On today’s show I sat down with Joanna Taft, executive director of the Harrison Center for the Arts and founder of Herron High School.
Taft describes turning a nearly vacant 65,000-square-foot historic church building into a thriving arts hub supporting 400+ artists and eight rotating galleries.
She shares how early First Friday openings grew from 100 to 1,000 attendees by leveraging “mavens,” then how artists leaving led to her launching Herron High School in 2006, beginning with 99 students in the Harrison Center basement – built out by mostly female rocket scientist volunteers – and later expanding to additional campuses, including Riverside.
She discusses criticism around gentrification, learning about cultural gentrification, and creating “preenactments,” Greatriarch portraits, and the Polklore Micro-Museum’s artifact-based augmented-reality storytelling to preserve neighborhood histories while building inclusive, thriving communities.
If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast.
You are going to learn about:
The Harrison Center for the Arts
Founding and Expansion of Herron High School
The Polklore Micro-Museum
Thank you to our partners:
Check out these great clips from the show:
01:40 Guest Introduction: Joanna Taft, Harrison Center for the Arts
02:37 Finding The Harrison Center
05:31 Church History And Legacy
07:26 From DC To Arts Catalyst
08:49 First Artists And First Friday
15:27 Growing Crowds With Mavens
18:34 Artists Leaving Sparks A School
21:24 Pitching Herron High School
24:34 RFP Strategy And Recession Win
27:25 Fear Grit And Opening Day
32:05 Recruiting 99 Diverse Students
37:24 Balancing Two Full Time Jobs
38:36 Expanding To Riverside Campus
41:49 Grit Makes Deals Happen
43:05 Making Government Work
43:50 Growing the School Network
44:39 Mascots With Mythology
45:46 Gentrification Pushback
47:10 Building a Vacant Building
48:55 Cultural Gentrification Insight
50:23 Preenactment Vision
52:39 Walking Through Preenactment
55:34 Real World Impact Stories
58:12 Polk Stables Origin Story
01:00:18 Great Triarchs Explained
01:03:01 Polklore Micro-Museum AR
01:05:58 Indiana Rapid Fire
01:11:12 Community Building Advice
