Jonathan Berger: Our Van Gogh painting, we can identify the canvas that that was cut from as the same canvas Starry night was painted on.
Nate Spangle: When you hear about the story. Yeah. And like all the effort, big man. That took a lot of effort. Yeah. Like good for them. That
Jonathan Berger: love sculpture is the original and it is celebrating 50 years, uh, this year.
Nate Spangle: Are there currently artists mm-hmm. That are currently making masterpieces like the artists that you know? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between. This is Get IN the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation.
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That's rare and it's worth seeing in person. Schedule a tour@aberdeenliving.com. My guest today is Jonathan Berger, and he's an award-winning leader and the Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs at Newfields, A 152 acre. Cultural campus. That includes the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Lilly House, and so much more.
He's an Indiana native and a University of St. Francis graduate up in Fort Wayne. Jonathan oversees major campaigns and special programs like THE LUME Indianapolis and Harvest Nights. With decades of experience across design, marketing, and brand management, he helped shape the experience that connect people to art and nature in Indianapolis.
I'm really excited. Today's gonna be fun. We're gonna learn so much about art culture events, cool things happening right in the heart of our city. Jonathan, welcome to the show.
Jonathan Berger: Oh, thanks for having me.
Nate Spangle: We're just gonna get it out of the way. All right, because we talked about this beforehand. What is Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: Well, Newfields, uh, you know, like you mentioned, is the cultural campus that is home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Garden, uh, and also the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, which is a hundred acres beautiful, uh, you know, lush greenery and sculptures
Nate Spangle: for our Facebook listeners. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. They might have, they might have been here but not known. They're at Newfields. A lot of people have referred to it for a long time as the IMA.
Jonathan Berger: Absolutely. And so what we did, probably about, gosh, it's almost 10 years ago, we did a segmentation survey, uh, as many companies do to find out who's coming, who's not coming, and, you know, and how we can attract more people.
And, uh, and it was a, a blind study. Uh, so nobody knew that they, uh, you know, were answering questions for, for Newfields. And, you know, we found that a lot of people wanted to come and enjoy nature and enjoy art, but maybe they felt museums were, the word museum was a little stuffy. And so. Looking at our own campus history, uh, the, the plot of land that we're on is called Oldfields.
And, uh, while J.K. Lilly was living there with his family, they built a house kind of in a, in, uh, in a corner for the next generation. And they named that house. Newfields. And so tapping into our own history, we decided to name the campus Newfields, because we're so much more than an art museum. Newfields then becomes the campus that houses all of these things.
Think of it like a, a university like Butler University, that's the campus name. But then you still have the individual buildings that that make up. You still wanna go to the field house? The field house is there.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. Wow. Now that we're only like two minutes in and that's knowledge of old fields to do.
Yeah. That wasn't just like, they sat in a boardroom and were like, okay, let's think of creative names. Yeah. To inspire people to show up. It was like, no, we had old fields, Newfields with the thing like, let's call the whole thing new field. That's awesome. Yeah. A
Jonathan Berger: lot of the things that we do are steeped in our, our own history.
Um, uh, the Interurban railway tra cuts through our campus and um, you know, we can talk about that a little bit later with Harvest Nights. Uh, uh, I did something called the Ghost Train that cuts right through where those, uh, that rail was.
Nate Spangle: Okay. Wait. So as the vice president of. Marketing and external affairs.
That seems pretty fun to get to, like Yeah. Come up with all these projects. Yeah, I do want to. Okay. Mm-hmm. So now we know Newfields is the campus. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And they're what, what are like the main couple, uh, do you call 'em attractions?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, sure. I, I, you know, the Indianapolis Museum, museum of Art, you know, 140 plus years.
And, uh, and then the garden that sits on it, it's an olmstead designed garden. Uh, Lilly House sits on, on that. Uh, that campus, uh, you know, there's this beautiful garden, uh, and then we have a hundred acres of Virginia B. Fairbanks, art and Nature Park, where you can go iconic, Funky Bones. Uh, and we're, we're always changing, uh, uh,
Nate Spangle: that little, and there's a little like pond out there.
Oh,
Jonathan Berger: yeah. Lake on the lake. Yeah. Yeah,
Nate Spangle: yeah, yeah. And that
Jonathan Berger: was a,
Nate Spangle: that was, I ran that trail. Yeah, that's a, that's a good little, if you take the tow path down there mm-hmm. And you zip out there and go a little, you know, loopty loop around the lake pretty good.
Jonathan Berger: Oh yeah. Absolutely. It's beautiful. It's beautiful out there.
Nate Spangle: Okay, so now I want know, we're gonna dive into history a little bit. Okay. So we have an idea of what Newfields is today. Mm-hmm.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: But where did this all get started? And the Lilly families involved, and this is pretty crazy.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm. So it goes all the way back to the, you know, the 1880s with the, uh, with the Herron School of Art.
Really? And, and so that's where our roots, uh, that's where our roots are. And I think, um, gosh, you know, I'm not quite familiar on the dates, but we ended up little
Nate Spangle: ballparking.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Um, so it was the, um, uh, the Indianapolis Institute, uh, of art, uh, or the Association of Art.
Nate Spangle: Okay.
Jonathan Berger: Um, and then it, you know, it was, it was kind of outgrowing its space.
And so in the 1960s, we were really looking at. You know what, where do we go?
Nate Spangle: Oh, was it downtown?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. And, uh, so we moved from downtown to where we, where we currently are, and it was a gift from, uh, J.K. Lilly and the entire house, the contents of the house. So it, the, the house is a museum within a museum then, um, and so that's when we, we built there.
Nate Spangle: Wow. I like have the little, like, timeline. So the Lilly family donated their historic estate mm-hmm. In 1969.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Wow.
Jonathan Berger: So it's really not that old when you think about it.
Nate Spangle: No. Well, but the property is old.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Whoa.
Jonathan Berger: Old fields.
Nate Spangle: Old fields. There we go. Wow. Okay. So then you guys move over there. Mm-hmm.
The, and then at that point, was it the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1969?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, yes, I believe it was. Yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Wow.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah,
Nate Spangle: I would just like, I would love to see what. The property looked like, like at the peak of like the Sure. Yeah. The Holy Family running around there. That would look so cool.
Jonathan Berger: Oh, you know, it's amazing.
You know, they've got a, uh, it's where a current beer garden is, uh, called Garden Terrace, and that was their playhouse. So, you know, you couldn't, you know, you couldn't play play cards, uh, and Euchre, uh. You'd go out to the playhouse and add a pool, and it had an indoor pool. Uh, and so we've made that into a kitchen and kind of a meeting facility.
And that's our, that's our beer garden. So you can go out to the, the original Lilly Playhouse and sit and have a beer where the pool was.
Nate Spangle: There you go. Yeah. Yeah. You know that, that's awesome. I love, and then I'm, again, as a history guy, I've toured, I was out for an event.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: Lilly House was open and I walked and they had like the old cars in the garage.
Jonathan Berger: Oh yeah. That's on the loan from our friends at the, uh, the IMS museum.
Nate Spangle: That's awesome.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. We also have a car up outside our de design gallery. Um,
Nate Spangle: oh.
Jonathan Berger: So, you know, it's, uh, you know, as a, a, a cultural, uh, centerpiece, you know, we work with our, with our colleagues, uh,
Nate Spangle: yeah. Which is, I do think that is cool to Indiana.
Mm-hmm. Or especially Indianapolis. A lot of the, like, you know, the Children's Museum mm-hmm. Will get something from the Speedway and then give that to the Pacers. Mm-hmm. And everyone just kind of works together to, uh, collaborate, which is
Jonathan Berger: fun. Yeah. We're doing something with the Children's Museum. Uh, I think that's coming up.
