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Arts organizations prepare to return from pandemic with scaled-down events

While some events have been canceled for a second year, others are adapting to welcome crowds after a year off.

INDIANAPOLIS — With more people getting vaccinated, life is starting to return to normal after a year of closures and cancellations.

Some events in Indianapolis are back on the calendar, while others have been replaced with smaller-scale events.

The Broad Ripple Art Fair, which typically draws up to 15,000 people over a two-day weekend in May, had to be canceled for the second year in a row because of COVID-19.

But this year the Indianapolis Art Center, which typically hosts the art fair, and Indy Jazz Fest are holding a new event. Called "Locally Made," it will showcase 50 Indiana artists and a host of musicians performing on two stages.

The ticketed event takes place May 15-16 and will limited to 1,500 people a day. Mark Williams, executive director of the Indianapolis Art Center, said tickets are going fast.

"I think we've all been waiting for this for a long time and having the space to spread out in the open, it's time," he said.

The art center covers 10 acres, which Williams said will easily accommodate the 1,500 attendees.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, meantime, is preparing for its first in-person performance in 13 months in mid-May, but capacity at the Hilbert Circle Theater will be limited.

An Arts Council of Indianapolis survey found that 60% of non-profit arts and culture groups in Indianapolis will be reopened (not at full capacity) by June, with that number growing to 90% in September.

Bill Simmons, artistic director for the Phoenix Theater, said they're more than ready.

"We lost 15 months of theater work," he said. 

But instead of staging shows inside, they're building a new outdoor stage in their parking lot across the street.

He said the challenge was, "How do you reopen a performing arts venue safely, so not only are audiences safe but the artists who are creating the work?"

They decided moving outdoors was the answer. They will be using retired shipping containers to house the stage, dressing rooms and a bar.

Simmons also said the outdoor stage is here to stay. While they plan to return indoors in October, the plan moving forward is to stage shows outdoors May through September. He said it provides a whole new experience for people wanting something a big different.

"Being outdoors allows us to be more things to more people," he said.

It also allows them to partner with other arts organizations in need of performance space.

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