1. 3/7/14 10:03 AMHistory ride
Page 1 of 3http://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2013/08/14/history-ride/2645413/
History ride
By Sarai Johnson, sarai.johnson@indystar.com 12:03 a.m. EDT August 14, 2013
I set foot in Indiana for the first time in late May with a brand-new driver’s license and no money to spend. My
adventurous nature, in hibernation from a long, cold winter in D.C., kicked into high gear and my ears perked
up at the slightest whisper of the opportunity to go somewhere and do something.
Then I met Kipp Normand. I visited his studio twice and heard his name mentioned in hallways, stairwells and
in conversation with Joanna Taft, executive director of the Harrison Center for the Arts, where Kipp keeps his
studio packed to the ceiling with artifacts. It took about three weeks of showing up unannounced at his studio
door before I found myself sneakered and sweaty on the back of an antique, metallic blue tandem bicycle cycling down Virginia Avenue.
I had pursued this adventure because I’d been informed by Harrison Center intern Paul Smallman that Kipp “knows quite a bit about things that aren’t
really there anymore.”
On the day of our bike ride, I found him in the Fountain Square offices of Southeast Neighborhood Development, where he makes a living as a real estate
development manager. But at heart, Kipp is a history buff. He previously worked for Indiana Landmarks Association and Indianapolis Historic
Preservation Commission.
He was dressed like a stereotypical history professor: button-down shirt, thick-framed tortoiseshell glasses and a squarish, graying beard. His youthful
banter and adventurous nature made him seem much younger than his 49 years.
The bicycle, like Kipp, had personality. We borrowed the Schwinn from Taft, who insisted. Dotted with rust spots, it wiggled at certain speeds, and I spent
much time and effort making sure my knees did not hit Kipp’s seat and send the bike swerving.
At Virginia Avenue and Shelby Street, Kipp introduced me to the Pioneer Family, which makes its home in the fountain there. He told me the story of how
the sculpture had been uprooted several times and did some time in storage at Garfield Park.
As we headed away from Fountain Square on the Cultural Trail, we stopped on the bridge over I-65. Kipp gestured toward the highway and the
emptiness around it. He said much of what we were looking at had once been occupied by houses, families and churches, pushed out of what had once
been the inner city in favor of highways designed to move cars into and out of Downtown faster, to make the commute to and from the suburbs easier.
The families were sent eastward, unlike the Pioneer Family, which symbolizes westward expansion.
“I’d like to start seeing them remove highways,” Kipp said.
We headed northwest toward Monument Circle, where Kipp pointed out the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. I had passed it at least a dozen times getting
coffee or lunch at one of the nearby restaurants but had never given it much attention beyond acknowledging its size.
Then, as we headed north, we passed the Blacherne apartment building with its recessed balconies, built by Gen. Lew Wallace on the corner of Meridian
and Vermont streets with the royalties from his classic novel, “Ben Hur.”
On the other side of the street, I took note of how much Downtown Indianapolis looked like the National Mall. The obelisk in the middle of the Indiana
World War Memorial Plaza mimics the Washington Monument in shape, not in size, but perhaps with its golden accents outshines its cousin in the
nation’s capital. Then there’s the Scottish Rite Cathedral, which has the same square shape as the one on Embassy Row in D.C., near where I spent my
sophomore year in a satellite dormitory.
Kipp then shared the tale of the American Legion building. The Legion, a patriotic veterans organization, chose to locate its national headquarters in
Indianapolis in 1919, when delegates from Indiana convinced the convention that the railroad hub was an ideal locale.
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2. 3/7/14 10:03 AMHistory ride
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We headed north up Meridian to the gilded entrance of the Stokely-Van Camp building, where a recipe and packing method for canned baked beans
eaten by soldiers during the Civil War were “perfected.”
I asked Kipp why he knew all that he knew as we biked south toward Mass Ave.
“I’m kind of a nerd,” he replied. “But really, it enhances the experience to have a deep knowledge of where you live.”
Past Mass Ave., we stopped at a partial log cabin. “It’s funny how a house will have the siding removed and they’ll find logs underneath and suddenly it’s
the oldest house in the entire city,” he joked.
We rode past a bar John Dillinger once frequented, then called 9th Street Tavern, now known as Dorman Street Saloon, near a house where the
infamous outlaw reportedly hid out.
We rode through an unpaved lot, which Kipp informed me was once home to an ornate ice cream factory. Ice cream sounded pretty good.