We have a piece of equipment. I think they're gonna use it with maybe some of the, you know, the bin dinosaur bones or fossils that they have this equipment that we have, so that we're gonna partner with them.
Nate Spangle: That's fun. Um, okay. Talk to me about the evolution of mm-hmm. The Indianapolis Museum of Art to Newfields.
Mm-hmm. Like, what did it look like? Felix, obviously see from pictures and stories, you know, of how a museum turns to be more modern mm-hmm. And attract more people to come through the door.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's part, part of that evolution. I mean, if you look at some of the larger museums in the nation, by the way, we are one of the top 10, oldest and largest museums in the nation.
Our, our footprint right now is 669,000 square feet, holy on, on 152 acres. And that makes us very unique, uh, in the United States to have all of this space. Um, so if you look at, you know, if you look at the med, if you look at other museums, you, you know, they're, where they are is a t attraction in and of itself.
And so here we have this very iconic museum with a collection, uh, you know, second to none. Um, and, you know, we're more than just a museum and so. You know, really building that out and looking to, okay, how do we, how do we build attendance and revenue?
Nate Spangle: Because that is the other thing, even with the Children's Museum, it's like you're not getting a ton of like, foot traffic off the street.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: You're like, you have to create a
Jonathan Berger: Exactly
Nate Spangle: a day mm-hmm. Where you plan to travel. Mm-hmm. Over there. Mm-hmm.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And maybe that's why, you know, me and my position, you know, I have the, I have the luxury of, of building out some of these events to attract people and, and, and, you know, and build attendance.
I, I look at, at Newfields, not so much as a institution, but an invitation, and it's a way that we can invite people to come and enjoy art, to enjoy, uh, you know, culture and nature. Um, because sometimes people are curious about art, but a little intimidated about going into it. Museum Oh my gosh. Not knowing what they're looking at and
Nate Spangle: how they're supposed to feel.
How do you even, like, how do you even correctly appreciate art?
Jonathan Berger: Well, you
Nate Spangle: know, I'm always worried about looking at something and being like. Oh, that's cool. And they're like, cool. This is my life's work. Yeah, yeah. You know, and I'm like, a apologies.
Jonathan Berger: No, I think that I, you know, I, you know, the, the things that I like to do and the stories that I tell are, you know, to demystify that a little bit.
And I think a good example of that is the, our fully immersive experience on the fourth floor are THE LUME. And the first year that we did that with Van Gogh, um, so you're, you know, you're still kind of COVID, uh, when we opened that, but people came in and it's our entire fourth floor. Um, and so it's more than 30,000 square feet, and that's just the floor space.
So you had projection on the floor and the walls all throughout. There's a cafe inside. And so, you know, you know, not to be the, you know, the PT Barnum of the museum world, but, you know, we're inviting people up and, and dazzling with the magnitude of art. You're standing in a Van Gogh painting as it's being painted around you and, and just coming to life.
Uh, you know, crows are flying and, and then as, and, and it makes a, it makes kind of a full circle. And in the final gallery, uh, you're kind of dumped off into a traditional gallery space. And so suddenly you're looking at art like, you know, somebody that's lived with art all their lives. And, uh, you know, from that digital experience you get back there.
And, uh, in that gallery we had, we had our own Van Gogh. We had, uh, Cezanne and Gauguin all side by side, all painted, you know, roughly at the same timeframe, like a
Nate Spangle: real one.
Jonathan Berger: Oh, they're all real. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nate Spangle: Whoa.
Jonathan Berger: Um, from our collection, we have over 42,000 works in our permanent collection. Only a fraction of those are on display.
Nate Spangle: Okay.
Jonathan Berger: And so, so when you get back in that gallery, you're, you're looking at that Van Gogh now with a deeper understanding of art. And I've never seen more people elbowing their way up to get a selfie with our Van Gogh. Uh, and it, and it was just great to see. And we did that again with, uh, with Monet and, uh, Salvador Dali.
And currently we're exploring, uh, you know, indigenous Peoples of Australia. And there are, and these are all contemporary artists. 110, 111.
Nate Spangle: Whoa.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: I feel like the, yeah, once you, 'cause I love to hear the, this could be from any art, whether it's painting or sculpting or even like, you know, people that are like creators.
Mm-hmm. Whatever you're making when you hear about the story and like all the effort that it took in. Uh, and now that its like we spend a decent amount of time on our videos or about, and it's like, I can look at a piece or like look at a, like someone's work, be like, man, that took a lot of effort. Yeah.
Like, good for them. And, and I find that appreciation. Mm-hmm. So then when you get to see all of that about, you know, the effort that goes into creating these masterpieces. That's wild. Okay. So I asked the same question. Mm-hmm. And we kind of dove into it when I had. Um, Dr. Robert Schumacher mm-hmm. From the zoo on Yeah.
About how they get animals for the zoo. Mm-hmm. And, you know, look, I didn't realize you weren't allowed to buy animals. Mm-hmm. Like, I thought they bought all their animals, but it's like, no, because that is Yeah. You know, poor for the animal trade. Mm-hmm. How does Newfields get new paintings and works of art?
Jonathan Berger: Oh, a couple of ways. We buy 'em.
Nate Spangle: Yeah.
Jonathan Berger: Uh, and, uh, uh, like, we'll go down to Art Basel, uh, in Florida.
Nate Spangle: Oh, tough work trip.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Take
Nate Spangle: that Miami
Jonathan Berger: and we'll go down and, and. I don't think we bought anything this year, but we kinda look at new contemporary art and, and we'll buy it. There's also art that's donated then.
Nate Spangle: Like, is that like a, you know, you're, you're doing your 2026 plan. You're like, you know what, we're gonna throw in $500,000 for the Art Basel budget. Like, see if we find anything good. And then who's the deci the decision maker of like, is that good? And you have to like, call back and be like, I'm really feeling something.
Like, how does that process work?
Jonathan Berger: Um, so, uh, our director of the IMA, uh, and our CEO went down and, and the board chair and so, you know, just kinda walked around and talked about what they liked and what they didn't like. And, uh, so yeah, it's kind of a collective decision, but it's usually set by the director of the director of the Okay.
Nate Spangle: So someone gets to have like the, the eye.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: You know?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Are there currently artists?
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: That are currently making masterpieces like the artists that, you know, like, does that make sense? Like is there a Van Gogh that's currently alive? Yeah. Think could we, I think
Jonathan Berger: that's, that's the scholarship of, of art.
And that's what our curators, that's what they, you know, especially a contemporary curator does, is like identifying okay, what, what, what's the culture that we wanna preserve? What do we, and so that's, that's absolutely the job of a curator.
Nate Spangle: That's a hard job to be like.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. '
Nate Spangle: cause you're kind of like betting on if
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: The world in history will love this
Jonathan Berger: person. It's either a hard job or an easy job. It's like, oh, I don't have to worry about this for a hundred years. And, uh, but yeah,
Nate Spangle: that's fair. True. It is. Like, you know, no one's, but like, oh yeah. So the director from 2025 picked up, uh, Nate Spangle, one of one, and in 200 years they're gonna really love this thing.
Mm-hmm. Wow. Okay. So how many different pieces do you guys have?
Jonathan Berger: So there's, uh, 42,000 in our permanent collection. There are all stored within the museum. Like we have a vault.
Nate Spangle: A vault?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Underground.
Jonathan Berger: Underground. Uh, on
Nate Spangle: 42,000. And how
many
Jonathan Berger: would be on springs? Earthquake proof? The whole nine yards?
Nate Spangle: No. Yeah.
Okay. Wait, so if there's 42,000 mm-hmm. Pieces in the entire collection mm-hmm. How many are on display? Oh,
Jonathan Berger: boy, that's a great question. It's a very small percentage though. I mean, 3%. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: 1,260.
