For PreEnactIndy 2017, Church of God in Christ member and local artist Courtland Blade expanded this mural, adding more people and surroundings to the painting on an exterior wall on 16th Street. The original mural, envisioned and created by Earlham-educated artist and True Victory Church of God in Christ member Ajia Coleman Durham, depicted people who have lived, worked, and worshipped in this community for years.  The current mural activity signifies the church’s commitment to neighborhood outreach and partnership with PreEnactIndy.

PreEnactment theater envisions a neighborhood that ought to be just, equitable, and economically vibrant. Stretching an entire three blocks of 16th Street, from the Monon to Andrew J. Brown, every vacant lot/building, existing business, street lane, and sidewalk is part of the stage for this annual full-day event as a partnership between the Harrison Center and local theater groups and neighbors.

Harrison Center is a force for cultural development in Indianapolis and a model for community arts, education, and urban revitalization programs across America.

Courtland Blade received his MFA from the school of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in affiliation with Tufts University in 2011. A painter, Blade works primarily with oil, and his work has been shown nationally and internationally and is in various public and private collections. Recently Blade’s work deals with spaces within benign areas and places of transience around Indianapolis.