“It bothered me when they tore it down, but now I can’t remember the name,” he laughed. “My affections are the kiss of death for quirky, old places.”
Call Star reporter Sarai Johnson at
(317) 444-6123. Follow her on Twitter: @QueSeraSaraii.
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3. 11/10/14, 3:08 PMGmail - Series of Questions...
Page 1 of 3https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=edd42fbf6d&view=pt&q=…qs=true&search=query&msg=1425da78b0556ac1&siml=1425da78b0556ac1
Sarai Johnson <johnsonsarai92@gmail.com>
Series of Questions...
Taflinger, Neal <Neal.Taflinger@indystar.com> Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 4:25 PM
To: Sarai Johnson <johnsonsarai92@gmail.com>
Black like me
A young woman reflects on her first Summer Celebration
By Sarai Johnson
sarai.johnson@indystar.com
A T-shirt stopped me in my tracks. “I got good hair,” it read. “I got African in me.”
I was in the consumer exhibits section at the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration. I might have touched my own hair when I
saw it. I’ve been wearing it in dreadlocks for more than a year and without chemicals for even longer. I’d decided to wear my
hair naturally upon realizing my hair was beautiful, not despite being kinky and curly, but because it was kinky and curly. I’d
spent years wishing it would lay flat like my white, Asian and Hispanic counterparts, who have so-called good hair. Black people
with hair resembling theirs are considered to have “good hair,” which presumes African hair is inherently inferior. My hair is
“good,” and this shirt succinctly reaffirmed my feelings. I had never seen anything like it.
I am 20 years old, about to enter my final year of my undergraduate studies at Howard, a historically black university. I grew up
in Nashville, Tenn., attend school in Washington, D.C.and am now completing a summer fellowship at the Indianapolis Star. I
was raised in a household that encouraged me not to see myself as “other,” and that although I am black, and that is something
to be proud of, I am more than a black woman; I am a dancer, a writer, and my “blackness” should not overshadow those
aspects of myself. Still, I’ve spent much of my life grappling and searching for a definition of what “blackness” truly means. Sure
it’s cultural, but not all people with the same skin color are brought up in the same household. Africans are different from
African-Americans, African Americans, and thoseof African descent who live in South America and the Caribbean.
Before coming to Indiana, I had no idea what Black Expo was and didn’t understand the need for black people to come together
for the sake of being “black.” And after spending parts of two days inside the Indiana Convention Center, that shirt — which I
purchased — was the only aspect of Summer Celebration that spoke to me, a young black woman.
I arrived at the convention center on Friday around midday and attempted to enter the building at the corner of Maryland and S.
Capitol near a sign that read, “General Ticket Entrance.” But I, along with a group of older men and women had to walk in the
heat to another entrance. When I asked an employee of the convention center why, he replied, “We’re not letting people in
here.” He gestured further down the sidewalk where I was eventually admitted.
Upon entering, I was confused by the layout of the building but eventually found my way to the consumer exhibits. What had
been described to me as the largest Expo of its kind, with 1,000 vendors and exhibitors, and approximately 600,000 attendees
at its peak in the early '90s, could now be experienced in its entirety in about an hour, maybe two. Expo officials said there were
just 349 booths at last year’s Summer Celebration.
“[There are] a lot less vendors now. I remember it used to be so packed,” said Nyisha Morris, a 24-year-old student at Northern
Kentucky University. At 4 o’clock on Saturday, when I was told the convention center would be at the peak of activity, there was
almost an entire row of vacant booths on the exhibition floor. Summer Celebration isn’t just a shadow of its former self in terms
of attendance or volume of vendors, but in cultural relevance as well.
“I met Curtis Mayfield as a kid. I stood in line for an hour to get Curtis Mayfield’s autograph,” said Congressman Andre Carson.
“I met Tupac here when I was younger.” There were some celebrities around the convention center; I saw Spike Lee, Tisha
Martin Campbell, and Bern Nadette Stanis from “Good Times,” but seeing Tupac in the early '90s would be akin to seeing Jay-Z

4. 11/10/14, 3:08 PMGmail - Series of Questions...
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now. But neither Jay-Z nor anyone of his relevant celebrity was anywhere to be found.
I circled the consumer exhibits, T-shirt in hand, and found myself in the Cultural Arts Pavilion, which had booths in the
convention center hallway and a conference room with small displays by arts organizations in the area, including the Harrison
Center for the Arts, the Fort Wayne museum of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, an expo partner since the ‘70s.