Jonathan Berger: Sure. That sounds about right. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Wow. So that means there's over 40,000 mm-hmm. Pieces.
Jonathan Berger: Yep.
Nate Spangle: In the vault underneath Newfields.
Jonathan Berger: Yep. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Whoa.
Jonathan Berger: So when we did Van Gogh, or I'm sorry, uh, Salvador Dali, um, uh, up in THE LUME, and, you know, again, of Salvador Dali were alive today, he would love, you know, that medium that, you know, large scale digitized art. Um, I'm talking with one of my colleagues down at the, uh, Dali Museum in St.
Peterburg, St. Petersburg, Florida. Because I, I'm thinking we're gonna have to get a loan. Um, 'cause that, that's one of the things that we do with THE LUME, is the final gallery always has, has art. And that's what separates us from, you know, a warehouse that does projection mapping or anything like that. So, um, so I, I'm talking to my colleague and one of our curators who's since retired, said, Hey, I found, not that it was like behind the radiator or anything like that, but, um, you know, with 42,000 works in your collection, I mean, you have to go through a, a bit found four dollies in our permanent collection that we had.
And, uh, I, I just remember, and this is the great part of my job, just going to our works on paper, and they were just laying out on this table. They weren't in frames. And, and, uh, and looking at these four works, and they're, they're exceptional works from, um, Salvador Dali, and there's his signature and there's some melting clocks and, you know, some elephants with really long giraffe legs.
I'm like, these are amazing. And so that's what we put in that final gallery when we did the, uh, when we did the Dali show.
Nate Spangle: Nothing like, just stumbling above.
Jonathan Berger: I know.
Nate Spangle: Imagine that like
Jonathan Berger: mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: Modern modernization. Mm-hmm. When, you know, the intern summer project was tagging 42,000 trying to like, read what, like the artist, right.
Like they're, they're signature on it. Like Yeah. That's either dull or, you know, just kidding. But, um, wow. Okay. So 42,000 pieces. Mm-hmm. You know, just over a thousand are on displayed any one time. Yeah. How often are they changing out?
Jonathan Berger: Oh, we rotate quite frequently. I mean, you know, I think that's another misconception about art museums is, you know, nothing ever, ever, ever changes.
We rotate art in and out. You know, some are, some art is light sensitive, and so we, we have to, um,
Nate Spangle: oh, so it can only be mm-hmm. Like out and exposed for
Jonathan Berger: so long. Yeah. So we have a, a Turner show that's up right now that, um, you know, our, um, our watercolors, and so we're, we're switching those out. We have one of the largest Turner collections, and so we're switching those out for like another extension of that show.
Nate Spangle: Wow.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Okay. Now. In my, as I've gotten more seasoned, I have found, uh, an appreciation for art. Mm-hmm. But a lot of people out there still might not have found, like in the idea of going to an art museum Yeah. Just like, doesn't jump off the page to them. Mm-hmm. Why is a visit to Newfields worth it for someone, even if they wouldn't say they're an art lover?
Jonathan Berger: Well, you know, I think that, you know, just walking and I, I studied art, so I got a little skin in the game. So I think that, you know, one of the things that, um, uh, you know, people, if they can just get over that threshold and, and not, you know, feel intimidated and, and explore, you know, as big as we are, we're gonna have something that you love, that you're gonna wanna come back to.
Uh, you know, one of my favorites, and I've got many favorites, is a, uh, a Norman Rockwell painting. And, you know, you're, you talk about the talent of the artist and, and, um, it's a painting of this, uh, this girl and, um, you know, kind of whimsically looking, looking off in the distance. And if you get up close to it, you can just see this, this flick.
Of, of paint in her eye to make her eyes glisten. And it's the, it's the, it's just amazing to see. And it's the, the, the skill of an artist doing that.
Nate Spangle: Like how do they even do that?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Yeah. And it's just a, just a little flick of white paint that makes the, just makes the eye,
Nate Spangle: like, I couldn't even cut out a hand Turkey rite, like in, in elementary school and the, the, a flick of paint.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And so I think people, you know, if you get out and explore it, you're gonna find something you like. And, uh, and again, you know, um, you know, we have a garden, we have, you know, the outdoors. We, we have. Um, you know, Lily house and you can explore that, and you can wander around with a glass of wine in your hand, um, which is just great.
Nate Spangle: That's how you're, you're talking about people that maybe not have found their appreciation for art. How can the ravenous art patrons, Uhhuh, make a. Make the art scene more inviting mm-hmm. To maybe others that aren't as diehard art currently?
Jonathan Berger: Sure. I think that, you know, all of our donors and our board and our employees are all, you know, kind of agents of the organization that can get out there.
And, you know, I'm in marketing, so, you know, going out and, you know, telling the good news of Newfields that wow, there's, there's something here for you. And, and, uh, there have been articles that have been written about art and nature and how they can lower your stress and lower your blood pressure and uh, and, and, and work on depression and things like that.
And so we do, we do programs where we invite people to come and enjoy art and nature because there are actual health benefits to it.
Nate Spangle: Uh, one, I totally love that. Mm-hmm. And I do think anytime I take that little trail and I end up out there and then. I just recently have like explored the grounds at Newfields and it's so cool.
Yeah. Like from the Lilly House mm-hmm. To, you know, the museum, all the stuff. It's awesome. I feel, think like I've actually like found each square at like different, for different events or different things, um, which is fun. A big piece of what you guys do is events.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Talk to me about some of the longest standing, some of the biggest events that happen on the grounds at Newfield.
Jonathan Berger: So we just finished up Winterlights, uh, which is beautiful. I mean, it's like, uh, being in a snow globe.
Nate Spangle: Gentlemen, you wanna win date night? Winterlights is the way.
Jonathan Berger: No, it's funny you mentioned that because I warned my friends actually. It's like, Hey, if you're coming here, you know, with your, with your girlfriend, by the time you get done, you'll be engaged.
You'll, you'll set a date, it'll, it'll happen because it's one of the most romantic things you could ever do. Um, and so we just finished up the ninth year of that, and so next year we'll be, you know, celebrating really big with the 10th year of Winterlights. Um, and then kind of right behind that was a program that I put together called Harvest Nights, where, um, and you really can't be, you know, fallen autumn in Indiana.
And so really leaning into that, and we'd already, uh, been, you know, the, our, our horticulture team had already been dressing up the garden with, you know, tens of thousands of pumpkins. And so there was this back path that we had that was a service path, and I'm like, Hey, let's, let's pave that path. And we'll just line it with Jacko lanterns and, um, you know, the Ghost Train.
And, uh, we're starting to dabble in that projection mapping that we use up in the, in THE LUME. And I'm like, we'll do the, we'll tell this ghost story on, on Lilly House. And, um, it just really all came together. And, you know, in a, in a way, you know, this all happened during COVID and so we built all of that during COVID, and then when people were starting to come out of their COVID caves, uh, and made it to our campus to ex experience, uh, harvest nights, it was, it was a slam dunk.
Nate Spangle: People are really interested in these unique experiences. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like you talk about. Oh my gosh, the holidays have a ton. Mm-hmm. From like something like Harvest Nights to the Chris Kindle mark up in caramel to Winterlights. Mm-hmm. To oh, the fair. Like, there's just so many things around the holidays that it's like if you sit on the couch and say you're bored, it is your own fault.
Jonathan Berger: No, you're absolutely
Nate Spangle: right. How cool is it to be able to like, come up with an idea in your head
Jonathan Berger: mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: And then see it come to life out there on the ground?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Well, you know, my career, you know, I started off as a graphic designer and a creative director, and so I've always, I'm always, you know, kind of conjuring up ideas.
