Have fun exploring the city with Play List, Mirror Indy’s midweek arts and culture newsletter. Sign up here:

Support local news that keeps Indy informed.

GIVE NOW

Mali Bacon and Alan Bacon, co-founders of GANGGANG, speak Feb. 11, 2025, during State of the Culture, an interactive impact and programming report hosted by GANGGANG at Kan-Kan Cinema. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Guests check in for State of the Culture. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Wavy Blane performs during a section about I Made Rock ‘N Roll. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Lesley Gordon, of Black Onyx Management, attends. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

People pose after State of the Culture. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Sen. Andrea Hunley (second from left) attends. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Antonio Maxie, creator of Nap or Nothing clothing line, speaks on an “In the Mix” panel. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Artist Ess McKee attends. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

State of the Culture is an interactive impact and programming report hosted by GANGGANG on Feb. 11, 2025, at Kan-Kan Cinema. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Antonio Maxie, creator of Nap or Nothing clothing line, and Kionna Walker, CEO and founder of Next Great Architects, speak on an “In the Mix” panel. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

GANGGANG board member Deonna Craig speaks. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Mali Bacon mingles after the program. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

People hug after the program. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

DJ MetroGnome attends. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

Lesley Gordon, of Black Onyx Management, speaks. Credit: Nichelle Short for Mirror Indy

I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll festival will return in 2026

GANGGANG plans to turn the festival into something bigger than an annual event.

February 11, 2025August 26, 2025

I hope this story helped you feel more connected to our arts and culture scene. Our nonprofit newsroom runs on donations from people like you who share our passion for arts and culture and our city's innovative spirit. You help us make good on our promise to deliver stories that reflect our community.

Give $25 Give $50 Give $20/month

Community-powered journalism can't exist without you. Please support our work today.

Amanda Kingsbury
Managing Editor for Innovation, Mirror Indy

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

GANGGANG’s State of the Culture reflects on past and looks to future

by Nichelle Short, Mirror Indy
February 13, 2025

<h1>GANGGANG’s State of the Culture reflects on past and looks to future</h1>
<p class="byline">by Nichelle Short, Mirror Indy <br />February 13, 2025</p>
<br />
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS001-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45728" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mali Bacon and Alan Bacon, co-founders of GANGGANG, speak Feb. 11, 2025, during State of the Culture, an interactive impact and programming report hosted by GANGGANG at Kan-Kan Cinema.</figcaption></figure>
<div class="wp-block-columns">
<div class="wp-block-column">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS006-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45733" /></figure>
</p></div>
<div class="wp-block-column">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS002-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45729" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Guests check in for State of the Culture.</figcaption></figure>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS003-749x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45730" style="width:382px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Wavy Blane performs during a section about I Made Rock 'N Roll.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS007-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45734" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Lesley Gordon, of Black Onyx Management, attends.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS010-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45737" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People pose after State of the Culture.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS004-1024x668.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45731" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sen. Andrea Hunley (second from left) attends.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS005-711x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45732" style="width:339px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Antonio Maxie, creator of Nap or Nothing clothing line, speaks on an “In the Mix” panel.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS008-1024x666.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45735" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Artist Ess McKee attends.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS009-1024x706.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45736" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">State of the Culture is an interactive impact and programming report hosted by GANGGANG on Feb. 11, 2025, at Kan-Kan Cinema.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS011-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45738" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Antonio Maxie, creator of Nap or Nothing clothing line, and Kionna Walker, CEO and founder of Next Great Architects, speak on an “In the Mix” panel.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS012-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45739" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">GANGGANG board member Deonna Craig speaks.</figcaption></figure>
<div class="wp-block-columns">
<div class="wp-block-column">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS013-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45740" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mali Bacon mingles after the program.</figcaption></figure>
</p></div>
<div class="wp-block-column">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS014-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45741" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People hug after the program.</figcaption></figure>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS015-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45742" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">DJ MetroGnome attends.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GANGGANG-State-of-the-Culture_NS016-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45743" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Lesley Gordon, of Black Onyx Management, speaks.</figcaption></figure>
<div class="wp-block-group has-light-gray-background-color has-background" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)"> </div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/ganggang-state-of-the-culture-2025-photos/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org&quot;&gt;Mirror Indy&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-Mirror-Indy-square-logo-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=45706&amp;amp;ga4=G-X0R0QW371R&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://mirrorindy.org/ganggang-state-of-the-culture-2025-photos/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/mirrorindy.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Local news delivered straight to your inbox

Mirror Indy's free newsletters are your daily dose of community-focused news stories.

In the Mirror Daily: News you can use
Play List Weekly: Arts and culture

By clicking Sign Up, you’re confirming that you agree with our Terms of Use.

I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll festival will return in 2026
Date
February 11, 2025
Author
Mesgana Waiss
Indians partner with GANGGANG to reimagine Negro Leagues tribute
Date
February 23, 2026
Author
Indianapolis Recorder
GANGGANG co-founder resigns from Newfields board of governors
Date
December 6, 2023
Author
Indianapolis Recorder

Keep up with what's happening in Indianapolis

GANGGANG’s State of the Culture reflects on past and looks to future

Related story

I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll festival will return in 2026

Related

5 things to do at Indy’s new contemporary art museum

It’s like speed dating, but for meeting your neighbors

Meet the Democrats running for Marion County sheriff

Lawrence mayor talks public safety, city finances and health initiatives

Anticipation grows for Indy 500 as JW Marriott displays race logo

Keep up with what's happening in Indianapolis

Related story

I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll festival will return in 2026

Related

Local news delivered straight to your inbox

Related Articles