The IMA’s exhibit consisted of two ceiling-height L-shaped plywood walls tacked with posters promoting exhibitions at the
museum. In the past, the museum offered hands-on arts projects and elaborate exhibitions for attendees of Summer
Celebration but has shifted its focus to presenting a broad overview of the Museum’s offerings in the Cultural Arts Pavilion and
hosting the Film Festival in its Tobias Theatre.
“I wish it had more artists and more artists present so we could actually speak with them and hear their points of view and have
something more interactive — digital,” said Nicole Biggerstaff-Vasquez, an Indianapolis native and lifelong summer celebration
attendee.
For adults, the most interactive part of summer celebration is the health fair, with health screenings, samples and massages.
Michael James, a health-care professional, and his son, 14-year-old Michael James Jr. had very different opinions. When asked
if he thought his friends would take advantage of the health fair, Michael Jr. said, “Probably not.” But Michael Sr. was signing up
for information from different vendors. “I like to stay up on what’s going on,” he said.
The consumer exhibits were full of clothes and ethnic jewelry. I spotted tubs and tubs of African Shea Butter, which I had been
searching for locally to no avail, since my last container was confiscated at an airport. I saw large portraits of Rihanna and Lil’
Wayne, weave, ankh and cowrie shell earrings, mudcloth bags and colorful dashikis. All of these products were designed to
appeal to what black consumers are presumably interested in. But that’s where the “blackness” ended.
When vendors were asked to describe their customers, Kim Bey, of Jah2!, where I purchased my T-shirt, defined them as
“socially conscious” and “bold and charismatic.” Willie Eshe, of nonprofit 3rd with Goals, said the shirts they sell are for “people
who want to represent something positive.” Even photographer Michael July, who was selling copies of his coffee-table book
“Afros: A Celebration of Natural Hair,” described his patrons as “anyone with an interest in beauty.” Not one of them described
their customers as black.
Which brings me back to the elusive definition of blackness, and the question of whether, in the absence of a clear definition,
can Indiana Black Expo be relevant? Jerilyn Lewis, 51, Indianapolis, who defined blackness as, “Beyond ethnicity; it’s a culture.
It’s a state of being. It’s an understanding of history, and it’s a willingness to extend the greatness of the people,” said yes.
“The need is as strong today as it was back then,” said Lewis. “The civil rights movement is continuous. It changes. The tactics
change, but the need is forever there.”
Maya Youghbor disagreed. “I don’t need an expo to tell me that there’s black people being successful,” said the 20-year-old
IUPUI student.
After learning of such varied experiences, I wondered if maybe Summer Celebration isn’t an attempt to provide a definitive black
experience but an opportunity for black people to explore who we are underneath our pigmentation. And according to Jarvis
Jointer, that exploration is best done with friends.“You don’t really go to learn stuff, you go to hang out,” the 31-year-old
Indianapolis native said. “From ages 6 to 17, you actually go just to get free stuff. Ages 17-21, you go for the environment —
hanging out, the social part. After you graduate, [from college] you go for the corporate aspect.”
I’m much more conscious of my skin color in Indianapolis than I am in Nashville Nasvhille or D.C. And Leah Harris, 22, echoed
a common sentiment that her interest in Summer Celebration is a desire to “be among my people.”
So, perhaps in Indiana, Black Expo is still relevant, said former star reporter and Indianapolis Black Expo Cultural Heritage
Governor’s Award-Winner Eunice Trotter, “because in 2013, there is nothing else (like it).”
Call Star Reporter Sarai Johnson at (317) 444-6123. Follow her on Twitter: @QueSeraSaraii.
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5. Journalism

6. 4/7/14, 1:01 PMFamed Choreographer and the Institute's Arts Program Director Discuss Modern Art | The Aspen Institute
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FILED IN BLOG TOPICS: Aspen Institute Arts Program
Feb 10
2014
Famed Choreographer and the Institute's Arts
Program Director Discuss Modern Art
By Sarai Johnson, Guest Blogger
Executive Artistic Director of New York Live Arts and Choreographer and Co-founder of the
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Bill T. Jones joined Director of the Aspen Institute
Arts Program and former New York City Ballet principal dancer Damian Woetzel in
conversation at New York Live Arts to discuss “the decrepitude of art.”