But, you know, to answer your question, one of the things that I, I really, uh, enjoy doing is, is being there at Harvest and, and you know, kind of mingling with the crowd and hearing what they're saying. Where, you know, kids are just over the moon about how many pumpkins there are and so are, so are parents.
And, you know, part of me, I take great pride in, in, when you do an event like that, um, you know, and, and kids are growing up and seeing it, that there's a career out there. For their creative, uh, for their creativity, and that there's a place for that, whether you're a curator, whether you're building big events like that, that you know that somebody, somebody's gotta do it.
And so I, I really, I really get a lot, a lot out of that, that, you know, just, uh, you know, my job makes people happy.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. What are the other iconic events that happen at Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, well, THE LUME, you know, and all of our, all of our openings, THE LUME openings have been great. And anytime we have a larger exhibition, we have, we have some pretty great openings where we have music.
Uh, uh, a couple of years ago we did, um, uh, midnight, which was New Year's Eve party. That was really great. Uh, we took a, uh, took this year off. Um, and just some of those, you know, I think people want to be, uh, want to be around art. They wanna be out in nature. And we have this amazing setting for it. We did a Duolingo after party, uh, when the duo came
Nate Spangle: to town, I was there.
It was sick. Like, you walk in and it's like, you start with like the champagne toast. Mm-hmm. And you just walking around and there was like. Real celebrity
Jonathan Berger: stuff. Yeah. And that was the best part. That, that, and, and you know, everybody, you know, Dylan was so approachable and, and, uh, um. Patrick Warburton was there, and he's a national treasure.
But, um, um, no, it's a great event. We also did, uh, something called All-Starry Night. It was, um, uh, for the All Star game and, and we had, uh, a Van Gogh, uh, uh, projection on the fourth floor, and Common was there. And it, it was a great, it was a great night too.
Nate Spangle: All-Starry Night. Yeah. That's great.
Jonathan Berger: Good
Nate Spangle: play on words.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. So we do all these, these great events that, you know, again, uh, an introduction, uh, an invitation to, you know, all the things that, all things that we have.
Nate Spangle: Well, and it's not just you guys, like, there's also like other organizations that will host their
Jonathan Berger: mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: Things at,
Jonathan Berger: we have great partnerships with, uh, you know, like Dance Kaleidoscope, uh, you know, the Pho,
Nate Spangle: I, I don't know what that is, but it sounds cool.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Uh, they've got an event, it's a, a dance group here in town. Um, uh, Heartland Film Festival comes in and, you know, and again, it's, it's. You know, supporting the arts and it not just, you know, paintings on walls, but the, you know, the art and culture that we have here in Indiana.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. I mean, and I'd be, uh, remiss if I didn't talk about, uh, I'm part of Penrod Oh, sure.
And we host the Yeah, exactly. Largest single day art fair in the nation. Mm-hmm. Uh, the Saturday after Labor Day question. Don't ask me about dates, but, and it's all like, I mean, we got to explore and do the whole thing. And I was, last year was my first year as part of the organization. Oh, really? Great.
Jonathan Berger: Great.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. So I'm like. You know, toting stuff on the back pass and driving the golf carts around. Yeah. It's, it's awesome.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And so, I mean, all of these things and, you know, we were talking about, uh, you know, when the eclipse in 20, uh, 24 came through, uh, one of the ideas I had was, let's, let's just open up, you know, the campus for, uh, what we called Total Eclipse of the Art, which was a, you know, a single day music festival.
And we had over 5,000 people, you know, come to our campus and just, uh, I can't think of a better way for nature to interact with nature and art, uh, than this, than Mother, mother Nature. And it was great. We had music, we have a outdoor amphitheater, um, that we had a band called the Molly Ringwalds, uh, that played all these great eighties hits, uh, sign
Nate Spangle: me up.
Jonathan Berger: And, uh, so it really, I think, invited people, not just from Indiana, but you know, kind of the states around to experience. You know, the total eclipse in a completely different way.
Nate Spangle: Well, well, when you talk about really putting Newfields on the map, there's another iconic piece, uh, from an Indiana author that like all tied something together.
Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. Talk to me about Funky Bones.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: And The Fault in Our Stars. Mar Stars, yeah. And how that all came together. 'cause now it's like, you know,
Jonathan Berger: oh yeah. It's iconic. And that, that was before my time and I actually thought you were going in a different direction with, you know, one of our, our most, um, notable works of our, our love sculpture, uh, that was created by Robert Indiana, uh, uh, Robert Clark from New Castle, Indiana.
Nate Spangle: Two, uh, two very, uh, iconic pieces.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. The Loves one. Those are awesome.
Jonathan Berger: And that's, they're, uh, that love sculpture is the original and it is celebrating for. 50 years, uh, this year. So
Nate Spangle: that's the original?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, the original.
Nate Spangle: The original,
Jonathan Berger: yeah.
Nate Spangle: Okay.
Jonathan Berger: Uh, corten Steel, all the other ones That's awesome. Are smaller and made out of aluminum and painted,
Nate Spangle: so that's iconic.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. But I just feel like mm-hmm. There was a moment where people would travel. Mm-hmm. Or when they were in Indianapolis, they wanted to see the, the from the music from the movie. Yeah. Funky
Jonathan Berger: Bones. Yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Do you know any detail behind that? Or like, how is John Green a friend of Newfield? Like,
Jonathan Berger: oh, of course, of course.
I I believe his wife was a curator, uh, at one point. Yeah. And, uh, so, you know, this, uh, you know, this, you know, from the most part a love letter to his wife, uh, with Funky Bones. And so yeah, the, you know, Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, just, you know, the people that come there and, and, um, we had an, an opening not that long ago of, there's a, um, um, a sculpture that is a, like a rooftop that's sticking outta the ground.
And the artist designed it in a way that people could climb up on this roof to get a different perspective. The way that, you know, when you're a kid, you might climb up on your roof to get a different perspective. And you know, as we're going out to take some promotional photos of it, um, there is a couple that drove in and had some extra time and they, they wanted to tour our park and there they were sitting on the roof with their guitars singing.
And this is exactly what the artist designed the piece for, for people to engage that way. And so here it was like, we just opened it up and here was this couple that came in from Ohio and hey, we had some time to kill. We decided to, you know, we did a Google search, we came to the party, we saw this, we went back and got our guitars and just sat here and started.
Nate Spangle: That's, people are so cool.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Like so interesting too. Yeah. Like, I wish I could say that to kill some time. Mm-hmm. I didn't scroll TikTok and that I played the guitar and hung out. That's awesome. If there was a great entrance point. Mm-hmm. Like if someone has yet to, maybe they've heard of Newfields.
What would be the, like, Hey, your first exposure to Newfields should be X.
Jonathan Berger: You know, you could come to, you could come to an opening, but I would say just when
Nate Spangle: you say opening,
Jonathan Berger: yeah.
Nate Spangle: Mm-hmm. This is gonna sound real dumb.
Jonathan Berger: Okay. No, no, no.
Nate Spangle: What's an opening?
Jonathan Berger: So, a, an opening would be, so we've opened a new gallery.
We have, uh, a, a new show.
Nate Spangle: How often is that happening?
Jonathan Berger: Um, we'll probably open up, uh, you know, a couple of smaller ones and then a larger one. So, you know, let's say three or four times a year.
Nate Spangle: Okay. So this is like quarterly, let's
Jonathan Berger: say two. Two really big ones. I would say
Nate Spangle: two. So like, what are the big ones that you had in 2025?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, a sneaker show.
Nate Spangle: So this would be like a, a portion of mm-hmm. Real estate is developed to sneakers. Yeah. And the first aid's open to the public. It's called an opening.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And, and Future Now was a great, uh, was a great opening, um, where it's just a big party, uh, to debut the show. And this is a chance for donors and members to come.
