>> Production support for "Journey Indiana" it provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!

>> ASHLEY: Coming up.

>> BRANDON: Meet an artist duo who found love through graffiti.

>> ASHLEY: Circle back to the nation's roundabout capital.

>> BRANDON: And cool off at a festival of ice.

>> ASHLEY: That's all on this episode of -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana."

♪ >> BRANDON: Welcome to "Journey Indiana."

I'm Brandon Wentz.

>> ASHLEY: And I'm Ashley Chilla.

And we're coming to you from the Great American Songbook Foundation in Carmel.

This melodious nonprofit is dedicated to preserving and promoting popular music standards broadly known as the Great American Songbook.

Through a variety of education and outreach programs, including the Songbook Hall of Fame, the foundation is working hard to ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy this singular catalog of music.

>> BRANDON: And we'll learn all about this jazzy place in just a bit, but first, producer John Timm takes us to Indianapolis to paint the town red, green, blue, and a whole bunch of other colors with the Chromatic Collective.

♪ >> Spray paint art is like science.

>> Spray paint is wild and out of control.

>> So many different techniques and tools that you can use.

>> It's almost like you are relearning how to draw.

>> It's invigorating as an artist to always have something new to learn.

It keeps you captivated by it.

♪ >> I was programmed to do this.

That's the only way my brain works.

I cannot function in any other forms of society.

It has to be art.

My name is Erica.

I'm a muralist, an artist.

I'm also co-owner and co-founder of Chromatic Collective.

I think my whole life I've been an artist, since being a kid, making little books to give to my family members, things like that, always drawing.

What got me into the arts?

Geez.

I was born into it.

[ Laughter ] I've just been doing it, basically, my whole life.

Like, it was always my hobby.

It was always something that I made sure I had time to do.

And I played sports and stuff and all that goodness, but art was always my favorite thing, period.

♪ >> Without art, I would have a hard time just being happy in general.

My name is Rafael Caro.

I am a co-owner and co-founder of Chromatic Collective in the Broad Ripple neighborhood.

So when I first started doing art, I was really into comics and cartoons.

And so I was more into the illustrative cartoony style, but that evolved as I started growing up.

First time I picked up a spray can, we were skating a ditch, and my friend -- I mean, this is junior high.

And so my friend had his backpack full of spray paint that he took from his parents, and we were -- it was a rebellious act.

I didn't know anything about graffiti.

I didn't know what to do.

So was, like -- you know, just on the fly just picked the name of, like, my favorite music group at the time, and we go under the bridge.

We're starting to paint.

It was really hard to use, but there was some, like -- now to this day, I get this nostalgic feeling in, like, the feeling of just the wildness of it, the mixture of the summer day and the fumes and all of this like -- you know, it's kind of, like, a rebellious thing.

And that's what really got me excited.

♪ >> It's chromatic, so you can't really mess up.

We'll just keep doing this splash thing.

Yeah, but -- >> You've got to let that dry a little to modify it.

>> The bottom part?

Like, a straight line.

♪ >> Rewind!

I met Rafael, I think it was actually 2010.

>> It was through mutual friends.

We were at a skatepark, and, um, one of my friends said, hey, you should talk to so and so.

>> And she's, like, hey, I have a friend that's, like, really cute, first of all.

>> She's also a young parent like yourself.

>> And third of all, really, really loves art.

>> And so you guys would probably hit it off.

>> So a lot of our hangout times was literally just sitting at the round table and doodling together.

>> She took me to the Chicago Art Expo.

She took me into Herron School of Art.

>> I called him my arm candy, basically.

So if I had a show or an event to go to, I'd be like, hey, you are into this too.

Like, do you want to come with me?

>> It was weird.

It was almost like she was a mentor, a really close friend, and then as time moved on, we -- we -- you know, we got together romantically and -- >> Ahhh.

I know.

And we gotta mix it up again.

We gotta redo this.

We gotta do this.

We gotta redo this.

We gotta redo this.

All right.

Come on.

♪ We both had that passion of growing as artists; although, she was a little more advanced at the time, we were still really passionate about pushing ourselves to be better artists.

>> You say advanced, but, like, I don't think that's fair.

Because I had, like, traditional training and he did not.

So when I was drawing with him, I saw, like, freedom.

♪ >> So it all started back in 2019, I applied on a whim for this grant offered by the Indiana Arts Commission called the On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur seminar, and it really helped me out a lot.

Because at that event, they gave you, like, $2,000 at the end.

I'm sitting there, like, brainstorming some ideas, and I'm, like, I really want to, like, open an art store.

Like, that's something I always talked about that I want to do, but what I really want to do -- like, low key, what I really want to do is organize a graffiti jam in Broad Ripple.

I organized, like, a small little jam here in Broad Ripple.

