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| Field of hay bales in Vermillion County. Photo by Erin Roth. |
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Indiana is home to over six million people. Most of them (87.5 percent) are European American. More than two-thirds (4.3 million) live in urban areas. Stereotypically, Indiana is characterized as a homogenous, bland slice of rural America, yet our research on traditional arts and our contact with traditional artists in Indiana suggest otherwise.
Indiana is culturally varied, rich, and vibrant. While historically the state's ethnic diversity has been concentrated in its largest urban areas (the Calumet Region, South Bend, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, the outskirts of Louisville, Evansville, Terre Haute, and Lafayette), an increasing Latino migration is fast changing and affecting all of Indiana. Latinos are bringing cultural traditions and knowledge with them, passing them on to their own families but also to many "Hoosiers" statewide.
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| King Dushan, a Serbian historical figure and many others on the walls and ceilings of St. George's Serbian Orthodox church in Schererville, Indiana, painted by Milan Milinkovic, a master iconographer. Photo by Inta Carpenter. |
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What matters to Hoosiers?
"Indiana -- where basketball is a religion, and pie is one of the four
food groups!" quips Dorothy Ilgen (director of the Indiana Arts
Commission). While that's certainly true, there's much more. Within the
political boundaries that arbitrarily define Indiana, we have heard the
sonorous sounds of Lady Sax from the heart of Gary and marveled at the
meticulous weaving of a chair caner from Tell City along the bluffs of the
Ohio River. We have had our bodies adorned with the mendhi artistry of
Shital Parmar and tried our own hand at Japanese origami. We've watched a
Serbian iconographer at work and tasted the ribs of countless backyard
barbeque masters. We've tapped our feet at bluegrass gatherings and
sampled pan de los muertos at a Day of the Dead Celebration in Indianapolis.
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| Day of the Dead celebration in Indianapolis. Photo by Erin Roth. |
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Inhabitants of northern, southern, and central Indiana have cultivated distinct artistic traditions, heavily influenced by geography, occupation, and settlement patterns. As a partner of the Indiana
Arts Commission, TAI has surveyed Indiana's diverse regions according to
the twelve administrative regions that organize and promote local artistic
activities. If you browse this map, you will find a sampling of the
broader region's traditional arts and follow TAI's activities in local
communities. Click on the northern, central or southern region of the map for more information.
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