pport for"Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!

>> BRANDON: Coming up, learn about a historic Hoosier automobile.

>> ASHLEY: Meet an upcycling artist with a flair for pop culture.

>> BRANDON: And taste a unique Indiana delicacy.

>> ASHLEY: That's all on this episode of -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana"!

♪ >> ASHLEY: Welcome to "Journey Indiana."

I'm Ashley Chilla.

>> BRANDON: And I'm Brandon Wentz.

And we're coming to you from the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis.

Since 1989, the Eiteljorg Museum has been dedicated to displaying art of the American West and Indigenous peoples of North America.

The museum's collection includes artists such as T.C.

Cannon, N.C. Wyeth and Georgia O'Keeffe.

And we will learn all about this museum in just a bit.

>> ASHLEY: But first, we're headed back in time, where producer Tyler Lake brings us the story of the Stutz Motor Car Company.

♪ >> On May 30th, 1911, Ray Harroun won the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in a Marmon Wasp, but the car that came in 11th place was a little different.

The team behind it didn't have time to do proper testing, and in a move of either practical desperation or marketing flair, they drove it to the track on its own four tires.

It was the splendid Stutz Bearcat, the car that made good in a day.

The Bearcat was the creation of inventor, salesman, and entrepreneur Harry C. Stutz.

Born in Ohio in 1876, Stutz was almost destined to be a pioneer of the motoring age.

>> He made his first car in 1902 in Ohio, his native state.

And then quickly sold it to an Indiana firm, which then moved to Indianapolis, and then that started this career path.

>> New to Indianapolis, Harry got to work founding the Stutz Auto Parts Company, to make his revolutionary transaxle, and he was in the right place at the right time.

>> With the advent of the automobile, business and manufacturing business in the Midwest, particularly Indianapolis, it became the hotbed for manufacturing.

>> Harry realized his auto parts business didn't consume all his time.

So he took a position as a factory manager at the Marion Motor Car Company.

The owners of that factory were working on something else at the time.

>> The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the brainchild of an entrepreneur named Carl Fisher, and he had this idea to build a test track to compete purpose built or production built vehicles to not only show the audience or the visitors what they could purchase in the sales room, but also improve the American auto industry, because it was lacking against its European competitors.

>> So with little notice, Harry went to work on the first Bearcat in April of 1911, and just five weeks later, drove past the showroom floor and straight to the raceway.

>> Stutz created this prototype car and Gil Anderson finished 11th in that race, which was just outside of the money paying positions, but it was enough to show Harry Stutz that he had something.

>> Harry left his job at Marion, and he and his new car company were off to the races.

>> Prototype Stutz, or what they called at the time, The Ideal Motor Car Company, that was a great example of this idea that Harry put together, built this car.

It was something that you would see on the road, minus headlamps and fenders and things like that.

>> With a new factory in Indianapolis, the Stutz Motor Car Company started building road-ready versions of that race car, and the Bearcat became an instant classic.

>> What stands out to me and most Stutz owners are their stance and their magnitude as being sturdy and somewhat brute, but yet beautiful at the same time.

That was a very rare quality.

This Auburn behind me is a beautiful, beautiful car.

It doesn't quite have the presence of a Stutz.

>> And to prove the prowess of the Bearcat, Harry fielded a race team that took first place in the 1913 and 1915 National AAA Championships.

Erwin "Cannon Ball" Baker, a native Hoosier, did his first run from L.A. to New York City in a Bearcat, a testament to the speed and reliability of the sturdy Stutz.

In 1916, Stutz shares went up on the New York Stock Exchange, and by 1919, control of the firm had changed hands.

Harry Stutz, frustrated by the new management style, resigned.

Harry Stutz passed away in 1930, after a career of booms and busts, highs and lows, and everything from race cars to fire engines.

In 1920, the fallout of a disastrous stock shorting scandal upended the company's management.

The newly reorganized firm took a different track marketing what they called Safety Stutz.

>> The safety components that they put into the cars, they were a bit ahead of their time when it comes to that.

Their transaxle that Harry Stutz developed and would use in his cars, that was really before its time, when you think about it.

There's a lot of cars today that still use a transaxle design.

It's neat to look back at these old cars and be like, man, they were doing this back now 100, 90 years ago.

>> In 1926, Stutz sales peaked with over 5,000 cars rolling off the line, touting new body styles, safer designs and bigger engines.

The Stutz became the car of choice for many well-healed motorists of the age.

