She Helped Shape Art in Indianapolis | Joanna Taft, Harrison Center for the Arts
Release Date: 03/18/2026
He Quit His Dream Job After 9 Months – Then This Took Off | Michael Green, Flags For Good
Get IN. with Nate Spangle
On today’s show I sat down with Michael Green, founder of Flags For Good, a purpose-driven flag company that donates proceeds to social causes. Green shares how his background in branding and a 2019 TEDx talk led him to start the business as a side hustle, which grew through SEO and viral TikTok content and eventually prompted him to leave his Texas A&M athletics “dream job” after nine moFnths. We discuss vexillology, why flag design is objective, what makes good and bad state flags (including Indiana), and how symbols build belonging. Green recounts moving to Indiana, finding...
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The Third-Largest Parade in the U.S. – And Most People Miss It | Dave Neff, 500 Festival
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On today’s show I sat down with Dave Neff, the new president and CEO of the 500 Festival, a community and civic organization that produces events to enrich the lives of Hoosiers, drive community impact, and celebrate the spirit of the Indy 500. Neff dives into the organization’s 70-year history, its origin inspired by the Kentucky Derby Festival, and his career path through Pacers Sports & Entertainment, ExactTarget, EDGE Mentoring, Prolific, and Purdue’s NIL collective Boilermaker Alliance. Neff explains the 500 Festival’s role in community engagement around the Indy 500,...
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Why Celebrities Keep Coming to Muncie | President Mearns, Ball State University
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Chirp chirp! On today’s show I sat down with Ball State University President Geoffrey S. Mearns to learn why he chose Ball State and Muncie, emphasizing education’s transformational power, Ball State’s residential campus, and the university’s responsibility to support community growth. President Mearns explains Ball State’s origins from the Ball Brothers’ 1917 gift, its continuing strength in teacher education, and high Indiana retention among graduates. He dives into Ball State’s nationally recognized media and Sports Link programs and alumni engagement, including David...
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The Life-Changing Call that Led Him to the World Cup | Bryce Campbell, USA Rugby
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On today’s show I sat down with retired USA Rugby center Bryce Campbell, who earned 48 caps, played over 100 pro matches, and most recently suited up for the Chicago Hounds before retiring in 2025 and returning to Indianapolis to help revive Kuntz Stadium. Campbell remembers discovering rugby at Broad Ripple Park with the Royal Irish, winning a national title, and playing club rugby at Indiana University. Study abroad in Sydney then led to USA Selects, a call from Irish rugby legend Declan Kidney, his first cap against Romania, and a career that included driving Uber early on, signing with...
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After Losing His Best Man, He Built Something Bigger | Tom Hanley, Nine13sports
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On today’s show I sat down with Tom Hanley, a Marian University alum and four-time track cycling national champion who founded Indianapolis nonprofit Nine13sports to get kids active and teach life skills through cycling. Hanley shares how he got into cycling as a kid, Marian’s prominence in collegiate cycling, and his elite racing path before a tragic party-bus crash on his wedding day killed his best man and left Hanley with crushed vertebrae and a brain injury, ending his cycling career. He explains channeling grief into launching Nine13sports in 2012, including the Kids Riding Bikes...
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Get Indiana From Founding to the Future
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On today’s show I sat down with my colleague Cheyne Reiter to share a behind-the-scenes deep dive into Get Indiana’s rapid growth, from its origins as a Powderkeg business podcast launched in March 2023 to a broader statewide media brand with a website, newsletters and socials launched in 2025. We outline the company’s ecosystem, with almost 300,000 combined social followers across 10 social accounts, a statewide newsletter and multiple localized newsletters reaching over 25,000 Hoosiers, daily blog posts from a team of writers, and an advertiser-supported model. We announce the Get...
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How Can a Fast-Growing Town Keep Its Identity? | John Stehr, Zionsville Mayor
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On today’s show I sat down with Zionsville mayor John Stehr, who has prioritized the city’s small-town identity despite its population more than doubling since 2010. A former TV journalist of 42 years and longtime WTHR anchor, Stehr was elected as the mayor of Zionsville in 2023 after running on better communication, civility, and responsible growth. He recalls his broadcasting path from Pittsburgh through multiple markets, his view of news, and why he left as media economics and opinion pressures increased. John explains how serving on the parks board revealed communication gaps that...
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He Gave 10,000 Shoes to Kids in Need | Casey Crouse, New Shoe Day
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On today’s show I sat down with Casey Crouse, founder and executive director of New Shoe Day, about ending shoe insecurity for Hoosier youth so kids can move, participate, and thrive with dignity. Casey traces his life of service to the 2005 death of his sister Ashley, an IU Dance Marathon leader, and how launching Carmel High School Dance Marathon in her honor led him to IU and eventually becoming IUDM president in 2009. In 2020, Casey and Trevor Dewitt created “1001 City,” running 10 miles a day for 100 days across Indianapolis, meeting residents and sparking the “New Shoe Day”...
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Inside Indiana’s Biggest Tech Night… and What’s Changing for Startups | Chelsea Linder, TechPoint
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On today’s show I sat down with Chelsea Linder, VP of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at TechPoint, to preview the 27th annual Mira Awards (April 24 at the Palladium in Carmel), which spotlights Indiana’s digital economy across innovation, talent, and community. Chelsea discusses TechPoint’s mission, talent programs like the externship, and how the Mira Awards evolved into a larger gala as the ecosystem grew, including the long-running Trailblazer Award and past standouts like Republic Airways and SEP. She outlines new 2026 awards with CICP partners, including an Innovation with AI award...
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25 Million Gallons a Day – Panic vs. Reality | Steven Berube (Citizens Energy Group) and Dr. Bob Holden (Wessler Engineering)
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On today’s show I sat down with Steve Berube of Citizens Energy Group and Dr. Bob Holden of Wessler Engineering about water infrastructure needed for Lebanon’s LEAP District. Citizens was asked in late 2024 to supply up to 25 million gallons per day to Lebanon, which currently uses under 5 million, with delivery planned at 2 MGD by 2027, 10 MGD by 2028, and 25 MGD by 2031. They explain Lebanon’s long-standing “water desert” challenges, how Citizens’ 10 treatment plants and expansions at T.W. Moses Water Treatment Plant near Eagle Creek and White River North will support demand, and...
info_outlineOn 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:
Elements Financial
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
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