy Fringe Festival
August 15–25
Some 300 eclectic performances in the realms of theater, dance, music, comedy, and more are set to enliven the Cultural District and Fountain Square. indyfringe.org/festival
(5) Feast of Lanterns
August 24
This beloved near eastside festival dates back to the late 1800s. Today, colorful lanterns light up Spades Park alongside local musicians, more than 80 artisan vendors, food trucks, and a beer and wine garden. indyfol.org
Disk Jockeys
Remember when floppy disks were revolutionary? Now, they’re a symbol of obsolescence, like so many other things in our ever-changing world. But that’s why local artist Taylor Smith is drawn to them. She creates jaw-dropping, pop-arty pieces on canvases made from the passe disks. “Each disk carries its own history, a tangible connection to a bygone era,” she explains. Antiquity Version 1.1, an imposing 44 inches high by 57 inches wide, is gilded with 24-karat leaf and depicts Greek and Roman busts. “In juxtaposing these timeless icons with the ephemeral nature of modern technology … my goal is to create a compelling dialogue between past and present.” $15,750. abstractmodern.com —CHRISTINA VERCELLETTO
INDIANA’S THIRD PENN & BEECH OPENS IN AN 1890 S BUILDING IN NICKEL PLATE STATION. BY CHRISTINA VERCELLETTO
THE HOMETOWN candle brand known well beyond state lines, Penn & Beech has opened the doors of its first standalone shop. The bright, petite space is lined with built-in, antique-green shelving with recessed lighting to show off their familiar minimalist jars set off by old-fashioned floral wallpaper and a marigold couch. Owner Seth Doles had been eyeing the Nickel Plate District for quite a while.
“When this particular spot became available, we knew it was right. We wanted to invest in an area that has lots of room for growth and is newly developing to be a walkable urban core, and that’s what we feel we are getting.”
Reservations are encouraged to pour a custom soy wax candle using any of 120 fragrances, among them Cashmere, Hotel Lobby, Sage, and Aperol Spritz. Two of the most popular are the warm, sweet Bourbon and P&B Blend, a clean, sharp, fresh smell that wafts through countless kitchens and powder rooms in our area. Candle crafters can sip a glass of wine or a local brew as they work.
Patrick Bouquett
Marketing Director
YOU’RE CALLED “THE FABULOUS MR. PATRICK.” WHAT DOES BEING FABULOUS MEAN TO YOU?
Unique in regard to style.
HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE A SENSE OF FLAIR INTO YOUR DAY JOB?
I always add a shoe, a tie, or another accessory that stands out.
WHAT CAN’T YOU LIVE WITHOUT?
A good boot with a heel.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WANTING TO GROW IN THEIR FASHION CONFIDENCE?
If you’re true to yourself, you can make fashion be true to you. I live in my own skin regardless of who likes it or who doesn’t. —EDIE SCHWARB
(5) Zoya longlasting natural nail lacquer in Tanya, a candyapple red. $12. Ulta Beauty stores, multiple locations (6) Energy efficient Koncept Lady7 minimalist desk lamp $371. Houseworks, 4905 E. 82nd St., 317-578-7000
7) Organic cotton-linen blend eyelet napkins in Cardinal Red. Set of four/$48. Pottery Barn, The Fashion Mall
Sweet Smell of Success
A NOBLESVILLE COUPLE RISES FROM THEIR CHALLENGES TO CREATE AN ARTISANAL CLEAN PERFUME BRAND. BY
BILATERAL breast cancer conqueror
Cari Hahn had no family history of the disease. So when she was diagnosed eight years ago, she took a good look at the personal care products she had been using. “I wanted to make sure everything I put on my body was as clean as it could be.” That goal led her, with the help of husband Matt, to start making perfumes, body oils, and soaps. “Playing with fragrance was my healing outlet,” she recalls. “I used perfume to comfort myself during treatment.”
Cari sold her first Clutch and Kindle products at farmers markets, but they now appear in 25 Indianapolisarea retailers. Hand-poured in small batches, her cruelty-free and vegan products are free of a long list of nasties: phthalates, preservatives, parabens, known hormone disruptors, and toxic chemicals. In short, “they’re made with the cleanest ingredients sourced in the United States that I can find,” says Cari.
CHRISTINA VERCELLETTO
Newest perfume Adorn, a lightly sweet amber musk, was a huge seller almost immediately. Others that fly off the shelves are Boho, with pistachio, vanilla, and salted caramel notes, and Broke and Bougie, a woody scent with a hint of jasmine.
“Cancer is a huge part of my story,” says Cari. To that end, the Hahns donate 5 percent of profits to local breast cancer charities. Cari also gives back to mental health organizations that serve first responders to honor Matt, a 25-year veteran of the Indianapolis Fire Department. “I’m proud to share that he’s been in recovery and alcohol-free for six years,” says Cari.
When Clutch and Kindle is likened to another local perfumer, the wildly popular Ambre Blends, Cari demurs. “I am definitely a fan! The only similarity is maybe that we both use clean ingredients. I tend toward many more floral and gourmand notes. But I’m honored that people think we could become a well-known fine fragrance brand.” clutchandkindle.com
( SOUL SOOTHER )
Cave of Wonders
Find the unexpected inside a 1916 Craftsman: 22 tons of salt.
WE’VE ALL read a novel in which a sickly heroine is sent to the seashore for fresh salt air, where she recovers to meet a swarthy lighthouse keeper. The plot device is based on a grain of truth. After visiting a salt cave in Massachusetts, Skye Winslow, a naturopathic doctor, was inspired. Salt air is charged with negative ions, shown to increase oxygen absorption, reduce symptoms of colds and allergies, and ease respiratory ailments. Thus began a three-year effort to transform a historic home into the Carmel Salt Caves. They aren’t actual caves but two cave-like rooms. No matter. They’re bewitching, hand-hewn from pink Himalayan salt sustainably sourced from Pakistan. Chill in a zero-gravity recliner or plop down on the salt. Starry lights twinkle, the “fireplace” carved from 300-million-year-old salt glows, and the sound of waves mingled with spa music lulls. Microparticles of pharmaceutical grade salt are dry-misted inside the low humidity, 73-degree caves. A 50-minute session is like spending four hours at the ocean. Go on, make salt angels. 10696 N. College Ave., Carmel, 317-533-1485 —C.V.
BODY +SOUL
Minnesota Wins
FIND CHOICE CHEFS, AMBITIOUS ART, AND MOORE. BY
WHEN THE 2024 James Beard Awards were announced, the winner for Best Chef: Midwest was Christina Nguyen of Hai Hai (haihaimpls.com). Her Southeast Asian street food eatery isn’t alone in being nationally acclaimed. A parade of restaurants have made Minneapolis/ St. Paul a hotbed for top-tier dining.
Sean Sherman of Indigenous restaurant Owamni by The Sioux Chef (owamni.com) and education center Indigenous Food Lab (natifs.org/indigenous-food-lab) is a past winner of Beard’s Best Book award for The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen. Gavin Kaysen of Spoon and Stable (spoonandstable .com) is a former Best Chef: Midwest. The area is peppered with Beard award finalists, including the English pub George & The Dragon (ganddpub.com) and the Italian sister restaurants Bar La Grassa (barlagrassa.com) and 112 Eatery (112eatery.com). What to do in
Minneapolis, MN
LOU HARRY
between meals when in the Twin Cities— besides napping? Loads.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (new .artsmia.org) is a first-class yet free museum packed with familiar names (Vincent van Gogh, Joan Miró, and Ai Weiwei, among others) as well as contemporary exhibits to discover. Upcoming is At theMoulin Rouge featuring works by Henri de ToulouseLautrec and his circle. For an outdoor experience, the Walker Art Center ’s Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (walkerart.org/visit/ garden) surrounds you with creativity both bold (like Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s landscape-defining Spoonbridge and Cherry) and refined (like Ta-coumba T. Aiken, Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton, and Seitu Jones’ Shadows at the Crossroads.) Throw your hat in the air at Nicollet Avenue and 7th Street. You’ll find plenty doing the same near the Mary Tyler Moore statue celebrating her Minneapolis-based sitcom and its iconic opening credits sequence.
IF YOU GO
CHEER Catch the Twins at Target Field (mlb.com/twins/ ballpark), conveniently located near its own public-transit train station.
APPLAUD The Tony award–winning Guthrie Theater (guthrie theater.org) opens its season with The Lehman Trilogy. Take a tour of the costume and scene shops.
EXPLORE An aquarium, 500 stores, 50 restaurants, a roller coaster, and mirror maze make up the Mall of America (mallofamerica.com)
Spend Saturday, August 3, meandering through the SHIPSHEWANA ANTIQUE & VINTAGE MARKET . Held rain or shine, the bazaar draws eager antiquaries, as well as casual lovers of all things rare and interesting, to Indiana’s Amish country. A buggy ride and a stick-to-your ribs, family-style supper are bonuses. visitshipshewana.org/events —CHRISTINA VERCELLETTO
The Power of Love
TEAMWORK BETWEEN A ZIONSVILLE RESCUE AND BREEDERS FINDS HOMES FOR PUREBREDS WITH CHALLENGES. BY CHRISTINA VERCELLETTO
DENISE KATZ wants to take the shame out of being a purebred dog breeder, and, for that matter, out of having one’s heart set on a specific breed of dog. The vet has spent 10 years in animal rescue, including time with Indianapolis Animal Care Services. Her current mission as director of Zionsville’s The Love Pet Project rescue (thelovepetproject.wordpress.com) is to improve the health of dogs in need of a home. TLPP works with shelters in Boone County and occasionally supports the Marion County Sheriff’s office. Otherwise, its focus is on breeders, an unusual stance in the animal welfare world where the word is synonymous with “puppy mills.” Most rescues won’t work with breeders.
“We’re taking a holistic approach to dog welfare, and to do that, you have to work together with breeders,” says Katz. “People are always going to want purebreds.” Dogs need to be matched with the right home. Katz uses the example of someone who needs a hunting dog. It’s highly unlikely you’ll find a pointer in a shelter. Or a Lab for a young family. Or a Cavalier King Charles spaniel for the
senior who wants a calm lap dog.
While some breeders only see a quick buck, most truly care about dogs. But many don’t know what they don’t know. When they do realize they need help, it’s unclear where to get it. “Nobody is willing to take the shame away,” says Katz.
But she is. After examining their adult dogs, Katz teaches breeders how to best ensure healthy puppies that will easily find homes. This may mean surrendering dogs who can pass on genetic conditions like deformities, heart defects, dental and ocular issues, extreme shyness, and parvovirus. Sometimes, a mother lacks maternal behavior, often caused by being bred too young, and shouldn’t have more puppies. Katz recalls one breeder willingly relinquishing seven dogs.
Once such dogs are in the care of TLPP, Katz and her team spay and neuter them, give heartworm and flea treatments, and resolve medical issues to the extent possible before offering them for adoption. Many are popular smaller breeds, from Havanese, Yorkies, and pugs to Pomeranians, dachshunds, and Chihuahuas. TLPP gives potential adopters a clear picture of a pup’s condition to avoid it being surrendered later due to unexpected costs. For instance, hopeful
Frenchie parents are told hefty vet bills are likely ahead, since the breed is prone to health issues.
Luxating patellas (kneecaps that easily dislocate) are fairly common in toy breeds. Katz noticed the condition seems to show up in females after their first litter. TLPP is working on a study with Purdue University to find out why. As such discoveries are made, they’re shared with breeders. “I’ve made friends. We’re bringing them along,” shares Katz.
Recently, the American Kennel Club dispatched her team to Tennessee, where a woman was breeding Norwegian elkhounds—97 of them, all of which left with TLPP. “This lady had financial and other issues and had gotten in over her head. She wasn’t this horrible person,” recalls Katz. It would have been easy to post on social media that she shut down a bad breeder and watch donations roll in. But that isn’t how Katz operates. “It’s not my place to judge. It’s to teach breeders how to do it right. We’re here for the animals.”
PET PROJECT
PHOTOS BY STACY ABLE Katz, fourth from left, standing, and her team
Umami Bomb
“You can get a lot of wow factor from the simplest things,” Vicino executive chef Sean Day says. An excellent example of this philosophy is his shrimp pasta: slippery bucatini made savory with seafood stock, butter, and poufs of parmesan; sweetened with cherry tomato and shallots; and set off by white wine, garlic, and the bracing edge of kale and lemon. The smoky and bright sauteed shrimp takes the flavors completely over the top. “It’s a lot of food, but it’s light,” Day says of the dish, which will remain on Vicino’s menu through the fall. “And it works. It just works.” 350 Massachusetts Ave., 317-798-2492, vicinoindy.com
SWOON
( NEW IN TOWN )
In the Ballpark
A NEW BEECH GROVE PIZZA JOINT MARRIES NOSTALGIA WITH NEW WAVE. BY EVE BATEY
BALL PARK Pizza owners Kevin and Kathy Flaherty
“were like my second mom and dad,” Nick Pastrick says. He worked at the pizzeria from his early teens to his mid-20s, then moved on to spots like Goose the Market. But pizza was always on his mind. When the Beech Grove Ball Park shuttered, Pastrick and his partner in business and life, nightlife veteran Jackie Palmer, looked at its quaint storefront and realized it was their time to step up to the plate.
The new restaurant, called Hey Now Pizza, is a thoughtful mix of throwback (mozzarella-heavy salads with packets of Italian dressing, gleaming and puffy breadsticks) and cool kid (a recent fresh morel special, a pecan-feta-barbecue pie), with a crowd to match. Longtime Beech Grovers rub shoulders with paint-spattered hipsters in its refreshed dining room. Buckets of beer, in-house delivery, and patio dining are also on the horizon. 607 Main St., Beech Grove, 317-789-0059
PINCH OF WISDOM
“My husband is a picky eater, so when I started introducing Hoosiers to Filipino food, I told them what I used to tell him: ‘Just take one bite. If you don’t like it, you never have to taste it again.’”
—Anne
( CHEERS )
Spirit of Secrecy
Indy’s hottest bar is an undercover cocktail spot with barrel-poured drinks.
YOU WON’T find an address or phone number for The Barrel Room online. Instead, there’s a reservation page that assures you a mysterious stranger will contact you with logistical details after your two-hour slot at the downtown micro-speakeasy is approved. Barrel Bar’s beverage director, who goes only by Ariel, promises the six-seat operation is “fully legal,” but to maintain exclusivity, location intel is kept under wraps. She does disclose that the bar is fueled by wall-mounted barrels of rare, unique, and hard-to-secure spirits that are crafted into extremely high-end cocktails ranging from $30 to $80 or more. “Think of it as a chef’s table but for drinks,” she says. opentable .com/r/the-barrel-barindianapolis —E.B.
GIVE A HOOT Wings chain Hooters, which might be best known for its short-shorted waitstaff, has shuttered its Castleton and Clarksville outposts. The company says “underperformance” is to blame. MASS APPEAL A new wing of the Circle City Industrial Complex (1011 Mass Ave.) will be home to Daisy Bar, a restaurant from the owners of Fountain Square’s La Margarita. It’s expected to open this fall. —E.B.
Dinkel, owner of Bay Area Bistro
LET’S PLAY ALL DAY.
Make your great escape even better in St. Pete-Clearwater. With over 35 miles of sugary white sand, gorgeous emerald Gulf waters and a lively city life just beyond the beach, you’ll wonder why you’d vacation anywhere else. Let’s shine.
Just Pop In!