We had 11 painters, and we called it chromatic, which is basically a spectrum of color.

♪ >> Chromatic Collective.

>> Do you want to start?

>> Okay.

So Chromatic started as a graffiti jam.

And then when we had the opportunity to open a space, we're, like, workshopping, what can we call it?

What can we call it?

>> Yeah.

>> And it just kept coming back to chromatic.

And so I was, like, okay.

Let's do this.

Let's put that name here now.

This is Chromatic.

>> And it's like a great representation.

I mean, chromatic spectrum of colors, I mean, it has such a vast meaning to it, and that's kind of what we do here, is that we're not just one thing.

We're, like, so many different things and it's constantly growing too.

♪ >> I had this vision of creating a space that was open to the public.

So I wanted to create an atmosphere that was familiar to people.

So I leaned into this bodega aesthetic.

So when you come into our shop, we've got, like, a beverage cooler full of spray paint.

We've got a butcher counter, like, things that are, like, a normal person could walk in and be, like, this is a familiar setting to me.

I've definitely seen these things, and that kind of helps initiate the conversation, and also creating the space for artists to connect with other artists, you know, having the supplies that we carry.

>> Yeah, and everything we have supply here we, like, know about.

So all the tools that we have here in the shop is, like, stuff that we personally use.

So if anybody has got any concerns or any questions, we are always there to talk about it, or if, like, someone is coming in and they are curious about how to use certain tools, we'll do a little demo right there.

♪ >> My hope is that people understand and respect graffiti as a medium for artists.

It's more than just vandalism and not all of it is vandalism.

>> Exactly.

>> So one of the things that we do here, like, buy, selling spray paint and having the shows, is kind of showing people the legitimacy that comes with, like, using a spray can.

>> And it really wouldn't be possible without our whole crew.

We built this place together.

And so we've all been volunteering our time in -- in building it, in just keep elevating the space.

>> It's a chromatic thing.

♪ >> Oh, my gosh, a real goal?

>> To exist.

>> Yeah, to keep this up.

I really want to find, like, a warehouse space and, like, do something really big.

I mean we love it here and don't ever want to leave this place, but I want to, like, go to, like, the next level.

>> Bigger productions.

>> Yeah, exactly.

>> Bigger installations.

Bigger works of art, just big.

Big.

>> Big!

>> ASHLEY: In my mind, spray paint is a very unforgiving art form.

I like acrylics.

I like oils.

I like to draw, but for me, spray paint has always been kinda scary, and I love that they embrace that.

>> BRANDON: Yes.

>> ASHLEY: It makes me want to go out and do it.

>> BRANDON: Yeah, I think one of my favorite pieces that I've seen in a long time was in spray paint on a brick wall.

It's just such a cool medium to work in.

>> ASHLEY: That's what we're gonna do next.

>> BRANDON: Want to learn more?

Just head to chromatic6216.com.

>> ASHLEY: Earlier, we spoke with Chris Lewis, the executive director here at the foundation to learn all about this musical mecca.

♪ >> The Great American Songbook Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded by the singer Michael Feinstein who is known for his passion to preserve and celebrate the legacies of our country's great songwriters.

And so in 2007, he founded the nonprofit organization, The Songbook Foundation.

We have educational programs, outreach programs, exhibits, really a way to tell our country's history and story through the lens of music.

The question as to what is the Great American Songbook is, believe it or not, a complicated one.

No one really knows where that term originated, but we focus our preservation efforts on a particular point in time, and that's what's considered to be the foundational era of popular music, which is the 1920s through the 1960s.

So the Great American Songbook Foundation offices are located in the heart of Carmel, Indiana, at the Center for the Performing Arts.

We are fortunate enough to be housed in the Palladium Concert Hall which is a beautiful facility.

We have an archives facility where we house the papers of songwriters and composers and performers.

The materials are in danger of being lost, just due to technology and degradation, and so we have to make sure that the papers are digitized and preserved, the recordings, the film.

We want to make sure they -- they have a home and a way to be shared.

So about ten years ago, we created the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame.

And we have annual inductions, and we induct people who have made a lasting impact on American popular music.

So we've inducted Barry Manilow, Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Linda Ronstadt, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathias, Tony Bennett.

So it's people whose music has become a part of the fabric of our lives.

The Songbook Academy is our longest running program.

We started the program in 2009.

A key part of our mission is to make sure young people know this history and know this music, and it begins with a week in the summer.

Students audition to participate.

We bring 40 students to our campus here.

And they spend a week in workshops and master classes with top educators, Grammy-winning artists, Tony-winning artists on everything from song interpretation to vocal health to stage presence and movement, and they get a chance to stand on the Palladium stage, you know, with an industry professional and working one-on-one is really a unique and an amazing experience.

