Indianapolis, IN — Indianapolis-based cultural non-profit GANGGANG has been awarded a $180,000 grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a two-year humanities and cultural preservation initiative focused on Indiana Avenue, one of Indianapolis’ most historically significant Black cultural districts.
The grant, administered through fiscal sponsor Central Indiana Community Foundation, will fund the Indiana Avenue Cultural Heritage Case Study, a place-based research and storytelling project documenting the histories, cultural significance, and future possibilities of two landmark sites: the Colored Knights of Pythias Building and Crispus Attucks High School.
Once a thriving center of Black entrepreneurship, music, and civic life, Indiana Avenue was home to more Black-owned businesses than any other street in America at its height. Over time, systemic disinvestment and redevelopment erased much of that legacy from public memory. This project seeks to counter that erasure by centering history, culture, and community voice as essential infrastructure for equitable cities.
“The Mellon Foundation leads the way in valuing historic preservation,” said Mali Bacon, Co-Founder and Creative Director of GANGGANG. “This unique project offers an opportunity to narrate the status of the avenue’s development with history and culture as the storytelling anchor. We know how critical it is to remember and publish accurately, especially in creative innovation. GANGGANG is grateful for the trust and partnership to do that for Indianapolis.”
The project will result in two in-depth, publicly accessible case studies of more than 3,000 words each, combining archival research, oral histories, photography, videography, and community engagement. The case studies will be published digitally, distributed through a limited print run, and activated through public conversations and civic dialogue, offering a replicable model for culturally responsible redevelopment in cities nationwide.
“Indiana Avenue is and always will be an important piece to the fabric of Indianapolis,” said Alan Bacon, Co-Founder of GANGGANG. “The arts, the culture, the people, and the life are within us forever. We are the survivors of Indiana Avenue’s past and stewards of the future. The avenue deserves its own existence.”
Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program supports projects that use humanities-based research and storytelling to deepen public understanding of place, history, and cultural heritage. GANGGANG’s initiative aligns with this mission by positioning cultural preservation as a living practice that informs present-day planning, development, and civic identity.
Over the grant period, GANGGANG will collaborate with historians, artists, educators, institutional partners, and community members to ensure the work is both rigorous and accessible. Findings will be shared locally and nationally, reinforcing Indianapolis’ leadership in culture-centered preservation and equitable storytelling.
Project updates and published case studies will be available at www.ganggangculture.com.
About GANGGANG
GANGGANG is a creative advocacy agency that centers beauty, equity, and culture in cities by activating the creative economy. Founded in Indianapolis, GANGGANG invests in artists to inform identities, places, and cultures while advocating for cultural reparations, artist viability, and more equitable cities through research, programming, and storytelling.
Media Contact:
Allen Bell, GANGGANG, allen@ganggangculture.com