A refreshing way to wash down small plates and cheddarcaramel Indy Style popcorn, bartenders at the swank Mononadjacent cafe float popsicles in a glass of prosecco and call it a cocktail. We call it delicious. 6406 Cornell Ave., 317-257-9338, justpopinpopcorn.com
Nicey Treat
Jeff Patrick, aka the godfather of Indy’s popsicle scene, sources locally for berries, rhubarb, buttermilk, corn, peaches, and other building blocks for his all-natural fruit and dairy-based creations. Pink lemonade rules as the house favorite. 833 E. Westfield Blvd., 317-602-6423, niceytreat.com
LA MICHOACANA
Bold flavors are the name of the game at this northwestside ice cream shop. Pictured here are their pecan, strawberry, choco-dipped-coconut, pistachio, guava, and mango paletas. 8333 N. Michigan Rd., 317-405-9264
Handel’s Ice Cream
The family-friendly franchise dunks scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and mint chip into dark chocolate and serves them on a stick. Voilà—Handel Pops! Multiple Indy-area locations, handelsicecream.com
TASTE TEST
Ice Ice Baby
THESE GOURMET POP STARS GIVE A SERIOUS UPGRADE TO THE FROZEN TUBES OF COLORED SUGAR WATER YOU SLURPED DOWN AS A CHILD. YOU’LL PROBABLY STILL GET A BRAIN FREEZE, BUT YOU’LL LOVE IT. BY AMY LYNCH
Rasta Pops
Catch mango chili lime, cinnamon-spiced chocolate, and other Brazilian-inspired flavors at this Bloomington pushcart. Follow @rasta_pops on Instagram to find its current stop, which includes Food Truck Fridays at Switchyard Park and other summertime hotspots. 812-219-6611, rastapops.com
PHOTO BY TONY VALAINIS
Heart and Soul
HEALTHY SOUL FOUNDER TAWANA GULLEY IS SETTING THE NEXT GENERATION UP FOR SUCCESS.
BY EVE BATEY
“IT TOOK me 40 years to find my voice and to find my purpose,” Tawana Gulley says. The founder of AfroAsian restaurant Healthy Soul had a full career with the Veterans Administration before a health crisis inspired her to revamp her entire routine. Her personal transformation led her to launch her own business, partially to share her way of eating with the world and partially so she could boost other aspiring entrepreneurs to the next level.
Since she launched Healthy Soul, Gulley has worked with kids and young adults to help them understand restaurant ownership from within. “The reality is that not all of our kids are going to make it to college level,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t still do what they love and turn their passion into their business.”
She found a way to formalize that mentorship with her Culinary Art Summer Bootcamp, which she launched in 2023. In a five-week program, she takes students through all
the fundamentals of her trade, from kitchen skills, to serving etiquette, to basic restaurant economics. “We’re talking about financial literacy.
We’re talking about personal credit and business credit,” she says. “I put the entire bootcamp together after thinking, What would I need if I were just starting out in the industry?”
The course isn’t a trade school
(1) The Black Girls Eating podcast. “Tanorria Askew is a great mentor.” (2) HexClad pans. “They’re very expensive but worth it.” (3) Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. “I love TV cooking shows.” (4) The Black Girl’s Guide to Financial Freedom. “This is my favorite book.” (5) Fresh-squeezed passion fruit watermelon agua fresca. “One of my Culinary Bootcamp students came up with this.”
focused on creating drones, Gulley emphasizes. “We’re not putting kids into the Matrix. We’re planting a seed and letting them know that they can create their own lane. That might be with food; that might be with something else. But the seed is there, and now they know they have options.” 1220 Waterway Blvd., 317-2100345, healthysoulindy.com
FAVORITE THINGS
FOODIE
Below: Rainbow trout from the Backroom Eatery’s spring menu. Right: Sauces from the Nicole-Taylor’s market.
Seasons Change
NICOLE-TAYLOR’S PASTA + MARKET + BACKROOM EATERY 1134 E. 54th St., 317-257-7374 nicoletaylorspasta.com
HOURS
Tue–Fri 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
VIBE
Mediterranean marketplace cafe
ERIN KEM AND LOGAN MCMAHAN ARE EVOLVING A BELOVED BROAD RIPPLE MARKETPLACE CAFE AND PRIVATE DINNER SPOT INTO A FULL-SERVICE RESTAURANT. BY TERRY KIRTS
ERIN KEM’S culinary aesthetic is well-known to diners who have followed her moves from R Bistro, to Cannon Ball Brewing Company, to Scarlet Lane Brewing Company: clean, respectful of the ingredients, and globe-spanning. Last year, she and fellow chef and partner Logan McMahan brought their mindset of cooking what’s best rather than what’s TikTok-ing to Nicole-Taylor’s Pasta + Market + Backroom Eatery, the Monon Trail–side shop founded by Tony and Rosa Hanslits in 2008 that’s known for hard-to-snag private
dinner reservations and wholesale pasta. “They gave us carte blanche,” Kem says. “Tony, especially, said that we should do what we want.” But considering what they would keep and what they would make their own was no small task. How could they give up a pasta operation that has over a dozen local wholesale accounts and is a sure draw at local farmers markets? And all those orders for the Hanslits’ famous lasagna at the holidays? Forget about it. The pair and their small staff rolled up their sleeves and kept at it, layering over 120 pans of noodles and sauce for family gatherings last December. Then there’s the Nicole-Taylor’s chef’s
TASTING NOTES Light lunch fare with seasonal pastas and hearty vegan offerings, made-from-scratch grab-and-go items, and a full case of Italian gourmet items
NEIGHBORHOOD Greater Broad Ripple
MUST-ORDER
Labneh enriched with herbs and fried carrots, spring bucatini with smoked salmon and dill, and seared rainbow trout with fava bean, spring veggies, feta, and herbed compound butter
3-STAR RATING
table, which is known as the most soughtafter reservation in the region. The $1,750 evening for 8–10 people sells out a year in advance, with a collaborative, four-course menu served at a butcher block table in the kitchen. (You can buy beer or wine in the market or bring your own.) This year, Kem and McMahan used a lottery system to award 170 nights across 2024. Over 600 people applied. None of those standbys are going away any time soon, Kem emphasizes. “The chef’s table, the pasta business, the lasagna—all these are too important to the business to walk away from. People love it too much.”
Kem confirms that another popular offering, the market’s daily lunch at the Backroom Eatery, is also sticking around. With a comforting and elegant menu that changes seasonally, recent offerings include a knockout rainbow trout
served skin-on and perfectly seared. It arrives on a toss of spring vegetables, including baby potatoes, favas, radishes, and peas brought together with a healthy sprinkling of feta, dill, and an indulgent slice of herbed compound butter on top.
An equally seasonal dish of bucatini with shallots, asparagus, cream, and smoked salmon is as satisfying as it sounds, without the heft of many trattoria pasta entrees. The dish features the textbook house bucatini, which like all of Nicole-Taylor’s pastas, is vegan, with just flour and water in the recipe. You can buy some at the counter to take home or stop in for a serving of the decidedly unvegan, gooey, meaty lasagna. (Check the restaurant’s website for the most recent lunch menu, which rotates mid-summer and again in the fall.)
Kem and McMahan’s biggest departure is a plan to open a full-service dinner restaurant inside the NicoleTaylor’s space. Called Corridor, the spot will be a nod to the Mediterranean, North African, and Arab worlds, with lighter, vegetable-rich Mediterranean fare—a pivot well-served by McMahan’s flair for vegan dishes. It’s not easy to operate an alreadybustling business and open a new one at the same time, Kem notes, so the timeline to fully launch Corridor is still evolving. Diners can get a foretaste of things to come at regular pop-ups, festive special events, and the market’s monthly First Friday dinners.
One recent such dinner was redolent with saffron, cinnamon, and cumin, with highlights such as a creamy almond gazpacho starter and an aromatic bowl of the Moroccan stew Berber Harira, studded with fava beans, bits of wilted kale, and a lemony, tomato-rich broth. Duck confit pappardelle took on an intriguing Egyptian flair with the traditional nut-and-spice condiment dukkah, as well as some nice richness from grated cured duck egg yolks. The dessert, a rendering of the Greek pastry with a creamy nut milk–based custard atop shredded phyllo, could have used a lighter touch of rosewater—a rare time when the pair’s hewing to tradition might have benefited from some tweaks. Expect Corridor to continue to emerge into view as the year progresses. “It’s thanks to the chef’s table that we can afford to slowly transition to Corridor,” Kem says. “It’s a great night, and people always have a good time.” The lottery for the 2025 class of chef’s table reservations will launch in September, and all signs suggest they will sell out, too.
Clockwise from top: Erin Kem and Logan McMahan at the chef’s table; mise en place in the kitchen; a pasta dish from the spring menu.
Real-world tips for buying a home in Indianapolis— yes, in this economy
If we had written this real estate handbook a few years ago during peak demand and cutthroat competition for homes, we would be telling a whole different story. It’s a kinder, gentler market for buyers (eight of whom shared their recent experiences with us). Sellers have to work a little harder these days (but don’t worry—we have some advice on making it easier). Up-and-coming neighborhoods have emerged for aspiring Mina Starsiak Hawks to explore. And home staging has become a new, essential art form. But one thing hasn’t changed: There’s still no place like home. We’ll help you get there.
written by MEGAN FERNANDEZ, NATALIE FITZGIBBONS, JEANA HARRIS, JULIA SPALDING, AND LILI WRIGHT
photos by ANGELA JACKSON
A Yard of One’s Own
A Realtor looked past a humdrum listing to find the outdoor space her family needed.
REALTOR Summer Hudson was always waiting for the perfect midcentury modern home to hit the market and lure her away from her beloved Irvington. On Hudson’s popular TikTok channel, Find a Lot to Love, she cooed over original 1960s woodwork and intact bathrooms for the 207,000 followers who enjoyed watching her walk through houses for sale in Central Indiana. But the eXp Realty agent’s own family needed a yard for their 5-year-old daughter more than she needed a pristine Avriel Shull A-frame, so she gave her husband, Ryan Sloan, one criterion: Find a house with the exact same layout as their 3,000-square-foot Irvington ranch, plus a yard, and she’d move.
Lo and behold, he did, in Crows Nest. The threebed, two-bath house has a circular layout with semi–open concept living, dining, and kitchen spaces and, as a bonus, a pool on the half-acre lot. “I always said I’d never turn down a pool,” Hudson says. The home had been sitting on the market for a while because, in Hudson’s opinion, the listing for 1,800 square feet was misleading; the homeowners couldn’t include the 1,200-square-foot finished attic because the ceiling was too low. Additionally, the photos didn’t do the home justice. “From the outside, it looks tiny and bungalow-ish, but you don’t realize how deep it goes,” she says, adding that the images didn’t showcase the layout’s attractive flow, either. The couple got it under list price for $410,000, and Hudson, who uses the attic as her office, has no regrets—her dream midcentury home can wait. Downsizing forced the couple to purge, and they discovered the joys of a simplified lifestyle. “I’m actually spending more time with my kid outside. That has been the most amazing part of all of this,” Hudson says.
SETTING THE STAGE
Decorating tips from a home staging pro.
An expert on getting homes ready for their closeups since 2015, Desi Adair of Adair Staging and Design offers basic tips to sellers aiming to give their property Pottery Barn-catalog makeovers.
Clear the countertops.
Declutter your kitchen and bathrooms, Adair says. “Rule of thumb is to gather a small grouping of three items together in a central location on the countertop. Usually staggered in size.”
Keep it neutral. “One color to avoid is red. Any harsh colors, really.”
Don’t try to mask smells with heavily scented plug-ins. Opt for a nice candle. “Bakery scents are a good choice,” Adair says.
Use warm, natural lighting. “This is super important in small spaces,” Adair says. Avoid LED and daylight light bulbs.
Pare down the furniture.
“Avoid using too many small items.”
If you have built-ins, play them up. But decorate them sparsely with “books, small-framed art, pottery, and plants,” Adair says. “Do maybe three items on one shelf and one larger item on the next. And then repeat.”
Give the bathroom a refresh.
“White towels, white shower curtain, and some nice foliage,” Adair says. Go for a boutique hotel look.
Remove photos. “People want to be able to picture themselves living in your home without seeing all of the living that you’ve done there.”
A: Lighting is the jewelry of the house. Take out that builder-grade light fixture in the dining room that was cheap when the house was built. Replace it with a pretty fixture that will make your house look unique. —KRISTIE SMITH, INDY HOMES A S K A N A GE N T SELLER QUESTION
Q: What is the simplest upgrade I can do to make my house more appealing to potential buyers?
The Homecoming
A Bright Future
An empty-nester couple discovers life beyond the townhouse. A condo for residents over the age of 55 became a home away from home for a Vienna-based musician.
KEVIN AIKMAN likes old things—antique clocks, organs, and opera—so when he decided to buy in his hometown of Greencastle to be near his elderly mother, he wanted a historic building.
He decided against a house because he planned to keep his apartment in Austria where he has lived for 25 years. When a condo became available in a 100-year-old former high school converted into a 25-unit complex for residents 55 and older, Aikman jumped at the chance. “I put in an offer the same day,” he says.
The return to Greencastle is a true homecoming. Aikman graduated from DePauw’s music school and has fond memories of the faculty who nurtured his passion for opera and organs. “It was one big happy family,” he recalls.
But the condo purchase wasn’t solely sentimental. It’s also a good investment. Units in the downtown brick building sell quickly, and his siblings stay there when visiting. While Aikman is surely the only Vienna-to-Greencastle commuter in the history of either city, the arrangement suits him perfectly. “I like living in that old building,” he says. “It has huge windows, high ceilings, and lots of light.”
Q: What should I do to prepare my home for an inspection?
A: Make it as accessible as possible to the inspector. They will be going into every dark corner of your home. And replace the furnace filter!
—WILL LONNEMANN, F.C. TUCKER
AMY AND KYLE Anderson enjoyed the many carefree perks of their downtown-adjacent townhouse. After they became empty nesters four years ago, their home’s easy maintenance, proximity to community, and sense of security fit perfectly into their lifestyle. As time passed, however, they longed for two things: more space to entertain and a screened-in porch—a feature they adored from their old home. “As many people do, I perused Zillow and walked the neighborhood,” Amy recalls. They knew they wanted to stay downtown, but with the market moving so quickly and prices on such a steep incline, finding the right home through their real estate agent proved to be a challenge.
They considered all their options, even the possibility of investing in a duplex at one point. Eventually, “we decided to up our budget to get what we really wanted,” Amy says. Expanding their search radius helped, too. “We looked at a broader range of neighborhoods, from Fountain Square, to Cottage Home, to the Old Northside and Herron-Morton. We knew we wanted a small backyard and screened-in porch, plus walkability to Mass Ave and downtown.”
After spotting a bright, modern, newerconstruction home in Herron-Morton, they knew they’d need to act fast. Their agent sent them the listing on a Thursday. They toured it on Saturday and submitted an offer the next day. It met “90 percent” of their needs, but that wasn’t even the best part. They had lived in Herron-Morton from 1997 to 2003 and loved the full-circle moment of returning to a dear, familiar place. “We loved everything about it then,” Amy says. “Now we love it even more.”
FAVORITE FEATURE
The screened-in porch
T BUYER QUESTION
Q: What are the rules of open house etiquette?
A: Remember that someone lives there and keep your comments to yourself until you’ve left the home. It’s very easy to be critical and say something that could be hurtful or destructive if you were to make an offer. Many of the times during showings and open houses, owners have video and audio devices, so assume that you are being listened to. Stick to the general rule of thumb that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. At least until you get to your car.
—KELLY TODD, COMPASS
A New Family Home
After adopting young twins with disabilities, a new mother’s prayers were answered with a ranch house and open floor plan.
IN THE PAST two years, Hope Fowler has moved from Plainfield, to Brownsburg, to Whitestown in search of a safe, happy home for her girls. Her real estate odyssey began when the Department of Child Services called to see if she would consider foster parenting 5-monthold twins, Jasmine and Jaiyel, who were born with cerebral palsy and developmental delays. Though she has been a foster parent for years, Fowler initially felt inexperienced. But she took
Q: My basement has past water damage. Should I paint over the stains and discoloration?
A: If the water intrusion issue has been resolved, it is fine to repaint. If the issue hasn’t been addressed, it will need to be disclosed, even if you paint over the stains and discoloration.
