Discover the Artistic Side of East Central Indiana

Nathan Lambrecht

When you think of an artistic part of the country, East Central Indiana may not be your first thought. But perhaps that should change, as this region is fully embracing its artistic side. From a brand-new music center to galleries, community outreach initiatives and public art, the arts in East Central Indiana are thriving in the spotlight. 

Music Center Opening 

Slated to open in June 2024, the 1,800-seat, state-of-the-art Gas City Performing Arts Center will host concerts, comedy shows and seminars. The center aims to provide Gas City and the surrounding counties with top-tier entertainment options and further foster artistic expression. 

Gas City Mayor Bill Rock Jr. says he is looking into even more ways to inject art into the community, including adding more public art, like visually vibrant statues and murals. 

“Gas City has a lot going on,” Rock says. “There are a lot of things we are looking at to make the community have a very artsy quality of life.” 

Public Art Everywhere 

As one of the biggest cities in the region, Muncie has established itself as an artistic hub and boasts top-notch museums, traveling exhibits and cultural institutions, such as the historic Minnetrista Museum & Gardens. 

Erin Williams, executive director of the Muncie Arts & Culture Council, says the city’s long history of art appreciation dates all the way back to the 1880s when the gas boom brought industrialists and auto manufacturers to the area. An active artist community flourished during this time with music clubs, the Muncie Art Students’ League and the Muncie Art Association. 

And Muncie’s appreciation for art has only continued to grow. Like Gas City, MuncieArts is also looking to brighten its city with more public art. In recent years, MuncieArts received $500,000 in funding for its Public Arts Program. 

Dozens of murals, statues and monuments line city streets, and they can all be found online through the Muncie Public Art Inventory. 

The Muncie Arts & Culture Trail makes it easy for residents and visitors alike to explore regional works of art on foot or bike. The self-guided trail links the four cultural districts of Muncie: Downtown, Minnetrista, Ball State University and Heekin Park. 

Another unique program fueled by MuncieArts is Box! Box!, an ongoing effort for local artists to design and paint traffic signal control boxes. 

Williams believes it is the city’s strong artistic presence that has kept it resilient. 

“I think deep down the arts are what have carried the community through a number of traumatic economic events and losses of population over the years. Muncie continues to find its way forward – often led by creative and innovative people who can see the possibilities of what Muncie can become in the future,” she says. 

Quite the Performance 

From Muncie to neighboring communities, the arts are truly everywhere you go in East Central Indiana. 

“East Central Indiana ranges from larger cities saturated with business and manufacturing to communities comprised of small towns rich with agriculture. No matter where you are in East Central Indiana, you will find art even in the most rural communities,” says Arts Place CEO and Executive Director Carolyn Carducci. 

The region is full of venues where the artistically inclined can appreciate the performing arts, including the Civic Hall Performing Arts Center in Richmond. The center hosts approximately 150 programs and rehearsals each year, and it has three classrooms that Richmond Community Schools students use for band, choir and orchestra classes. 

On Ball State University’s campus in Muncie is Emens Auditorium, which seats 3,309 attendees and schedules major symphonies, Broadway productions, ballets and other forms of entertainment. Performers who have graced the Emens stage include David Letterman, Louis Armstrong, Adam Sandler, B.B. King and The Temptations. 

On Indiana Wesleyan University’s campus in Marion is the Phillippe Performing Arts Center, whose centerpiece attraction is the Phillippe Auditorium that seats 1,100 for major performances. The center also has a 170-seat Baker Recital Hall for musical acts as well as an RCA Black Box Theatre and a Chapel Auditorium. 

Another top venue in the region is Muncie Civic Theatre, which is housed in a beautiful, 19th-century building. 

Bridges for All Creatives 

With a location in both Portland and Hartford City, the nonprofit Arts Place aims to provide access to art for all. Thanks to grants and donations, it can offer a variety of affordable and even free programs. 

“Affordability, coupled with a variety of programming for all ages, guarantees that anyone who wishes to take part in activities at Arts Place can,” Carducci says. 

Cornerstone Center for the Arts in Muncie and Art Association of Henry County are also championing bringing art to the community. Both organizations boast galleries, educational programming and community events. And, since 1996, the Community School of the Arts has offered more than 100 classes in theater, dance and music from its location on the Marion Courthouse Square, along with occasional Broadway productions. 

It’s clear that East Central Indiana is passionate about its arts community, which represents a growing group of people who will always be thinking of new ways to add color, character and creative collaboration to the place. 

Q&A With a Local Comic Book Author

Muncie-based comic book author Dr. Christy Blanch has made comics her full-time job. Not only does she churn out comics such as The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood, Tales from the Crypt and Good Boy, but she also owns the premier comic shop in town, Aw Yeah Comics. 

Read on to get a peek behind the curtain into the life of a comic book author in a city with a fast-growing comic scene. 

How did you get started writing comics? 
I always wrote when I was small, but I only got into it again when I was writing for my dissertation. I was looking into a lot of comic books, and I was reading critiques and didn’t agree with a lot of the things that were being said about the comics. I said, well, I really don’t know. I haven’t created one. So I decided I should write one.

My friend, Chris, and I had just finished our prison program, where we were teaching, and decided we would put some of those ideas on paper. I ended up with The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood and found out that I really enjoyed it, and now, I do it as much as I can. 

How has your career taken off since then? 
It’s crazy. I still have the comic book store that I own, and I love interacting with the community and educating – it’s where my first love is. 

I didn’t think that the Charlie Wormwood thing would lead to anything; it was still just kind of an experiment, then I started getting invitations to conventions, and I went to several and signed. I had written some issues of Tales from the Crypt and some Monster Dojo by then, and I met Garrett Gunn who I co-write with. We started Good Boy, and it took off, so we are still writing that and are in volume 4 now. I have also written Mysterium, based on the best-selling board game. 

It just keeps going. I’m working on several projects now. I also like to edit because I think it’s fun to take somebody’s idea and help them shape it. It has just kind of taken this strange trajectory where I have a wall of books that I have written, and it still doesn’t feel real sometimes. 

What is surprising about the local comic book community? 
I think people would be surprised at the breadth. We have 2-year-olds to 80-year-olds who come in and all genders. There is a comic for everyone, and I don’t think people realize that. The comic book community here is growing. Every day we are open, we almost always get someone new in. We also put on a comic convention here, and the first year we had 1,000 people show up. 

– Kevin Litwin contributed to this article.