The colorful and playful murals have popped up on buildings all over downtown Franklin, featuring whimsical kites, laid-back sloths and effervescent bubbles.
A serene art garden with sculpture and natural features offers an oasis for people passing by. One-of-a-kind historic structures have been restored into the architectural works of art they originally were.
For years, Franklin leaders have focused on making the city an artistic destination. But this weekend, all of the efforts will come together in one celebration of creativity.
Downtown Franklin will be awash in art this weekend with a brand new festival. The Ethos Celebration of the Arts will feature a professional juried art show, mural painting, music, an artisan fair and much, much more. A colorful 5K run, battle royale among artists and a film festival of classic Japanese movies are all part of the inaugural event.
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Organizers hope to not only showcase the amazing art that is already being done in the city, but to incorporate all of Franklin’s downtown assets into a single event.
“One thing we wanted people to see is that art is paintings and drawings, but art is also music and designs and cookie decorating. We wanted people to show what their kind of art is,” said Emily Snyder, executive director of Discover Downtown Franklin.
The idea behind the art event has been percolating among city leaders for more than a year. Officials are working to have the city designated as a state-recognized art district, in the same vein as Bloomington, Columbus and Carmel.
In the meantime, Discover Downtown Franklin proposed a festival to solidify and strengthen support for the arts. The organization applied for a grant from the Franklin Economic Development Commission for $23,022 to help pay for costs such as prizes for artists, hiring of professional judges, lining up entertainment and advertising costs.
The Johnson County Community Foundation and Festival Country Indiana, the county’s tourism bureau, also provided grants to assist in the project.
Planning has been ongoing, and the festival has gained an enormous amount of support from local businesses, government, arts organizations and individual supporters, Snyder said.
“The question was how can we have a festival, but make it a little bit different than all of the other festivals in Franklin, and attract a lot of new people to town while still incorporating people have been participating in our existing events,” she said. “We just fell in love with bringing an art festival to downtown Franklin, and ran with it.”
What has coalesced is an ambitious undertaking that will span much of downtown Franklin and include all different kinds of artwork.
The centerpiece of the event will be the juried art fair, featuring about 25 artists showcasing everything from painting to 3-D art to woodworking. Participants include not only local and Indiana artists, but people coming from as far as New York, Nebraska and Arkansas.
Those artists will have booths set up along North Main Street, where they will compete for awards in individual media categories as well as best of show.
“It’s been really amazing to me that we have a lot of local artists, as well as people from outside our county and state who want to see what’s happening in downtown Franklin,” Snyder said.
But while participants in the juried art fair were required to go through a rigorous application and scoring process to be accepted, a variety of other displays will allow artists of any skill level to show off their work.
The annual Ethos Art Show, a longtime community art event held in Franklin, has been absorbed into the larger festival. People can enter as many as three works of art to be displayed, with a pair of awards going to the most popular pieces. The Vintage Artisan Fest is open to anyone making craft, antique, vintage, artisan or handmade items.
“We want anyone to feel comfortable doing that aspect. We added this piece for people who didn’t want to do the juried fair; this gives everybody an opportunity,” Snyder said.
Surrounding these central art displays are a wide variety of artistic activities. The entire event actually starts on Friday night with the first-ever Franklin Canvas Clash.
Artists have been invited to make a painting on the spot, with 20 minutes to create their best work. For a $15 admission, people can come to 10 Pins and watch art happen in real time. Tickets also include one drink.
“The artists are going to paint for 20 minutes, and the idea is to paint a complete painting that’s also going to please the crowd. At the end of the round, the crowd will vote on their favorite,” said Gordon Strain, founder of the Franklin Department of Public Art and organizer of the event. “We’re not expecting masterpieces; we’re expecting people to play to the crowd and get some laughs, have some fun with it.”
But Saturday is where the energy really ramps up. The Franklin Chamber of Commerce has planned the Color Bask 5K, a family-friendly fundraising run through downtown Franklin.
Music by groups such as the Quarryland Men’s Chorus, the Carol Dennis Trio, Crossroads Brass Band and the Indianapolis Wind Symphony will offer an intriguing look at the versatility of different styles of music. Artist Greg Potter will be painting a mural in the alleyway between Water and East Court streets, continuing the downtown beautification projects that have popped up on buildings elsewhere in Franklin.
One of the most unique activities will be a special film festival at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. Starting on Friday and continuing Saturday afternoon, the theater plans to screen three of the most beloved Japanese movies of all time: “Seven Samurai,” “Spirited Away” and “Akira.”
Ethos organizers came to the Artcraft asking if they’d feature a special activity for the festival, and a film series bringing three integral pieces of Japanese cinema seemed fitting.
“We have a sister city in Japan, and we love these Japanese movies that we’ve never show before — what if we did something related to that?”
“All of our films are art, but we wanted something pushing the boundaries of what we’ve shown at the Artcraft before,” said George Chimples, administrator for Franklin Heritage, which operates the Artcraft. “We don’t show a lot of foreign movies, and these are a little different from our normal presentations.”