>> They were making high-tech fast cars, but they were adding a lot of what we would consider now elegance and style that you wouldn't really see with an American car at the time.

>> In 1928, a Stutz Blackhawk finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a feat that would not be topped by an American car company for almost 40 years.

By 1935, The Great Depression and shifting tastes spelled the end of the road for Stutz, but not before building more than 35,000 cars in a dizzying variety flavors.

In the early 1970s, the Stutz nameplate was resurrected, sharing little beyond brand and model names, these new ultra luxurious vehicles drew on the Stutz reputation to sell extravagantly expensive automobiles to America's wealthiest consumers.

>> Elvis Presley bought the first two.

Frank Sinatra owned one.

It was the car of the Rat Pack.

They were designed and the bodies built in Italy, shipped over here, and then coupled with either Cadillac or Pontiac drivetrains.

>> Over 100 years later, the legacy of the splendid Stutz has far out lived their production run and the life of their eccentric creator.

They stand now as monuments to a bygone era of Hoosier motoring excellence.

>> BRANDON: Ashley, have you ever been so pressed on a deadline, like they were with this car, that instead of finishing it and taking it to the show lot, that you went directly to the race?

>> ASHLEY: I can't think of a time that I've ever been in that kind of situation.

Though, I appreciate, you know, the tenacity that they had for that.

Want to learn more?

Visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum at the address on your screen.

>> BRANDON: Earlier, we caught up with Elisa Phelps, Vice President and Chief Curatorial Officer at the Eiteljorg to learn more about this amazing museum.

♪ >> The Eiteljorg Museum is a museum of art of the American West and Native American art.

We focus a lot on contemporary art and contemporary -- and living artists, but we also have wonderful historic items in our collection.

Our mission has been to build awareness and understanding of the art history and cultures of the American West and Native America, and to do that, we collect, preserve, and interpret the items, the art, and objects, and we also present programs and exhibitions and public events.

The museum opened with approximately 2,000 items in the collection in 1989, and today, we have approximately 10,000 items.

So we've had some wonderful growth and donations and opportunities to acquire pieces, but it just -- the time was right.

We're one of the only institutions east of the Mississippi that focus on these subjects.

And so it was a unique opportunity to share the art, history and culture of Native America and the West with the Midwest.

We bring in temporary exhibits, and we do our own temporary exhibits.

And we have some of really the masters of native art, T.C.

Cannon, Kay WalkingStick, Rick Bartow, Fritz Scholder.

When folks visit the museum, they do gain a new perspective.

They recognize that life in the West was much more diverse than, you know, what you might have grown up with on television, where it's cowboys and Indians fighting against each other.

There was great diversity, cultural diversity in the West, in historic times and today.

We want folks to understand and recognize that Native Peoples are still here.

And I think it's important to recognize that and to celebrate and value their cultures and lives and beautiful art.

>> ASHLEY: Brandon, I don't know if you feel this as well, but when you walk into this museum, there's like an energy about it.

I don't know if it's the type of art that's here or how the building is set up, but there's certainly a really cool energy when you walk in the building.

Pick them too early, tart taste.

Head over to Eiteljorg.org.

>> ASHLEY: Up next, producer Nick Deel takes us to Lawrence County to experience the Mitchell Persimmon Festival.

♪ >> The Mitchell Persimmon Festival is a fall tradition not to be missed.

Sidewalks are packed with vendor selling fall treats and a parade stretches on for blocks through this small southern Indiana town.

But it's on the other side of Mitchell where the real action is happening, where home bakers are competing in the annual persimmon pudding >> Good luck.

>> This Indiana delicacy, much like English puddings, isn't much more than flour, sugar, spices and, of course, persimmons, but the final results vary wildly.

♪ >> This one here is good.

It's coloring.

There's not hardly any tears in it at all, and the top of it is beautiful, smooth, beautiful color.

And I bet the taste is almost as delicious as the pudding looks.

>> Alverta Hart has been involved in the persimmon pudding contest for decades.

She won first place in 1992, and is overseeing this year's judging.

Im looking for them to be the same size all the way around.

and not be lopsided on one side.

I want it to be a perfect piece.

And sometimes you cant have tha I dont care if you try, if you if you made a hundred puddings, youre not going to have that.

>> But what really goes into making the perfect persimmon pudding?

First, you are going to need some persimmons.

>> These persimmons are about the common size you see on most trees.

>> Jane Root was the Mitchell Persimmon Pudding Champion of 2021.

She knows all too well that the quality of your persimmons can make or break a recipe.

