Old Northside Neighborhood of Indy to present rare tour of homes Oct. 31

Indianapolis residents, surely you've wondered at some point what the inside of those wonderfully transformed homes in the Old Northside Neighborhood of Indianapolis look like as you've driven through there the past five to seven years or so. I got a chance to see some of those on a photography project over the past few months, and at the end of this month, you will have a chance, too.

For the first time in a long while -- one resident estimated that the last tour was sometime in the 1990s -- the neighborhood is staging a one-night-only tour of eight of the beautifully restored homes and two historic icons -- the Indiana Landmarks Center and Morris-Butler House. If you're interested in taking advantage of this rare opportunity, you have to act fast; only a limited number of tickets are being made available to the public for the Candlelight Tour of Homes, and the last I heard -- which was early this week -- two-thirds of those have been sold. Tickets are priced at $45 and can be obtained only online at this link: Candlelight Home Tour tickets.

The tour will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 31 in tandem with the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual conference in Indianapolis Oct. 29 to Nov. 2. Indiana Landmarks is serving as the local host and base of operations for the conference.

Two years ago, I was a participant in the Indy Meetup Photo Club's project to photo document the Old Northside Neighborhood, which culminated in two one-day photo exhibits -- one in August at the Propylaeum, the other two months later at the Landmarks Center in conjunction with that facility's monthly participation in the First Friday Art Walk.

Old Northside officials took notice of the club's work in 2011 and contacted IMUPC early this year when they were looking for photography assistance for promotional material to be used in conjunction with this month's tour of homes.

I was among a handful of club photographers who took pictures inside and outside the homes on the tour over the course of several visits, ranging from the first in March to another as recent as last month. Selecting a single image to lead off the post was difficult; there are many that would reflect nicely on the tour homes. The one I ended up with is an interior shot of the living room at 1434 N. Park Ave. from a vantage point looking toward the kitchen, which I chose because of its bright, cheerful nature. Below are other pictures of the homes on the tour.

I was inside to photograph many of the homes; you'll be able to spot the ones I didn't get inside by the lack of interior shots below. In the case of the home at 521 E. 13th St., I was inside that home during the 2011 swing through the neighborhood, and there were some good pictures in that shoot. I was told the interior decorations are significantly different today, however, so I am not including any of the 2011 photographs in this post.

For the Landmarks Center, the former Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, I used three photos taken during that 2011 photo documentary project. One of two interior photos is of the former church sanctuary, now a large, multipurpose hall. The hall looks much the same today, other than the decorations on the stage, which were contemporary for the period when I visited in 2011. The other interior picture is of Cook Theater.

In the case of the Morris-Butler House, I also used a 2011 photograph of the exterior, my favorite from the outside shots that year. My interior photos there were superior in 2011 because this year, the home was in a state of functional and decorative transition when I had my appointment to shoot, and much of the furnishings had been removed or placed in temporary storage. The interior picture of the kitchen stove you see here, however, was taken during this year's visit.

Finally, in the case of the home at 1508 Broadway, I need to note that the interior shot of the dining room (the second of three pictures) was illuminated with an artificial light setup arranged by another photographer, not me, even though I did take that picture.

As always with pictures at any post on this blog, click on each photo to enjoy maximum size and sharpness.

1327 Broadway

 

1422 Broadway

1508 Broadway

  
1434 N. Park Ave.

 

1504 N. Park Ave.

 

1514 N. Park Ave.

 

521 E. 13th St.

630 E. 13th St.

 
1204 N. Park Ave., Morris-Butler House

1201 Central Ave., Indiana Landmarks Center

 

Indy shoot, Part I: St. Mary's church

Today's post is the first in a series of five posts related to a recent, single-day outing, one of the most prolific picture-taking days -- in sheer volume of photographs taken -- that I've ever experienced (outside of my sports shoots, that is, when the volume of pictures taken is off-the-charts high because of the frequent use of the camera's burst shutter mechanism).

As such, this begins one of those "catch-up" posts you've seen me do periodically, when so many things happen in succession or simultaneously that a backlog ensues.

On Oct. 13, I was among three members of the Indy Meetup Photo Club that made stops at three downtown-area Indianapolis Catholic churches plus the Indiana Governor's Residence and former Governor's Mansion, now a private residence at 4343 N. Meridian St. The two other members in our group got on board for the outing, organized a bit on the run, because they were still needing pictures to consider using in the club's then-upcoming "Windows, Gates, Doors: Portals to Historic Indy" photo exhibit Nov. 2 for the First Friday Art Walk at the Indiana Landmarks Center.