Alright, let's celebrate. We're the ones that, that get to see it first, basically. But, you know, you know, that might not be a great entry point. I would say just come on a weekday or a weekend and, you know, just explore. I mean it, that's all it is, is exploring. And
Nate Spangle: how much does it cost to explore the grounds of Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, $23.
Nate Spangle: $23?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And that's, that's everything.
Nate Spangle: Okay. Mm-hmm. So for $23, I can go in there mm-hmm. And check out the IMA. Mm-hmm. I can walk around, I can go here, there and everywhere. Mm-hmm. Because I, wait, is it $23 to run around the lake?
Jonathan Berger: Oh, you don't,
Nate Spangle: because I definitely didn't
Jonathan Berger: pay the $23. No, that's free.
And that's the, that's the other part of it. So the 52 acres that we call our upper campus where, uh, Lily house is and the, and the museum sits, um, the lower, uh, part, the a hundred acres, that's all free and open to the public.
Nate Spangle: Yeah.
Jonathan Berger: Alright. So you can, you can engage in that, that art and those sculptures down there.
I
Nate Spangle: thought I was about to have to Venmo you for my mileage there. Uh, that's awesome. Mm-hmm. Okay. So you can walk around, spend the day, yeah. Mm-hmm. And explore. Uh, okay. So if you were planning out your day mm-hmm. So if I was getting, what time do you guys open?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, 10 o'clock.
Nate Spangle: 10:00 AM
Jonathan Berger: mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: So I get there at 10:00 AM mm-hmm.
Take me through my day, what I need to do.
Jonathan Berger: I'd go up to the second floor.
Nate Spangle: Okay. So I'm first going into the museum.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Go into the museum. Yeah. Uh, that's a great place to start. Go in the museum and, um, you know, just explore our second floor. And there's some great things. And, and a lot of another misconception is that when we put THE LUME on the fourth floor, that we, you know, we got rid of all our contemporary art.
And that's, that's not true at all. We really dispersed it among all of the other galleries. And it's really great to have that conversation of contemporary art with, you know, European art. Um, and, and now we have our contemporary art featured in, in a, a gallery there on the second floor, uh, one of our largest.
And so just start to explore and we have, you know, gallery folks that will, that will help you. And they're, they're, they're a great, very welcoming host that, you know, Hey, I want to, I wanna see something amazing. They're gonna take you back to, um, Rembrandt's first self-portrait that is in our collection, our permanent collection.
Or they're gonna take you to the Picasso that we have.
Nate Spangle: Whoa.
Jonathan Berger: Or I know that Speaker 2: name,
Jonathan Berger: or monumental Georgia O'Keeffe that we have. Or any of the Warhols, I mean, we are an encyclopedic museum, so we have something from every slice.
Nate Spangle: What is the most rare piece of art
Jonathan Berger: that Newfield has? Oh, that's crazy. I don't know that I could say that.
It's all depends on your perspective. I mean, the Van Gogh is, is, is great, but then the cna, the GoGy are also amazing. And you know, like me, I I love mid-century modern and, and you know, all that, all that retro stuff. So I, I love the love sculpture. This
is
Nate Spangle: spoken like a true art connoisseur. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
Right.
Jonathan Berger: Like what you see, you know? Well, you know, Harkins back to, you know, you know, my, my childhood, the, the Norman Rockwell.
Nate Spangle: What I'm saying, if like, if there was something that a curator Yeah. Could not just go out and buy on a market or at an auction mm-hmm. Where it's like, this is just so rare because you can't find it anywhere.
Jonathan Berger: I think all of our stuff is about like that. I mean, I, I, I, sorry. I can't give you a great an answer. I, you know, it's all right. Rembrandt's, uh, self portrait is, uh, is a pretty monumental piece.
Nate Spangle: Okay. What piece of art within Newfields moves you the most?
Jonathan Berger: I would say that Norman Rockwell, um, you know, 'cause again, I am fiercely nostalgic and Yeah.
And that the detail in that painting is amazing to me. Uh, but then I could say the love sculpture because of, of how iconic that is. And we have the first, it's right across from, uh, uh, Fletcher Benton, which is this, uh, circle that's kind of cut in half. You know, I love, love the conversation between the two.
'cause they were both kind of done in the late sixties, early seventies.
Nate Spangle: I could see like Norman Rockwell, I feel like my grandma had a calendar of all the Norman Rockwell. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like, and I looked at that and I was like, I don't, I don't really understand what, why grandma, why is there a tear coming from your eyes?
You look at this, but you know, as you grow up and mm-hmm. You know, you start to have an appreciation for the effort and mm-hmm. All the little details that were put into there.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, exactly.
Nate Spangle: It's crazy. Yeah. Okay. Is there like a modern style of art? Like, like the way that people used to make art? Mm-hmm.
You think of like sculptures and paintings mm-hmm. And all. Is there a way that people are making art today that you're like, that's just crazy, but I love it.
Jonathan Berger: Um, absolutely. And so when we, when we built THE LUME and, you know, started exploring this digital, digital medium, um, you know, backed up with our own, our own art.
I think it was the second year, second or third year. Second year when we did, uh, Monet and Friends. We invited, uh, local artists to come in and do what we called Featurettes, uh, so local Indiana artists. Um, we work with the Arts Council as a, a, a a, a venue to choose The artist artists from Indiana submitted their digital art and, and we chose three artists,
Nate Spangle: their digital art.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: So what do those look like?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, video animations, um, uh, some was, uh, uh, AI created, uh, with an artist. And so in THE LUME, and I believe probably the largest digital canvas in the nation, uh, they were able to display their art, uh, and, you know, five, six minutes of, of their art. Um, and if, if you think back, it wasn't that long ago that photography wasn't considered art and people didn't want to have a museum.
And so one of the things that I absolutely love about Newfields is, is the innovation that, that, you know, looking at this, uh, hey, this is a form of art and we, we should lean into this. We did that with local artists. And then, you know, to bring it really full circle, reached out to a colleague of mine, Greg Hall, at Herron School of Art, and said, Hey, how can we, uh, how can we do this with students?
And we kind of, it, it, it took a, it took about a year to really, uh, to really get it going, but we worked with, uh, Herron School of Art with, uh, a student that was a digital artist and uh, a musical artist. And so they paired together as a team to create these, um, featurettes that we call like three to five minute, uh, segments in THE LUME where they could see their, their art.
On again, our nation's largest
Nate Spangle: digital. So like, what, what did that look like? Like if you had to explain mm-hmm. Their art, is that like a, is that like a bad thing to do in the art world?
Jonathan Berger: No. No. Okay. So, uh, you know, some were video, some were, uh,
Nate Spangle: like a video of them doing
Jonathan Berger: what? Yeah. One was, um, more of constellations and moving through the universe.
Uh oh. And, and so, you know, in that loom space, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's a big space and so you can program the different rooms, you can program the different walls. And so it's the way that it all. All told their story through that medium. Um, the, the, the local artists that we used before, um, did an animation of what it was like walking through some of the different parks and walking through Indiana.
And so projected on the floor was, uh, was, was a path that kinda led you through. Um, you know, one artist was more of a, um, uh, a visual artist in video. And so it was these dramatic videos that played, uh, you know, kind of connected with each other on the walls. And so, um, you know, it, it's great to see that, uh, in a, in a museum.
Nate Spangle: What is the biggest misconception when it comes to Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: You know, other, other than, than we did away with the IMA, you know? Yeah. IMA is the, is still there and Newfield is just the name of the campus. You know, I would say that, oh, it, you know, people think it's not for me. And it absolutely is for you, you know, the culture that we, uh, you know, that we have and that, that we're preserving at Newfields.
Absolutely. It is for you and, and you know, it, it just come and explore it.
