Carmel Magazine September 2023

STEP INTO THE STORY

Several years ago, staff members at Conner Prairie began doing some research around black settlements and storytelling. In doing so, they decided that they wanted to introduce an exhibition that would tell a holistic experience of the African American story - one that was not just a program that you could buy a ticket to, but rather a chance for it to be integrated throughout the grounds. They started the project with funding through a Lilly Endowment grant and began to look at the role religion played in

African American history. It then began to develop further as they dove deeper. That’s how “Promised Land as Proving Ground,” Conner Prairie’s newest permanent exhibition, came to be.

“This story, viewed mostly through the lens of religion, begins in precolonial Africa and spans all the way to the 21st century,” says Jesse Kramer, director of exhibits.

Kramer and Dr. Rich Cooper, Conner Prairie’s vice president and chief programs

officer, worked with Board Member Dr. Clarence Newsome, a religion historian, and Dr. Charlene Fletcher, the curator of the experience.

“Dr. Fletcher took what was a largely Christian story that Dr. Newsome had put together and expanded out to all different types of religion, including Christianity, Islam, Ifa-Orisha, and Judaism,” Cooper says.

“Every material, every color, every moment

“PROMISED LAND AS PROVING GROUND” IS CONNER PRAIRIE’S NEWEST PERMANENT EXHIBITION

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photographer / Sarah Browning

of this exhibit is intentional,” Kramer says. The exhibit, which has many symbolic “Easter eggs,” showcases how African Americans expressed spirituality through music, dance, activities and food.

“Africans who were being kidnapped into slavery would often braid seeds into their hair so that they would have the crops they needed to grow,” Kramer says. “We have okra, watermelon and black-eyed peas in the United States as a result.”

Conner Prairie is constructing a new, climate-controlled building to showcase artifacts and objects that otherwise couldn’t be shown on Conner Prairie’s grounds. Within that space, they’ve made a secondary space to house an artist-in-residence. Visual artist Israel Solomon was selected to be the artist-in-residence. Solomon, who uses the human figure in the majority of his pieces, creates representational paintings that are geometric in nature, and selects colors that are vibrant and rhythmic.

Although creating art came naturally to Solomon ever since he was young, he didn’t think it was a practical field to pursue. Still, in his late 20s he started focusing on improving as an artist, and over time he became a professional.

During his yearlong residency, Solomon will

produce a body of work that coincides with “Promised Land as Proving Ground.”

“I’m taking the stories that come from the exhibit and creating a reflection of that story through my art,” Solomon says.

History can be dark, uncomfortable and difficult to digest, but Solomon’s artwork helps bridge a conversation.

“As an artist I’m sometimes able to create imagery that will pull at an individual and spark conversation,” Solomon says.

The artist-in-residence building will be a flexible space used to bring in the community, celebrate different artists or hold performances.

Even though the exhibit’s grand opening isn’t until March of 2024, the public is already buzzing with excitement.

“People want to see how the story is going to be told,” says Cooper, who notes that a recent study by the American Alliance of Museums shows that many people trust museums more than libraries or universities.

“As we move forward to combat historic erasure of things that have happened in the past, ceding the microphone and ceding your voice to the communities

whose stories are being told is incredibly important because these stories have often been hidden or buried, pushed away, and not been viewed as worthy of telling,” Kramer says. “As the field moves forward, a lot of these stories are finally coming to the surface.”

This new exhibit tackles some of the large stories that have shaped the human experience here in the U.S. and in the Midwest, making it an exciting time at Conner Prairie.

“Museums have a responsibility to tell the full truth of history,” Kramer says. “If we aren’t doing that, then what are we?”

For more information about Israel Solomon, visit israelsolomonart.com or find him on Instagram @israelesoloart.

CONNER PRAIRIE

13400 Allisonville Road Fishers, IN 317-776-6000

connerprairie.org

“I’M THINKING OF THE HISTORY IN TERMS OF GROWTH, BEAUTY AND RESILIENCY. BLACK PEOPLE HAVE HAD A TRYING AND TROUBLESOME HISTORY HERE IN THE U.S. SO I WANT TO ASK HOW WE CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR OUR CHILDREN.” — ISRAEL SOLOMON

FALL FESTIVALS IN HAMILTON COUNTY TOURISM SPOTLIGHT

WHEN THE CALENDAR TURNS TO SEPTEMBER, THAT MEANS FALL IS NEARLY UPON US. PICTURE IT: CRISP AIR, THE CRUNCH OF LEAVES UNDER YOUR FEET, AND THE TREES SHOWING OFF THEIR SEASONAL COLORS. FIND INSPIRATION FOR YOUR FALL FESTIVAL ADVENTURES.