All three films will be shown in 35-millimeter film, truly capturing the intricacies of the filmmaking. In order to get a copy of “Akira” to use, Artcraft organizers had to work with the UCLA Film & Television Archives, the second-largest movie archive in the U.S.
“The process started in January, and it might have been March or mid-April before they told us we could borrow their print,” said Dave Windisch, marketing manager for Franklin Heritage. “It’s a pretty big deal for use to have earned a reputation for taking care of films so well that they’d loan us something.”
In addition to the different facets of the festival, local businesses are adding their own flavor to the event. More than 20 area businesses will have their own activities for people, from bouquet making at JP Parker Flowers to quilting at Wild Geese Bookstore to book binding at Middle David’s Candles to cookie decorating at DJ’s Sweet Retreat.
Live music is scheduled at most of the businesses as well.
“It’s amazing what our community does in Franklin. I just started talking to business owners about having them participating in the event; some events that we have don’t get people into their businesses, and we really want to focus on them,” Snyder said. “It was amazing the positive feedback and how much people wanted to participate.”
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Ethos Celebration of the Arts
Where: Downtown Franklin
Schedule
Friday
7 p.m.: Canvas Clash, 10 Pins Franklin
7:30 p.m.: "Seven Samurai," Artcraft Theatre
Saturday
8 a.m. to noon: Franklin Farmers Market
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Vintage Artisan Fair
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Color Bask 5K, Province Park
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Community Art Show, Johnson County Museum of History
10 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Luke Buck art show, Generation Art & Frame
10 a.m. to 8 p.m.: Art demonstrations, live entertainment at downtown businesses
11 a.m. to 9 p.m.: Food vendors serving, beer and wine garden open
Noon to 1 p.m.: Quarryland Men’s Chorus, music stage
Noon to 7:30 p.m.: Juried art fair
1:30 to 2:30 p.m.: Carol Dennis Trio, music stage
2 p.m.: Ribbon cutting at Artcraft Alley; "Spirited Away," Artcraft Theatre
3 to 4 p.m.: Sounds of Dreams, music stage
5 to 6 p.m.: Crossroads Brass Band, music stage
7 to 8:30 p.m.: Indianapolis Wind Symphony, music stage
7:30 p.m.: "Akira," Artcraft Theatre
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In addition to the artist and artisan fairs at the Ethos Celebration of the Arts, downtown Franklin businesses will also be featuring special events at their locations all day long. Here’s a rundown of what will be featured:
Artcraft Theatre Cottage, 49 E. Madison St.: Photography by Bobbi Whittemore, hosted by the Creative Council of Franklin
ByTavi, 51 W. Monroe St.: Coloring pages made by the store’s designers’ sketches
DJ’s Sweet Retreat, 49 N. Main St.: Cookie decorating activities
The Elevator, 26 E. Jefferson St.: Painting with John Strickland, hosted by the Creative Council of Franklin
Generation Art and Frame, 43 N. Main St.: Luke Buck art show, plus art from more than 30 local artists
The Grill Bar, 138 E. Jefferson St.: Live music from ClickBait, 8-11 p.m.
Franklin Farmers Market, Jackson and Jefferson streets: Painted rocks activity; Luann Lietz painting farmers market electrical box
JP Parker Flowers, 377 E. Jefferson St.: Bouquet making outside
Main & Madison Market Cafe, 100 N. Main St.: Live music throughout the day
Middle David’s Candles, 100 S. Jackson St.: 11 a.m., book-binding by Michele Pollock of Lost Lake Studio; 1 p.m., live music by the Blue Rose Ensemble
The Mint, 40 N. Water St.: 11:30 a.m., unveiling a new mural, meet and greet with artist Michelle Tackit
Peace Through Yoga, 229 S. Main St.: 1 to 5 p.m., watch artist Valerie Bielski paint and hear what inspires her work
Possibilities: Home Re-Imagined 110 W. Jefferson St.: 10 a.m.: prepping furniture for paint; noon, transforming furniture with chalk paint; 2 p.m., painting fabric with chalk paint; 4 p.m., blending chalk paint colors
Richard’s Brick Oven Pizza, 229 S. Main St.: 4 to 7 p.m., live music by Sedona Station
The Rue Morgue Tattoo Gallery, 198 W. Jefferson St.: Art show in shop
Salvage Sisters, 398 E. Jefferson St.: Live music through out the day
Tabernacle Christian Church, 198 N. Water St.: 2 to 4 p.m., church tour, biblical storytellers, organ recitals, painting and quilt displays, and more.
Toodleydoo Toys, 1 W. Jefferson St.: 10 a.m., storytime and canvas; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., art for everyone, free art projects; 2:30 p.m., beyond-the-dot art for elementary age children (pre-register and fee required)
Wild Geese Bookstore, 107 S. Water St.: Quilt-making with Erin Davis
The Willard, 99 N. Main St.: 8 to 11 p.m., live music from FroNoFro
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