Nate Spangle: Being born a kid in rural northern Indiana.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. And then working at one of the iconic art spots Yeah. In Indiana. Talk to me about that transformation from rural Indiana. Sure. That took you to Fort Wayne and then
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
I got handed to my parents and, you know, I grew up in a very poor family and, uh, I don't remember going to any art museums when I was young. Maybe a school trip or something like that. Um, uh, but not, not
Nate Spangle: the, the hand took museum, the elementary school.
Jonathan Berger: Exactly.
Nate Spangle: Come
Jonathan Berger: on. And, and that, and that's about it. And so, um, uh, you know.
I'm the youngest, uh, of four. And so my parents always encouraged us to, you know, you know, to kind of, you know, go out and explore. And, uh, I think from a young age, I, you know, I like to draw, I like to do things, uh, you know, doodle and, and so my parents always encourage, encouraged me with that. And, uh, and along, along the way, I, I was served very well by public education.
Uh, I had some great art courses that I, that I took and, and then there was more encouragement that I should, I should go into art. And, and so, so are
Nate Spangle: you, do, were you an artist?
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Are you an artist? Oh, absolutely. Do you still like,
Nate Spangle: create
Jonathan Berger: Oh yeah. We, we actually have a, um, a, a staff gallery that, uh, I've had artwork in now for a couple years.
Nate Spangle: What, what, what's your, what's your poison?
Jonathan Berger: Well, you know, I, the first one I did was, uh, was a painting, and the last couple that I did was photography.
Nate Spangle: No way.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Bit of a Renaissance man, I guess.
Nate Spangle: Look at this guy.
Jonathan Berger: And so
Nate Spangle: it is digital art in the past.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Maybe that's, maybe, you
Nate Spangle: know, if
Jonathan Berger: you get a
Nate Spangle: full
Jonathan Berger: trifecta, I look, I look at, you know, and I partnered with, uh, with a group in Cincinnati called LBO to do the projection on, on Lilly house for, uh, and then before that a company in, in Bloomington called Blockhouse.
And, you know, and working with them to, you know, having this vision of this ghost story that, you know, is gonna unfold. So, you know, maybe a little bit of that, you know.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. There
Jonathan Berger: we
Nate Spangle: go. Well, so you were an art and then you,
Jonathan Berger: so, yeah. You know, and I just, um, uh, and, and naturally, you know, I, I was a graphic designer for a long time.
Worked at a, um, an agency in Lafayette. Yeah. Um, uh, H.C. McDonald and Sons. And
Nate Spangle: Oh wow.
Jonathan Berger: Just
Nate Spangle: that is an old school ages if it still has And sons.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Holy
Jonathan Berger: smokes. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Hc McDonald's
Jonathan Berger: sons. Yeah. They become, later on they became McDonald classified. Uh, I think they're still around
Nate Spangle: McDonald class. Okay.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Anywhere where it says, and sons.
Jonathan Berger: I'm
Nate Spangle: like, that is
Jonathan Berger: generational. Yeah. Pretty. You know, the, the weird path that I took the, uh, dating myself a little bit, uh, I saw an ad in a newspaper that wanted a visual artist, a graphic designer, and it was in a, a small town in southern Illinois, only Illinois. And, uh, so I, I applied for this job and went down for an interview and it was working at a company called Roadmaster Bicycles.
And it was designing, you know, the kind of the cosmetics of bicycles. And, uh, so I was a bike designer for a while and then ended up moving to Wisconsin, working for a startup, uh, called Pacific Cycle. Again, we were a glorified garage. I mean, it, it wasn't, it, it wasn't anything great, but, and there were a handful of us, I was maybe the fifth or sixth employee in this, uh, in this garage.
And so we were, we were, you know, designing some great bikes. Uh, um, there was no marketing department. It was, it was me. It was, you know, me and my boss, uh, you know, what are, what are we gonna do, you know, this week? And we caught the attention of some retail biker, uh, uh, buyers and, uh, started selling bikes and toys for us.
And then we caught the attention of some venture capitalists that said, Hey, you've got a great business model.
Nate Spangle: So what's, what was the business model? It was getting bikes, putting the, putting graphics on them, and then,
Jonathan Berger: well, the business we, we worked with manufacturing in, uh, in Asia. And while like Road, Roadmaster was a domestic manufacturer, and so as everyone, uh, Pacific Cycle was probably on the, the, the cutting edge of, of manufacturing in China.
And so, you know, looking at being that front end marketing house and, and, you know, designing our own bikes. Um, so we were in toys, toys, us, and Target, and it just. It was, everything was going really great. And so some venture capitalists, uh, from Kenosha, uh, were looking at us like, Hey, we, we like what we see here.
And they came and bought less than half of our company and, uh, and then said, Hey, let's go, let's go shopping. And so we went back and we bought Roadmaster of the company I used to work for. We, uh, ended up buying, uh, Mongoose and then, you know, kind of the crown jewel of bicycles, at least for my generation Schwinn.
Um,
Nate Spangle: so you guys bought Schwinn
Jonathan Berger: bikes? Mon, yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: What?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And so, you know, that's kind of, you know, that's the kind of the education in marketing that, that I have, you know, kind of a, a, a auto didact in a, in a way where, um, you know, I am, I'm in this company and, and we just grew to be the largest bicycle company,
Nate Spangle: lemme tell you, in the early to late two thousands.
Mm-hmm. A Mongoose mm-hmm. Bike with pegs.
Jonathan Berger: Oh yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: BMX, the rotor. Oh. I don't know if that's but like. Something you could take to the bike park and like get some jumps on. Yeah. That was the crown jewel.
Jonathan Berger: Oh yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Mongoose, Schwinn, huffy. Yeah. Great bikes. Oh my gosh. And how'd you end up at Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: The, the company ultimately sold, and then I was working in a non-profit, uh, in healthcare in Wisconsin. And my parents were in their later years and, um, you know, I really wanted to come home and be with them. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I started, I started looking in Indiana and I, I, you know, looking at, you know, perhaps capstone to my career and thinking, you know, hey, you know, really what is that?
You know, what is that, um, culmination of, you know, of marketing, of design, of art and, and nature and this position at, um, at Newfields, you know, came up. I'm like, wow, this, you know, working in the lush garden setting surrounded by beautiful works of art, you know? Wow. And, and I was pretty eager about it and, and came on and, and, uh, it's been.
Nate Spangle: What's coming down the pipe for the future of Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: Um, we've got a, a pretty big exhibition that I actually can't even talk about. Whoa. There're, uh, we've, we've signed paperwork. Um, and so that
Nate Spangle: what's an, wait, can you talk about what an exhibition is?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, yeah. This'll be, uh, a, a very, uh, it's a private collection Oh.
Of a couple. And it's, uh, it's been touring and it, it'll be coming, it'll be coming to, uh, Newfields.
Nate Spangle: Very cool. My initial thought was Jim Irsay's guitar collection. I thought that was what you were Oh, that'd
Jonathan Berger: be great.
Nate Spangle: That would be great. But if this is a couple in a touring, collect. Wow. Very cool.
Jonathan Berger: And so
Nate Spangle: how does that work?
Mm-hmm. So like. If I had an esteemed collection of art mm-hmm.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: And it was touring.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: I just send my stuff out on the road.
Jonathan Berger: Well, I,
Nate Spangle: you know, and do people pay for it? Or like, how does that work?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, yeah. For the most part. Uh, so our, you know, our curator, curatorial team, uh, is, you know, it's all about the scholarship of art and identifying, you know, what, what's important.
And so they'll identify a, a show or a collection and say, Hey, I, I wanna bring that to, I wanna bring that to Indianapolis, and, you know, and reach out to the, you know, the studio, uh, or the, the owners and then, you know, work out all of those. Work out a
Nate Spangle: deal. Okay. Yeah.
Jonathan Berger: Work out those
Nate Spangle: deals. Thinking that when you bring in one of these.
