The House Life Project

Meredith Brickell, founder and project leader, Near Eastside Indianapolis, IN, 2015-2019

The House Life Project (HLP) was a community-based art project located in the Near Eastside of Indianapolis from 2015-2017. Artists and local residents worked together to reimagine vacant houses as neighborhood assets and to foster relationships through participatory art. The HLP community challenged notions of who can be an artist and what can be a creative space, and asked tough questions about inequitable neighborhood change. From 2018-2019, the HLP synthesized and shared what was learned during three years of site-specific activity via publications, exhibitions, and events. This collaborative project was accomplished by a remarkable crew of more than 50 artists, writers, neighbors, activists, curators, local business owners, community organizers, and more.

See instagram for some project highlights and People + Property for contributions by HLP artists and writers, recommended readings, a list of things to do in a vacant house, and more.