On a 20-degree morning, groups of 50 at a time arrived at a secret location to learn about a hidden gem in Indianapolis. One hundred fifty adventurers in all would arrive for a short introduction and interactive experience from those who organized each of the three site experiences that made up this year’s WFYI Spirited Chase event. On November 10th, ROW and The daVinci Pursuit were pleased to play host to this event as part of the 10th annual Spirit and Place Festival.
The location for this portion of the “chase” was Spades Park, a site which has been a focus for the Pogue’s Run Waterway Committee and other partners (noted in the Cummins article above) for six years. Attendees enthusiastically came to the site ready to learn something new about their city. Once there, they learned a bit about the waterway work happening all across Indianapolis and how they might engage in volunteer efforts through ROW’s committees.
Then, The daVinci Pursuit led them in an exercise to look at their surroundings in a new way and sketch what they saw. No matter what the subject matter, be it Pogue’s Run waterway, a tree, or a bridge, and no matter what artistic skill level they brought, all seemed to enjoy an opportunity to slow down and be present in the moment, appreciating this mostly unknown space. One highlight of the day was when a Cooper’s hawk seemed to pose on a wire for an extended time, just before dive-bombing for its breakfast in Pogue’s Run.
ROW was so pleased to work with WFYI and The daVinci Pursuit and to be included as a site for this fun annual event. It was exciting to see so many people come out on the first chilly morning of the winter season to experience nature and connect with our waterways for the first time or in a new way.