–KELLY LAVENGOOD, GOOD LIVING INDY
in the girls and quickly fell in love. Last summer, DCS asked if she would adopt the sisters. “That was a very big responsibility,” says Fowler, a full-time church administrator at Agape Apostolic Faith Assembly. “I prayed, ‘Lord, do you want me to do this?’ God made a way. I told them, ‘Yes.’” The trio moved to a bigger house in Brownsburg, but when Fowler learned that Jasmine would eventually need a wheelchair, she knew their new two-story house wouldn’t do. “I didn’t want her to be confined to one area of the house because she’s in a wheelchair. That’s not fair to her.”
Fowler put the house back up for sale, where it sat for four or five months. “The market back then was horrible. Not that it’s any better now, but it was worse back then.” More prayers followed. “Next thing I know, I got two full-price offers the same day,” Fowler says. But then she needed a house—and fast! She was saved by her Realtor, Amy Robinson from Prime Real Estate Group, who found a move-in ready, open plan, ranch house in Whitestown with a front yard and backyard (in which Fowler plans to build a playset where the now 2-year-old girls, big fans of Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, and Ms. Rachel, can enjoy one of their other favorite things—swinging).
Even better, the school district has an excellent developmental preschool for the girls. “This was the perfect fit for us,” she says. “I want them to have the best possible life.”
FEATURE The open layout
HORNER HOUSE PHOTOS BY THE DAWN MCKENNA GROUP; CASS ST. PHOTOS BY ROBERT BOOGAR
OLD BONES
Putting historically significant homes in the hands of new owners.
Indiana Landmarks has a soft spot for homes of a certain age. The private historic preservation organization’s website (indianalandmarks.org) and bimonthly magazine, Indiana Preservation, showcase exceptional old structures around the state— from a former automotive building with concrete floors and roll-up garage doors for days to a modernist stunner by Lake Michigan—that make DIY homebuyers dream big. Mark Dollase, Indiana Landmarks’ vice president of preservation services, explains that they have “an ongoing relationship” with the properties they acquire (following a lengthy vetting process) that goes beyond the sale of the house. “We attach what are called ‘protective covenants’ to the deed of the property to make sure that it’s maintained over a long period of time and doesn’t become a demolition threat again in five years,” he says. “We will be looking out for that property for decades.”
Ready for a fixer-upper that’s not a quick flip? These diamonds in the rough from Indiana Landmarks are for sale as of press time and still standing strong, proof that they just don’t build them like that anymore.
BUYER QUESTION
Q: Any advice for making this process as painless as possible?
HORNER
HOUSE, BEVERLY SHORES
$924,900
Designed by renowned Swiss architect Otto Kolb in 1949, this idyllic wonder with views of Lake Michigan consists of three buildings: the three-bedroom main house with its living room cantilevered over a ravine, a guesthouse, and a one-car garage.
504
$124,900
Spanning a whopping 5,550 square feet over three floors, the home of downtown North Vernon’s original J.R. Greathouse & Son’s Hardware store has plenty of mixed-use potential—residential on top and retail on bottom. The interior is an exposedbrick wonderland, and the property comes with an adjacent vacant lot for parking or expansion.
$135,900
These two historic homes are being sold as a bonded pair. The more-spacious one (on the right, at 2,177 square feet) is move-in ready, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It could serve as a handy home base for the more involved renovation of its next-door neighbor, a four-bedroom stucco beauty with salvageable original woodwork and interior doors and a well-preserved stairway.
ASK AN AGENT
A: Buyers can make their Realtor’s job easier in a couple of ways:
1. Drive by a house before you schedule a showing to make sure you’re comfortable with the neighborhood.
2. Whittle down your list of 25 homes to your top six. Seeing lots of homes on one day is like smelling perfume in a department store. After the first few, it’s hard to distinguish one from the other.
4. And of course, resist the temptation to dump your Realtor because a friend or family member just got their real estate license and is begging you to switch agents.
3. If you need a parent’s or best friend’s blessing before choosing a home, bring those people along. That will avoid the need to schedule additional showings so that you can move quickly to make an offer. —DEB KENT, GALLERY OF HOMES
E. O&M AVE., NORTH VERNON
458–462 N. CASS ST., WABASH
UP-AND-COMERS
Right Time, Right Place
Take a tour of seven neighborhoods where you can still find some tucked-away real estate bargains. Just hope you get your offer in before everyone else reads this.
WARREN PARK
In this eastside neighborhood bordered by 16th Street, Shadeland Avenue, 10th Street, and Perry Drive, the lawns are often large and shaded, and the real estate ranges from small modest ranch homes to larger spreads along Pleasant Run Parkway.
BEECH GROVE
Plenty of well-built smaller homes draw in-the-know buyers to this tiny southside suburb where homes sell in the $200,000 range. Part of Beech Grove’s appeal is its sweet Mayberry vibe, in spite of its surprisingly close proximity to downtown Indianapolis.
TWIN AIRE
Home to the sparkling new Community Justice Campus, this working-class neighborhood centered at the intersection of Southeastern and English avenues is the focus of some pretty dramatic redevelopment scenarios by city planners.
LEBANON
The picturesque county seat of Boone County has a little bit of everything: a blossoming downtown area, tidy streets of established older homes (mind the golf carts) surrounding a sprawling park, and a mix of new/newish construction.
STRINGTOWN
Keep an eye on this neighborhood of small vintage homes clustered just west of the Indianapolis Zoo. The properties have been well-maintained, and prices are still in the mid-$100,000s. As a bonus, you can walk to The Workingman’s Friend for a cheeseburger lunch.
COMMUNITY HEIGHTS
Brick-and-limestone Tudor Revival abodes built by The Justus Contracting Company in the 1940s and 50s line the quiet blocks of this Irvingtonadjacent neighborhood. Many were designed as strategic duplexes, making the area a prime spot for buyers in search of rental opportunities.
NEAR SOUTHSIDE
The area tucked into the crook of eastbound I-70 and southbound I-65 is trendy hunting grounds for flippers thanks to its easy access to downtown and Garfield Park. That’s no surprise since the homes all have frontporch character and tons of potential.
SPEEDWAY
A revamped Main Street has transformed the worldfamous westside town into a vibrant, walkable (or bike-rideable) neighborhood of sweet ranch homes and classic bungalows.
Friendly Neighbors
When two best friends needed to buy new homes, they found side-by-side accommodations in an eastside duplex.
IT’S A STORY that seems straight out of Hollywood—lifelong friends purchasing a duplex together and living side by side. But this story didn’t play out on the big screen; it happened in Indy’s Willard Park, where Elizabeth Anderson and Vicky Morrow are living out their dream.
Friends since they were 18, the Tennessee transplants were roommates many times over the years. They liked living together and understood one another’s quirks. When Elizabeth returned to the Circle City from Korea, she moved in with Vicky and her husband, Sam, while she house hunted. The arrangement was supposed to be temporary, but a wild real estate market sent that plan asunder. The friends had long joked about buying some land and living together, but when Elizabeth suggested a duplex in all seriousness, the Morrows agreed without hesitation.
Their wish list was straightforward: It had to be move-in ready and have HVAC, and the laundry room could not be in the basement. Their friend and Realtor, Lee Bailey, helped them navigate the drastically low inventory. After touring a “terrible” duplex, Elizabeth asked Lee to show them a lovely remodel they’d been monitoring, which was made even more enticing by a recent price cut. “We all liked it right away,” Vicky says. “It was nicer and bigger than any other duplex we’d looked at.” They’ve already implemented new traditions, like their “Monday Rot,” where they order takeout, watch a show, and relax. Future plans include adding a patio for hangouts and building a secret bookshelf door to connect the two spaces.
The
Q: Is it okay to personally contact a seller with questions about their home?
A: It’s tempting for buyers to reach out to sellers when social media makes it so easy, but it’s rarely a good idea. Let the agents handle your communication. We’re strategic. We’re here to advocate for you. Every conversation we have with the agent on the other side of the deal is designed to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients, and confidentiality is critical. I’ve seen deals go south quickly when buyers and sellers circumvent their agents.
—DEB KENT, GALLERY OF HOMES
Hidden Treasure
After an extended home search, a couple found their keeper in one of Indy’s underthe-radar neighborhoods.
IF YOU KNOW where to look, you’ll find them sprinkled throughout Indy: hiddengem neighborhoods filled with wellmaintained homes, nearby amenities, and vibrant communities. For Madeline and Collin Knoll, East Avalon Hills was the perfect—albeit unexpected— place that checked every box on their wish list. And it was right under their noses all along.
Both were born and raised on the north side. Their families still live in the area, so it made sense to settle there after selling their home in Louisville. They wanted a house with room to grow into, a big yard for their big pup (a cutie named Miller), an office for Madeline, and ample storage.
After a monthslong search, Realtor Robbin Edwards sent them a 1970 colonial revival. “There were only two previous owners, and the house was in pristine condition,” Madeline says. Plus, the half-acre lot felt too good to be true. They submitted an offer immediately.
In no time at all, the couple has fallen in love with the neighborhood. “It’s a very warm, friendly, familyoriented neighborhood. Many homeowners have been here 20-plus years, and everyone greets each other,” Madeline says. “Plus, we love being so close to the interstate and the amazing amenities the north side has to offer.”
Home Sweet First Home
A walkable neighborhood was a high priority for these first-time buyers.
NEWLYWEDS Peter Marsh and Rachel Meacham made one of life’s biggest commitments when they said their “I do’s” in the spring of 2023. Not long after their wedding, they decided to embark on another wild adventure—buying their first home. The couple had rented an apartment in the Old Northside for years and loved the area, but after a brief search, they concluded that it was not in their price range. So they branched out to nearby SoBro and Meridian-Kessler, drawn to areas with restaurants and coffee shops within easy walking distance.
FAVORITE FEATURE
The storage space
PURCHASE DATE April 2024 NEIGHBORHOOD
After their first offer on a home fell through, Rachel and Peter felt apprehensive. “The process was way more emotional than we thought it would be,” Peter says. Once they found another home they loved and their offer was accepted, Rachel assumed it would be smooth sailing. “But it was still a marathon to get to the closing date,” she says. In the end, they finished the race. Their trophy? A delightful 1920s bungalow in Meridian-Kessler brimming with charm. Now it’s time to settle in and make it their own.
Q: What are some immediate turnoffs for home buyers?
A: Buyers are discouraged when sellers neglect things within their control. A dirty, disorganized home gives the impression that you are either not serious about selling or have been neglecting other aspects of the property. —PHIL KIRK, @PROPERTIES
A Long-Distance Relationship
Colorado transplants fell in love with their new Indianapolis home by way of video tours.
BUYING a house is already a stressful experience. Now, imagine making that enormous decision based solely on video tours while living more than a thousand miles away. Such was the case for Jeff and Eliza Widelski. The Colorado residents of eight years decided last winter that the time had come for them to stop renting. They wanted to purchase a home, but they felt the Centennial State wasn’t a good fit. “Colorado real estate had skyrocketed,” Jeff says. “That led our circle of friends to leave, and we were left there alone. We found that familiarity and people we knew were very important to us.”
Landing on Indy as their new home wasn’t totally random. Jeff was born in Northern Indiana, and he had lived downtown in the late ’90s. With Eliza’s family north of Chicago, Indy made sense. The comparatively low Hoosier home prices and cost of living were also appealing. Conducting the home search from so far away, they put a lot of trust in their
Realtor, Natalie Clayton of Maywright Property Co., who went above and beyond by capturing detailed videos of prospective homes and sending them to the Widelskis back in Colorado.
And then they saw it—a 1910 Holy Cross beauty with tasteful updates, a great front porch, and classic curb appeal. The couple share an affinity for older homes, so “it popped off the page to us,” Jeff says. They spent hours “touring” the neighborhood on Google Maps and falling in love via Street View. The stress was worth it, according to Eliza. “It all came together perfectly,” she says. “Holy Cross feels much more suburban and closeknit, and it has good walkability.” And compared to Colorado? “People are a lot more friendly here,” Eliza says.
The front porch
FAST TRACKs
INDIANA SUMMERS ARE NO TIME TO SLOW DOWN.
True Hoosiers don’t spend their August weekends lounging in the sand, soaking up sun. We prefer to play in the dirt, kicking up clouds of dust beneath the Saturday and Sunday night lights. SPF? Try RPM. And the only “ray” you’ll see from behind your visor is the guy from two towns over trying to pass you on the back straightaway. Gender and age don’t matter as long as you can get behind the wheel and hit the gas. And whether your entry has a sharp color scheme plastered with sponsor decals or you just cobbled together a mess of steel and blank sheet metal, with a little luck, anyone can be a hometown racing hero for one summer night.
By TONY REHAGEN - Photos by TONY VALAINIS
Billy Pittman is buckled in, gloves on, ready to drop the visor and stand on the accelerator in his junior Faskart.
THE speedrome
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
At the Speedrome, the racers of tomorrow start in junior Faskarts—go-karts with cages made to resemble the adults’ Late Models. But the glee of hoisting a trophy—like Koehan West, seated on the No. 33K kart at right—is the same no matter the age and is readily shared among friends. Above: Alexa and Kenzie Hughes accompany Koehan in his car.
PARAGON, INDIANA
The Saturday-night lights in Morgan County are shrouded in the dust kicked up by sprint cars, Bombers, Hornets, Late Models, and Super Stocks at Paragon Speedway. The high-banked, 3/8mile dirt oval can barely contain speedsters like Dayton, Ohio’s Matt Freeman in his No. 90 Hornet (below) and Clayton’s Kenny Fields (at right with his daughter) in his No. 11F Super Stock.
paragon speedway
anderson speedway
The tight turns of the tiny 1/4-mile bullring short track at Anderson Speedway keep drivers leaning on the wheel, tapping on the brake, and wary of door-to-door traffic. It’s intense enough to wear out even the most energetic young drivers, like 12-year-old Ryder Van Alst, resting beside his No. 35 Late Model.
At small-town raceways, it’s all-handson-deck when it comes to dialing in the car during the scant amount of time between the qualifying heat and the latenight feature. Just ask driver Andrew Teepe’s daughter, pacifier in mouth, working the wrench on Dad’s stock car.
ANDERSON, INDIANA
LINCOLN PARK speedway
PUTNAMVILLE, INDIANA
Built in 1968, Lincoln Park Speedway sits in the middle of downtown Putnamville. This is where race fans come to watch 410 non-wing sprint cars kick up the Putnam County clay. Without the top wing, these cars have less downforce and are therefore a little bit harder for the driver to control, especially when careening sideways through a turn in the dirt. Above: Roger Arthur (standing) and Jimmy Arthur (kneeling) know the importance of traction on the dirt track. Top right: Joe Boyll understands the value of letting off steam between events. Bottom right: Megan Cavaness, a local who has been racing here since she was 11, always keeps at least one hand on the steering wheel.
CIRCLE CITY RACEWAY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
A newcomer to Indiana’s race scene, Circle City Raceway opened on October 1, 2020, the result of a partnership between the Marion County Fairgrounds and Speedrome owner Kevin Garrigus. Just because the 1/4-mile dirt oval is fresh doesn’t mean the drivers are afraid to tear it up in front of 5,000 fans.
Mike Moody raced cars for 20 years before taking a break to go to college for mechanical engineering. Now retired, he drives a soupedup Monte Carlo “mainly for a good time.”
A veteran of local oval and dirt tracks before the age of 20, driver BJ Shaw takes a pre-race break in his trailer. Shaw dreams of driving in the Indianapolis 500 someday.
BLOOMINGTON RACEWAY
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA
Opened in 1923, Bloomington Raceway has entertained fans for more than a century. Cutting the wheel, sliding sideways through each turn, and accelerating into the straightaway, drivers can’t help but get dirty in their pursuit of checkered glory. Logan Calderwood (above left) came all the way from Goodyear, Arizona, to take in the spectacle on a Hoosier tire between heats in his 410 Sprint. He’ll face Bowling Green’s Daylan Chambers (above), who’s not afraid to get dirty.