1.

Sunflower Festival | Sept. 1-4, 8-10

Visit Stuckey Farm Orchard & Cider Mill in Sheridan to walk through acres of sunflowers of all shapes and sizes. It’s the best way to kick off the fall season.

4.

Atlanta New Earth Festival | Sept. 23-24

This festival takes over downtown Atlanta and is celebrating its 50th year. Over 600 vendors offer handmade arts, crafts, antiques, collectibles, amusements and more.

2.Jupiter Balloon Flights

| Sept. 8-10

Make your summer glow and celebrate the innovation of flight at Conner Prairie in Fishers during the colorful festival. With morning competitions and a balloon glow there are amazing sights to behold.

3.Carmel International

Arts Festival | Sept. 23-24

The Carmel Arts & Design District at Main Street and Rangeline Road hosts this two day event. This juried art fair features unique art of the highest quality.

5.Russell

Farms Country Fall Festival | Sept. 23 – Oct. 29

Visit Russell Farms Pumpkin Patch in Noblesville on Saturday or Sunday for a great, fall festival with fun activities for all ages.  Activities include a petting zoo, hay wagon rides to the pumpkin patch, scavenger hunt corn mazes, miniature golf, whizzer and tumbleweed rides, jump pillow, bounce house and more.

6.Headless Horseman

Festival | Oct. 5-29

Conner Prairie in FIshers is celebrating 40 years of frights and delights. Take the iconic Haunted Hayride, Thursday – Sunday, through Conner Prairie’s grounds where you will encounter spooky frights around every corner...including the Headless Horseman himself!

7.Potter’s Bridge Fall Festival |

Oct. 6

Enjoy a special autumn day at Potter’s Bridge Park in Noblesville. Listen to live music, visit the more than 70 arts, crafts, and food booths, or simply take in the natural beauty from the White River Greenway Trail.

For more seasonal events, check out our calendar at visithamiltoncounty.com/events.

WHAT’S ON YOUR FALL BUCKET LIST? TAG US IN YOUR FALL ADVENTURES USING #VISITHC, AND FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM.

Think New York Fashion Week - Midwest edition. All the glam, beauty and fun right in the heart of Indiana.

Introducing the first-ever Unveiled Bridal Fashion Runway Show, hosted by The Sixpence and The Wedding Studio.

Unveiled, an exciting and luxurious fashion and charity event, will feature three couture runway sessions. At the event, there will be many opportunities for guests to mingle with designers, sponsors and other guests, while enjoying exquisite refreshments and cocktails throughout the evening. Plenty of photo opportunities will be available throughout the night in The Sixpence’s beautifully decorated space.

Adrienne Love, owner of The Wedding Studio, and Shelby Dempsey, co-owner and lead designer of The Sixpence, are ecstatic to bring their community a firstof-its-kind runway show and experience. They have brought their passions and dreams to life through the planning and execution of this event. The purpose of the event? To invite the Midwest community into a unique luxury experience and provide the opportunity to admire couture craftsmanship in an

intimate, unforgettable setting.

Attendees will get to see beautiful gowns from an array of couture designers, including but not limited to Berta, Colby John, Viktor&Rolf, Hera Couture, Martina Liana Luxe and many others. Some designers featured in the show will also be attending.

“This is the dress that you have thought about your whole life,” Love says. “That’s why a fashion show such as Unveiled, that explains and expresses the creativity, time, effort and thoughtfulness that is put into making beautiful gowns like this, is important.”

Unveiled will be bringing the New York Fashion Week experience to Indiana, in an elevated yet accessible capacity. Located at The Sixpence in Zionsville, Unveiled features one beautiful main stage with seating, photography, bars and other event highlights built around the stage. It is the perfect event for the newly engaged and all lovers of fashion.

“By one of a kind, I mean that this show will have a couture presence and elevated feel, while also having an intimate aspect, to give our guests, partners and creatives involved the chance to meet face to face

throughout the evening,” Dempsey says.

In addition to the amazing designers featured and attending this year’s event, The Wedding Studio and The Sixpence are thrilled to welcome Hannah Ann Sluss to the Unveiled family. Hannah Ann, American television personality and model, will be hosting the show as the celebrity emcee. “It couldn’t have been a more perfect fit,” Love says. “We are so excited to have her host the event as emcee, and it is the perfect way to launch this show that we will be doing annually.”

The Unveiled Bridal Runway Show is not only bringing a new fashion experience to guests, but the show is also honoring and highlighting the nonprofit organization VOW for Girls. It is a growing global movement that partners with brands, individuals and the wedding industry itself to end the international child marriage crisis, and support girls to live lives they love.

