Hi everybody.

I'm Ed Leon.

Welcome to the 260, where we cover life and community in northeast Indiana.

On this episode, an overview of the $10.6 million in arts and culture funding coming to Northeast Indiana, a car show for the car lover in us all, and a look at the tattoo culture that is thriving all around the region.

It's all right now on the 260.

On July 14th, Governor Braun announced one of the biggest investments ever made in Indiana's creative economy, using funds from the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, the state has committed roughly $65 million to arts and culture projects not simply because they're beautiful, but because they're powerful economic drivers.

10.6 million of those dollars are coming to northeast Indiana in the form of grants for six projects, including one for us here at PBS Fort Wayne.

Here for the details are two of the leaders of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, which had a hand in securing the grants.

Jacob Ihrie, senior director of regional initiatives and executive director of the Regional Development Authority, and Jonathan Sackett, chief marketing, communications and brand officer.

Welcome to The 260 guys.

Thank you so much.

So this is a lot of money.

Is this Indiana's biggest investment ever?

In arts and culture.

It is.

And it's a really exciting partnership.

So it's it's on the back of the ready program.

Right.

Where is that money from.

Where does that money come from.

So this came from the Lilly Endowment Fund.

And it's a very fun mechanism where that fund is made up, you know, largely by Eli Lilly stock.

So every time something happens there's a there's an increase in the stock price, a certain amount of money has to be given away.

The Lilly Foundation chose to put that with the IEDC, which has been partners of ours for forever now, and to get that into the community via the READI backbone.

Jonathan, why why is this a big deal for Northeast Indiana?

Well, I mean, it is for northeast Indiana.

It is for NEI itself.

I know Im perfectly branded, by the way.

Ed: Nicely done.

But I expect no less.

Thank you.

The truth of the matter is, is that we are charged with not only expansion of businesses to move to our area, but also for them to expand while they're here and have them stay.

The truth of the matter is, when corporations are looking to expand, they're not just looking for plots of land.

They're not just looking for empty buildings.

They're looking for culture, arts and culture things to do.

And it's a major, major selling point for us.

Ed: Quality of life.

So you were instrumental in the proposals that that got seen right, because you helped align them and contextualize them.

For all the people in northeast Indiana who made proposals, who voted on it ultimately.

Yeah.

So this was a different process than how it typically goes.

Typically, our regional body makes the decision which is the RDA, the Regional Development Authority.

In this case, we were kind of given the unfunded mandate to do the first part of the projects, assess how they aligned with the regional plan, pass on that information to the IEDC and the IEDC and the Indiana Arts Commission, kind of had a joint review board for final decision making, and of which you were one of the award winner and there were five other ones So let's talk about the projects.

And you know what?

I didn't know what order to talk about them in.

So we're going to go in the order that there's a big, big presentation booklet.

And this is the order they and they started with the city of Bluffton and their projector project.

Yeah.

So with Parlor City, that initiative, it's going to be the first, fixed fixture, projected mapping.

Ed: It's like a 3D projector that maps on, you know, like art onto a building facade.

Jonathan: Exactly.

And it's a living exhibit.

You know, the city has been great partners throughout the years, and I'm excited to see what they're going to be putting.

Ed: So their grant was $345,000, which which is great for them.

Yeah.

So the second the second proposal that was awarded was ours, PBS Fort Wayne, $750,000 for what we called it Arts 260, kind of aligning with the the brand of the show.

I mean, we're you know, we are a full blown television station.

We've been we've had a profile in arts and culture in this in this market for years and years and years.

So one of the initiatives that we have is called “In Performance”, and we're going to film a dozen theatrical performances, concerts.

And that's on the back of we have a mobile production unit.

Jonathan: That's what we saw in the submission.

And, you know, the question that I had was was similar to that.

But, you know, it seemed like the arts and culture might have been a stretch, but it sounds like it's not for PBS at all.

Ed: We've had a we've had a profile in arts and culture, you know, for, for decades.

So the next part of the project is the Arts 260 on this program, this very program, we will feature arts and culture content.

We've already been doing some of it, but we will have a regular diet of of of artists, you know, culture tastemakers and lifting their profile.

Part of the part of the beauty of our initiative is we get to amplify everybody Jonathan: Yeah.

Ed: And then we also have workforce development.

We're going to have apprenticeships here working in the in the production team.

We're going to have a documentarian in residence.

We're going to find a documentary filmmaker, bring their film in-house, help them finish it, get it to get it to to broadcast.

So that's big.

