INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The Arts Council of Indianapolis will kick-off Black History Month on Saturday with a month-long art and music series in the heart of downtown.

The 24th annual “Art & Sou”l at the Artsgarden honors African American artists in Indiana.

The music series will feature performances by 150 local performing artists which are all free and open to the public.

“It’s really an opportunity to share the great depth of the African American arts community in a public and accessible space here at the Artsgarden,” said Rishard Allen with The Arts Council of Indianapolis.

Saturday’s kick-off celebration at 12:15 p.m. will have performances, snacks and feature community organizations with interactive booths, including volunteers registering people to vote.

This year’s Art & Soul theme, African Americans and the Right to Vote, marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment, prohibiting the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” 

“I consider myself to be a poetic documentation. And I consider the ethos of my work to be bridging the past, present and future especially around social justice themes,” said spoken word artist Manon Voice. Voice will be one of 50 performers helping to start the month-long series on Saturday.

Art & Soul also kicks off a year-long celebration of African American history and culture in Indianapolis, and guests who attend the performances will receive a 2020 calendar of city-wide events. The calendar was designed by local graphic designer Omar Rashad.

For a full schedule of all performances, click here.