Make sure, number one, they are always on the ground.

You don't want to pick off the tree, because they will be green.

And I usually remove the cap -- called the cap and the bottom stem.

You can do that once you get home, but one less project you have to do.

>> While many local stores in southern Indiana sell frozen persimmon pulp, many bakers still hunt for the fruit themselves.

American persimmons grow abundantly in southern Indiana on trees that can grow 60 feet tall and 35 feet wide.

These persimmons have a light, sweet flavor, similar to an apricot.

When the fruit is ripe, it will fall from the tree.

Pick them too early, and they will have an overwhelmingly tart taste.

>> One unripe persimmon can ruin a whole pudding.

♪ And the best way to do it is to get in there and smash 'em.

>> Persimmon pudding recipes are often passed down through the generations.

>> Buttermilk first.

>> Jane's recipe -- >> Baking soda.

>> -- comes from her mother-in-law.

>> A cup of milk.

Two cups of the pulp.

Two cups of sugar.

Two eggs.

Everybody has their own different method of making a persimmon pudding.

A dash of cinnamon.

Vanilla extract.

I think the secret to a really good persimmon pudding is not to overbake it.

That is it.

I'm sure there are other things that people will say, but to me, not to overbake the pudding.

Usually 50 minutes.

And that is a persimmon pudding.

♪ >> Back in Mitchell, the judges are getting down to work.

♪ >> That one.

>> That one's not bad either.

>> From dozens of entries, the puddings are eventually whittled down to three.

>> What are we looking for when we taste the pudding?

The main thing, you want to taste the persimmons.

You want to taste whether they are sweet or are they going to be puckery?

And you want it to be inviting.

Just like if you are having company, do I really want to serve this or do I want to pitch it?

>> I think that's the thing.

I don't think the sugar got mixed well.

>> Yeah.

>> That's gotta go.

♪ >> That's... >> That's not bad.

>> That's good.

Winners are announced at the closing ceremony of the Persimmon Festival and receive cash prizes, bragging rights, and the knowledge that they are helping to carry on a Mitchell tradition.

>> My mim used to make me persimmon puddings growing up.

So when I married my husband, the property that we are on now, we have six trees.

So it produces quite a few persimmons.

So I think the secret is that we have fresh.

So we picked the persimmons yesterday, before the contest, and ran them through the colander.

So we have fresh pulp.

Wasn't frozen, and right into the contest.

It feels pretty good.

I got second, so Im not sure, I think I can enter again next year maybe and try for firs Well see how it goes.

>> ASHLEY: Okay, Brandon.

They've given us some persimmon pudding to try.

>> BRANDON: Have you ever had it before?

>> ASHLEY: I haven't had persimmon pudding.

I have had persimmon goods, baked goods, and I really liked them.

So I'm very much looking forward to this.

So we're going to try a little bit here.

I mean, that's fall right there.

That is Indiana fall right there.

>> BRANDON: Yeah, yeah.

>> ASHLEY: Are you a fan?

>> BRANDON: I am.

This is very good.

>> ASHLEY: All right.

We are going to continue eating this later.

>> BRANDON: Yeah, we'll be back.

>> ASHLEY: Want to get your hands on the winning recipe?

Just go to persimmonfestival.org.

>> BRANDON: Up next, we're back here in Indianapolis, where producer Adam Carroll introduces us to upcycle artist, Gabriel Dishaw.

>> I find that this process is very meditative for me.

As I get into the studio, whether it's disassembling something, getting inspiration from that, and reassembling that into something new, or reimagined, I get a lot of fulfillment out of that.

It's not actually even the end product for me.

It's really about continuing to kind of scratch that itch.

>> And Gabriel Dishaw has scratched that itch since high school.

In his teen years, he started upcycling old computer parts and turning them into sculptures.

And a trip to an antique shop in Michigan brought him into contact with some classic Louis Vuitton luggage, and an idea to repurpose designer handbags into custom masks and other pieces of art.

His love for pop art and upscale pushes him forward.

>> Typically, the sculpture will start with, I've landed on a color palette, and then from there as I start to disassemble and start to interact with kind of the materials.

So, you know, I've got a bunch of luxury bags over here and disassembled, kind of my graveyard of old luggage.

As I'm kind of going through that process and digging around and exploring, I'm also going to get some influences from that.

Right?

I'm going to get some cues from the materials, and I'm going to start to draw that in.

As I'm starting to kind of then assemble and put this together, I'm going to start to discern patterns and kind of the shape of the helmet, what do I kind of want to start to achieve or kind of accent?