This inaugural “Bill Chat” is the first in a series of discussions hosted by Jones, and the first
in the collaboration between the Aspen Institute and Live Arts. The conversation's subject
refers to a statement by 20th century arts titan (and co-founder of the New York City Ballet)
Lincoln Kirstein, commenting on modern art and the work of modern dancer and
choreographer Merce Cunningham. The comment was made in an interview published in a
book about the dancer written by James Klosty.
The theory of “decrepitude” is defined by Kirstein as “the insistence of personalism,
expressionism, idiosyncrasy against the service of the de-selfed self.” This, in so many
words, meant that such art ought to be freed of the influences of previous schools of thought
and education, embracing an abstraction from expressive narrative and turning more toward
introspection and personally defined values.
Jones and Woetzel discussed what this theory means for modern art in its transformative
years. Jones referenced the Buddhist philosophy of finding oneself and destroying it in his
discussion of originality: “[To me the] culture-at-large was so craven and mediocre that it
wouldn’t recognize originality. There’s a whole kind of embattled notion that you had to, in
order to be an artist, you had to be yourself and go someplace that is not approved by any
academy,” said Jones.
“It's not about what Bill loves,” Jones continued, in discussing his creative process as the
director of Live Arts, which presents a variety of dance in addition to performances by the
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. “It is about the idea that this should be a place, a
preserved domain, where people can do exactly what [Kirstein] said he wanted to do — give
people the means and the wherewithal to make.”
The idea that “making” should be a detachment from one’s own personal desires and ego,
and instead about the expression of what Woetzel called a “philosophy,” led the two to a
discussion of “real dancing” and “good dancing,” and how ignoring both notions can be a
key to creating art.
“A good port de bras (use of the arms in dancing) is the death of dancing. … I want to know
that you have something to say,” said Woetzel, demonstrating “correct” yet unexpressive
arm positions. He offered that nearly all art forms could benefit from the idea that expression
is more important than technique — and that such an idea is, perhaps, the reason modern
art is what it is. But, referring back to Kirstein, Woetzel stated that holding to a “non-
decrepit” philosophy of creativity, as New York City Ballet’s founder and choreographer
George Balanchine did, does not mean the art created is not revolutionary, expressive, and
timelessly modern.
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7. 11/10/14, 2:52 PMIndyFringe grows from strong roots
Page 1 of 4http://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2013/08/14/indyfringe-grows-from-strong-roots/2644163/
IndyFringe grows from strong roots
By Sarai Johnson, sarai.johnson@indystar.com 12:03 a.m. EDT August 14, 2013
IndyFringe started like most grass-roots initiatives. The people of Indianapolis and former Mayor Bart Peterson
launched a cultural tourism initiative in 2001, in response to what Indianapolis Theater Fringe Festival
Executive Director Pauline Moffat calls a “lack of artistic community.”
A series of meetings turned into IndyFringe. Community involvement, donors and marketing expertise keep
IndyFringe alive and well.
IndyFringe is one of a family of festivals that focus on “fringe theater.” There is no major mainstream presence,
and productions are often experimental. Moffat, who is Australian, experienced Fringe festivals in Melbourne
and was pleased to learn of IndyFringe in 2005, when it was still in its infancy, after acquiring a $60,000 grant
from the Central Indiana Community Foundation.
“I called and said ‘Congratulations, you couldn’t have a better place to have a Fringe.’” Moffat said. She volunteered for about six months before she was
asked to be director of the local effort. She emphasizes the importance of knowing a formula that works. The Fringe concept, which came into existence
in the 1940s in Edinburgh, Scotland, has since spread all over the world— all utilizing the same, proven formula.
“Applications are on a first-come, first-serve basis, performers receive 100 percent of the box office, and the festival is uncensored and unjuried,” said
Moffat, who with a background in public relations and marketing, took to the business side of theater with ease.
“I’d been involved all my life with promoting other people,” Moffat said. After convincing the community to “buy into the solution,” the next step was finding
funding, which over the past nine years has involved applying for grants and getting donations from individuals and other grass-roots organizations.
Then, a team of people with what Moffat calls “the vision to see it through” needed to be assembled.
The board of about eight people was “very hands on,” Moffat said. “They did everything. ... if there was a theater that wasn’t an established theater that
had to have more lighting, more equipment, then we had a board member to do that. There was a board member that did the outreach to the universities.
There was somebody who wrote grants. Everyone had an expertise.”