Katie Grigsby, showing off her No. 54B ride at the Circle City Raceway, competes in both the Bomber and Super Stock races.
Garrett Jameson (in his No. 0 car) and his brother Bradley (next to car No. 757) spend their summers chasing one another in their Dirtcar Modifieds around tracks all over the region. They consider Kokomo their “home track” and relish racing in front of their hometown fans. While their cars may roll out of the double-decker trailer gleaming, they generally come back caked with mud from a hard-fought battle.
KOKOMO speedway
KOKOMO, INDIANA
The Kokomo track has been lighting up the summer Sunday night sky since 1947. The 1/4-mile, semi-banked oval is a stop on several national tours for sprint cars, Late Models, midgets, and Auto Racing Club of America stock cars speeding toward that coveted checkered flag.
the
begins to set on another summer night,
As
sun
Elizabethtown’s Mike Bechelli climbs into the cab of his Crate Late Model, ready to race for the win.
Oh, the Humanities
INDY’S MOST RENOWNED PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IS SPLITTING IN TWO. WILL THE FISSURE LEAVE LIBERAL ARTS PROGRAMS ON THE SIDELINES?
By Jim DeBrosse • Illustrations by Shelley Hanmo
WhenJake Miller graduated from IUPUI in 2006, he believed in the college’s claims that it offered the best of both Indiana and Purdue Universities. Now the founder of a software development and consulting firm, he credits his success to the communication and critical thinking skills he learned as an English and linguistics major.
“One of the most important things in any STEM job—or, really, any job—is communication skills,” says Miller. “What surprised me, working with a lot of engineers, is how weak most are in that area. It’s like society thinks we should either be math people or English people when, in reality, we need to be both.”
As of July 1, IUPUI split into separate Indianapolis campuses, a much-hyped endeavor. To seal the deal, state officials sweetened the pot with $60 million in
taxpayer money for each university to build new facilities. But in all the hype, you won’t hear much about preserving the balance of skills that has, for example, allowed Miller to build a growing startup that employs 39 Hoosiers. Instead, the focus seems solely on STEM—shorthand for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Press releases boast additions to science faculty and laboratory space but fail to mention similar advances for social sciences, such as psychology, or humanities disciplines, such as history, English, foreign languages, or religion. The schools’ marketing centers around catering to business leaders’ demand for graduates with specific vocational skills rather than promoting themselves as training grounds for citizens of the world who can think and communicate for themselves and seek fulfilling careers and meaningful lives, not
just a paycheck.
For Nicole Nimri, a national think tank project manager who graduated from IUPUI in 2018, the decline in funding for humanities comes at a time when our nation needs those courses most. “We’re living in a world today where we are so civilly unsound to each other,” she says, “and instead of teaching people how to think from other people’s perspectives, they’re slashing [those offerings]. That is very disheartening and really unwise.”
Some fear the breakup will be the death blow to a sector that’s already faced a steep decline. From 2013 to 2023, student enrollment in liberal arts at IUPUI declined by nearly half. By comparison, total enrollment at IUPUI dropped by 10 percent in those 10 years (from 28,461 to 25,497). But while funding for liberal arts was cut by 26 percent ($30 million to $22 million), the university’s total budget actually grew by 20 percent ($632 million to $758 million) during that same 10-year period, according to university finance officials. “Obviously, there are many factors that go into an increasing budget that go beyond enrollment,” says Mark Bode, spokesperson for IUI—the new shorthand for Indiana University Indianapolis. Those revenue extras include money from research grants and contracts, most of which go to STEM programs.
Administrators at IUI say they are still “very committed” to liberal arts, but they won’t say yet how the university’s revised funding formula for the 2025–26 academic year will impact their liberal arts programs. The university “will always have humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, the arts, at its core,” says Jay Gladden, IUI’s interim executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. “That will be a foundation for what every undergraduate student here at IU Indianapolis experiences.”
Faculty members, however, are not so sure. They report that in the last 10 years, the number of full-time faculty in liberal arts at IUPUI dropped from around 260 to about 150 and that the English department hasn’t hired a tenure-line faculty person since 2015.
In a letter to the IU board of trustees last fall, then-IUPUI faculty
“ There are no biology courses that can analyze and prevent another January 6. There is no math course that teaches how the electoral college works.”
representative Philip Goff made an impassioned plea for the board not to forget the university’s liberal arts mission on the new IUI campus. “There are no biology courses that can analyze and prevent another January 6. There is no math course that teaches how the electoral college works. Computer science does not teach Socrates, the Stoics, or modern philosophy, all of which help us examine our own lives and how we live them. All of these are good and important majors, but we must ensure the vibrancy of the liberal arts alongside them to breathe life and leadership into our students.”
“It’s an education that ‘frees’ you, right?” says Tom Davis, a professor of religious studies and a former IUPUI dean for academic programs. “If you’re ever going to reach a situation where you’re not circumscribed by your circumstances [in life], you need to
know things about yourself, about your community and the world around you, and the liberal arts will help you know those things.”
IUPUI’s general education requirements—six credits in life and physical sciences and nine credits spread across arts, humanities, and social sciences—used to be an important recruiting tool for liberal arts. “We picked up a lot of our majors from people who just came in not knowing what they were going to do,” Goff says. “They took a course, say, in the American Revolution and fell in love with history. Now, we don’t get those new students.”
Making matters worse for liberal arts recruiting, a growing number of students are now able to earn their general education credits at the high school level before they even enter IUI. And under the current funding formula at the university, known as Responsibility-Centered Management, department budgets for this academic year will again be largely determined by student enrollment. Gladden says the university is still calculating those numbers. “If [enrollment in liberal arts] goes up, there would probably be some more revenue there. If it goes down, there’d probably be a little less.”
Declining enrollment in liberal arts is a national trend that experts say shows no signs of reversing. With state support for higher education declining
across the country, students are paying more out of their own pockets (or their parents’) and borrowing more money against their future incomes—so, understandably, they’re enrolling in majors touted to offer stronger job prospects and higher pay.
English and history have been hit particularly hard, with graduates of both majors down by a third or more between 2009 and 2020, according to a 2020 study from The Hechinger Report, a national nonprofit devoted to covering education issues. Meanwhile, in the past 20 years, business majors have gone up 60 percent, engineering majors have gone up 100 percent, and the health and medicine field has gone up by 200 percent.
With the expansion of STEM programs, administrators at the new IU and Purdue campuses in Indianapolis say they plan to significantly increase their enrollment, but faculty members say such growth is unrealistic given what has been called “the demographic cliff ” facing universities across the country. A report by nonprofit accreditation organization Cognia projects that by next year, America will hit a peak of around 3.9 million high school graduates. After that, the traditional college-going population is expected to shrink for the next five to 10 years by as much as 15 percent.
To help counter the decline, universities like IUI are trying to engage adults who started but never finished college (some 40 million nationally, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education) and high school students, especially those from historically and systemically marginalized communities.
Liberal arts majors, however, may be a hard sell to students who fear they will not fi which is the public’s perception of liberal arts–related careers. But academic experts who have looked at the national data say it’s not entirely true that liberal arts students face bleaker job prospects. A study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that at the 10-year mark, the average “return on investment” (the sum of income in relation to what the student spent on college) for liberal arts colleges is $62,000, or about 40 percent below the average return of all colleges. But 40 years after enrollment, or by retirement age, the average return for liberal arts colleges reaches $918,000, more than 25 percent above the average.
and do fi aft must start
that embeds students in local cultural institutions—museums, historic sites, and performing arts organizations— while preparing them for jobs in the field. Davis says encouraging students to build a portfolio of their undergraduate works, “particularly those that highlight their skills in solving problems,” is a growing movement in the liberal arts.
Sarah Bahr, a 28-year-old senior staff editor at The New York Times who also writes about culture and style, is a good example of someone who put her portfolio at IUPUI to good use. A triple major in English, journalism, and Spanish, the 2018 graduate interned with both Indianapolis Monthly and The Indianapolis Star. Her liberal arts background and collection of published articles was enough to land her a job at America’s premier newspaper at the age of 25. “It was great to have this liberal arts background where I knew a little about a lot of different things,” Bahr says. “And from my science courses, I learned how to interpret data and to convey that graphically.”
Beyond preparing students for careers or for taking their place as thoughtful citizens in a democratic society, liberal
thinking earlier than students in more job-oriented majors about how they will put their education to practical use. An academic approach introduced seven years ago at IUPUI—ProjectBased Education—is one good way for students to do just that. “You may be in a philosophy class, or you may be in a religious studies class, but you’ve got a real-world project that you work on,” Davis says.
In 2017, IUPUI also launched a Ph.D. program in American studies
arts degrees traditionally come with a “useless” component, as well—creating a thirst for knowledge for its own sake.
As the technocrats tell us, today’s fastchanging world demands we all become lifelong learners, and the technocrats are, of course, correct. But many people who study and value the liberal arts do so to enrich their souls, not just their careers, in pursuit of lasting truths to sustain them throughout their lives.
The return on that investment?
Priceless.
Tickets include tastings from this year’s top restaurants, plus cocktails
Get early entrance and extra drinks when you upgrade to VIP
Join Indianapolis Monthly as we celebrate the outstanding restaurants featured in our Best Restaurants 2024 cover story. Sample your way around Central Indiana’s most exciting dining spots during an evening that caters to all who love good food, fantastic drinks, and a great time. Get your tickets today at indianapolismonthly.com/bestrestaurants Monday, September 23, 2024, at VisionLoft at the Stutz
Early bird tickets start at $40!
COLLEGE GUIDE 2024
Our higher education experts share information about the university selection process, virtual campus visits, online applications, and cutting-edge course offerings.
Check out our profi les of public and private schools throughout Indiana!
KEEP CALM & APPLY ON
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING THE IDEAL UNIVERSITY.
By Rebecca Berfanger
THE COLLEGE SELECTION process can be overwhelming, but experts who review applications and answer questions from prospective students and families offer advice to help streamline decisionmaking. They share not only how to work through concerns about academics and financial aid, but also how to find the best campus fit.
WEIGHING THE OPTIONS
Whether you are a high school junior or senior or you’re helping a teenager navigate educational options, not much has changed over the years for college applicants. While a major area of concentration for study remains an important factor (and many students start college with at least that part already decided), experts agree that it shouldn’t be the only consideration.
University administrators encourage families to consider other factors, such as class size; campus setting; amenities on or close to campus; health and wellness resources; housing options, including how the school meets dietary needs and provides resources to mediate roommate and dorm-related disputes; opportunities for internships, networking, and job placement; and of course, financial aid. With so much to consider, experts advise taking a deep breath and breaking things down. “There is no template,” says Indiana State University provost and vice president for academic affairs Chris Olsen. “I have a colleague with a Ph.D. in history who picked a college out of a bag of college brochures. I also know people who spent a year or two visiting 20 or 25 college campuses who didn’t end up going to college anywhere. So I tend to tell families, ‘Don’t panic about it.’”
Administrators recommend a less-ismore approach when it comes to the number of schools students should consider and apply to. Even if a student starts with a list of 10 or 20 potential universities, they should ideally focus on
four to six schools to manage the varying deadlines for applications, financial aid, campus visits, and, ultimately, acceptance.
To arrive at a reasonable number, Mary Beth Petrie, vice president for enrollment management with DePauw University, suggests starting with the qualities that are most important to the applicant. “Does the student want to finish college and get a degree quickly or experience the traditional residential college? Are they looking for experience with networking, or perhaps they’re considering study abroad programs? Some students want to be engaged in sports. Sometimes it comes down to a financial decision,” she says.
really important, especially if a student is going to live on campus. It’s about building a community and not just choosing a school.”
P.J. Woolston, vice chancellor for enrollment management with Indiana University Indianapolis, also suggests exploring amenities within walking distance of campus that can accommodate student meetings or quiet time between classes. “Check out the coffee shops and cafes where students can camp out for a while and meet as a group,” he says. “I also suggest checking out libraries,” including campus facilities and public libraries. “Most towns and cities have a good library, which is underrated as a meeting space.”
“Talk to current students, the tour guide, or others you meet while walking around campus.”
—JILL SCHUR
SCHEDULING CAMPUS VISITS
Once the pool of potential universities is narrowed down by factors such as urban setting versus college town, large or small student body, class sizes, and specific majors, students should visit different types of schools to get a feel for what life would be like not only over the next four years but also day to day. “To see if a student will fit in is best answered by being there on campus,” Petrie says. “Going and sitting in the student union and having a cup of coffee or making the time to have lunch there. Seeing, for example, do students greet each other? Do faculty greet the students? I think that is
Campus visits should be planned when prospective applicants can meet with a number of current students, professors, and staff, even if it’s just a quick visit to put a face to a name for future communications. Experts also recommend scheduling time to observe a class session.
Valparaiso University vice president for enrollment and marketing Jill Schur suggests, “Talk to current students, the tour guide, or others you meet while walking around campus. Ask the people there, how did they choose this school? How did they get involved? How does the school help with accommodations? What resources are available for students adjusting to college life?”
And even if a student can’t make it to a campus visit before getting acceptance letters, Schur recommends visiting before making the final decision. During those visits, she says, students can ask questions about meal options and dietary needs if they live in campus housing. She also says it’s important to know what wellness resources are available and ask how easy or difficult it is to speak with someone in academic advising, financial aid, housing, or the other university offices that will be necessary to navigate as a student.
CHANGING COURSE
Our panel of administrators agrees that many students change majors at some point during their studies. Woolston suggests asking about options for students who decide to switch majors, add a minor, or otherwise need to adjust their academic planning. Applicants should ask about support the school offers if or when a student decides to change course and how advisors approach this in their discussions with incoming freshmen.
Another concern students might have is how advance credits are applied. Schur says some schools accept the credits, but students might still need a specific course or series of classes for certain majors or minors for which the advanced placement credit isn’t sufficient.
While it might seem early to be thinking about it as a first-year student, Olsen suggests considering dual master’s degree programs, which allow students to finish both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in five years.
MANAGING THE FINANCES
One of the biggest considerations families make is the cost of a university education. While public schools offer lower tuition rates, private colleges may offer scholarships and other sources of financial aid that balance out the difference. “Private colleges have more scholarships and aid that are available,” says Schur. “Definitely reach out and advocate for yourselves when talking to admissions, but also financial aid. … The people in that office are there because they want to help students.”
To take advantage of any financial aid, students are encouraged to apply to their top choice schools no later than October or November of their senior year of high school, depending on the application deadlines. This also gives an advantage to applicants who are looking into early decision for schools that offer it and students who know their No. 1 choice.
“You have to feel confident about where you’re sending your child or relative, and you should feel confident they’ll get a really good degree, that they’ll be competitive when they start to go to work,” says Olsen. “Traditionally, when students are in college until their early 20s, they’re still setting a foundation of working for 30 to 50 years. So it’s a big investment, but the payoff is gigantic, both in monetary terms and life satisfaction.”
PROMISING PATHWAYS /
By Julie Young
AS WORKFORCE NEEDS evolve and change over time, higher education institutions constantly strive to create pathways that will set their students up for success. While the initial idea for a new academic program may come from a variety of sources, most schools seek to add programs that are adaptable, customizable, and on the cutting edge of trends and technologies.
“There are new jobs and new fields being created regularly, and part of the preparation [for those new careers] is coming from the crossing and pairing of different disciplines,” says Jay Gladden, chief academic officer for Indiana University Indianapolis.
THE ROAD AHEAD
IU Indianapolis has a long history of offering a diverse catalog of in-demand programs, including business, biology (pre-med), and media arts and sciences, as well as its nursing program, which continues to be a significant study area with plans for continued growth. However, the school has made a conscious decision to create seamless pathways for students who qualify for conditional admittance to medical school, want to work toward an accelerated undergraduate or graduate program, or want to combine disciplines for a truly customized education. One example is the school’s Bachelor of Sports Management and Master of Applied Science, which is specifically
tailored to use data science and data analytics in the sports and human performance setting.
