(07/19/17 11:31pm)
Tucked between a strip of local shops on Virginia Avenue, Square Cat Vinyl is the quintessential Fountain Square store, offering the promise of local culture and music to the community. The recently opened business is a trove of records, local music, beer, and wine.
As one of the only record stores on the south-side of Indianapolis, Square Cat serves as a vital asset to Indianapolis’ local music scene, with an emphasis on live performances and local musicians.
Patrick Burtch, along with business partners Mike Angel and Kurt Phillips, launched Square Cat Vinyl shortly after the closure of Rocket 88, a Fountain Square doughnut shop owned by Burtch. Rocket 88
garnered controversy before its closure, regarding concerns about the authenticity of their vegan items and treatment of the store’s employees.
During his time at Rocket 88, Burtch met both Angel and Phillips. Phillips is also the owner of Fountain Square Animal Clinic and Mass Ave Animal Clinic.
Burtch and Angel are also the organizers of the Virginia Avenue Folk Fest. Over time, this shared appreciation for music sparked the idea of opening a record store.
However, the three aimed to distinguish their model from similar stores around Indianapolis by offering a unique destination for music and culture. This goal is achieved by what Burtch describes as a “three pronged system”: the bar, performance venue, and record selection.
Upon entering the store, it becomes clear why Square Cat is so different from other record stores in the area. The collection of records is considerably smaller than most, forcing careful consideration of what records will be sold.
“I came into it thinking the record portion was going to be split evenly with the bar,” Burtch explained. “But it’s been moreso tilted towards records, which surprises me.”
In a short time, Square Cat has developed a loyal following in the Fountain Square neighborhood, with regular customers stopping by two to three times a week. Since the opening in November, Burtch and Angel have strived to promote a welcoming environment, which they credit to the store’s quick success.
“We make an effort to be friendly environment,” Angel explained. “We go out of our way to try and procure whatever the customer is looking for.”
Much like the record selection, great care is put into setting up for live shows. With both local and touring acts performing at Square Cat up to five days a week, Burtch and Angel have worked on creating the best sound system for live performers.
“We’ve developed a good reputation of our live events,” Angel said . “We put so much thought into the sound, and put it into the viewpoint of our musicians.”
Their work has proven to be successful, as the store has hosted several sellout shows in the time since it’s opening.
As the store grows, Burtch hopes to obtain a larger space for live performers.
“We’d love to have more legitimate music venue space where we can do more styles of music that we can’t do now,” he said. “I see it going in a billion different directions, we’re always looking for the next thing.”
With the store’s first Record Store Day approaching, Square Cat plans to distinguish itself by highlighting their existing strengths as a record store.
“We have the natural advantage of the bar, so we’re better positioned to tap into that portion of the day,” Burtch said.
Among numerous live acts and limited releases, the store will also be doing giveaways for early customers and potentially throughout the day. The performance venue will be moved out to the alley, as they are anticipating a large crowd.
Square Cat will open early at 8 a.m. on Record Store Day. Record Store Day will take place on April 22, with events taking place at stores around the city.
“We’re just here to put music in people’s hands,” Angel said. “It’s been pretty exceptional.”
(03/03/17 12:34pm)
Four IUPUI professors have received a grant to save a historic collection of archival documents and photos from Indianapolis’ oldest black church.
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church has served the African-American community in Indianapolis for nearly 150 years. Despite its prominence in the community, a rapidly dwindling membership has forced the once thriving church to close its doors.
The costly repairs required to rebuild the aging site have forced church leaders to sell the historic property, which will now be turned into two hotels.
Through their project "Virtual Bethel: Underrepresented History and Primary Source Education through Virtual Reality," IUPUI faculty members Andrea Copeland, Albert William, Zebulun Wood and Ayoung Yoon hope to preserve the church’s rich history.
After being contacted by a former student and member of the church, Copeland became interested in creating a sustainable archive of the congregation’s notable documents. The church once had it’s own collection of archives that Copeland feels will be better preserved on a digital platform.
She believes that the archive will provide the community with accessible education about the underrepresented black history of Indianapolis.
“Groups that generally fall into the power structure tend to preserve their own history,” Copeland said. “The Indiana Historical Society wasn’t collecting black history in the 1800s. If you were an African American, you needed to do it yourself.”
For African-Americans in Indianapolis, Bethel existed as a community of racial solidarity, its focus resting on community outreach throughout the existing fight for civil rights in the U.S.
Bethel served as a sanctuary for social activism throughout the 20th century and up until its closing in 2016. The Indianapolis NAACP chapter and Indiana State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, along with numerous chapters of local organizations were founded at Bethel.
The church also aided in opening schools for African Americans in Indianapolis after the Civil War.
“They had so much to do with the history of the city,” Copeland said. “If the print archive was not preserved many people wouldn’t know that.”
Over 3,000 photos of documents and objects were taken in the church in order to create the imaging archives. The project will also include a complete virtual 3-D walk-through of the church that will be publicly accessible at IUPUI’s School of Informatics and Computing.
The virtual model, designed by Albert William, Zebulun Wood and the help of three IUPUI informatics students, will guide viewers through a nearly identical 3-D model of the church.
“Its an amazing virtual space where you can walk around and touch everything,” Copeland said, “The model will go so much further in making the story of Bethel known to people. The end goal is to get people to understand the African-American experience.”
The group also believes this project will change the future of archiving and how students interact with archived documents.
“It will be a great asset for future generations,” Yoon said. “This is a way to learn about history in a more fun and unintimidating way.”
Yoon fears that the tedious procedure that must be followed when archiving for historical research is creating a distance between students and the material. With this project, she hopes to lower the barriers of access to these sources.
“If other people embrace archives in this way, it could be a paradigm shift for the future of archiving,” Copeland said.
Yoon and Copeland hope that the digital archive will ultimately provide an accessible platform for student research.
The original and digitized documents will be available at the Indiana Historical Society and University Library, while the finished virtual model will remain at the School of Informatics and Computing.
“All of these representations are a conduit to a story and the narrative,” Copeland said. “That is what’s so special about all of it. It’s a connection to a history.”