You know, like I always see, um, in museums where it's like Egyptian mummy on tour. Yeah. Like what's the guy's King Tut?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Like his, that guy's traveled the world like 10 times.
Jonathan Berger: Well, and that was, that's an example of what a a, a blockbuster, that, that was kind of the invention of the blockbuster show.
That it was, you know, world, you know, when it came, I remember as a kid getting excited about it. I toured a couple of times, I think, uh, here in the us, but oh my gosh, that was. Yeah. You just had to go. And that's what a, that's what a blockbuster is. And we, we did, uh, you know, before I started, uh, we did like Sacred Spain and, uh, and Matisse, we did, uh, one that I loved, 'cause I'm a big car guy called Dream Cars, where it had all of these concept cars that, uh, that we brought into the museum and, you know, bringing cars in a museum in, in Indianapolis.
I mean, you know, that's a home run right there.
Nate Spangle: I mean, yeah. You can't get much sweeter than that. Mm-hmm. I'd say when you're not looking at art and, uh, you know, having the experience at Newfields, are there other places around the city you like to go?
Jonathan Berger: You know, I go to a lot of, a lot of different events.
Like, uh, you know, I, I mentioned that, you know, the dance group, dance Kaleidoscope, um, uh, you know, I like dining out, you know, tinker Street's one of my favorites. I'm a vegetarian. My wife and I are vegetarians. And so we go there.
Nate Spangle: We just had Tom on the podcast. Oh,
Jonathan Berger: did you? Early?
Nate Spangle: Uh, we dropped out at the beginning of the year.
He is an interesting character. Yeah. Awesome guy. Very kind. Everyone in the comments loves Tom. Mm-hmm. Good dude.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And, uh, you know, just, you know, just touring and exploring, you know, our, our city. Uh, you know, my wife is, uh, originally from Ohio and, uh, and, you know, she moved here when we got married. Uh, so a lot of things are still new to her.
She, uh, went to Notre Dame and, and, uh, um, so yeah, we, we now have a, in February, a 3-year-old daughter. Uh, and so introducing things to her, uh, you know, that's awesome. Like the museum, uh, and, and the zoo, the children's museum, things like that. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: I love it, man. Okay, this next question is brought to you by friends at J.C. Hart.
They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at homeisjchart.com. So,
Jonathan Berger: yeah,
Nate Spangle: from rural northern Indiana. Mm-hmm. Sometime in southern Illinois, Wisconsin. Mm-hmm. Back around. Your wife's from Ohio.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: You could be a lot of different places.
Mm-hmm. Why do you call Indiana home?
Jonathan Berger: Oh, it is home. That, I mean, that, that's what it is. I, you know, I, you know, again, before the show where you were talking about how, when I was in Wisconsin, everybody knew that I was from Indiana. I talked about Indiana so much. I just, I love, I, I, you know, I, I just love it, you know, I, I get.
Philosophical sometimes I, I, you, you never really know how small you are in the universe until you're detasseling corn in, in a field in, in rural Indiana. And, uh, I just love, uh, how authentic Indiana is. I love the people in Indiana and, and, and, you know, I, I just really love the personality that Indiana has, so I had to come home.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. I love that. It's so true. Yeah. You talk about detasseling. That was, but that was like the breadwinner job for high school. Oh,
Jonathan Berger: yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Like you could make some, it was a hard job.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: And, you know, you'd get out there and you'd be like soaked.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Because like the dew on the corner.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Nate Spangle: You could make some serious money.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: If you could have any painting in your home, what would it be?
Jonathan Berger: Probably a Warhol, if I had like a Warhol, uh, portrait that he did of me, you know? Oh, I would love that. You know, you've seen the, you've seen the Elvis's and the Marilyn Monroe. I would love to have.
Uh, Andy Warhol do a, uh, a Jonathan Berger.
Nate Spangle: Oh, like the green, yellow
Jonathan Berger: baby? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nate Spangle: Oh, that would be sick. Yeah. See, this is the part too, where it's like, I've seen a lot of 'em. Mm-hmm. But I'm not necessarily so good with games.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Get out and explore. See, this is
Nate Spangle: what you gotta do. I gotta do better.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. I
Nate Spangle: can be better.
Jonathan Berger: Explore.
Nate Spangle: What's your favorite location on the grounds of Newfields?
Jonathan Berger: Probably say the beer garden. But, uh, second to that, there's this kind of tucked away air, the ravine garden. Uh, it's, it's really stunning at certain times of the year.
Nate Spangle: The ravine garden. Yeah. Okay. Wait, if you were to explain it to me,
Jonathan Berger: um,
Nate Spangle: from the Playhouse,
Jonathan Berger: um.
How about Lilly House? Yeah. It's, it's kind of beyond Lily house and you kind of go down some steps and it's kind of tucked in. You can see the towpath and
Nate Spangle: Yeah. That's
Jonathan Berger: pretty
Nate Spangle: cool. This is a piece that's interesting. Mm-hmm. You talk about ex uh, going the art route.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: And a lot of people are talented artists mm-hmm.
But have trouble making a career out of it. Yeah. What's your best advice to balance a passion in art and a successful career?
Jonathan Berger: You know, I don't, I don't know if I'm great at that because I struggle with that too, as somebody that paints and, and wants to be known as an artist. You know, I, I kind of got in the back door of this by, uh, by marketing and, and design.
If you're really focused on what you wanna do. I have a good friend, faith, faith Blackwell, that, that, um, similar to me, worked in marketing and we had a conversation about one day. She just decided I'm gonna. I'm not gonna do that anymore. I'm not gonna do this. I'm gonna do art. And that's what she did.
Faith
Nate Spangle: Blackwell just sounds like a great artist's name. Yeah. I go, yeah, I've got a, one of one Faith Blackwell.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. And she's just an amazing, amazing person too.
Nate Spangle: Okay. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received in your career,
Jonathan Berger: um, as a leader? Uh, one of my bosses told me that, um, um, if you wanna be a leader, um, people want to be led, so just step up and, and lead.
Nate Spangle: If you want to be a leader, people want to be led.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. People who wait for like, approval to be like, okay, I want to be called out of the crowd to be these people. It's like, no, just.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Start going.
Jonathan Berger: People wanna be led. So yeah.
Nate Spangle: If you could say one thing to every resident of Indiana, what would it be?
Jonathan Berger: Oh, come explore Newfields. I've said it a hundred times in this, in this interview. Yeah. Um, you know, just explore it.
Nate Spangle: Do you have a hidden talent?
Jonathan Berger: I do. I can, uh, I can balance the spoon on my nose.
Nate Spangle: Whoa.
Jonathan Berger: I've, I've got a few.
Nate Spangle: I mean, you talk about a guy, everything from marketing to external affairs to art, to balancing a spoon on his nose.
Books or movies.
Jonathan Berger: Uh, movies.
Nate Spangle: What's your favorite movie?
Jonathan Berger: You know, I'd like to, I'd like to say things like, oh, citizen Kane, you know. Oh, that's a great, that's a masterpiece. I, I tend to really get lost in, uh, a movie like Die Hard. Uh, nice. Just love that.
Nate Spangle: Amen. It's like, I want to like love these. Mm-hmm.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Academy Award winning c great films, but freaking Will Ferrell just keeps pulling me in. Oh, okay. We've come to the final part of the show where we talk about all things Indiana. Mm-hmm. First off, you talk about living multiple places. Mm-hmm. Preaching the Indiana Gospel while you were in Absolutely. In Wisconsin.
If you could preach it to the world, what's something the world needs to know about Indiana?
Jonathan Berger: Oh boy. What the world needs to know about Indiana. You know, I think that there's, uh, you know, a, a misconception maybe that we're all cornfields and basketball, and you can probably add football to your list now, you know, as, as somebody from Indiana, we're all very humble.