And then one thing that we're working in conjunction with the NIIC, which is the Northeast Indiana innovation community.

Yeah, it's it's an incubator for creatives.

So we're going to we're trying to help the, the train the creative workforce of Northeast Indiana.

Oh that's awesome.

We'd love to partner with you.

Yeah, absolutly, were going to be spending a lot of time talkin Youre not getting away from us now.

Also, Pearl Arts Center, Pearl Arts Incorporated got got a big grant.

Yeah, that's a that's a aspirational, massive project in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne.

Partnership between the Pearl Arts Center and, you know, Surak enterprises and two parter.

Yeah.

You know or go big or go home.

We're going to be seeing the renovation of the Scottish Rite Theater, which is incredibly exciting, historically prevalent building.

I had the chance to tour that, the interior of that theater.

And it's the same thing.

Yeah, yeah.

And then the other half is expanding the Pearl Arts training, training capabilities to kind of, you know, enhance that workforce development that you all are working on as well.

So part of the beauty of these, this initiative is that grants are throughout the northeast Indiana region.

In Wabash, there's the Honeywell Foundation, got a $4 million grant for a mixed use and creative space down there.

Yeah, also incredibly aspirational.

If you have a chance to, you know, check out what the Honeywell Foundation's doing, do it.

They're doing amazing work down there.

Wabash as a community is, you know, stepping it up in ways that unbelievable for a community of that size.

Ed: It's in their downtown district?

Jacob: Downtown cultural district mixed use project.

It's kind of got all of it.

Artist lofts.

Residency, a space for them to create and engage in the regional creative economy, which I've grown to love over the last year of putting this all together Right.

By the way, the Pearl Arts grant was $4 million.

We didn't we didn't mention that University of Saint Francis got the Creative Arts and digital Media pathway, got a $125,000 grant for their music technology collaboration.

Jacob: And that one is also all of our all of our awardees.

We're just wonderful.

That one is very innovative, very creative about connecting rural communities to the creative sector in ways that haven't traditionally happened.

I'll give you some background.

I'm sorry, but I was a rural guy.

I grew up in a farm town town of 2000, in northeast Indiana.

We didn't have access to what Saint Francis is looking to provide.

Mobile... There's a van, right?

The Van Gogh is going to the rural area, bringing... Bringing it to the people, which I think is an awesome.

That is an awesome concept.

Dual credit courses, you know, expanded curriculum, a real chance for these kids that don't have the access to all of the same stuff that necessarily urban city kids have access to.

So I'm really excited to see how that one comes through.

And we mentioned the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts there.

They got a $1.4 million grant to kind of renovate the theater and expand things there.

In that one started with a call.

A lot of these start with a. Call.

And we're talking to the wonderful staff there in I start hearing the thumping Ed: Thumping?

Jacob: Thumping.

And it's driving me a little crazy, but I go, what's that?

And they go, what's that thumping?

And Carrie was on the call.

Jonathan: We're working Jacob: And Carries on the call.

Ands he goes, oh, I'll tell them to stop.

I'll tell him, stop.

And I go No, what is that?

And she goes, oh, we're installing the conservatory floor.

Jonathan: Yeah.

Jacob: Well, the request was, you know, for for a facelift for their lobby, new restrooms, new sound system.

But we really stumbled upon what they were actually doing, which was finishing like a cultural landmark.

Right?

A cultural strategic plan.

And it's a complete revisioning that's going to let them continue for as long as they want to.

In the future.

So we're just at the beginning, this this can can go on for a couple of years, right.

The grants.

You're stuck with me til 2028 Jonathan: And hopefully longer You know the other thing too.

And if I could quickly say this, that Jake and his team, I don't want to call anything a bare knuckle fight.

But these guys came in and they really fought for all of these initiatives.

This is a big initiative on behalf of not just northeast northeast Indiana, but the state itself.

And for these guys being such advocates and NEI overall being advocates for the arts, it's huge for all of us.

And it's a it's a victory for you.

Of course, it's a victory for everyone.

Yeah, it's a win win for the for the entire region.

Thank you.

Thank you for your work.

Thank you for what you guys are doing.

We'll be keeping you up to date on these and other arts and culture stories on this very show.

It's part of our arts 260.

And so, gentlemen, thank you so much for being on the.

Program, Jacob: Thank you for having us.

All right, everybody, if you're a car enthusiast, this segment is bound to get your motor running.

One of Northeast Indiana's biggest automotive events is back.

