The Portfolio is one of the oldest, continuously active, social clubs in Indianapolis. It was organized in 1890 at the suggestion of Mary Steele, wife of artist T. C. Steele, with the object of bringing together the various art interests of Indianapolis and to “promote a spirit of art interest and appreciation.” The 1895/96 Red Book of Indianapolis referred to The Portfolio as “the Bohemian club of the city, and artists and musicians are the majority, with a sprinkling of newspaper people.” At a time when the city’s social clubs were mostly gender exclusive, women were admitted to The Portfolio on an equal basis with men and constituted 43% of the club’s charter membership largely because of the club’s inclusion of married couples, with at least a member of the couple “being a professional in some facet of the arts.”
Among The Portfolio are members “who are artists in colors, others who are artists in sound, and still more who are artists in words.” The club’s founders reflected this diversity of arts with Hoosier Group artists J. Otis Adams, William Forsyth, and T. C. Steele, along with artists Ada Comingore, Bessie Hendricks, Mary Y. Robinson, Julia G. Sharpe, and Harry Williamson. Illustrator Frederick A. Hetherington, sculptor John H. Mahoney, and wood engraver Charles A. Nicoli added to this collage of visual arts. Clarence Forsyth, composer, musician, and founder of the Indianapolis School of Music, and his wife Mary Forsyth, together with musician Margaret Nicholson, violoncellist Armin Recker, and violinist Richard Schliewen, and his wife Ida Schliewen, were “artists in sound” charter members, along with Joseph M. Bowles, editor of Modern Art magazine, writers and historians Jacob P. Dunn and Allan Hendricks, novelists Meredith Nicholson and Booth Tarkington, and Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley who were “artists in words.” Adding to The Portfolio’s eclectic roster were Indianapolis News editorial writers Morris Ross, and his wife Frances Ross, and Daniel L. Paine. Patron of the arts Thomas E. Hibben and his wife Janet K. Hibben were also listed in the club’s initial enrollment. Hilton U. Brown, city editor of the Indianapolis News, served as the club’s first president.
The Portfolio’s season is from October through May with a monthly supper meeting and program. The club met twice a month on Thursday evenings until the beginning of the 1991-92 year when the membership voted to meet once a month on the third Thursday. A decade later, the monthly meeting changed to the third Tuesday evening. Club rooms were initially maintained at the Indianapolis School of Music, northwest quadrant of Monument Circle at Market St., later moving to the Metropolitan School of Music, 535 N. Illinois St. After a brief stay at Tudor Hall, 1530 N. Meridian St., The Portfolio relocated its rooms to the Propylaeum, 15 E. North St. The club remained at this location until the building it was in was acquired for the construction of the World War Memorial Plaza. In 1923 the Propylaeum moved into a house at 1410 N. Delaware St. and The Portfolio followed, taking rooms in the grotto-like basement. Over the years the club rooms were furnished with tables and chairs, a kitchen where the supper committee prepared the monthly meals, storage space for the members’ diverse china dinnerware, and artwork decorating the walls. In the early ‘90s when renovations were begun at the Propylaeum, the club vacated its rooms and meetings were held at the Schnull-Rauch House, 3050 N. Meridian St. With no permanent meeting room, the move necessitated the sale of most of The Portfolio’s art collection. The new millennium found The Portfolio meeting at the Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th St., and after the club’s remaining artwork and archives were placed with the Irvington Historical Society at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center in Irvington, monthly meetings alternated between the two sites. In recent years, meetings have been held at other venues in addition to the Bona Thompson Memorial Center.
The Portfolio’s monthly programs have been outlined since 1890-91 in an annual yearbook. The pages of these booklets contain not only a roster of members, committees, and programs, but original artwork by members. Many of the yearbooks are printed on unique paper with cover art by members such as William Forsyth, T. C. Steele, Helen McKay Steele, Gaar Williams, Olive Rush, Anna Hasselman, Thomas Hibben, Blanche Stillson, Wilbur Peat, Frederick Polley, Constance Forsyth, Clifton Wheeler, Garo Antreasian, Charles Yeager, and Robert Selby. Images of The Portfolio yearbooks are available at https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collections/pc.
Over the years the monthly programs have touched on a myriad of topics with papers given by members related to the arts. While the programs are listed in the yearbooks, sadly only a handful of the papers made it into the archives. In the early years of The Portfolio, musical entertainment often with singing accompanied by piano, violin and cello concluded the evening. From time to time, skits were performed by the members and in the years before the First World War an outing was arranged to Das Deutsche Haus (The Athenaeum) in November for a bowling party. Until recent times, a Christmas party with Santa was eagerly anticipated by the children of club members. The Portfolio season concluded with a picnic.
Membership in The Portfolio is by invitation and is capped at 75 persons. In addition to the club’s monthly meetings, The Portfolio maintains an endowed scholarship presented annually to a student at the Herron School of Art and Design and another annual scholarship is awarded to a student majoring in one of the arts at an area college. The Portfolio continues to be a club of “genial spirits and practitioners of the various arts.” Additional information can be found at https://www.theportfolioclub.org.
