When Mirror Indy launched last December, I set out to find people who wanted to share what a week in their cultural lives looks like.
A year later, we shared a total of 31 culture journals from people who eat, dance, organize, love, dream, read poems and novels and make art and music in Indianapolis.
We now know that Indy Fever players volunteer their time, how the guy behind the IndyGo social media accounts comes up with his ideas, which gym a local DJ visits to find her peace, and where a poet gets her mustache waxed.
For the journals, we commissioned original artworks by collage artist Christina Hollering and from Erica Parker and Rafael Caro of Chromatic Collective, as well as other guest artists.
January
In January, playwright Lou Harry, a self-described arts jury junkie, met a stranger in a parking lot to buy a board game.
February
In February, four Indy Fever players — Aliyah Boston, Erica Wheeler, Grace Berger and Lexie Hull — took us behind the scenes of NBA All-Star weekend.
March
Just in time for spring, theater actor Bryan G. Ball journaled as he found romance while rehearsing a stage play in March.
April
Jenny Walton, Pattern Magazine’s editor, saw the April solar eclipse and shared poems to make sense of the world.
May
In May, ClusterTruck bike courier Kacee Krauter took us along for a ride as he made his deliveries around Indy.
June
Shannon Joyce, a volunteer for Indy’s Strawberry Fest, showed us what baking 15,320 strawberry shortcakes looks like in the month of June.
July
In July, musician Oreo Jones, the founder of the Chreece hip-hop festival, invited us to a hibachi party.
August
As we got ready to go back to school in August, Herron High School teacher Taylor Lewandowski, who owns Dream Palace Books, told us that he watches Japanese manga at the gym.
September
In September, film nerd and barista Coye Lloyd gave us major fomo with all the great food she ate in a week. She also watched great movies.
October
Our very own managing editor of innovation, Amanda Kingsbury, showed us how October is done. She took us to Irvington, Indy’s spookiest neighborhood, in a Culture Journal that was not for the faint of heart.
November
In November, Christian Cabrera, a housekeeper who is also probably the #1 customer at Greg’s Our Place, submitted the first-ever Spanish language Culture Journal. We translated it to English to share it with you.
December
Our December Culture Journal comes from Masha Kuznetsova, a Russian immigrant who works at the cozy Red Door Cafe on 237 N. East St.
Next year, we want to hear from you!
Mirror Indy Culture Journals are all about getting to know neighbors from all over Indy. That includes you! Take us behind the scenes of your everyday life by sharing what you’re eating, watching, doing and making.
Are you in? Send me an email to jennifer.delgadillo@mirrorindy.org introducing yourself, and I’ll walk you through how to write a culture journal.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
