INDIANAPOLIS – Artists on the southside of Indianapolis will soon transform a spot along Bean Creek if their crowdfunding campaign reaches its goal of raising $50,000 by Jan. 13, 2024. If successful, the project led by Big Car Collaborative will receive a matching grant as part of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s (IHCDA) CreatINg Places program.
Funds from this campaign will be used for a new landscape design and horticulture restoration along Bean Creek and on the Tube Factory campus for the benefit of the natural ecosystem there and for human visitors, creating more space to gather.
Artists at Big Car will team up with experts in landscape design and horticulture to restore the area on the Tube Factory campus, 1125 Cruft St. on the southeast side, for the benefit of the natural ecosystem there and for human visitors. Plans include:
• Remove a section of asphalt currently located near Bean Cree to create an outdoor classroom and gathering area.
• Add a path near the creek and stones as steps down that will allow visitors better access to this year-round waterway enjoyed by fish, water birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals like muskrats and mink.
• Continue to work with experts to remove invasive plants in the area near the creek, replacing these with native plantings.
• Clean up any trash and junk in the section of Bean Creek that borders the Tube Factory campus.
• Bring special small events to the space on First Fridays.
• Collaborate with other neighborhood organizations (Bean Creek and Garfield Park) and cultural partners on social and arts-focused gatherings as well as with Reconnecting to Our Waterways.
Visit the Web site patronicity.com/project/water-world-a-creekside-social-and-educational-space#1/ for more information and to donate.