This time of year in Midtown has its own special rhythm. The trees may be bare, but the neighborhoods are full of light and life, with shop windows glowing, friends gathering over coffee, and neighbors finding new ways to connect. It’s a season for gratitude, reflection, celebration, and for supporting the local places and people who make our community shine.
As the holidays approach and a new year begins, we encourage you to shop, dine, and celebrate close to home. Midtown’s small businesses are the heartbeat of our local economy and the anchors of our neighborhoods. Every purchase, every shared meal, and every word of encouragement helps sustain the vibrancy that makes this community so special.
In this issue of Midtown Indy Magazine, we’re proud to showcase the winners of the 2025 Best of Midtown Indy Awards, recognizing the people, places, and spaces that inspire pride and joy across our district. You’ll also find our Year in Review spread, highlighting the many ways Midtown Indy, Inc. and our partners have worked together this year to strengthen the Midtown region.
As we close out the year and look ahead to what’s next, we hope this issue reminds you of all that’s possible when neighbors, businesses, and community partners come together with a shared purpose. Midtown continues to grow and thrive because of your energy, your creativity, and your care.
Enjoy this inspirational season in Midtown, and enjoy this issue. As always, we’d love to hear from you. Share your feedback or ideas with us anytime at info@midtownindy.org.
Midtown Indy Magazine is an independent community advocacy publication that supports all Midtown Indianapolis neighborhoods. The magazine is published by the 501(c) (3) nonprofit communty service organization Midtown Indianapolis, Inc. to support the organization’s mission: “To cultivate an equitable, healthy, and sustainable community in which stakeholders of all incomes, races, and ethnicities have access to the opportunities, services, and amenities they need to thrive.”
Publisher: Midtown Indianapolis, Inc.
Managing Editors: Rachel Dickerson, Rachel@midtownindy.org, Julia Davenport-Drake
Contributors: Alissa Moody, Bo Boroski, Chelsey Wetzel, Elizabeth M. Vos, Jim Grim, Line One PR, Marc Ransford, Mark Apple, Susan Martinez
Julia Davenport-Drake
ChildrenatPlay Campaign Aims to Revitalize DayEarlyLearning Outdoor Space
Generations of Midtown children have thrived at the Day Early Learning Lilly Family Center in the heart of Mapleton-Fall Creek. For more than 60 years, the school has nurtured infants, toddlers and preschoolers through early childhood care and education.
“Being a part of this neighborhood is incredibly special because it's where our families are,” said school leader Kat Christian. “Children who have graduated to kindergarten still stop by to say hi – even years later! It’s a great joy to see these children again and hear about the successes they are having in school because they were here.”
Now, the ChildrenatPlay fundraising campaign aims to bring much-needed enhancements to the school’s outdoor space. With community support, the school is planning a full outdoor play area renovation, including new nature-inspired play equipment that blends with the natural setting and takes advantage of the school’s green space.
Research shows outdoor play is critical to early childhood development. Unstructured play in safe, engaging spaces inspires creativity, fosters resilience and encourages problem-solving. Expanding education beyond the classroom gives children the chance to experience the wonder of the natural world – exploring shadows falling across the grass, following a butterfly’s flight and leaping from stump to stump.
“The playground is a place for students to move their bodies, to run and jump and climb – where a different type of learning takes place. I’m truly excited to see their faces when they see the space for the first time,” said Christian.
Midtown residents can support the campaign in two ways:
Donate to Children at Play: Scan the QR code to learn more. Every gift, no matter the size, moves the project forward.
Share your story: Did you or your child attend the Lilly Family Center? Share your favorite memories, teachers or lessons learned. Email marketing@earlylearningindiana.org.
Boldly Butler: A Shared Future for Campus and Community
Content Provided by Mark Apple
For generations, Butler University has been more than a campus within Midtown—it has been a neighbor, a cultural destination, and an economic engine shaping the vitality of Indianapolis. With the public launch of Boldly Butler—the University’s commitment to setting the standard for delivering a transformative education with local impact and global reach, and most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history—Butler is making clear that its future is inseparable from the future of the community it calls home.
At its heart, Boldly Butler is a new strategic direction and comprehensive fundraising campaign, running through 2030, that seeks to redefine what a transformative education looks like while deepening Butler’s role in central Indiana and its expanding its reach nationally and globally. With additional investments in athletics, the arts, and corporate partnerships, the total impact will top half a billion dollars by decade’s end. For Midtown neighbors, this means new opportunities for connection, growth, and shared prosperity.
The campaign builds on the momentum of Butler Beyond, the University’s previous strategy that brought sweeping changes over the past six years. That effort led to new academic facilities such as Dugan Hall and Levinson Family Hall, the launch of the nationally recognized Transformation Lab, and the creation of Founder’s College—offering a Butler degree to high-ability, low-wealth students at little or no cost.
Butler Beyond underscored a simple truth: Butler and Midtown thrive together. Every new investment on campus ripples outward to benefit neighbors. And as Midtown grows more vibrant, it fuels the energy that makes Butler an attractive place to live, learn, work, and gather.
A Vision with Local Impact
While higher education nationwide is navigating rising costs, shifting demographics, and skepticism about its value, Butler has chosen to confront these challenges head-on. The new Boldly Butler strategy is organized around three commitments—Transformational Learning Experiences, a Dynamic Campus and Community, and a Thriving Butler. For neighbors, the second commitment is particularly meaningful: Butler is explicitly tying its future to the vibrancy of Midtown Indianapolis.
Among the campaign’s most visible initiatives is the creation of the Midtown Arts District, anchored by the renovation of Clowes Memorial Hall and the construction of the Whitehill Ballroom. Funded in part by a $9 million grant from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, this first phase is just the beginning of a $100 million vision that will eventually include new performance venues, a convention space, an outdoor arts plaza, and a Midtown Arts Walk linking campus to Newfields.
For local arts organizations, the Midtown Arts District promises increased access. A dedicated Arts Performance Fund will offset rental costs for nonprofit groups, administered by Butler Arts Administration students who will gain hands-on experience in grantmaking. This ensures that neighbors will be participants shaping the Arts District’s future.