The great composer Irving Berlin once said, songs make history and history makes songs, and that's been our guiding motto since we began, because we feel like we're not just preserving and celebrating this music because we love it and people should know it.

We're preserving history.

>> BRANDON: So out of all the music catalog here, I have to ask, what is your favorite song?

>> ASHLEY: You know, the Great American Songbook is vast, and there's so much good stuff in there, but I really think that "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," it's such a special song for me for many reasons, and I think it really exemplifies the amazing things that the Great American Songbook can do.

Want to learn more?

Head to thesongbook.org.

>> BRANDON: Up next, producer Nick Deel takes us for a spin around Carmel and explains why this city has so many roundabouts.

>> Ah, one of our remaining stoplights.

This one's going to go away in a couple years.

Now, see this the frustrating part.

Five cars have now gone through the light in the other direction, and we're sitting here.

Nobody else in sight.

We're -- you know, this is an electric car, but if it were a gasoline-powered car, we'd be sitting there burning fuel.

I really don't think we should be building stoplights.

I think the default should be a roundabout, and you should have to prove why a roundabout would not work or a stoplight would work better.

>> For 27 years now, Jim Brainard has been waging a war against stoplights in his role as mayor of the city of Carmel, a northern suburb of Indianapolis.

Over the course of his seven terms, he's diligently worked to convince the city to install roundabouts instead of the color-coded traffic signals we're all used to.

And he's been remarkably successful.

Today, 147 roundabouts dot the Carmel landscape, more than any other city in the United States, in a town of just over 100,000 residents.

>> I had been fortunate enough to go to graduate school in England, and they built a lot of roundabouts.

In fact, they invented what's called the modern roundabout back in the early 1960s.

I knew nothing about civil engineering or road building or road design, but I had driven on those in England.

And I thought, these things work better than stoplights.

So after I was elected mayor, I called in one of our consulting engineers and asked him to build a roundabout.

His point of reference were the old traffic circles in New England called rotaries, or the Mid-Atlantic states, think Dupont Circle, Columbus Circle in New York.

The Indianapolis Circle would be an example of that.

And they're big, they are not angled when you go into them, and they are multilane.

And because they're big, people go faster inside of them, and they switch lanes inside of them.

And so these old-fashioned traffic circles were actually more dangerous than stoplights.

And so we started to build the modern roundabouts.

One of the challenges we had in the very beginning was explaining to the people who live here and drive here and have businesses here about how this works, and why we're doing it.

We worked with the school drivers ed teachers so they could teach youngsters how to drive through the roundabouts.

>> Our state Bureau of Motor Vehicles eventually put a page how to drive through roundabouts in the driver's manual that the students and new drivers use to prepare for their driving test.

I went on every radio and TV show I could to talk about why we were building roundabouts.

So we did a lot.

>> But how are modern roundabouts superior to traffic light intersections?

The key is in the design.

Gentle curves force drivers to slow down as they approach, calming traffic and creating a safe space for pedestrians to cross.

Incoming vehicles only need to yield to traffic already in the roundabout.

The lane markings help guide drivers to the exit of their choice.

If drivers make a mistake, they can just keep on going until they get it right.

And while it might seem counterintuitive, roundabouts improve overall traffic flow, even as they slow down drivers.

>> The big thing, especially when you are replacing a four-way stop, every single vehicle coming to that intersection has to stop.

And so -- especially when you have imbalances in traffic, you may have one line of traffic that's 15 cars deep, and they're stopping for another line of traffic that just has a single car.

So that's where you start getting your efficiencies, is as the one car clears, now we can get a more steady flow of traffic.

You know, this is a perfect example, that as this car approaches the roundabout, they slow down, yield and proceed through.

If the old stoplight was here, and they got stopped, they would have to stop and wait.

>> In the nearly three decades that Mayor Brainard has been in office, the population of Carmel has more than tripled.

The rate of serious traffic accidents, however, has remained flat.

That, Mayor Brainard says, is due in large part to Carmel's roundabouts.

>> We're human.

We make errors.

There's a humor error rate, 1 out 1,000, 1 out of 10,000, whatever it is, there's going to be a crash from time to time.

The question is: Is that going to be a high-speed crash?

Is it going to be a T-bone or a sideswipe?

Is it going to be at 50 miles an hour or 15 miles an hour?

And that's what makes the difference.

Speed really does kill people.

>> There are environmental benefits as well.

By reducing traffic congestion, the city estimates that each roundabout saves around 24,000 gallons of fuel each year.

>> And time is important too.

It goes back to quality of life.

I've had constituents in Carmel tell me, you gave me back 15, 20 minutes, half an hour of my life every day because I can get to work 15 minutes faster, and I can get home 15 minutes faster because the roundabouts move traffic so much faster and more efficiently than the traffic lights do.

