In 2021, Pam Ross (then represented the Central Indiana Community Foundation), reached out to Alan and I at GANGGANG - the Indy-based arts advocacy org we’d recently launched - and said she had an idea she could not shake. She called GANGGANG because we were the ones saying to value and name the contributions of creators accurately. I cried as she was telling us her vision. It was our work to name Black people as artists. Pam coming to GANGGANG was affirming of the mission. She told us about her vision to have a family reunion style experience that was all day and that brought Black people together in the name of Joy.

Westfield, IN (May 20, 2026) — The City of Westfield, in partnership with GANGGANG, has selected Indiana-based multidisciplinary artist Aaron S. Coleman to create a transformational public art installation that honors the city’s historical ties to the Underground Railroad and the Quaker families who helped guide enslaved individuals on their path to freedom.

I’m Lesley Gordon. Before anything else, I’m a wife, a mother, and a true Indy enthusiast. I’m someone who believes deeply in people, in neighborhoods, in culture, and in the power of storytelling to move communities forward. At my core, I’m a communicator and a community builder.

INDIANAPOLIS—April 9, 2026—Indianapolis-based cultural non-profit GANGGANG is pleased to announce the appointment of Lesley Malone Gordon as its first-ever Executive Director, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the growing organization defined by community-focused leadership and intentional growth.

The collaboration will lead to a revitalized presentation of the two historic Negro Leagues franchises that once called Indianapolis home: the Indianapolis Clowns and the Indianapolis ABCs. The centerpiece of the effort will be the team’s Negro Leagues Heritage Weekend, scheduled for Aug. 21-22 at Victory Field.

In this episode, we spotlight B Swift — born and raised on the west side of Indianapolis, a longtime radio personality on Hot 100.9, and an emcee whose voice has become synonymous with city pride as the public announcer for both the Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Fever.

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 weekend wasn’t over year 1 when people started to ask about BUTTER traveling to other cities. I remember Cora asking, “when are we taking this show on the road?” and attendees asking if Chicago would be next. That was year 1.

I chose this path knowing it would require me to endure hard seasons—not out of naïveté, but because I understood early on that meaning rarely shows up where comfort lives. There would be stretches of scarcity, long spaces between certainty and doubt, between who I was and who I was struggling to become. Seasons where belief would have to do the work money couldn’t. I accepted that early, even if I didn’t fully understand the cost.

Five years ago, before GANGGANG was known, the now-founders brought 18 artists together to create the Black Lives Matter mural on historic Indiana Avenue. To show what the new arts organization would and could do, that single moment reached hundreds of thousands of people and sparked a cultural shift in Indianapolis.

Plainfield, IN — The Town of Plainfield, in partnership with cultural arts organization GANGGANG, is proud to announce the public unveiling of We Are Interwoven, a new large-scale public artwork by multidisciplinary artist Andrea Myers. The celebration will take place on Tuesday, December 9, at 2 pm at the Council Chambers located at 206 W. Main Street, Plainfield, IN 46168.

BLACK: A Festival of Joy returns for its fourth iteration on September 13, 2025, to Taggart Memorial Amphitheater in Riverside Park, with free festivities taking place in the park from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.