“There is a whole suite of programs in the tech sphere that students are interested in, and that manifests in the way that students double major … and create their own pathway in things that people might not normally see as connected,” Gladden says.
To encourage that personalization, IU Indianapolis is committed to recruiting students with broad interests in addition to those who hope to enter a specific school or pursue a targeted degree. Attracting students with far-reaching interests and helping them explore their options can open doors to possibilities.
“For college students today, there are lots of wonderful things to study and underthe-radar fields that can lead to really fruitful experiences,” Gladden says.
When it comes to emerging studies geared toward traditional and nontraditional students, Baker College in Owosso, Michigan, offers 82 programs across a variety of disciplines, including nursing, IT, and engineering, but it’s their three certificates in the cannabis industry that tend to turn heads.
According to Kelley Suggs, public relations manager for Baker College, the cannabis industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, and the demand for skilled professionals in the field is higher than ever (no pun intended). With Michigan
INDIANA COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ADD CUTTING-EDGE COURSES AND PROGRAMS TO CURRICULUM OFFERINGS.
surpassing California in cannabis sales, students have the opportunity to earn an affordable certificate in cannabis cultivation, extraction, or retail in just nine weeks thanks to a partnership with Green Flower, the leader in cannabis education. Baker students also have the opportunity to intern at the House of Dank, Michigan’s most recognized cannabis brand. “Partnering with the House of Dank allows us to bridge the gap between education and employment,” Suggs says. “Our goal is to ensure that students not only gain valuable knowledge about the cannabis industry but that there is a pipeline to a career through internships and job opportunities.”
Last November, Baker College was recognized by Forbes as top 10 “bests” for five of its online degree programs, including computer programming, human resource management, marketing, finance, and logistics. Suggs says the majority of professors at Baker are practicing professionals who remain active in their fields and apply their experience and knowledge to digital and in-person classrooms. There are also a lot of hands-on opportunities that prepare students for their paths ahead. “Our students are ready to dive into their careers upon graduation,” Suggs says.
EMBRACING THE FUTURE
The University of Southern Indiana enjoys a reputation for being a great place to study art, and its new Bachelor of Fine Arts program rolling out this fall will give students more opportunities to explore and perfect their chosen concentration, whether it is graphic design, illustration, interactive media, photography, ceramics, painting, woodworking, or jewelrymaking. Del Doughty, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at USI, says extra time focused in the discipline—roughly twothirds of a total college degree—strengthens a student’s resume if they opt for a Master of Fine Arts degree or bolster their portfolios as they enter the professional marketplace to sell their work in galleries or secure commissions.
“One of the great things about a liberal arts education is that it allows you to personalize almost any degree program,” Doughty says. “I’m always agog at the interesting ways that some of our students customize their learning. You could, for example, major in sociology to acquire skills in things like network analysis, cross-cultural communication, and
statistics while also studying a foreign language … and if you have a good advisor, you might be able to add a minor in graphic design. That’s an interesting person who’s equipped to lead an enterprise and flexible enough to move in a number of directions as the economy shifts and changes.”
Tailoring and shaping existing programs to emerging technologies and trends in society and the workplace is another way schools adapt and embrace the future. At Franklin College, sports and fitness management, neuroscience, game development, data science, biomedical sciences, and actuarial sciences are just a few of the programs born out of past programs and developing trends. These trends are identified both through research and data, as well as relationships with employers, business owners, and alumni.
“Our game development pathway was a result of several things coming together,” says Franklin College vice president of enrollment and marketing Andrew Hendricks. “Just a few short years ago, FC was on the front end of the growth of esports and built an arena for our students to compete. Since then, the Grizzlies have been ranked nationally and won several conference titles. The growth of esports has been exponential [thanks to] a partnership, growth within our computer science department, and support from the faculty that led to the new game development opportunity.”
Recently, Franklin College received a grant from the Ball Venture Fund to enhance sustainable energy education. The grant will help fund programs for middle and high school students, as well as K-12 STEM teacher training throughout the state. The project offers hands-on learning in electric vehicle technology, battery systems, and solar power with a goal to inspire innovators working toward a clean energy future. The school has also launched a digital fluency initiative to infuse digital literacy into every course at the school. According to Hendricks, a liberal arts education is needed to cultivate tomorrow’s leaders, but technology will play a big role in that space. “From a deeper understanding of software to an appreciation for cybersecurity, Franklin College students are exposed to an education that recognizes and promotes the importance of technology in our careers and lives so that they are capable and confident when they enter the workforce,” he says.
CONVENIENCE FACTORS /
By Shari Held
APPLYING TO COLLEGE,
determining which school is the best fit, earning credits with a click of a mouse, and much more can all be accomplished online. Colleges and universities are making almost everything available digitally to make processes faster, easier, and more convenient for prospective students and their parents.
APPLYING SIMPLIFIED
Many Indiana schools accept applications from the Common Application (common app.org), a centralized portal that allows students to apply to multiple colleges by completing a single application. “It speeds up the process,” says Kate Coffman, associate vice president of marketing and enrollment support for the University of Indianapolis. “It makes it easier for high schoolers to get the information to the colleges they’re applying to because they only have to send it to one place. If students are applying to schools here in the state, it’s really convenient.”
Nearly half of UIndy students apply via the Common Application.
Indiana Wesleyan University starts high schoolers on the application pathway from its homepage. IWU also runs Facebook ads that take prospective students directly to its application page. And the university dropped its high school transcript requirement because it found that many times adults, who typically opt for online courses, may not have access to them.
“We have found people are much more apt to enroll in a program and finish the program if the application process is easy,” says Lana Shoaf, copywriter and communications manager for Indiana Wesleyan University, noting that, on average, it takes only 1.5 days from application to acceptance.
VIRTUAL CAMPUS VISITS
“Ever since Covid, more colleges and universities are offering online visits or THERE’S NO NEED TO DREAD THE COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS. IT’S EASIER THAN EVER TO VISIT CAMPUS, APPLY FOR ENROLLMENT, AND EARN CREDITS, AND IT’S ALL ONLINE.
virtual visits, so students and parents can learn about the program, learn about the admission standards, and then decide if it’s worth the investment to travel and visit the school,” Coff man says.
Virtual visits are a wonderful benefit for international or out-of-state students, but they’re useful to all who are interested as a fi rst look at a school.
Earlham College also offers a virtual live open house every fall for U.S. applicants. International students can schedule individual Zoom visits with a faculty member, a coach, or a fi nancial aid representative.
The college also offers virtual tours.
UIndy and other Indiana schools have participated in The College Tour (the collegetour.com), a TV show that allows students and families to view their selected campus through the eyes of 10 students.
Earlham College will be among the schools featured this fall. Scot Schaeffer, vice president of enrollment management for Earlham College, notes that many high schools offer virtual college fairs, college days, and college nights, and Earlham participates. “These virtual events allow us opportunities to visit places we couldn’t
have gone physically and for more students to learn about us,” he says.
EARNING ONLINE CREDITS
Attending classes in person may be difficult for some enrollees. Perhaps a student has mobility issues, works full-time, or is raising a family. Online classes make it easier than ever for those students to receive an education.
IWU accommodates online learners, with 87 percent of its students enrolling in online classes exclusively and 94 percent taking courses through Brightspace, the university’s online platform. Students can choose from among 181 online courses and several degree programs. Some classes are hybrid, with students meeting in-person several times during the semester.
The university is revamping existing courses to include AI and offers a master’s degree in AI from an ethical, Christian standpoint. “We’re really excited about new opportunities in AI and cybersecurity,” Shoaf says.
Sometimes students just want to make up a class or pick up an extra class. To
address that, Earlham rolled out its “January term,” the period between the fall and winter semester, last November. About 35 students participated in the classes offered, and Schaeffer anticipates the second year will be more popular.
TAKING IT FURTHER
Additional kinds of online assistance are offered by colleges and universities— spiritual support, tele-counseling, fi nancial aid, technical support, tutoring, and more. But possibly the most important thing online learning can do is create a sense of community among students. “I’m a big fan of a new kind of student-focused social media called ZeeMee (zeemee .com),” Coff man says. “It’s designed to build community and help students feel like they belong before they even arrive on campus.”
ZeeMee allows prospective and current students to connect and ask questions of admissions counselors. “We’ve always had a very big international population,” Schaeffer says. “Having an online presence has helped these students feel more connected, and that’s important.”
DEPAUW UNIVERSITY /
204 E. Seminary St., Greencastle, IN 46135 765-658-4800 / depauw.edu
Discover unparalleled innovation, collaboration and hands-on learning in DePauw’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Business and Leadership, and Creative School–all dedicated exclusively to undergraduate education.
YEAR FOUNDED : 1837 / CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 1,820 / STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 10:1 / UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 75+ majors, minors, and programs / SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: DePauw University offers popular majors such as business administration, psychology, communication, biology and computer science, providing students with diverse academic pathways for their career goals and personal interests. / DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS: 44 miles / IN-STATE/OUT-OF-STATE TUITION : $57,990 / PERCENTAGE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: 21 / TOP THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: U.S. News & World Report Top 50 National Liberal Arts College and #1 Liberal Arts College in Indiana; A “Best Value College” according to The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report / AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: DePauw ranks in the top 10 for study-abroad programs–90% of students study abroad in a wide range of off-campus offerings in more than 45 countries, including summer and semester-long study abroad, Winter Term in Service, and internship and practicum experiences.
STATS
Imagine a community of curious, compassionate people who lead by example and seek connection experiences, of academic interest.
At DePauw University, you will find your people.
You’ll also find:
• A top 50 national liberal arts college – and #1 in Indiana
• 75+ majors, minors, and programs
• 100+ student clubs and organizations
• 23 NCAA Division III varsity athletic teams
• 23 Greek-letter organizations
• 84% of students complete an internship
• 90% of students study abroad
Located in Greencastle, Indiana, just 40 minutes from Indianapolis, our 1,800 students are pursuing their passions – and discovering new ones – in a community where they feel both challenged and supported.
Greetings from Indiana State University!
Dear Future Sycamore,
As the new president of Indiana State University, I am excited and honored to introduce you to our exceptional campus community. Indiana State provides a wonderful environment to study, learn, and grow, and my colleagues and I are deeply committed to supporting your successful college journey.
Established in 1865, our university has a rich history of empowering students like you to achieve your full potential and create a lasting impact in your future profession and your local community. Indiana State University is where academic excellence meets a vibrant and diverse student experience and where transformative learning opportunities prepare you for scholarly achievement and career success in our globally connected world.
As a Sycamore, you will experience incredible learning opportunities through service projects, study abroad, undergraduate research, volunteer activities, internships with major corporations, and other enriching activities. You’ll have plenty of time to enjoy Indiana State’s active social life, with Division I athletics, Greek organizations, multicultural events, performing arts, intramural sports, and more than 160 campus student organizations, all contributing to a fun, connected, and friendly campus community.
Beyond sports, dance marathons, and events at the Fountain, your Indiana State experience is ultimately about preparing you for a successful future. We are nationally recognized for providing students with the social mobility to move, work, and live anywhere their dreams take them. Our 100,000+ alumni network and major employer partnerships ensured that 93% of Indiana State’s 2023 graduates secured job or graduate school placements following graduation. The average starting salary for an Indiana State graduate was $62,144.
I invite you to learn more about Indiana State University’s outstanding opportunities and exceptional educational value in the following pages. As this University’s 13th president, I've just started my own Sycamore adventure, and I'd love for you to come along and explore all that Indiana State has to offer.
Go Sycamores!
Mike Godard, Ph.D. President, Indiana State University
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
PUSH BOUNDARIES AT IU BLOOMINGTON
This is where leaders, innovators, and explorers are made. Fuel your passions—and discover new ones—with top-ranked academics, transformational research, and a community that will support you every step of the way.
You're ready to put in the work. And IU is ready for you. Explore more than 300 undergraduate majors—many which rank among the world’s best. Understand the business in medicine or shape our future with human-centered AI. Stretch the limits of knowledge in an interdisciplinary academic community and discover a career path to propel you forward.
Get hands-on research experience within your first semester on campus. Help treat real patients. Work with an organization that shares your commitment to service. At IU, you’ll be able to refine your skills, build new ones, and graduate prepared for whatever tomorrow brings.
GLOBALLY MINDED
We’re #1 for languages taught, #4 for students studying abroad, and home to three Language Flagship programs. Our international expertise is highly sought-after. Whether attending the United Nations Conference of the Parties or advancing Vietnam’s healthcare system, students develop cultural fluency to make future-facing decisions.
GET INVOLVED
Whatever you’re into, you’ll find it at IU. Help your community, or the world with service. Create impact, make meaningful connections, and develop your leadership skills. At IU, you have more than 750 student organizations to find your group and explore your interests.
IU’s legacy continues with you. Show your Hoosier pride at Big 10 sporting events from basketball to soccer. Raise millions by dancing your heart out at IU Dance Marathon to benefit Riley Children’s Hospital. Or fuel your creativity at First Thursday art festivals.
THE STATS:
YEAR FOUNDED: 1820 / CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 47,527 / STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 18:1 / UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS: 300+ SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Business, Public Health, Informaticsand Computing, Public Affairs, Global and International Studies, Nursing, Media, Music / LANGUAGES OFFERED: 80+ / STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS: 380+ / IN-STATE TUITION: $12,142 STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 76% / TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: #1 best undergraduate program in the state, Kelley School of Business (U.S. News & World Report); #1, best public affairs program in the nation, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (U.S. News & World Report); #1, nation’s largest number of foreign languages taught and number of Language Flagship programs
POTENTIAL UNLOCKED
BRING ON TOMORROW
The minute you step foot on campus, you’re bound for greatness— and endless possibilities. Study with world-class faculty. Do groundbreaking research from day one. Experience the nation’s best traditions in sports.
At IU, you don’t just thrive. You also learn how to be a leader of tomorrow. Earn a degree with the preparation to take on the world.
DISCOVER THE POSSIBILITIES AT BLOOMINGTON.IU.EDU
IU INDIANAPOLIS
THE FUTURE STARTS HERE
The most exciting research is happening in Indiana’s most dynamic city. Our students get hands-on as early as freshman year, working side-by-side with world-class researchers to shape the future of medicine, artificial intelligence, business and computing.
PUT YOUR DEGREE IN MOTION
When we say the city is your classroom, we mean it. IU Indianapolis puts you in the middle of real-world career experiences, with major healthcare systems, state government offices, and Fortune 500 companies like Eli Lilly, Salesforce, and Corteva mere blocks away.
LIVE THE JAGUAR LIFE
Roar with the crowd on game day. Race your canoe through the canals at Regatta. Make lifelong friends and get leadership experience in one of 400+ student clubs. IU Indianapolis is an experience like no other, offering the thrill of city living with the college vibes you’ve been dreaming of.
DEGREES THAT GO FURTHER
What do you want to be? We’ll help you get there. Choose from programs in high-demand fields like bioinformatics and public health or design your own academic journey with flexible accelerated degree programs. With 56% of students graduating with no debt, your prestigious Indiana University degree will take you further, faster.
TAKE A VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR
THE STATS:
FIRST CLASS STARTING: 2024 / FIRST COURSES OFFERED IN INDY: 1891 / STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 13:1 / UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS OFFERED: 104 / GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS OFFERED: 149 / SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: healthcare, business, science, technology, public and environmental affairs / DISTANCE FROM DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS: Steps from the State Capitol / RESEARCH FUNDING RECEIVED: $50M+ / TOP THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: #3 top public university in Indiana (U.S. News & World Report), #23 nursing program in the nation, (U.S. News & World Report),#5 nationally in sustainable development (Times Higher Education).
INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Since the beginning, our university has been a Christ-centered academic community committed to changing the world by developing students in character, scholarship, and leadership. IWU is proud to claim a top-rated nursing program, a growing engineering program, and the John Wesley Honors College, which serves as a model for other honors colleges across the country. Additionally, recent years have seen expansion into a total of 22 intercollegiate sports, with notable success in football. Since its founding in 1996, our trailblazing online branch has experienced continual growth and reached a current enrollment of 11,500 total students. With the start of degrees connected to the field of AI, we will soon train tomorrow’s business leaders to use AI through the lens of Christian ethics. The university’s third branch, Wesley Seminary, provides a biblically sound hybrid learning experience where students develop in ministerial training with personal faculty mentorship. Our dedication to forming world changers who live into God’s calling in a strong Kingdom community will always remain the core of Indiana Wesleyan University.
distant learning approach to education. Ten Regional Campuses with locations throughout
LEAD FORWARD WAY THE
WITH
IWU provides a pathway for you to launch or upskill your career by meeting you where you are and making a college degree flexible, affordable, and 100% online. IWU opens an opportunity to lead the way forward so you can transform from dreamer to doer.
UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE /
1800 Lincoln Ave., Evansville, IN 47722 812-488-2000 / evansville.edu
The University of Evansville is a private, comprehensive university located in the southwestern region of Indiana. Established in 1854, UE is recognized across the globe for its rich tradition of innovative, academic excellence and vibrant campus community of changemakers.
Home of the Purple Aces, UE offers over 75 majors, 17 Division I sports, and a unique study abroad experience at Harlaxton, a Victorian manor located in the countryside of England. For more information, please visit evansville.edu.
student engagement by The Wall Street Journal. Ranked
of the
best colleges for your money by Time’sMoney Magazine. One of only 41 Ashoka U Changemaker Campuses in the world.
97%
LEARNING
Employers seek experience, and your student will be well prepared for any career they choose. Hands-on education and internships are just a starting point. Here, you won’t just learn about it. You’ll do it
Class of 2023 graduates employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation
EXPERIENCES
Students have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to study abroad at Harlaxton, our Victorian manor in the English countryside. This beyond the classroom.
$29,727 scholarship package #1
Study abroad program VISIT US!
CULTURE
Our close-knit campus community provides a safe environment for your student to grow in ways they never thought possible.
Shine Brightly at Valparaiso University
to help illuminate, guide, and inspire. Just like all brilliant lights, ours doesn’t just shine in one direction. God’s light shines through all of us, outward and onward.
At Valpo, we project the image of goodness in which we are created, bringing truth
GROUNDED, WE SHINE. GROUNDED, WE SERVE. GROUNDED, WE RADIATE. VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY.
Faith. Leadership. Connection.
BAKER COLLEGE
/420 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48067 800-964-4299 / baker.edu
Baker believes in a student-fi rst philosophy. It’s a principle that ensures commitment to the success of its students, from enrollment to graduation and beyond. With more than 80 degree programs, including nursing, business, information technology and cybersecurity, education, and psychology, Baker prides itself on providing a transformational educational experience that gives students the real-world knowledge and job-ready skills they need to thrive in the working world.
It also offers several specialized programs through two affi liated institutions: The Culinary Institute of Michigan and The Auto/Diesel Institute of Michigan. Baker’s campuses span the state of Michigan, with six locations: Cadillac, Jackson, Owosso, Muskegon, Port Huron, and Royal Oak. Free apartment-style housing is available on select campuses.
/
and
education, and psychology. / DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS : 300 miles /
78.3% / TOP AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: 2024 Best Regional Universities Midwest Rankings – USNews.com • Best Online Marketing Degrees of 2023 –Forbes • Gold Status for Veteran-Friendly Support – Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency / AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATELLITE CAMPUSES: Baker College of Cadillac, Baker College of Muskegon, Baker College of Jackson, Baker College of Owosso, Baker College of Royal Oak, Baker Online, Center for Graduate Studies, Culinary Institute of Michigan – Muskegon, Culinary Institute of Michigan –Port Huron, Auto/Diesel Institute of Michigan, St. Francis School of Law.
An Educational Experience for the
Future-Focused
We deliver a transformational educational experience that helps students progress on their personal and professional journeys. With over 80+ degree programs, flexible learning options, a transparent tuition structure, generous scholarship opportunities, six distinct Michigan campuses, and FREE student housing on select campuses, Baker College makes it easy to find your fit.
a visit and
EARLHAM COLLEGE
801 W. National Rd., Richmond, IN 47374 765-983-1200 / earlham.edu
Earlham is a small liberal arts school located in Richmond, Indiana. We’re made up of genuine, hardworking humans from around the globe who want to change the world—for good.
Through Earlham’s Epic Advantage, every student is guaranteed a career-focused experience—such as an internship or research opportunity—funded up to $5,000.
The Princeton Review ranks us among the nation’s best classroom experiences, best value colleges, most green colleges, best schools for making an impact and most LGBTQ-friendly.
At Earlham, you’ll fi nd robust fi nancial aid opportunities, scholarships and a campus culture where all students are accepted and celebrated for who they are. STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1847 / CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 635 / STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 7:1 / NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 42 / NUMBER OF MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 6 / SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Engineering, Business, Pre-Health, Psychology, Environmental Leadership, Social Justice / DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS (IN MILES): 72 miles / IN-STATE TUITION: $53,010 / OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $53,010 / PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 95% / TOP THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: One of 40 “Colleges That Change Lives”; A Best Classroom Experience according to The Princeton Review ; A “Best Value College” according to The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report / AFFILIATED COLLEGES/SATTELITE CAMPUSES: Earlham School of Religion, Earlham Graduate Programs in Education
FRANKLIN COLLEGE
101 Branigin Blvd., Franklin, IN 46131-2623 317-738-8075 / franklincollege.edu /
Established in 1834, Franklin College is located in charming Franklin, Indiana, just 25 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis. Our beautiful, tree-lined campus spans over 207 acres and provides state-of-the-art academic buildings, residential facilities, athletic fields, and a scenic biology woodland, all catering to our vibrant community of learners. Our students hail from different backgrounds and have a unique set of interests, skills, and aspirations, adding to the richness of our academic environment.
At Franklin College, we offer over 50 majors, 40 minors, and 12 pre-professional programs to around 1,000 students. Our small class sizes allow for highly personalized attention and experiential learning opportunities. Our dedicated professors are passionate advocates, imparting knowledge and expertise to our students and helping them transform into well-rounded individuals ready to face modern challenges head-on.
In addition to the transformative education at Franklin College, our students fi nd their fit in a variety of extracurricular activities, including over 40 student clubs, academic organizations, and Greek life. More than 50 percent of Franklin College students participate in our 21 varsity athletic programs.
Schedule your Franklin College visit today to discover all we have to offer!
STATS YEAR FOUNDED : 1834 / CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 865 / STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO : 12:1 / UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 50+ majors in 24 academic disciplines / MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: Master of Science in Athletic Training, Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies / SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Biology, Business, Exercise Science, Mathematics, Psychology, Public Relations / DISTANCE FROM INDIANAPOLIS: 25 miles / IN-STATE TUITION/OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $37,810 / STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 100% / TOP THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Recognized as a leader in Social Mobility by U.S. News & World Report (2022); National Model United Nations (NMUN) “Distinguished Delegation” at Annual NMUN International Conference (2022); Four student-journalists recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) as Mark of Excellence Winners for best collegiate work published or broadcast during 2022.
Franklin College has done so much for me and surrounded me with good people. I am challenged academically, granted memories that will last a lifetime, and given opportunities I could never have gotten anywhere else. ”
For more information, visit FranklinCollege.edu or call the office of admissions at 317.738.8075. Maddie Cary, psychology and Spanish, class of 2026
INDIANA TECH
1600 E. Washington Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN 46803 260-466-2121 / indianatech.edu
Indiana Tech is a comprehensive university that educates students beyond its home base in Fort Wayne with regional locations throughout Indiana and Kentucky, as well as online programs that meet the needs of students worldwide. The university offers degree and certificate programs that help working adults advance their careers. Indiana Tech offers degrees at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. levels, as well as professional certificate programs. Each is aligned with an in-demand career, including project management, engineering, business, cybersecurity, accounting, information technology, computer science, global health leadership, health information technology, supply chain management, and more. The university’s programs are fully accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), and many programs hold discipline-specific accreditations. Beyond quality degree programs, busy working adults fi nd Indiana Tech an ideal fit due to class schedules that allow them to take one class at a time and still make rapid progress towards their degree. Classes start every six weeks, allowing students to begin their education at any time of year. Indiana Tech also works with employers to provide education and training to their team members, helping companies attract and retain top talent. Indiana Tech can even develop custom programs for corporate partners, as well as offer on-site courses at partner locations.
STATS YEAR FOUNDED: 1930 / CURRENT ENROLLMENT: 1,500 undergraduates on the main campus, 6,500 online undergraduate and graduate / STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO: 16:1 / UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED: 50 / NUMBER OF MASTER’S DEGREES OFFERED: 8 / SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE: Engineering, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Criminal Justice, Business, Communication, Informa tion Technology, Life Sciences, Health Care Administration, Psyc hology, and Human Resources / DISTANCE FROM DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS: 118 miles / IN-STATE/OUT-OF-STATE TUITION: $399 per credit hour undergrad/$525 per credit hour graduate / PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID: 90% / TOP THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Indiana Tech is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, while some of our programs have earned program-specific accreditation/recognition from ABET, IACBE, CAHIIM, SHRM and the Project Management Institute; Ranked #6 in Indiana for return-on-investment by PayScale.com; Recognized as a Top 10-Gold Level Military Friendly School
WORKING MOMS + DADS
LIFE CHANGING EDUCATION
Indiana Tech will help you go further with 100-plus quality online degree and certificate programs. Our class schedules allow you to take one class at a time and make rapid progress toward program completion.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN INDIANA
8600 University Blvd., Evansville, IN 47712 812-464-8600 / usi.edu
The University of Southern Indiana offers both the benefits of a large university and the personal, teaching-centered atmosphere of a small college. USI has an outstanding academic reputation as one of Indiana’s best universities. We offer more than 130 areas of study, including undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs through our four academic colleges and the School of Graduate Studies. Outreach and Engagement programs also offer lifelong learning opportunities to more than 15,000 participants annually. The academic journey at USI is elevated by our successful NCAA Division I Screaming Eagles athletic teams, which compete in 19 varsity sports.
70
THREE AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: The Romain College of Business is among only 2% of business schools, globally, to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for its Business and Accounting Programs. USI Nursing is first in Indiana and nation for National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX®) pass rates. Niche.com recognized USI as the #2 Best College Dorms in Indiana and the 29th Best College Dorms in America.
R BUTLER EFFECT
90+ Academic Majors
At Butler, you’ll find a wide variety of majors, including art, business, communication, education, health sciences, and more. You’ll also find faculty with an uncommon commitment to mentoring their students—engaging in debate, working on research, and building relationships.
There’s Always Something
It’s almost impossible to imagine the Butler experience without getting involved. We offer more than 200 student organizations, 20 Division 1 athletic teams, intramural and club sports, state-of-the-art residence halls, five performing arts venues, and plenty of opportunities to volunteer.
98% Placement Rate
Our location in Indianapolis means our students have ample opportunities for on-the-job, forthe-world experience, often in their first year. From start-ups and non-profits to global tech and healthcare giants, you’ll find plenty of open doors just outside our campus. Whatever you want to do, Butler can give you (and your résumé) a tangible advantage.
R e a l E s t a t e Real Estate
ALL-STARS
If you’re in the market to purchase a new home, our list of top real estate agents, home-selling teams, and mortgage profession als is the place to start your search. The following list represents the top agents in the Indianapolis area. Professional Research Services (PRS) company of Troy, Michigan, surveyed licensed agents and brokers in the market to assess and verify each agent’s total sales volume. Realtors may be screened and selected through the verification of licensing and review of any infractions through various applicable boards and agencies. For further information, visit prscom.com or email PRS at sshevin@prscom.com.