Prior to becoming an IndyFringe volunteer herself, Moffat earned a certificate in fundraising at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Her studies were
prompted by a curiosity as to why volunteerism is so prevalent in the United States. Fringe, as a movement, is driven by volunteers.
“We needed over 200 volunteers just the first year. ... This is very much a volunteer organization,” Moffat said.
Volunteers continue to play a key role today, working in the box offices, as house managers, street performers and some even take Fringe performers
into their homes. Kurt Fitzpatrick who has performed at IndyFringe four times, stays with a volunteer while in Indianapolis and also opens his home in
Brooklyn, N.Y., to fellow artists.
“So many people have put me up over the years and I like giving back,” said the professsional actor and writer who will self-promote his show, “Cathedral
City,” at this year’s festival.
In early years, venues were needed, so the IndyFringe board approached the Phoenix Theatre, the Athenaeum and Theatre on the Square and offered to
do soundproofing and other improvements in exchange for a partnership. Partnership and sponsorship are areas where IndyFringe and many similar
organizations struggle.
“Sponsorship is really difficult for us, and it’s something I’ve been working on for years,” Moffat said. “Because Fringe is so free in spirit, a lot of
corporations cannot justify partnering with us. But there are many who see Fringe as a refreshing way to reach a new audience.”
(Photo: Photo provided by
IndyFringe )

8. 11/10/14, 2:52 PMIndyFringe grows from strong roots
Page 2 of 4http://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2013/08/14/indyfringe-grows-from-strong-roots/2644163/
One trait of IndyFringe that Moffat believes contributes to the success of any grass-roots initiative is the presence of an attainable product. Fringe artists
do their own promotion, often on the street, which abolishes the barrier that exists between the artist and the audience in traditional, mainstream theater.
“The artists are out there hustling,” said Fitzpatrick, who has crafted his own press release and upon arriving in Indiana will be handing out his own fliers
and putting up posters. Fringe has employed several social media experts to help artists learn the art of self-promotion. ClayMabbitt, who runs a theater
marketing blog and podcast called SoldOutRun, leads workshops at IndyFringe.
“Instead of trying to reach out to everyone everywhere, reach out to the people that will love your show— your audience,” is Mabbit’s advice.
This is advice that can apply to what Fringe and its sponsors have done by acknowledging that there is a specific audience and then going after it. It’s like
guerrilla warfare, but for the arts.
Follow Star reporter Sarai Johnson on Twitter: @QueSeraSaraii
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/19oiotW
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9. 3/7/14 10:09 AMNational Geographic Channel Features Time Capsule Found at Aspen Meadows | The Aspen Institute
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ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
National Geographic Channel Features Time Capsule Found at Aspen
Meadows
Feb 25
2014
National Geographic Channel Features Time Capsule
Found at Aspen Meadows
By Sarai Johnson
Above, watch the preview for the National Geographic Channel TV show "Diggers,"
featuring the Aspen Meadows campus. The episode will air on Feb. 25th at 10pm EST.
The Aspen Institute Aspen Meadows campus is home to many a legacy, but few are buried
underground. Here's one exception: a time capsule buried in 1983, known as the "Aspen
Time Tube," was unearthed in September 2013, located by expert excavators and stars of
the hit National Geographic Channel TV show "Diggers." Harry Teague, a local architect
who was pivotal in the original burial of the Time Tube, also aided in the excavation.
The capsule later also became known as the "Steve Jobs Time Capsule" because among
other finds, it contains the mouse from Jobs' greatest commercial failures — the Apple Lisa
PC. Jobs used the Apple Lisa PC to navigate through a presentation that hinted at the future
of tablet computers at the 1983 Aspen International Design Conference, which coincided
with the burying of the Time Tube.
The capsule was unusually difficult to find due to the changing landscaping and architecture
of the Aspen Meadows and the neighboring Aspen Center for Psychics and Aspen Music
Festival and School campuses. Catch this special episode of "Diggers" Tuesday, Feb. 25th
at 10pm EST on the National Geographic Channel.
Listen to Steve Jobs speaking at the 1983 Aspen International Design Conference, below.
For more about the conference and Jobs' devotion to design, read the 2012 "Smithsonian"
magazine cover story by Aspen Institute President and CEO and Jobs' biographer Walter
Isaacson.

10. 3/7/14 10:07 AMWASH June 2013
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11. 3/7/14 10:07 AMWASH June 2013
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