And then that's kind of the first, what I would call, layer.

Then I start to work on trim.

I start to build out more texture and edges and so forth.

Also like to try and hide some of my crime.

So it starts out a little more crude in placement and then I'm going to refine, refine, refine.

You know, I'm looking for symmetry.

I'm looking for, as these colors, are they working?

Is there enough contrast?

As I'm starting to play through that, this is all happening throughout the creative process.

As I get that kind of refined and in a good place, then what's really interesting that kind of occurs, is I start the process of kind of the next phase of this, is sealing.

When I seal it, it pops.

It pops in a different way.

Different accents are coming out.

So there's always kind of this surprise that occurs at the end as I'm putting this together as that final seal comes in, whether it's more matte, whether it's shiny.

Those are all things that I can control and pull those levers.

>> The refinement over the years is what makes Gabriel's art so intriguing.

From bottom to top, his art is about technique and learning.

Even as he grows in his abilities, he's always discovering new things.

>> There's always kind of this reflective process that does occur, especially as you look at old work and reflect back on it.

There are always opportunities as you gain more experience or maybe that you polished something and you found solutions for, you might have maybe approached that slightly different, and it's not really negative.

It's just that we are on this journey of continuing to kind of evolve.

One of that would be just my skill set in using tools.

>> Gabriel has begun to integrate all aspects of production in a building behind his house.

From a photography space, 3D printer, and spray paint booth, he can see the project from start to finish.

These extra amenities allow Gabriel to focus on the art and let the work flow.

One of the most important parts of his work is commissions.

>> Commission work is kind of a double-edged sword.

You are entering into this kind of agreement or relationship in which, you know, you want it to be successful for both people, right, fulfill what that person who is commissioning or wants of you, but then you also get to have the creative license.

You get the ability to kind of show off what you can do, and have that ability to kind of -- and the flexibility not to have something completely dictated by someone else.

So there's this, like, balance, right?

So I find with commissioned work that, it's really that upfront kind of conversation around what are -- what are we kind of working towards?

And is this going to be a good fit?

And in most cases, it is.

I think the best scenario that works out for me is someone who either comes to you with not only just this passion for what I do and supporting that, but that they have this idea that they want something unique from me, and they allow for me and my creativity to kind of flourish.

I have run into situations where, obviously, you know, things didn't work out.

An example would be where a client is really interested in maybe dictating the entire sculpture.

Essentially, Gabriel, color in the numbers.

That really is not something that I'm really interested in kind of pursuing because it really constrains me, right?

And typically when somebody has a vision in their mind, even though I may be able to reproduce elements of it, it just usually doesn't end up in the quality that I'm kind of chasing.

Each of my sculptures are one of one.

So, you know, some folks are interested in maybe a piece that I have done in the past.

And usually I explain to them, you know, this is -- this is my -- my craft doesn't allow me to just reproduce the same piece.

>> His one of one production allows his work and his pieces to transcend most mediums, from features and out-of-town art shows, to being displayed and worn by artist T-Pain and film directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

♪ >> It's not a job to me.

It's not work.

When I get into the studio, it really is a meditative process for me.

I get a lot of satisfaction through the process, and I hope that continues.

I think it's super fulfilling.

There is a part of that, that is part of the process that I really enjoy, this idea that as you create something, you put all of this time and energy and refinement into it, and then at the end of the day, someone cherishes this object, right?

They put it on their mantle.

They put it out there for everyone to see.

They share it with new people that are visiting their home.

I get a lot of fulfillment out of that.

I think that is really just awesome, and I think that's part of, you know, my legacy, right, that at the end of the day, these things will live on and be cherished.

♪ >> BRANDON: Look, on this show, I have made it no secret that I am a love of almost everything nerdy.

When I saw this piece, believe me, I have already been to his website to see what items he has for sale, and they are beautiful!

You can learn more and maybe request a sculpture at Gabrieldishaw.com.

>> ASHLEY: And as always, we'd like to encourage you to stay connected with us.

>> BRANDON: Just head over to JourneyIndiana.org.

There you can see full episodes, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and suggest stories from your neck of the woods.

>> ASHLEY: We also have a map feature that allows you to see where we've been and to plan your own Indiana adventures.

>> BRANDON: Well, Ashley, there is a lot to see here, and my understanding is that what's on display is only 5% of what they've got.

So we better get started.

We'll see you next time on "Journey Indiana."

♪ >> Production support for "Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!