>> Mayor Brainard says the city saves about $400,000 at a new intersection by not installing a traffic signal, while retrofitting a traditional stoplight intersection can cost several million dollars.

Regardless, he says the positive knock-on effects are worth it.

>> So many times a mayor gets a call from a constituent saying, you've got to do something about traffic on this street or that street.

And the go-to answer, traditionally has been, widen the street, add more lanes to get more cars through that traffic light when it turns green.

All we're doing is building a bigger parking lot.

Paving over more land to get more cars through that traffic light.

But if we can put that same money into fixing the intersection, focused on intersection capacity, not lane capacity, we don't have to widen that street.

It saves tons of money, allows more room in that right-of-way for a bike lane and sidewalks.

Maybe trees down the middle.

>> Mayor Brainard is stepping down at the end of his current term.

By then, there will only be a handful of stoplights left in the city limits.

And while he understands a new administration will bring about changes, he's confident a retreat from roundabouts will not be one of them.

>> And it's become a sense of pride for the people that live in Carmel.

We tried something new and different, and there's some risk to that.

It may not have worked.

As a result, we have one of the safest -- we've got the safest transportation system of any city anywhere.

And it shows that if people come together as a community, and are willing to try new things, we can make great improvements in the quality of life.

>> BRANDON: All right.

So I think this is kind of divisive.

What are your feelings about roundabouts?

>> ASHLEY: I love a roundabout.

I mean, I hate stopping at a stoplight.

Who wants to stop?

You know, it wastes gas.

I love a good roundabout, as long as people know how to use it.

>> BRANDON: That's the tricky part.

Like, when I lived in Texas, we had a lot of roundabouts as well, and even where I live now on the south side of Indianapolis has them.

So I love a good roundabout.

Just, you know, be aware of your surroundings.

Want to learn more?

Head to carmel.in.gov.

>> ASHLEY: Up next, producer Saddam Abbas keeps us right here in Carmel with a really cool look at the Carmel Festival of Ice.

♪ >> There are so many events that happen here at Carter Green or throughout the city of Carmel, and this is just one of those many, and it takes a team of people.

You know, from contacting the carvers, making sure they can come in at the right time, we have enough of the ice for them, they have enough electrical outlets or their needs to be met for their sculpting.

It doesn't just happen here.

Last night, it's going on on Main Street, they have sculpting.

Tomorrow, they will have sculpting.

So it really takes a team of people from getting the logistics to promoting, and then honestly, the involvement from the community.

And I think that's that special portion that brings it all together for me is this is a community that people really come out for these different events, and they become sort of staples, right?

We went through the holidays and we had the Christkindlmarkt, and then we swing into January and we jump right into the ice festival -- the Festival of Ice with the carving.

And so people get to know those.

That becomes part of their traditions throughout winter.

And so between the community and then the group of people working to put this together, it's truly amazing.

Look at the artistry that happens is incredible.

They take a 300-pound block of ice, stack them on top of each other, and a couple hours later have a beautiful sculpture.

It's truly unbelievable.

And it's really amazing because this is something that you only get to have, or it's tangible for only a few hours, you know, maybe a couple of days and then it melts.

So it's amazing that they create these sculptures for us, just, you know, a short time, kind of a glimpse that we get to see 'em.

It's being a true artist.

When you watch them, not only is it incredible, but they get to recreate and recreate different types of art over and over again, and change it and make it new.

So really pretty amazing.

>> BRANDON: Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on your screen.

And as always, we'd like to encourage you to stay connected with us.

>> ASHLEY: Just head over to JourneyIndiana.org.

There you can see full episodes, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram and suggest stories from your neck of the woods.

>> BRANDON: We also have a map feature that allows you to see where we've been and to plan your own Indiana adventures.

Well, I have to say, Ashley, it is so nice to have you back after your time away, and I understand that -- and a lot of people at home may not know this, but one of Ashley's enormous talents is music.

So you've got a little something for us, right?

>> ASHLEY: Yes.

I heard that they have Harold Arlen's piano here, composer who wrote "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

And I think it'd be really special to maybe sing a little bit.

♪ Somewhere over the rainbow ♪ ♪ Way up high ♪ There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby ♪ ♪ Somewhere over the rainbow ♪ ♪ Skies are blue ♪ And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true ♪ ♪ Someday I'll wish upon a star ♪ ♪ And wake up where the clouds are far behind me ♪ ♪ Where troubles melt like lemon drops ♪ ♪ Away above the chimney tops ♪ ♪ That's where you'll find me ♪ ♪ Somewhere over the rainbow ♪ Bluebirds fly ♪ Birds fly over the rainbow ♪ ♪ Why, oh, why can't I ♪ If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow ♪ ♪ Why oh, why can't I >> Production support for "Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!