Fountain Square turns into a car-free art fair this Saturday as Art Squared takes over Virginia Avenue and the surrounding blocks from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The free, all-ages festival brings local art vendors, live music, a kids zone and a day-long art competition with cash prizes to Indianapolis's historic arts district.
Organizers will close Virginia Avenue to vehicle traffic to accommodate the crowds, according to WISH-TV, which reports the closure will make parking tight in the neighborhood. The event marks the festival's 13th year, per the station's report, and runs along Virginia Avenue in the Historic Fountain Square neighborhood. Beyond that stretch, Fountain Fletcher District Association lists Art Fair vendors set up on Virginia Avenue, Woodlawn Avenue, Shelby Street and the Fountain Square Plaza, with vendor space strictly reserved for local, Indiana-based artists and creators.
Jared Sparkman, president of the Fountain Fletcher District Association, described Fountain Square as a historic arts district while discussing the event alongside Jean Bederaux on Daybreak, the station's report notes. Sparkman said many vendors will create and sell their own art and wares, and the festival is designed to offer a completely walkable environment for families. Anyone can attend without charge, the station reports, and organizers frame Art Squared as a free, family-oriented event meant to highlight the area's cultural heritage and support local businesses.
How Many Artists, Exactly? Even Organizers Disagree
Exactly how many artists will be selling work this year is unclear, because the district association's own event pages give conflicting figures. One listing on the group's site describes the Art Fair as a marketplace for over 170 local artists, while another page from the same organization says the fair will feature over 100 local artists, according to fountainfletcher.com. The count has shifted in past years too: Downtown Indianapolis reported more than 150 artists at the 2024 edition, and Mirror Indy reported more than 100 Indiana-based artists at last year's festival.
Whatever the final tally, vendors will showcase and sell handmade goods and artwork, per the station's report, and a creator space will let five organizations and companies produce original art in real time, WISH-TV notes. Live music from busking-style Indianapolis performers will play at multiple locations throughout the day, according to fountainfletcher.com, and food from neighborhood restaurants will also be part of the festival, per the station's report.
Masterpiece in a Day Puts Art on the Clock
The festival's signature contest, Masterpiece in a Day, asks entrants to create work on the spot using their own supplies, with pieces made throughout the neighborhood and judged in the afternoon, WISH-TV reports. Registration for the competition is open, according to the station, and the Fountain Fletcher District Association specifies that sign-ups run from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, with completed entries due by 3 p.m. Winners will be announced at 4 p.m., according to visitindy.com.
Jean Bederaux described the competition's format during the same Daybreak segment, the station's report notes. Three cash prizes will be awarded, with a top prize of $1,000, according to WISH-TV. The indyarts.org call for artists lists that same $1,000 first prize, sponsored by the Circle City Industrial Complex, alongside a $250 third-place award. Under the competition's published rules, prize-winning pieces become the property of the Fountain Fletcher District Association, with the prize money treated as the purchase price, per indyarts.org.
The top 10 Masterpiece in a Day pieces won't disappear after Saturday. They'll be displayed at The Murphy Arts Center for October's First Friday on Oct. 2, according to fountainfletcher.com. The Murphy Arts Center will also serve as the competition's headquarters on festival day and host a silent auction and Kids Zone, per visitindy.com.
A Tradition Dating Back to 1994
Masterpiece in a Day has deep roots in the neighborhood. The one-day, multi-genre competition was started by Indianapolis artist Philip H. Campbell in 1994, according to Big Car Collaborative, which later managed the event and reports that it once drew 10,000 attendees and provided $5,000 in annual prize money. Art Squared itself tends to land on a Saturday in late September most years, according to the Fountain Square Neighborhood Association.
Programming has shifted somewhat from year to year even as the late-September timing has held steady. Downtown Indianapolis's coverage of the 2024 festival noted a community stage and kids art area as new additions that year, while Mirror Indy's account of the 2025 event described a kids area, live music starting at 11 a.m. and local food vendors stationed in the parking lot behind WildFyre Tap. This year's lineup keeps that same mix of art fair, contest, music and family programming, with the walkable street closure meant to let families move freely between the plaza and the surrounding blocks despite the tighter parking situation, per WISH-TV's report.
