INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time, the NBA All-Star Game will have an opening ceremony.
The NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee said the special event will take place at Bicentennial Unity Plaza on Thursday, Feb. 15. Additional details will be announced soon, but the opening ceremony will include music, “notable personalities” and more.
It’s officially dubbed “The Tip Off.”
The opening ceremony is one of many announcements made by the Host Committee and organizers on Wednesday. The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set for Sunday, Feb. 18, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
In addition to “The Tip Off,” the Host Committee and partners with the Indy Arts Council, GANGGANG, and Indiana Humanities revealed a series of arts and culture experiences and activities for fans in downtown Indianapolis.
NBA All-Star activities will be located within "Indy's Home Court," the "footprint" for All-Star weekend in downtown Indy.
Here’s a look at what to expect:
BUTTER AT INDY'S HOME COURT
GANGGANG, with curators Deonna Craig, Kia Davis, and Alan Mills will turn the 19,000 square feet of the Indianapolis Artsgarden into BUTTER at Indy’s Home Court. Programming will include a full exhibition alongside the Creative Summit at Indy’s Home Court. Serving as a new model for economic justice in the arts, BUTTER maintains its commitment to sell or loan 100 percent of the artwork, giving 100 percent of the proceeds to artists.
CULTURAL CORRIDOR
Led by Mali Simone Bacon and Alan Bacon at GANGGANG, the Host Committee has created a Cultural Corridor in Indy’s Home Court, along Washington Street, to showcase local brands. Plaid & Pearls Coffee, a local woman-owned business, will take over the location formerly occupied by Pearings at Washington and Meridian, while the former Rock Bottom site next door will be converted into The Suite featuring the Henderson Bar, food from the International Marketplace, music curated by Chreece Presents: Nap City The Basement, comedy by Made Man Improv, and retail curated by Cargo Streetwear Boutique.
LIGHT-BASED PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS
Two projection-mapped artworks, created by Blockhouse Studios in Bloomington, and a video arts collaboration by renowned Australian artist Wendy Yu will be featured on the T-Mobile Building (2 W. Washington Street) and the District Tap Building (141 S. Meridian Street), respectively. The Wendy Yu collaboration features local dancers with Iibada Dance Company, 31Svn Dance Academy, and Dance Kaleidoscope, as well as basketball players with WBNA and Butler University.
“Shining a Light” will feature an exciting “buzzer beater” countdown experience produced by Innovative on the northwest and southwest quadrant of Monument Circle.
"Evanescent," a fully immersive public art installation by Australia-based design studio Atelier Sisu will bring large, glowing basketball-like orbs to Hudnut Commons at the corner of Maryland and Capitol Streets.
“Quantum Cavern,” a transcendent experience created by Indy artist Fredrick Miller III.
"Arch down the Aisle,” an intercultural experience installed by Indy artist Gautam Rao.
“You Are the All Star,” an exciting ‘90s-inspired selfie station designed by Indy artist Christina Hollering.
INDIANAPOLIS ARTSGARDEN MURALS
Two temporary murals by Indianapolis artists Jingo de la Rosa and Jonathan Southern will adorn the east and west facades of the Indianapolis Artsgarden.
Like a number of the public art installations around Indy’s Home Court during NBA All-Star 2024, the two pieces pay tribute to Indiana’s unique love affair with the game of basketball.
SIDEWALK GALLERIES
In partnership with the City of Indianapolis and downtown property owners, large-scale murals by Indy artists will decorate storefronts along the streets of Indy’s Home Court, immersing visitors to the downtown in diverse artwork seemingly at every turn. Highlights include:
- Capitol Avenue underpass between the Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium: Featuring India Cruse-Griffin’s brilliant “The Court” artwork, the original of which currently decorates the interior of Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
- Jackson Place (adjacent to Union Station): Salma Taman, Liz Wierzbicki, Phyllicia Carr, and Christina Hollering.
- CSX Building (east end of Georgia St.): Eric Stine, Jennifer Broemel, Brittany Murray, Denielle Mowery Hake, Amiah Mims, Faith Blackwell, Gurkan Mihci, Boxx the Artist, DeJuan Wortham, Scott Johnson, and Gretchen Katner, plus a poem by Franklin Oliver.
- Circle Center Mall: Rebecca Sauve, Dana Powell Smith, Taylor Bamgbose, Kyle Morgan, and Kyng Rhodes.
- Monument Circle, northwest quadrant: Six works by Israel Solomon from his “Indiana Fever” series, the original of which currently hang inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
- 7 N. Meridian St. (NE corner of Meridian and Washington Sts): Koda Witsken’s tribute to Hoosier Hysteria, the original of which currently hangs Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
- Newly installed works inside Circle Center Mall include artwork by JD Bills and poems by Maude Atlas Cottone and Ken Honeywell.
- A large three-part work at 924 N. Pennsylvania St. by Asli Narin, a newly-named DeHaan Artist of Distinction.
SIDEWALK GALLERIES – STREET ART EDITION
Also in partnership with the City of Indianapolis and curated by local artists Josh Brinson (Bezol One) and Mike Graves, fifteen of Indianapolis’ most fascinating street and graffiti artists will create new masterpieces on the Pennsylvania and Delaware rail underpasses, just north of South Street. The pieces on the Pennsylvania underpass will be basketball-themed, while the Delaware underpass will be a collection of freestyle pieces.
Participating Indy artists include: Rob Bentley, Bezol One, Rafael Caro, Lucian Agape, Tylar Dickmeyer, Tusk 100, Mike Graves, Nathaniel Johnson, Slice, Ess McKee, Ron Lewhorn, Holly Sims, Invisible Hometown, Koda Witsken, and Fitz.
HOOSIER HISTORIA
The art project is a partnership between the Host Committee, the Marion County Capital Improvement Board, and the Indy Arts Council. A group of 24 diverse artists from across the state will bring to life their interpretations of some of the most memorable and iconic people, moments, and places in Indiana basketball history on 6-foot basketball sculptures.
These large public art pieces will be on display throughout Indy's Home Court for the duration of NBA All-Star 2024. The artists painted these sculptures in a studio space at the Stutz made possible by a generous donation from Somera Road.
NBA All-Star Weekend tips off on Feb. 15 and runs through Feb. 18. This marks the first time Indianapolis has hosted the event since 1985. Learn more at this website.