The Fort Wayne Muddy River Run brings together hundreds of classic cars, hot rods, customs, trucks, vendors and thousands of spectators for a weekend that celebrates craftsmanship, horsepower and community.

Joining us is event organizer Mark Mendenhall to tell us what makes this year's Muddy River Run a must see event.

Welcome to The 260, Mark.

Thanks for having us Ed.

Before we get into the event, Northeast Indiana, talk about the car culture here.

It's it's it runs deep, doesn't it?

It does.

It's been obviously around decades.

It's huge in this area.

You know, from the events here in Fort Wayne, we have Auburn Cords Festival, things like that.

So this area is very, very car rich.

Ed: But you also have to have People who love restoring classic cars and, and, you know, customizing their cars.

Mark: It's a huge hobby.

There are locally probably thousands of custom cars, hot rods, trucks, things like that.

Ed: So the area is ripe for this kind of event.

How long is the Muddy River Run been going on?

What's the history of the event and what?

And the name, tell me about the name.

So originally it was the Fort Wayne Street Rod Association had this event for 50 years.

It ended back in 2014.

So it sat for about ten years.

We brought it back last year, 2024.

So this is actually our second year back with the event, the name of the three rivers of Fort Wayne.

So the Muddy River Run.

Ed: Why did it stop, by the way?

Mark: I think it was just timing It's really hard to get volunteers.

It's a lot of work.

People don't really, really realize how much work put into these things.

And and yeah, I think it was just a timing thing.

Ed: And you brought it back.

Were you surprised that it was so it was successful?

Right.

You got you got a lot of cars.

Mark: It was.

Yeah.

It was a very successful first year back.

Unfortunately.

We fought the weather.

It was hot, really hot weekend last year, but we still had a great turnout spectators and car wise.

So it was a lot of fun.

Ed: So tell me what goes on at the event.

Mark: So we again we register cars, bring them in hundreds of cars and we do judging.

So each car will be judged and there will be trophies at the end of the weekend awarded.

We'll have music and vendors and a swap meet and merch tables and it'll be fun.

Ed: So are you a gearhead yourse I am, yeah.

What are you what are your cars?

I probably my most favorite.

I have a 69 Camaro that I've restored and yeah, I love that car.

It's a lot of fun.

And people love old, old Camaro.

Ed: So what's the allure for you of restoring a car?

Oh, it's just it's just to start with nothing and end up with a, you know, a beautiful car and something you can go and enjoy.

And I've owned this car for probably the last 21 years, and it's one that will never go away.

I guess that that connection is what everybody brings their car in.

They have they have their own story.

Right?

Oh yeah.

If you if you come out to the show, take the time and talk to the people about it.

You like the car, ask the owner about it.

They love to talk about their cars.

Ed: For the uninitiated, it kind of looks like a parking lot somehow, right?

It's like there's there's just it's just jammed full of cars.

Mark: It is.

This year we're moving to the Memorial Coliseum, bigger area.

So, yeah, there'll be a lot of cars.

It will look like a big parking lot full of hot rods, rat rods, trucks, pickup motorcycles, anything custom.

Ed: And so if you bring is it a family event, bring the kids the whole the whole thing?

Absolutely.

Yep.

Yeah.

This year we've actually changed changed things around a little bit.

We're definitely trying to make it a family event.

The event is free.

Free admission to spectators.

The Coliseum does charge $8 parking fee, but the event is free to spectators.

Then there's registration fee for the for the cars, and that covers your trophies and all the ancillary things that go along with with putting one of these big shows on.

Ed: How do you so how do you differentiate this show from others?

Is there?

Do you have some kind of are you working up a themes, you work on themes, or is so an approach or or is it more of the Everybody comes and everybody's welcome.

Mark: Everybody's welcome to the show.

We're we're all inclusive.

We want everybody to be there.

You know, the car hobby has been around for decades.

And you know as guys are getting older we're kind of losing part of that hobby.

So we're really trying to make be all inclusive and get everybody come out, bring, you know, get the younger guys bringing their new cars out and get involved in the hobby.

It's a lot of fun.

You mean a lot of great people.

Yeah, yeah.

Ed: For folks who are out there and they may have they, they have this car in their mind and their imagination and they want to think about restoring.

Do you have advice for them to how to get started in this hobby?

Absolutely.

Come out to the show.

Find the car that you like.

Talk to the owner.

These guys love to talk about their cars and you can get just a ton of ideas.

See what you like, see what you don't like, and tailor yours to fit what you want and go for it.

That's awesome.