I had my photos for the show pretty much set to go at the time, but I wanted to go along because I found the prospect of photographing these five Indianapolis landmarks so intriguing. And to be able to able to do it in one fell swoop? Yeah, I was in.

It turned out to be a very long day for two of us (one person in the party had to leave for another commitment after the second stop). We started early -- 9 a.m., as I recall -- at St. Mary's Catholic Church at New Jersey and Vermont streets, and by the time we stopped at St. John the Evangelist, 126 W. George St.; the two mansions; and SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral at 13th and Meridian streets -- it was pushing 5 p.m. I didn't get nearly all the shots I would have wanted to explore at any of the places (surprise!), but I did get a lot. We had access indoors and outdoors at the churches; only outdoors at the mansions. And as I have been doing for all my landscape and landmark photography of late, I bracketed all my shots for possible high-dynamic range (HDR) treatment in post-processing.

And as it turned out, I did include quite a few of the photos I took that day in the Nov. 2 show. Two ended up in frames hung on the IL's 1201 Gallery wall; the others used were matted, mounted on black foam boards and displayed on easels sprinkled throughout the gallery floor, offering a slightly different access to our club's work to the more than 200 people who turned up for that day's Art Walk.

So I present this series of posts in chronological order of our visits that today, which means today's focuses on St. Mary's.

The next post will be St. John's, followed by the Governor's Residence, the former Governor's Residence and, finally, SS. Peter and Paul. Many Indianapolis residents might not even have been aware there is a former Governor's Residence in Indianapolis. I wasn't ... until Oct. 13. The properties are about three blocks apart and on opposite sides of Meridian Street: the current site at 46th Street on the west side of Meridian, the former three blocks south on the east side.

The first image below was among those I included among framed hangings at the Art Walk on Nov. 2. Those hangings and the rest of the club's "Windows, Gates, Doors" exhibit, by the way, are still viewable to the general public, but not for much longer. On or about Dec. 4, the IMUPC will take down the exhibit so Indiana Landmarks can prepare for the Dec. 7 First Friday Art Walk. Until Dec. 4, you can stop by Indiana Landmarks during regular business hours, which are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Just ask the receptionist to guide you to the 1201 Gallery to view the club's exhibit.

Next stop on the shoot: St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.

Windows, Gates, Doors: The Art Walk

"Windows, Gates, Doors: Portals to Historic Indy," the second annual Indy Meetup Photo Club project leading up to the November First Friday Art Walk show at the also-historic Indiana Landmarks Center in Indianapolis, is now history. With one exception, but I'll get to that in a bit. 

Thirteen IMUPC members polished off their 2012 effort greeting more than 200 visitors at the Art Walk on Friday. The spread of hors d'oeuvres was probably the biggest hit of the show, but, really, has there ever been any individual or event that could take first fiddle to free food? 

Six of the IMUPC members in Friday's show also had exhibited in last year's inaugural November Art Walk, also at Indiana Landmarks. That show had featured images from the club's summerlong project to photo-document the Old Northside Neighborhood of Indianapolis, an area that has gone through a remarkable revitalization in the past decade or so.

Club members participating this year, in addition to myself, were Andre Arnold, Karen DeSplinter, Connie Hamm, Tom McFarland, Mike Richart and Angela Schaller, all of Indianapolis; Rhonda Clark and Carol Thompson, McCordsville; Debbie and Hershel Saylor, Greenwood; Sarah Crail, Danville; and Phil Taylor, Plainfield. Hamm, McFarland, the Saylors, Thompson and I were returnees from last year.

The photo leading off the post is the view visitors had when they entered the building Friday: Samples, on easels, of each of the show's theme subjects -- a door, a gate and a window -- and, in the background to the left, a salute to the photo club by the host, Indiana Landmarks.

About that "exception" to the show being history ... People unable to attend the Art Walk on Friday can still see the exhibit through November at Indiana Landmarks during the center's normal business hours, which are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. If you do go, you'll have to inquire about the gallery, because it's on the bottom level of the building, and if you've never been to the center, you'll need help finding it. 

Above and next two below: Poster-sized images of photos serving as the visual start points of each of the three categories of the show -- gates (above), windows (immediately below) and doors (second below).

Above and next three below: Looks at the various displays in the gallery, beginning with the long wall of windows images above. 

Above and next five below: Some of the hors d'oeuvres, the real hit of the evening! 

Above: The jazz duo of J n J, performing for at the November Art Walk for the club for the second year in a row.

Above: Club members (from left) Andre Arnold, Mike Richart and Angela Schaller conferring shortly before the 6 p.m. start time ... and before many guests had arrived.