Plainfield Performing And Fine Arts Center Approved

A growing Hendricks County town is taking another step to offer more activities for its residents.

The Plainfield Town Council recently approved plans for the construction of the Plainfield Performing and Fine Arts Center. Town Manager Andrew Klinger talked with WFYI’s Terri Dee about how community buzz is building about the center and the goal to attract diverse talent in dance, art, music and theatre.

WFYI Reporter Terri Dee: Tell me about the Plainfield Performing and Fine Arts Center and how the idea came about.

Plainfield Town Manager Andrew Klinger: The idea came about almost five years ago. We did a study of potential redevelopment of the downtown area, and so we engaged with people in the community and asked what would you like to see in terms of redevelopment within the downtown area? One of the main things that people really talked about was wanting to have more entertainment options within downtown, have reasons to come downtown and to be able to go to different entertainment venues. So that really kind of hatched the idea of, what if we had some sort of arts complex where we could host events? Throughout the process, we've been working with the Hendricks County Arts Council and the various arts groups within the community.

Dee: Plainfield is generally not seen as a hub for fine arts and performing. So what plans are on the table to change that perception?

Klinger: We have been working with the Hendricks County Arts Council and their affiliated groups, which includes the Hendricks Symphony Orchestra, there's a Hendricks Civic Theatre group, children's ballet out of Danville, and then also some visual artists. So we've been working with them and getting an understanding of their schedule of performances. Obviously, the hope is that by creating this facility, we can give them a home base that they can operate out of and be able to put on performances. But the hope is that it also gives them a venue to be able to really grow and expand at what they do as local artists groups. We really see this project as a way to build on local arts groups, and help them to grow and expand their base.

Dee: Are there any other types of plans, say, concerts of not only local artists, but maybe national artists as well, or maybe book readings or poetry readings?

Klinger: While this is going to be a great venue for local art groups to be able to utilize, it also needed to be something more than that, and so it will be a touring facility. So we hope to have a diverse set of offerings throughout the course of the year and to be able to offer some performances that would be a regional draw. So it's not just for Hendricks County; we expect that people from Indianapolis and other areas around all the way out to Greencastle to our west, and that those folks will come here to see a wide range of music performances, different types of bands and groups, comedians, and we might have a speaker series, The plan is to really have a diverse set of types of performances and events that will draw people into our community.