That sounds like a great plan.

The muddy River run is at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, August 8th and ninth.

Admission is free.

Mark, thank you so much for coming to The 260.

Mark: Thank you Once considered rebellious or even taboo, tattoos have become one of the fastest growing forms of personal expression.

Millions of Americans and thousands right here in northeast Indiana now, where their life stories on their sleeves.

Literally.

Here to talk about how tattoos moved from the margins into the mainstream is Mel Ott, a Fort Wayne tattoo artist at the Painted Lady studio, and Jake Farris, owner operator of Tattoo Fest Fort Wayne, which brings more than 200 tattoo artists from around the world to the Grand Wayne Center for a three day celebration of artistry, creativity and the culture of ink.

Hey, thank you for being on the 260 Both of you.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Yea absolutely Thanks for having us All right, so why I have tattoos become so popular.

Is it a generational thing?

What did I miss?

Where did it?

Where did this change happen?

I. You know, I think tattoos.

Have always had their own popularity.

You know, the boom kind of changes with generations.

You know, it's like we see tattoos go in waves and and different styles and things of expression continue to grow.

You know, the people that I look to and saw cool tattoos on were all my favorite rock stars in the 90s.

You know, and I was like, I've got to have tattoos.

The people that Mel saw maybe completely different, you know, it could have been I mean, I won't speak for you, but what influenced.

You to get tattoos?

Oh, Rock Stars.

Rock stars.

How about you?

Rock stars.

Rock stars, a different generation.

You went into becoming an artist.

What motivated you to become an artist?

I love cartooning, I love cartoons and media and animation, and I love that kind of.

So why not?

So do a graphic novel why skin as your canvas.

I don't know the the industry and the community that went along with it was so it's so cool.

I really love it.

It's it's a group of alternative people.

Ed: Well, but you know, you say alternative people, but, you know, I'm only in Fort Wayne for a year now, and this is a this is a town with a lot of tattoos.

And it's, you know, soccer moms.

I see them on soccer moms.

Right.

So it's it's become much more accepted.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, I think early on in tattooing in Indiana when it became legalized again in 97.

Ed: Right.

We saw an immediate boom of just people, you know, and we used to joke that tattoos aren't just for sailors and floozy anymore.

You know, they're there for everybody.

But I think the acceptance on who's allowed to wear a tattoo, you know, whether it's professional acceptance or, or your family accepting or whoever has continued to grow in ways that are totally different than the way the industry has grown.

Because... How so, how so?

So early on, the majority of our clients were hardworking, blue collar people, you know, especially with expendable income.

And Fort Wayne is a great town for that.

There's a lot of great blue collar jobs, which transitions to blue collar people owning and wearing tattoos.

Well, as your workplace opens back up and says, oh, tattoos aren't against our dress code policy anymore.

That may allow you to roll your sleeves up and have tattoos at work.

You know, and I think the acceptance that that's come from the quality of tattoos as well, you know, it's not the same old junky looking bad tattoo that someone wore because it aged poorly or it wasn't done.

Well, you know, there's been so much time in so many advancements in tattooing.

For those of us who are not tattooed.

What do tattoos mean for the people who get them?

Is that is that too broad of a question?

Oh, they mean everything.

You know, people get tattoos for so many different reasons.

They get them to celebrate.

They get them to show devotion.

They people get tattoos for intimidation, to look tough.

You know, they get them for beautification.

People get tattoos because it makes them feel better about themselves.

You know, every tattoo is as important as the person wearing it.

And the reasons, you know are so individual.

And I think that's what makes a tattoo festival or even our tattoo shops so such great places, because it's that place that you can go for that acceptance, where no matter why you're getting a tattoo or have a tattoo, it's always been okay.

You know, it doesn't matter what the reason is, it's okay.

But it's almost like every tattoo is inherently a story, right?

There's either there's a motivation behind it, or there's a story about what kinds of tattoos are people asking for in your shop or with you?

I would say a lot of things devoted to family, a lot of things that like, like you said, to celebrate, to mourn, to remember, or even sometimes people will come in and they'll be having a really great day and they'll want to remember a really great day with friends.

They'll bring, you know, 2 or 3 people a walk in, and then they're just like, let's all let's just have fun today.

So that's something I talk about at my shop, studio 13.

Tattoo all of the time is we've got to as as artists and as tattoo shop people.

We've got to remember that that day is special and important to that person.

And like you said, whether you're celebrating or your morning or they're showing devotion, we're there and we're a part of it, you know, and it's it really helps us escape the doldrums of an everyday work life.