AGENTS:
RADA ADAMS
Encore Sotheby’s
International Realty (317) 223-7232 223-7232
JERRY ALEXANDER
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 627-2888 627-2888
SHANNON R. ALVA
Carpenter Realtors (317) 850-6567 850-6567
DOUG ANDERSON
Carpenter Realtors (317) 224-7446 224-7446
JENNIFER ANDERSON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 748-3796 748-3796
TERI APPLE
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 863-2938 863-2938
BROOKE ARNOLD
Bluprint Real Estate Group (317) 443-2868 443-2868
SUSAN AYCOCK
Coldwell Banker Kaiser Real Estate (317) 503-4059 503-4059
DEANNA BAIRD
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 376-3160 376-3160
FELICIA BANKS
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 502-6261 502-6261
DAVID BARNES
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 259-6000 259-6000
JANE BARRETTO Redfin (317) 593-9425 593-9425
COREY BATT
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 331-5200 331-5200
BRADLEY D. BAXTER
Carpenter Realtors (317) 501-3202 501-3202
DAVID E. BELL
Carpenter Realtors (317) 408-6512 408-6512
MAGDALEN BERGERON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 902-6892 902-6892
SARAH BLACK
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 366-7175 366-7175
BECKY BOLES
Carpenter Realtors (765) 744-2091 744-2091
ANJU BOTHRA
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 709-9673 709-9673
CRAIG BOWEN
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 727-8873 727-8873
EMILY BOWMAN
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Indiana Realty (317) 432-7340 432-7340
MICHELLE BRADBURY
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 504-0542 504-0542
MARK BRANCH
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 403-4397 403-4397
EMILY BREWER
Redfin (317) 854-5206 854-5206
RHODA BROWN
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 919-0318 919-0318
DEBRA E. BROWNNALLY
Carpenter Realtors (317) 847-5830 847-5830
SHERRI BRYANT
Highgarden Real Estate (812) 841-0677 841-0677
DAIMON BUCK
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 995-1815 995-1815
BRENDA M. BURKE
Carpenter Realtors (317) 371-3760 371-3760
RACHEL BURKE
Carpenter Realtors (317) 627-1893 627-1893
KELLY K. BURNS
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Indiana Realty (317) 441-2455 441-2455
CLAY BURRIS
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 508-9823 508-9823
JIM CARLTON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 730-2381 730-2381
LUIS CARRILLO
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 833-6605 833-6605
DIANE CASSIDY
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 413-3488 413-3488
SALLY CHAMNESS
Carpenter Realtors (765) 366-3842 366-3842
JACI CLEVELAND
The Agency Indy (219) 688-8009 688-8009
JILL CLINE
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 319-9647 319-9647
DAYNE COLLINGS
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 259-6000 259-6000
STAN W. COMER
Carpenter Realtors (317) 281-7395 281-7395
CARA CONDE
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 999-9888 999-9888
ADAM REICHEL CORYA
Carpenter Realtors (317) 460-6514 460-6514
RICHARD A. COSTELLO
Carpenter Realtors (317) 750-8114 750-8114
MARY JANE COUTZ
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 507-8474 507-8474
MELISSA COUTZ
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 513-5092 513-5092
ROBERT COWAN
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 459-7420 459-7420
DEBORAH A. COX
Carpenter Realtors (317) 258-6382 258-6382
SUSIE CRAWFORD
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 446-2107 446-2107
HEATHER CROWLEY
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 313-1550 313-1550
JEANA CULP
Carpenter Realtors (317) 679-1183 679-1183
CANDICE DARRING
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 956-0985 956-0985
RICK DAVES
Bluprint Real Estate Group (317) 614-5484 614-5484
GLENN DAVIS
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Indiana Realty (317) 525-0645 525-0645
LORI DAVIS SMITH
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 339-3315 339-3315
MEGAN M. DECK
Carpenter Realtors (317) 450-6870 450-6870
JULIANNE
DEELY-FROST
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 414-6172 414-6172
SARA DENIG
Keller Williams Indy Metro North (765) 617-5301 617-5301
KELLY DESCHRYVER Carpenter Realtors (317) 997-8243 997-8243
ARJUN (AJ) DHITAL
Bluprint Real Estate Group (317) 363-4028 363-4028
KYLE DICKSON
Coldwell Banker Kaiser Real Estate (317) 727-2394 727-2394
RON DILLON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 201-5246 201-5246
TIFFANIE DITLEVSON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 446-0416 446-0416
NANCEE DOWLER
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 800-3136 800-3136
HOLLY H. DOWNEY
Carpenter Realtors (812) 343-9570 343-9570
RUSTY DOWNEY III
Carpenter Realtors (812) 552-2693 552-2693
ERICA DUNCAN
Carpenter Realtors (317) 445-5796 445-5796
KEVIN L. DURFEE
Carpenter Realtors (317) 558-9579 558-9579
NICOLES. DYAR
Carpenter Realtors (317) 796-2217 796-2217
DEBORAH ELLIOTT
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 440-1251 440-1251
KELLIE ELLIS
Bluprint Real Estate Group (317) 519-5334 519-5334
KYLIE ELLIS
Highgarden Real Estate (765) 437-3775 437-3775
LUCY Z. ENDRIS
Carpenter Realtors (317) 459-5364 459-5364
REBA M. EVANS
Carpenter Realtors (317) 331-8840 331-8840
LIZ EWBANK
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 258-7019 258-7019
SARA EYNON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 496-4704 496-4704
KATIE FESE
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 809-6312 809-6312
CANDACE FISK
Coldwell Banker Kaiser Real Estate (317) 710-2633 710-2633
DEBORAH L. FLOWERS
Carpenter Realtors (317) 271-2277 271-2277
SHARON FOSTER
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 432-7868 432-7868
RYAN FOXWORTHY
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 701-0526 701-0526
PAULA M. FURBER
Carpenter Realtors (812) 350-6453 350-6453
KRISTI GAYNOR
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 403-0548 403-0548
SHANNON GILBERT
Highgarden Real Estate (765) 532-6503 532-6503
KYLE GILLETTE
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 716-5255 716-5255
SANDY GINN
Encore Sotheby’s International Realty (317) 332-9828 332-9828
REBECCA GLAZIER
Encore Sotheby’s International Realty (317) 289-6601 289-6601
KAREN GOODWINE
Carpenter Realtors (812) 276-8280 276-8280
JERRY GORDON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 997-9945 997-9945
BRAD GOUGH
Coldwell Banker Kaiser Real Estate (317) 590-3571 590-3571
JEANNIE GRANT
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 782-5259 782-5259
SARA GUEST
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 626-2522 626-2522
ROGER HAAG
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 507-7400 507-7400
JIM HABEGGER
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 716-0246 716-0246
JAMIE HALL
Carpenter Realtors (317) 691-2002 691-2002
JEANETTE L. HAMMEL
Carpenter Realtors (317) 409-9280 409-9280
PAULA HARDIN
Carpenter Realtors (317) 840-8310 840-8310
SCOTT HARMEYER
F.C. Tucker Company (765) 618-4957 618-4957
ALEXANDRIA HARRIS
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 450-0817 450-0817
NATASHA HARVEL
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 945-6797 945-6797
ANNA HASSLER
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 847-4812 847-4812
DEANA S. HAWKINS
Carpenter Realtors (317) 748-1285 748-1285
LAUREN HEWITT
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 846-7751 846-7751
LISA J. HICKS
Carpenter Realtors (317) 289-1562 289-1562
EMILY HUMPHREY
Carpenter Realtors (317) 371-3098 371-3098
JULI HURDLE
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 331-5448 331-5448
WILLIAM HURST
Carpenter Realtors (812) 322-7543 322-7543
CHUKWUDI
IKECHUKWU
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 515-3463 515-3463
NATHAN INSKEEP
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 809-6871 809-6871
DEANNA L. JACKSON
Carpenter Realtors (317) 442-5101 442-5101
KATHERINE (BOYD)
JAMES
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 846-8800 846-8800
CHRIS JARRETT
Highgarden Real Estate (765) 686-2572 686-2572
NATASHA JOHNS
Carpenter Realtors (812) 345-2795 345-2795
ART JOHNSON
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 501-5194 501-5194
MIKE JOHNSON Encore Sotheby’s International Realty (317) 590-3454 590-3454
KELLEY O. JOICE
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 595-2100 595-2100
NANCY JUDAY
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 313-3769 313-3769
NICHOLE KAMMERS
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 606-0632 606-0632
GITA KAPUR
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (908) 391-9961 391-9961
STEVEN P. KASS
Carpenter Realtors (317) 590-6276 590-6276
COREY KEELE
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Indiana Realty (317) 660-1210 660-1210
JANELLE KEELE
F.C. Tucker Company (317) 514-9834 514-9834
ANDREA KELLY Encore Sotheby’s International Realty (317) 840-4056 840-4056
MEGAN KELLY F.C. Tucker Company (317) 319-2217 319-2217
PAUL KILGORE
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Indiana Realty (317) 590-0406 590-0406
THANG KIMA
Bluprint Real Estate Group (317) 506-9545 506-9545
PHIL KLEM F.C. Tucker Company (317) 646-9500 646-9500
KADE KOCH
Highgarden Real Estate (317) 697-7953 697-7953
DEBBIE KONTER F.C. Tucker Company (317) 225-9085 225-9085
JEFF KUCIC Engel & Völkers Indianapolis (317) 710-5500 710-5500
JEFF LANDERS Engel & Völkers Indianapolis (317) 750-9767 750-9767
Ruoff Mortgage Company, Inc. (317) 695-8063 695-8063
DOUG WESTEFIELD
Prosperity Home Mortgage (812) 614-1870 614-1870
Team Deck is Indy’s elite real estate team, servicing the Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Noblesville, and Fishers communities and specializing in golf course properties. From day one, we have followed The Golden Rule, with an unwavering commitment to integrity and customer service. Our goal is to provide our clients with a premier real estate experience and earn the opportunity to be their trusted partner for life!
Photo by TONY VALAINIS
The Coconut Cloud cocktail at Tipsy Mermaid (p. 102)
DOWNTOWN
INCLUDES Fletcher Place, Fountain Square, Mass Ave, Mile Square
Bluebeard
CONTEMPORARY A perennial nominee for the James Beard Awards, Bluebeard—which takes its name from one of native son Kurt Vonnegut’s novels—delivers on the hype. The menu has settled into a comfortable groove, starting with shareable small plates such as house-frizzled chips and French onion dip, gourmet bar nuts, and grilled bread from sibling bakery Amelia’s served with a flight of slatherings. Midsized dishes diners have grown to love: chopped salad; fat scallops over celery root puree, topped with pickled apples and jalapeño; and spaghetti tossed with creme fraiche, parmesan, and gremolata. A platespanning Faroe Island salmon, beef-and-pork Bolognese, and other larger entrees make for a nice, lingering dinner accompanied by cocktails in a delightfully shabby dining room decorated with shelves of books and Vonnegut-era typewriters. 653 Virginia Ave., 317-686-1580, bluebeardindy.com V $$$
Commission Row
NEW AMERICAN This steak and seafood showplace in Bicentennial Unity Plaza reinforces Cunningham Restaurant Group’s reputation for fine dining excellence. Kick off a pre-Pacers dinner with fragrant, everything-spiced popovers and bruleed bone marrow or get a curated caviar service before proceeding to a textbook dry-aged ribeye or A5 wagyu. Raw bar offerings include a seafood tower loaded with fresh oysters, shrimp, lobster, and crab. Well-vetted wine and spirit selections provide plenty of drink for thought, but the house Tanqueray martini is always an easy decision. 110 S. Delaware St., 317-550-2500, commissionrow.com V $$$$
Julieta Taco Shop
MEXICAN Gabriel Sañudo and Esteban Rosas’
funky taco shop in the Stutz Building shows the pair’s skill and fine dining experience in little details such as the marinades for meats, tortillas handcrafted from heirloom corn varieties, and surprisingly flavorful vegetarian options. Start with a signature taco al pastor, the meat shaved directly from a rotating spit, and pair that with one of the other tender grilled or braised meats, such as the earthy brisket-like suadero. Then, grab whatever special creation is on the pegboard menu, such as fluffy, creamy tamales; crispy snapper or mushroom tacos; or aromatic pozole. Enjoy your tacos at a counter seat or alfresco in the renovated atrium. Or head next door for a cocktail at retro-chic Turner’s Bar, where you can wait for the neon sign to alert you that your tacos are ready. 1060 N. Capitol Ave. $$
Milktooth
BRUNCH This airy diner-style cafe has a playfully gritty vibe and a menu that changes with both the seasons and the whims of its chef. The early morning counter service featuring pastries and coffee gives way to a full-service brunch menu. If they’re serving a Dutch baby pancake, get it. Daytime craft cocktails are also on offer. 534 Virginia Ave., 317-986-5131, milktoothindy.com V $$
St. Elmo Steak House
STEAKHOUSE Since 1902, this stately house of red meat has served as the unofficial ambassador of downtown Indianapolis— the walls carry decades’ worth of celebrity photos, the burnished bar hearkens to an earlier era, and the servers remain starched and bow-tied. The drill remains the same, as well: a generous martini, a shrimp cocktail with that notoriously hot cocktail sauce, the bean soup or tomato juice, the wedge, and one of the legendary steaks. 127 S. Illinois St., 317-635-0636, stelmos.com $$$
Tinker Street
NEW AMERICAN Diners are in for a delightful treat at this cozy, detail-oriented restaurant where the open kitchen almost feels like part
of the dining room. The menu changes with the seasons, but the soup is always something lush and vegan; the Duck & Dumplings (featuring duck confit and truffled dumplings) sells out fast; and the person who orders the pork chop will be the most-envied diner at the table. The cocktails are delicate, the wine list well-curated. Don’t skip dessert, especially if it involves a scoop of ice cream. While Tinker Street sets aside some tables for walk-in diners, reservations are available online and are an especially good idea Thursday–Sunday. 402 E. 16th St., 317-9255000, tinkerstreetrestaurant.com V $$$
Turchetti’s Delicatessen
UPDATED SANDWICHES Carnivores are in their element at boutique butcher George Turkette’s Fountain Square food counter. A connected meat market supplies the goods for the stacked deli sandwiches (including a fully loaded Smoked Turketti on porridge loaf) and smashed burgers that are at their best with a side of crispy tallow fries. Do not overlook the daily special, which could be anything from a Frisco Melt with caramelized onions to a plate of tender carnitas tacos. 1110 Prospect St., 317-426-3048, turchettis.com $$
Vicino
ITALIAN More than filling Mass Ave’s pasta needs, this modern, colorful trattoria from the owners of The Oakmont measures up to some of the best Italian spots anywhere in the city. A nicely edited menu offers familiar classics with a few twists for the more daring. Starters are a must, with generous sweet and meaty garlic shrimp and mushroomstudded arancini starring on the short list. Of the salads, a savory and acid panzanella is already a Mass Ave classic. Pizzas are a solid bet, with a nice char from the in-house brick oven, and pastas are solid, with little additions such as a raw egg yolk and truffle oil in the not-too-unorthodox carbonara. But crispy, al dente fried gnocchi with pulled chicken and pesto are a standout, as is the branzino with a golden sear and thick slices of eggplant and
Restaurants included in this guide are selected at the discretion of the Indianapolis Monthly editorial staff based on food quality, innovation, atmosphere, service, value, and consistency. IM does not accept advertising or other compensation in exchange for dining coverage. Price symbols indicate the average cost of a meal per person (without tax, tip, or alcohol). Due to limited space, this list does not cover every evaluated restaurant. For a more comprehensive guide to Indianapolis
zucchini topped with a tangy tomato chutney. Well-mixed cocktails are no surprise given the restaurant’s pedigree. 350 Massachusetts Ave., 317-798-2492, vicinoindy.com V $$
EAST
INCLUDES Irvington, Windsor Park
Beholder
CONTEMPORARY You never know what to expect from restaurateur Jonathan Brooks’ Windsor Park kitchen, aside from one of the most innovative and well-executed meals in town. Impeccable servers will guide you through the evening’s offerings, which start small at the top of the menu (fresh oysters, perhaps, or pork rinds with kimchi and chicken liver mousse) and bulk up toward the bott om (think wild boar Bolognese or a massive pork Wellington portioned for two). Finish with the most exotic fl avor of house-made ice cream. 1844 E. 10th St., 317-419-3471, beholderindy.com V $$$$
Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie
UPSCALE CASUAL Dinner and a movie has never been as local or as luxe as it is at this cinematic and culinary collaboration in Windsor Park. First-run indie and classic fi lms play on the screen in the cinema while snacks and expert cocktails from the bar nod
to movie culture, including the Hollywood Boulevard(ier) and the 35MM with dry gin, orgeat, and lime. 1258 Windsor St., 317-8007099, kankanindy.com V $$$
King Dough
PIZZA King Dough’s huge wood-burning pizza oven (named Thunder Dome) is the fi rst thing diners see when they enter the space, and the open kitchen feels like a grown-up version of the exhibition pizzerias so popular in the 1980s. But this is present-day pizza, bubbly and charred, with seasonal toppings such as truffles and imported taleggio cheese. Sides, such as a variety of salads, are a generous and crispy counterpoint to the main event. 452 N. Highland Ave., 317-602-7960, kingdoughpizzas .com. V$$
McGinley’s Golden Ace Inn
PUB For 90 years, members of the McGinley family have been frying up cheeseburgers on the same cast-iron pans John and Ann McGinley bought shortly aft er arriving in America. Those years of seasoning make for a delicious burger to line your stomach as you try (and fail) to keep up with the bar’s welcoming cast of regulars. Beer, shots, and whiskey are the drinks of the day here, not craft cocktails. That said, their multilayered Irish Flag shot must be seen to be believed. 2533 E. Washington St., 317-632-0696, goldenaceinn.com $
Natural State Provisions
CASUAL Customers order at the counter and
fi nd a table inside this former microbrewery reinvented as an endearingly kitschy eatdrinkery. The food is rooted in homestyle Arkansas cooking from co-owner Adam Sweet’s native state, heavy on the deepfrying and sweet tea–brining, but you shouldn’t miss the daily soft serve ice cream fl avor. If the weather is warm, take a seat at one of the picnic tables outside and watch the neighborhood pups frolic in the adjacent dog park. 414 Dorman St., 317-4929887, naturalstateprovisions.com $$
Sam’s Square Pie
PIZZA Detroit-style pizza obsessive Jeff Miner’s pop-up pie shop now has a permanent home on Indy’s near east side, giving followers and newcomers easy access to his award-winning square-cut pizzas. Just don’t expect a laundry list of available toppings or side options like salads and wings. This spot is a single-minded homage to panbaked pizzas with a signature crown of well-browned cheese around the edges of the chewy, sturdy crust. Topping combos include the signature El Jefe with two styles of pepperoni, kicky Italian sausage, dollops of ricott a, and a drizzle of spicy honey. Slightly thinner and larger Sicilian pies occasionally appear on the menu, so snag one if you can, especially his sausage-topped High Plains Drift er that garnered second place at Las Vegas’ Pizza Expo. Cheesy garlic bread made with Miner’s pizza dough and garlic knots slathered in butt er are also available, but it’s best to save room for the main att raction.
