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Imagine a contemporary arts center standing where Market Square Arena used to be. Imagine that the city wants to build it. Imagine irate citizens and a lawsuit to stop the project in its tracks.
Imagine a day when the arts are put on trial.
"The Arts on Trial: The People vs. The City of Indianapolis," a mock trial dealing with the role of the arts in the life of Indianapolis, will be staged Saturday, Nov. 14, from 5-6:30 p.m. in Laikin Auditorium of the Arthur M. Glick Jewish Community Center, 6701 Hoover Road, Indianapolis. The event is free and open to the public in conjunction with the "Spirit & Place" civic festival.
 Barker |
The trial is based on a hypothetical premise: With a new stadium about to open downtown, Indianapolis has decided to demolish Market Square Arena. The city then announces that it has assembled a package of public and private dollars in order to build a new major contemporary arts facility on the site of the old MSA. The city argues that this facility will become a major landmark, comparable to the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. It will project the city's commitment to the arts and culture to its citizens and to the rest of the world.
But there are citizens in Indianapolis who sue the city in order to stop the project. They object to the project for several reasons, claiming that use of public money for an arts facility is inappropriate and based on dubious economic assumptions and data; that the city's arts market is already saturated; and that the building would constitute a public nuisance.
The city finds itself in the position of having to argue for support of a major new arts facility as part of its downtown redevelopment effort.
Mock trials provide an audience with an entertaining, theatrical way to scrutinize controversial issues facing the community. Unlike debates, mock trials provide a dramatic framework in which an issue can be examined, then cross-examined and, finally, resolved by a jury -- in this case, the audience.
In addition to Barker, a team of some of the city's leading trial lawyers will contest this case. Ed DeLaney, Linda Pence, Sandra D. Leek and Robert Wagner will argue on either side of the issue. Bryan Fonseca, artistic director of the Phoenix Theatre, will consult on staging and set decoration. Local architects Eric Fulford and Ann Reed of ROAMworks, and Kevin Cooper of AXIS Architecture will design the new contemporary arts building. WFYI TelePlex will tape the proceedings for later broadcast on public radio.
For more information on Spirit & Place events, contact the Polis Center at 317-274-2455 or visit this Web site:
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