“I was able to meet the CEO of VOW for Girls, Clay Dunn, and it was immediately apparent to me to tell Adrienne about this cause, and figure out a way to work with him and his team in the future,” Dempsey says. “Once we started

discussing this event, we knew it was a perfect fit.”

Guests will have the opportunity to learn more about VOW for Girls, and ways they can support this incredible organization at the Unveiled event. In addition to those opportunities to give, a portion of Unveiled ticket sales will be donated to VOW for Girls.

“We’re bringing something to the Midwest that is new, exciting, elevated and never been done here before,” Love says. “We are thrilled, proud and so excited.”

Unveiled is the fashion and fundraising event of the season. Tickets are selling fast, and guests will experience the first of an annual celebration of charity

and couture.

General admission tickets include your reserved seat of choice, three distinct runway show sessions, complimentary mid-session refreshments, access to The Sixpence Bar, and access to the Luxury Sponsor Lounge.

VIP tickets include preferred reserved seating with premium runway views, three distinct runway show sessions, complimentary mid-session refreshments, access to the Luxury Sponsor Lounge, complimentary VIP Bar and VIP balcony viewing area, as well as a ticket to the High Noon VIP After-Party.

With the two ticket options, guests are guaranteed to have the perfect experience and view at the show. VIP tickets are

available in designated areas such as first row, second row, third row and balcony. Balcony tickets are already all sold out, and the others are in very limited availability.

Dempsey and Love say that there will be a surprise at the end of the show that guests will not want to miss.

To attend this premiere fashion event on Thursday, September 14, scan the QR code below and purchase your ticket on the Unveiled EventBrite page, at eventbrite.com/e/ unveiled-bridal-runway-show-tickets668345408107?aff=oddtdtcreator.

For more info on The Sixpence and The Wedding Studio, go to thesixpence.com and theweddingstudios.net.

WELCOMING WELLNESS

INDY HOLISTIC HUB IS HOSTING WELLBEING FEST AND LAUNCHING A NEW MAGAZINE

After college, Jennifer Seffrin longed to move away and explore new ideas and ways of life. One place she landed was Tempe, Arizona, where she took classes at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. While there, she took an interest in the concept of conscious living, alternative therapies and holistic care. When she moved back to Indiana, she wanted to find a way to shine a light on the local holistic community.

“At first I was like, ‘Where do I start?’” Seffrin says. “But a quote stood out to me: ‘Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.’ I began to invite people to lunch.”

In 2012 she founded Indy Holistic Hub, a holistic health and wellness network designed to cater to the mind, body and spirit. Indy Holistic Hub offers an extensive online directory of resources for the public that includes acupuncture, coaching,

hypnotherapy, massage, chiropractic, natural products and holistic medicine.

Now, in 2023, she will launch the next part of her vision, a local magazine featuring a wide range of topics related to holistic therapies, wellness, cutting-edge science, green living and more. The Holistic Living magazine will debut on October 1 at Wellbeing Fest, with all attendees receiving the first copies of the magazine, which will also be offered digitally.

“It’s all about supporting people to take another step toward their well-being, by finding their fit where they are right now on their path,” Seffrin says.

The Indy Holistic Hub website offers a community calendar that lists classes, activities and other opportunities.

“That’s a source for people to say, ‘Oh, I can go on a retreat,’ or, ‘I can stick my toe in this

intro class,’” Seffrin says.

Seven years ago Seffrin began hosting an annual Wellbeing Fest, giving the general public a prime opportunity to interact with and learn from practitioners and professionals in the community. This year Wellbeing Fest will take place on October 1 at Hub & Spoke in Fishers. Featuring speakers, holistic health practitioners and product-based businesses from around the Indy area, the day will kick off at 11 a.m. with an opening session hosted by “The KJ TODAY Show” and special event guests.

The vendor marketplace will run from noon until 4 p.m., allowing folks to walk around and converse while nibbling on yummy treats from local food vendors. The afternoon will offer a panel discussion featuring local experts who will discuss the mind-body-spirit connection. These experts will include the “Voice Of Health” radio host and local veteran in holistic medicine,

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photographer / Brian Brosmer

Dr. Robert Prather of Holistic Integration. The panel will be moderated by KJ McGlinn, a media personality, reiki master, and host of the “KJ TODAY Show.”

Sunday, Oct. 1 st

11 am - 4 pm

Hub & Spoke, Fishers

holistichubwellbeingfest.com

BOGO code TownePost

Speakers, Holistic Health Practitioners, Natural Living, Complimentary Therapies, Healing & Creative Arts, Gifts, Food, and more!

MORE THAN A GAME

PICKLEBALL PROVIDES AN IMPORTANT OUTLET FOR DANNY WILSON

This is a story about pickleball. And cancer. And friendship. And survival.