Order ahead for faster service, but be sure to dine in to enjoy the whole funky experience. 2829 E. 10th St., samssquarepie.com V $$$
Sidedoor Bagel
BRUNCH Appropriately dense and chewy with that required crackly sheen, the handrolled sourdough rings at Josh and Emily Greeson’s walk-up bagel shop are the stars of the show. The flavor selection varies, but flaky salt, everything, sesame, and poppy are all solid standbys. Order yours sliced and schmeared at the counter, then score an outdoor table or head back home (it’s carryout only). Don’t miss the daily sandwiches, which range from the open-faced Lox & Loaded to the Turkey Bacon Club with Fischer Farms turkey and Old Major Market bacon. 1103 E. 10th St., sidedoorbagel.com V $$
NORTH SUBURBAN
INCLUDES Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville
9th Street Bistro
BISTRO In a snug cafe off Noblesville’s town square, owners Samir Mohammad and Rachel Firestone Mohammad create meals worth lingering over, from a lamb shank slow-smoked to buttery tenderness and served on top of fresh pappardelle to a house-made burrata that makes several appearances on the menu. The rotating Fried Thing of the Day (from tofu to artichoke hearts) should not be missed. 56 S. 9th St., Noblesville, 317-774-5065, 9thstbistro.com
$$$
Auberge
FRENCH Brick Street Inn’s classic French bistro installed talented chef Toby Moreno (of The Loft at Traders Point Creamery and Plow & Anchor) in early 2022 and immediately sent him to Paris, where he trained in the kitchens of famed chef Alain Ducasse. Moreno has added that continental know-how to the vintage dishes he makes fresh with as much local produce, meats, and cheeses as he can. That translates to an impressive plate of buttery escargot topped with croutons, seasonal salads, and a deeply flavorful French onion soup with a rich broth. Seafood shines among the entrees, especially crispy-skinned roasted cod, though diver scallops with asparagus puree showered with herbs and toasted almonds also impress. 175 S. Main St., Zionsville, 317733-8755, auberge-restaurant.com $$$$
Noah Grant’s Grill House and Oyster Bar
UPDATED SEAFOOD With a wide-ranging menu of dishes, this 16-year-old Zionsville staple is a popular choice with locals, large groups, and families—there’s something for everyone in its kitchen. The seafood is chosen with an eye to sustainability (all approved by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch) and is flown in every day for dishes that run the gamut from a creamy Shrimp Rockefeller Pasta, to a variety of
ambitious sushi rolls, to cioppino and fish and chips. Those who eschew seafood have a variety of steak cuts and burgers to choose from, as well as nine types of mac and cheese. The cocktail menu skews tropical vacation, and the dessert menu is equally sweet, with a butter cake as the arguable star. 91 S. Main St., Zionsville, 317- 732-2233, noahgrants.com
$$$
Tipsy Mermaid
UPDATED COASTAL Diners are treated to a mini-Florida getaway at this sun-filled Zionsville “conch house” filled with beachy whites and wicker. The Key West–inspired menu leans hard on crowd-pleasing seafood dishes and references the region’s literary legacy in the 4 Wives of Hemingway Ceviche and the A Moveable Feast Bowl, which is filled with Cuban black beans and rice, mojo pork, pickled onions, guacamole, mango-jicama escabeche, fried jalapeños, grilled pineapple salsa, and queso fresco. Sweetly potent cocktails served with tropical flair are required sipping, either at the bar or tableside. But the delightfully dense key lime pie, served with a cloud of vanilla Chantilly cream with fresh strawberries, is Tipsy Mermaid’s pièce de résistance. 1135 S. Main St., Zionsville, 317-973-8795, tipsymermaid.com
$$$
NORTHEAST
INCLUDES Broad Ripple, Castleton, Geist, Herron-Morton, Kennedy-King, Keystone at the Crossing, Meridian-Kessler, Nora, SoBro
Fernando’s
MEXICAN / BRAZILIAN With their combined Mexican and Brazilian backgrounds, the couple that runs this cozy restaurant in the heart of Broad Ripple set out to provide a taste of each cuisine. Their effort pays off in traditional comfort dishes such as feijoada (a meaty bean stew served with steamed rice, orange slices, and a sprinkle of farofa), a layered escondidinho de frango reminiscent of shepherd’s pie, and fragrant carne asada served with Mexican onions and guacamole. Dishes are served with both Mexican and Brazilian hot sauces, each with their own brand of afterburn. Gorgeously jiggly flan is the star of the dessert course. 834 E. 64th St., 317-377-4779 $$
Goose the Market
SANDWICHES This high-end butcher and seafood shop boasts one of the city’s strongest sandwich games, making this a dangerous proposition if you’re shopping for staples while feeling peckish. Its chalkboard menu is updated daily with a list of standards (including a kids’ grilled cheese), specials, and soups of the day. Its refrigerated cases display a selection of salads and nibbly little treats such as olives and cheeses. Keep an eye on its website or social media for additional offerings and special events, as it also hosts adventurous pop-up dinners with some of Indy’s most exciting chefs. 2503 N. Delaware St., 317-924-4944, goosethemarket.com V $$
Nicole-Taylor’s Pasta + Market + Backroom Eatery
MEDITERRANEAN Since taking over Tony and Rosa Hanslits’ beloved SoBro pasta market, lunch cafe, and private dining spot in July of 2023, chef Erin Kem and partner Logan McMahan have brought their deep affection for Mediterranean flavors to a lunchtime menu that features an assortment of house pastas with seasonal additions; the current summer menu includes a stunning spring pea bucatini with asparagus, smoked salmon, and dill. Creative sandwiches and salads draw on McMahan’s talent with plant-based cuisine, which, along with the market’s egg-free pasta, have made the shop a bona fide vegan destination. An ever-changing selection of ready-to-eat, deli, and gourmet options make this a great spot to stop for quick supper ideas. And Kem brings her years of experience in the kitchens of local restaurants and in the thick of private events to the market’s highly in-demand small group dinners. 1134 E. 54th St., 317-257-7374, nicoletaylorpasta.com V $$
Wisanggeni Pawon
INDONESIAN The talents of chefs Bambang Wisanggeni and Putri Pratiwi make dining at Wisanggeni Pawon a suberb experience. That, plus all their wonderful family recipes. The husband-and-wife duo presents the complex, spice-forward dishes of their homeland, as well as some hibachi favorites drawn from their experience at nearby Japanese restaurants. Start off by splitting a platter of martabak telor, a hearty beef omelet encased in crispy wonton skin, or share some steamed Indonesian dumplings with a rich peanut sauce. Then try the signature beef rendang, a dish from Western Sumatra featuring tender meat simmered in coconut milk with an aromatic array of spice. Or order bebek Madura, braised and fried duck with toasted coconut. Both dishes come with a fiery house sambal. Lighter fare includes nicely blackened grilled chicken with rice or stirfried noodles topped with crunchy crackers and a shower of chopped peanuts. Save room for ube spring rolls or sweet pancakes stuffed with peanuts, gooey cheese, and condensed milk, all sprinkled with chocolate. 2450 E. 71st St., 317-756-9477, wpawon.com V $$
NORTHWEST
INCLUDES College Park, Lafayette Square, Traders Point
Amara
INDIAN Innovative restaurateur and Aroma owner Vinita Singh converted the popular northside tavern Smee’s Place to her third Indian eatery in late 2022, offering an ambitious and artfully executed menu of dishes from around South Asia. Starters are where the menu truly shines, with crispy eggplant and kale fritters, deeply aromatic Chicken 65, and true-to-their name Juicy Drums of Heaven. Lesser-known dishes, such as chettinad—equally good with chicken, seafood, or lamb—are great bets. Breads are a must here, especially
chewy, crisp garlic naan. Vegetarians get special attention at this place, with a menu of plant-based dishes and mock meats. All fall somewhere between flavors of India and from farther east. A full menu of wines and cocktails pairs nicely with the spicy, aromatic dishes on offer. 1454 W. 86th St., 317-884-6982, amaraindy.com V $$
The Loft Restaurant
FINE DINING With its pastoral setting on the grounds of an artisanal dairy farm, Traders Point Creamery’s farmstead restaurant (housed in one of several restored historic barns) feels like a working model for farmto-table dining. Some of the ingredients on executive chef Jon Warner’s menu are grown on-site, and it would be a shame to pass on the charcuterie board, an appetizer featuring the creamery’s award-winning cheeses, sweet and savory spreads, crunchy cornichons, and locally cured meats. Grass-fed Niman Ranch steaks, seasonal fish and seafood, and housemade yeast rolls are always solid choices, as is the burger made with 100-percent grass-fed beef. For dessert, grab a scoop or three of their ice cream, perfect if you just want to go a la mode. 9101 Moore Rd., Zionsville, 317-7331700, traderspointcreamery.com V $$$
Oakleys Bistro
CONTEMPORARY The meticulously plated fare at Steven Oakley’s eatery hails from a culinary era when sprigs of herbs and puddles of purees provided the flavor, and every single element on the plate served a purpose. The presentations are wild, with menu descriptions giving little more than clues as to what might arrive at the table. Heads-up on anything that appears in quotes, such as a creative “Coq au Vin.” 1464 W. 86th St., 317-824-1231, oakleysbistro.com V $$$
SOUTH SUBURBAN
INCLUDES Bargersville, Franklin, Greenwood
Chin Brothers
BURMESE One of the oldest Burmese restaurants in town, this brightly lit and friendly spot attached to a large, well-stocked market serves as somewhat of a cultural center for immigrants from the Chin state of Myanmar. Invigorating refreshers such as sweet tea with condensed milk and a cane syrup beverage with puffed rice offer a colorful taste of Burmese culture. Fried rice and soups are solid standards here, as well as luscious and tender curried goat. 2320 E. Stop 11 Rd., 317-888-1850, chinbrothers.com V $$
Main & Madison Market Cafe
BAKERY Franklin’s first hospital was reborn as a breakfast and lunch hot spot in 2018, when co-owners and cousins Amy Richardson and Stephanie Northern opened their bakery and cafe just steps from the city’s historic courthouse. With its combination of Brooklyn-cool baristas (many are students at nearby Franklin College) and Midwestern friendliness and prices, the restaurant easily attracts long lines for its rotating menu of
sandwiches, soups, salads, and baked goods. 100 N. Main St., Franklin, 317-736-6246, mainandmadison.cafe V $$
Our Table
CONTEMPORARY The location is suitably cozy and out of the way for Bargersville’s newest fine dining destination. Chef and owner Joe Miller focuses on gorgeous, rustic plates of steak, seafood, and Old World lasagna made with fresh pasta and generous layers of beef Bolognese, mozzarella, and creamy ricotta. The brioche sliders (containing buttermilk fried chicken or beef tenderloin with crispy onions and horseradish creme fraiche) are little bites of heaven. 5080 State Rd. 135, Bargersville, 317-847-4920, ourtablerestaurant.com V $$$
Richard’s Brick Oven Pizza
PIZZA When husband-and-wife team
Richard Goss and Meg Jones first fired up their restaurant’s massive brick oven in 2009, chain pizza ruled the Central Indiana landscape, either delivered within 30 minutes or served in a cavernous room with a singing, mechanical rodent. Franklin was a risky place to launch their vision of high-quality Neapolitan pizza made with fresh, often local ingredients—but the gamble paid off, and 15 years later, it’s become a destination for diners from far beyond Johnson County. With a tightly edited menu of pastas, you’re not restricted to their thin-and-bubbly-crusted pies; they also offer custom calzoni and lasagna. 229 S. Main St., Franklin, 317-7383300, richardskitchen.com V $$$
Shallo’s
ADDED
CASUAL A deceivingly ordinary strip-mall exterior does not prepare first-time diners at the southside “antique restaurant” that opened in 1981. Inside, every surface is lined with pubappropriate antiques, from its gleaming back bar, to an old high school basketball scoreboard hung just inside the entrance, to the salvaged neon signs that add to the noir patina. There’s plenty to look at as you munch on homemade potato chips and chicken wings that arrive in two-pound servings. The food is a satisfying combination of comfort dishes and traditional pub grub, with standouts such as a classic breaded tenderloin, a charbroiled ribeye sandwich, and French onion soup. A vast selection of domestic and imported beers flows freely 8811 Hardegan St., 317-882-7997, shallos.com $$
Taxman Brewing Co.
TAPROOM It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Taxman transformed the face of Bargersville with its first location, a lofted and airy restaurant built in a long-fallow zone next to the railroad tracks. The familyfriendly taproom is adjacent to the Belgianstyle beer brand’s production facility, which plays into the industrial feel of the venue. There’s table and bar seating and—when the weather is right—a patio at which dogs are welcomed. The menu is standard gastropub fare done well, which means reliable burgers, the ubiquitous surf taco, and nachos, fries, and wings. The featured drinks are Taxman’s wide-ranging offerings, but there’s also a list
of international wines and bubbles, a curated selection of craft cocktails, and an impressive range of spirits. 13 S. Baldwin St., Bargersville, 317-458-0210, taxmanbrewing.com V $$
WEST
INCLUDES Brownsburg, Pittsboro, Plainfield
Abyssinia
ETHIOPIAN This spot—where diners use a spongy sour flatbread known as injera in lieu of utensils—provides a thorough introduction to Ethiopian cuisine. Aficionados of East African food will be impressed by the seasoning of the stewed lamb, beef, and spicy chicken; vegans and vegetarians will appreciate their greens, lentils, and chickpeas. 5352 W. 38th St., 299-0608, abyssinianindy.weebly.com V $$
Bob’s Indian Kitchen
INDIAN A surprisingly spacious and airy counter-service restaurant located in a new mini-strip in Hendricks County houses Bhavesh “Bob” Patel’s ode to home-cooked Indian cuisine. Cream cheese bhajia and dreamy butter chicken get just as much respect as the goat biryani or the mini section of Indian pizzas. 618 E. Main St., Brownsburg, 317-983-0225, bobsindian.square.site V $$
Che Chori
ARGENTINEAN Marcos Perera-Blasco’s colorful drive-thru restaurant offers a delectable intro to Argentinean street food. A selection of traditional butterflied-sausage sandwiches and warm empanadas filled with seasoned meats are the focus of the menu. Make sure to pick up the house-made dulce de leche, a warm order of churros, or their specialty Argentinian shortbread cookies. And don’t overlook the cook-at-home sausages, from Spanish-style chorizo to Argentinean black sausage. 3124 W. 16th St., 317-737-2012, chechori.com $$
Negrill Jamaican Restaurant and Bar
JAMAICAN You’ll need to come early to this spirited island spot if you want to score some of the day’s tender, rich oxtail stew or aromatic curried goat, served up in “lickle” (little) or larger portions dressed with rice and peas, steamed cabbage, and sweet fried plantains. Jerk chicken has just the right heat. Beef patties, fried or “escovitch” fish garnished with tangy veggies, and soups round out the menu. 3701 W. 10th St., 317-602-8553, negrillfood.com $$
The Celestial Room
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS’ TEMPLE IN CARMEL HOLDS HIDDEN BEAUTY.
BY CHRISTINA VERCELLETTO
WHEN DRIVING by Spring Mill Road and West 116th Street at night, it’s impossible to miss: a towering structure, shining like an ethereal beacon. The inside of the Indianapolis LDS Temple is just as inspiring, but most will never see it. The chapels of the LDS Church (formerly known as Mormon), of which there are 13 in the Indianapolis area, are where ordinary weekly worship happens. The temple is for the extraordinary. Its rooms have distinct purposes: one where devotees endeavor to grow in their knowledge of the faith; one where marriages are sealed “for time and eternity”; one where those concerned with the fate of deceased relatives can undergo proxy baptisms on their behalf; and more. The Celestial Room, though, is not for doing but simply for being. The name suggests it is meant to give a taste of the peace of heaven. Rebecca Connolly, director of communication for the Indiana region of the LDS Church, shares that tables bear Scriptures to aid in introspection and boxes of tissues for when self-realization leads to tears. The stained glass windows display tulip poplars, the Indiana state tree, and circles with the letter X representing the Crossroads of America. Only Latter-day Saints in good standing can enter the temple. (Anyone is welcome to enjoy the grounds, with trees, benches, and a fountain.) Perhaps the rest of us can cultivate such a space in our minds, where we retreat to be still when the tumult of life overwhelms.