I'll change that a little bit. Uh, right now, Indiana is not great at one thing. We're great at all things. We have the. Greatest spectacle in motor racing. You know, we have, you know, in the, in the sports world, we have the colts, we have the pacers, we have the fever, um, you know, college football, college basketball, up the road, Purdue University, you know, the astronauts that, that we create, you know, here, here locally in Indianapolis, the world's best children's museum, uh, the Eiteljorg Museum that explores the, the, the complexities of indigenous people, Western art, uh, you know, Newfields, a world class museum, you know, like I said, the top 10 oldest, uh, and largest museums, uh, or museum in the, in the nation.
We're, we're not, we're not good at one thing. We're good at all things,
Nate Spangle: but we know we're not good at, we're not good at. S spreading that
Jonathan Berger: Exactly.
Nate Spangle: You know?
Jonathan Berger: Exactly. Shouting
Nate Spangle: from
Jonathan Berger: the, and so
Nate Spangle: that's
Jonathan Berger: why I pause that for a second so I could say, Hey, hey, world, you know, we're, we're Indiana, we're, we're good at all of these things.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. Because it's, it's not in the humble nature to be mm-hmm. Like, we're so good. Love us.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Um, okay. Here's a question for you.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: Is Indiana more cultured than it gets credit for?
Jonathan Berger: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. Because
Nate Spangle: I think that the outside, especially, especially when you get the coaches like, oh, Rigg, the corn fed hillbillies in Indiana, they don't know art.
Jonathan Berger: No. I mean, if you think about all the art that, you know, everything that we export, um, I don't think we get enough recognition for that. I mean, all of the, you know, again, the, the, the celebrities, the performing artists, the, the artists that, that we have, yeah. You, you don't, you don't necessarily think that that Bill Blass fashion designer.
Indiana, Indiana, Halston, uh, was born in another fashion designer, was born in, I think Iowa, but grew up in Evansville, uh, Stephen Sprouse, which we own his entire collection. You name may not recognize his name, but, um, um, you're, you're probably familiar with his style. Uh, I think he was born in Ohio, but grew up in, in Columbus.
And, you know, so just fashion alone here in Indiana. Bill Blass, Stephen Sprouse, Halston, you know, T.C. Steele, uh, you know, artist again, Robert Indiana. The, the, you know, the iconic love sculpture. You can go down the list of Letterman and Mellencamp and, and, uh, Mrs. Brady. I mean, come on. I mean, we, we export a lot.
And then, you know, if you, if you, yeah, I mean, if you look on a local level, you know, the, the, the artists that we have here, you know, like my friend Faith, and, uh, there's a, a director. Uh, Ashton Gleckman, that's done some documentaries. Uh, I had the pleasure of working with, uh, uh, Pegasus Pictures, uh, when they were done.
Great
Nate Spangle: dudes.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Great guys. And so we, we have so much, uh, culture that we're exporting, uh, and we probably don't get enough credit for
Nate Spangle: that. Yeah. I think that's a big misconception mm-hmm. That everyone thinks that, you know?
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: Again, that Indiana are all the hick from French Lick, you know?
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nate Spangle: Uh, okay. This is your opportunity to shed some light on a part of Indiana that more people need to be talking about.
Mm.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. What is a hidden gem in Indiana?
Jonathan Berger: Oh boy. Uh, I've seen a few, uh, I'm gonna go back to, uh, you know, my hometown Winamac, Indiana. Um, there is a state park just north of, of Winamac, and at Winamac we have a fire tower There.
And I remember going there as a little kid and you climb all these steps all the way up to the top. And, uh, as, as, as a young person going up there and getting above the tree line, especially in, in fall, and, uh, seeing the ocean of color, never, never been that high before in, in my life. Um, and just seeing, you know, it, it's, it's pretty neat and it's a great state park and I was so lucky to, to grow up in, in Pulaski County and then, you know, be able to, on a whim, you know, drive, you know, drive through the state park and, and go up there with my friends.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. So this is the Tippecanoe River State Park.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: The fire tower, right. By Winamac. I also, you, that's how you know they're, uh, you're local.
Jonathan Berger: Mm-hmm.
Nate Spangle: So if you aren't local to like that area of northern Indiana, you would say Pulaski.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah. Yeah.
Nate Spangle: But if you are local, it's Pulasky. Mm-hmm. And I, I commented about.
Something about Pulaski County, because, you know, on the radio, I would always hear about that growing up and everyone's like, it's Pulaski. It's, and I'm like, you are not from there if you're calling it Pulaski.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: This is our final question. Mm-hmm. This is your opportunity to share some love with someone that we need to know about.
Yeah. This is where we get new guest recommendations. Mm-hmm. And just find people that are doing crazy cool things. Who's the Hoosier we need to keep on our radar. Someone who's doing big things.
Jonathan Berger: The people that we need to look at here are the artists that we have, that we have in Indiana. Uh, whether it's faith or, uh, you know, I'm friends with Polina at PATTERN Magazine and she talks about, uh, economic impact of artists.
Uh, you know, here in our state. I'm not gonna name necessarily one person, although I've named a couple. You know, it's just the artists that we have here in Indiana, uh, that, you know, let's, let's stand up and notice.
Nate Spangle: Amen. This has been fun.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah, it's been
Nate Spangle: great. I feel like you've done a really good job of making art interesting and accessible to non-current art patrons.
Jonathan Berger: Let me tell you something. Uh, this is the marketer in me, um, in our Van Gogh painting. Uh, and, and you know, these are the geeky things that I get excited about and I hope that, that, that your viewers and listeners do too. Uh, our Van Gogh painting are that we can identify that the cloth, uh, the canvas that that was cut from was the same canvas, uh, a bolt that starry night was painted on.
And when we did an analysis, analysis of it, we found a, a, a red beard hair twisted in the pigment. And so you are that close to the creator of that painting. When you go look at that, that piece of art. Come out and explore it.
Nate Spangle: You've got to go see this beard hair, come on.
Jonathan Berger: You can't see the painting, but it's there.
It's, it's, that's
Nate Spangle: awesome. Yeah. No, I mean that's, that's kind of great. That kind of crazy, but like the whole thing. Mm-hmm. I think you've done a great job of explaining all the cool events that happen at Newfields, the different places you can explore. Mm-hmm. E even if you're just like running around the greater, you know, broad ripple butler targeting area, stopping through and, and zipping through mm-hmm.
Um, the a hundred acres. Yeah. Like, there's just so much cool stuff out there. You guys are doing a great job. I love going to events. It's always great, especially, you know, when you get up to the fourth floor in THE LUME. Mm-hmm. It's like, I honestly be curious to see what it looks like without all of the stuff on, because it's probably like a very normal room.
Just
Jonathan Berger: a big white room.
Nate Spangle: Yeah. And then, but with all the projectors and everything going, it like makes you feel.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: Like you're anywhere. It's crazy. Yeah. There's
Jonathan Berger: 120 projectors up there.
Nate Spangle: That's wild.
Jonathan Berger: Yeah.
Nate Spangle: I wanna know like the, how many HDMI ports have to be going into someone's laptop to like fuel. Yeah.
Jonathan Berger: There's a whole room that is just full of servers that drive that.
Nate Spangle: That's crazy. I love it, man. Well, hey, it was a pleasure learning more. Absolutely. And people want to connect with you with Newfields. How can they do that?
Jonathan Berger: Uh, discover Newfields.org.
Nate Spangle: I love it. All right, man. Wait, we'll talk to you soon.
Jonathan Berger: All right. Thanks a lot.
Nate Spangle: This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind the scenes look at everything we're doing across the state.
Make sure you follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hoosier State. Great. We'll see you next time here on Get IN.