Because every single day you're getting to do something, you're celebrating someone's verse anniversary, you're celebrating their divorce, you're celebrating a person that they cared or loved about, or helping them show their faith or devotion.

Talk to me about what's going to happen at Tattoo Fest.

There's so it seems like so much going on.

Oh it's fantastic.

One of my favorite things is being there and being able to see so many people that live and work right here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, making tattoos every day under one roof.

I always use the explanation it's like the largest tattoo shop you've ever been to.

Yeah.

You know, so not only are there a lot of fun things happening, like contest for tattooers and contests for people that are wearing tattoos to be able to show off their work.

There's vendors, there's other artists that are adjacent to tattooing and and even unrelated to tattooing.

I always have comic book artists and, you know, people that are just fine art painters, you know, involved.

But the coolest part is having so many tattooers under one roof the inspiration that comes from being with your people.

And I think for the general public, they get that same thing.

Their people are the people that are there getting tattoos, loving tattoos, being able to show the self-expression of wearing tattoos.

You know, I think it's it's just an energy that you just can't really explain until you're in there.

And do you really bring artists from around the world to this thing?

We do.

We always have several artists that fly into Fort Wayne, Indiana, little old Fort Wayne, Indiana.

But, you know, I've been in the tattoo industry for a long time.

My tattoo shop opened in 1999.

Right.

You know, it's it's cool to be able to encourage my friends to come to my hometown and to be able to bring tattooer that are world class tattooers that people know and love in other parts of the world, to Fort Wayne.

And for the client, there's a major benefit.

There's no expenses.

Yeah, you don't have to fly to them.

You don't have to stay.

You know, you don't have to go to Italy to get a tattoo from a guy from Italy that weekend.

Because hes here.

By the way, how big is the economy?

The Fort Wayne tattoo economy.

You know, it's.

How many shops it's like.

Do you have a sense of that.

Kind of a lot?

Yeah.

I know some people from Indianapolis will tell me they come to Fort Wayne to get tattooed because of the variety of shops that.

Are here.

Yeah.

The good thing about Fort Wayne is we've always had a strong tattoo culture.

You know, when when tattooing became legalized in Indiana, we quickly ended up with very good tattooers.

And those very good tattooers brought the right people into tattooing, you know.

So the quality of tattoo in Fort Wayne, Indiana has always been ahead of the curve.

You know, there's always been really, really great artists for the size of town that we are.

Wow.

Well, I want to I want you to show some of your tattoos to the cameras while I ask this question.

Is there is there a style of like, of tattoo that is trending right now, or is it, is it all across the board?

Is it.

I'm old.

I don't have.

No, no.

Is there a new style.

That has popped up over time?

I think, you know, smaller.

You can get it in one session and own it and be done.

You know?

I mean, you want to see tattoos.

We can show tattoos off.

You know, I have tattoos.

That.

Cover my my.

Whole front.

Ed: Can I see?

Sure.

I mean, we can get there, Ed: Wow, thats so colorful.

You know, it's this is one cohesive piece.

Yes.

What is and not that that's not popular now, but what's becoming popular is that one tattoo where you can go in and you get it done.

You don't have to make multiple trips.

You're able to collect something from, say, everyone that works in a shop, or to be able to have a piece that you where you know, like stickers on luggage, almost to a degree.

Yeah.

Final thoughts for people that might be thinking they're on the fence about a tattoo and and maybe they should go down to the festival and, and they're going to see a vast variety.

Because I've seen on your website the amazing diversity of styles and artists.

You have a great thing about the tattoo fest is you're going to see tattoos in every single style.

You know, no matter what you've thought up in your brain, you're going to be able to find an artist there that makes that type of tattoo.

Ed: All right.

And I think one of the even cooler things is, even if you're not ready for the tattoo that day, so many of the local artists are going to be there.

So you have the ability to meet them, get to know them, see them in an environment where it just seemed like, hey, this is the easy spot to run into because I know sometimes there's intimidation to want to walk into a tattoo shop for your first tattoo.

Yes, this you can walk around, you can be as incognito as you want, but you have that chance to be able to meet the right person to do your tattoo, maybe even a year from now.

All right, well, thank you both for being on The 260 And you look you look awesome.

Tattoo fest Fort Wayne happens August 14th and 16th at the Grand Wayne Convention Center.

Info is at Fort Wayne tattoo.com.

That's it for now.

Thank you for watching and I'll see you next time on the 260.