This mural, located at The Amp at 16 Tech, pays homage to the history of Indiana Avenue, which was once the center of Black life in Indianapolis, and celebrates the legacy of the local Black community while bridging historical continuity with future aspirations.
The center of the mural is an elderly Black woman, who is the titular “keeper” of culture in the generational sense. The woman and her residential background are in black and white, as if it is an old photograph. Three young children, rendered in full color, stand under her watchful gaze. The shirt of one of the girls bears the insignia of Madam CJ Walker’s hair products, a subtle nod to the one-time doyenne of Indiana Avenue: entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a Black culture bearer herself.
