Request For Sponsorship Of Indiana Landmarks Juneteenth Black Heritage Concert

Right now, a historic Black heritage site is being destroyed. A theater. Your grade school, perhaps. Or a corner store, or that house of worship. Smashed to pieces and lost forever to all who cherished it as a landmark both physical and emotional.

Its destroyers will claim the building was empty. But it was full. Packed with stories. Crowded with meaning, history and heritage. And brimming with potential for reuse.

Since 1992, Indiana Landmarks has worked to save or restore sites of historical Black significance throughout the state. The program received additional support last year when the Lilly Endowment funded it to assure its survival into the future. The funding allows the Black Heritage Preservation Program to provide:

• More than $200,000 in grants statewide each year to restore or preserve sites with significant Black heritage. These grants also support research and documentation necessary for listing on the National Register for Historic Places.
• Two paid internships and a $20,000 scholarship annually.

While the program is only six months old, it has provided financial support of more than $107,000 in grants and professional support in assisting and forming preservation organizations.

Additional funding will allow the Black Heritage Preservation Program to support more efforts to preserve Black heritage sites.

Our first fundraiser will be held on June 19, 2023. It will be a celebration in observance of Juneteenth, recognized nationally as Emancipation Day, ending slavery. The concert will be held at Indiana Landmarks Center and performers are Men in the Fire, a contemporary gospel group; Downstroke Band, an R&B group that performs oldies; and Act a Foo comedians. Throughout the event, the audience will receive Black history facts many won’t know.

Tickets are $25 general admission and $50 VIP (Indiana Landmarks member tickets are $20 and $40). VIP tickets include a private reception and showing of the Black artist exhibit WeAreIndyArts Collective. WeAreIndyArtists will be there to greet guests.