It was March of 2022. Danny Wilson was in Fort Wayne to play in a pickleball tournament the next day, with his mixeddoubles partner, Lisa Martin. During the night, Wilson became violently ill. Food

poisoning? What lousy timing, he thought. It was no better in the morning. Worse actually. As sick as he was, Wilson was angry because he wouldn’t be able to play in the tournament, and felt he was letting down Martin. Sounds crazy, right? But it’s the way competitors think, and Wilson is a competitor - he always has been.

Growing up in Anderson, Wilson played high school golf and tennis, and continued his tennis career at Anderson College. As an adult, he shifted to running. Then he was introduced to pickleball. “I loved it from the start,” Wilson says.

His first time on the pickleball court, Martin

Writer / Vince Welch Photographer / Sarah Browning

was there too, at the neighborhood courts with friends. She recognized him from passing her home while on his daily run. She referred to him as “runner dude,” and they immediately connected.

They take their pickleball seriously. They compete together as mixed-doubles

partners, and train together on the court and in the gym, all with their eye on the next scheduled tournament. But they’re more than pickleball partners. Their friendship runs deep. “I love him like I love my brother,” Martin says.

Wilson and his wife of nearly 30 years,

Michelle, and Martin and her husband, Bill, are dear friends. And Wilson and Michelle have needed a support system of friends.

When Wilson returned home from that pickleball tournament in March of 2022, the symptoms didn’t improve and he ended up in the emergency room. He wouldn’t go home for more than two weeks. No one ever hopes to have food poisoning, unless the alternative is stomach cancer. It wasn’t food poisoning.

Duodenal adenocarcinoma cancer, located where the small intestine connects to the stomach, is rare and persistent. There was a six-hour surgery in April of 2022, and a painful return to the hospital two months later. The scan was clean but the pain was unbearable. Wilson’s frame, even when healthy, could be described as wiry. Cancer ravaged his appetite and left him constantly nauseous. His weight plummeted from 145 to 112. “When I saw him, I went to the car and cried,” Martin says.

Bill is a retired physician. They knew, maybe even more than Wilson and Michelle, the seriousness of the situation. “It was tough, not just on me,” Wilson says. “It was hard on Michelle too, physically and mentally.”

Through it all, Wilson was determined to

Trudie Welch, Lisa Martin, Vince Welch and Danny Wilson

return to the pickleball court. “I kept asking the doctors, ‘When can I play?’” he recalls.

Wilson not only returned to the court, but he and Martin also resumed tournament play. “We dropped down a level, from 4.0 to 3.5, but just being on the court again was a victory,” Wilson says.

They competed in eight tournaments from

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June through November, even medaling at West Lafayette in August. “From where I’d come from, that was huge,” Wilson says.

But cancer is a stubborn opponent. Always lurking, threatening your body and your peace of mind. And in December of 2022, it returned.

“Surgery is the best way to get rid of it, but it’s so risky because of the location,” Wilson explains. “We’ve decided against it for now.”

The summer day is overcast, but not gloomy. It mirrors Wilson’s demeanor. He is quiet, but pleasant. He has taken his three morning chemo pills and mentally prepared himself for the day. He slowly walks to the SUV in his driveway, and makes the short and familiar drive to the oncology center to receive his daily treatment. Lying under the eye of the radiation machine is not physically painful, nor does it take long. He’s gone from the waiting room less than 15 minutes, and looks no different upon his return. But rest assured, it takes its toll.

“It’s the unknown,” Wilson says. “What’s my future look like? It’s harder mentally than physically.”

Wilson doesn’t advertise his condition, but people talk. “I’ve had pickleball players ask to pray with me,” he says. “People I don’t even know. That means a lot.”

It’s amazing what brings light into cancer’s darkness. For Wilson, it’s the feel of a perfect third shot drop, or a deftly placed dink.

“I don’t know where I’d be without pickleball,” Wilson says. “It’s been a savior for me. It takes my mind off chemo and radiation. It gives me part of my life back.”

Pickleball courts are everywhere. You either play or know someone who does. For some it’s just a game. For others, like Danny Wilson, it’s more. Much more. It’s survival.

Brent Troy Vice President, Commercial Banking 317-261-9716

Kelly Aucremanne Vice President, Treasury Management

Holli Ford Vice President, Private Banking

Enjoy

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We are looking for your favorite local businesses to feature in our Towne Post Network magazines, website, and social media. Each month, we will acknowledge Townies’ Top Local Award recipients and list them in our monthly print publications. There is no cost to be recognized, we’re just looking for the businesses that locals feel are the best!

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