Art And Culture Experiences Celebrate College Basketball In Indy

Nearly 600 artists, musicians, dancers and other creative professionals have turned downtown Indianapolis into a sidewalk art gallery and cultural festival.

The Swish Arts Festival kicked off over the weekend to coincide with the influx of visitors attending the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

The initiative also employed central Indiana artists who lost significant income during the pandemic due event cancellations and venue closures.

Artist Joy Hernandez created a basketball-themed court mural called “Shoot for the Stars” that can be found across from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

She said the festival highlights the entire Indy Arts community.

“This is following in that tradition of, ‘Hey, we have a big sporting event but let’s pull in the rest of the city and see what we’ve got to show and by the way look at this awesome arts community that we have,’” Hernandez said.

The initiative is hosted by the Arts Council of Indianapolis.