2024 Pattern Year-in-Review

Hey, you, thanks for sticking around!

Since you’ve been here for most of it with us, you’ve probably noticed that we doubled down on building awareness and momentum for Indiana’s creative economy. And, in case we haven’t mentioned it yet, we’ll say here that we’re so inspired by the conversation and action that has emerged from this work.

As the year comes to a close, we’re overwhelmed with gratitude to reflect on what we’ve accomplished together. And with a branding change, shifting our mission, working our way through a website redesign, and Polina dropping the cat ears to name a few (guess that IBJ 250 win went to her head), it was quite a rollercoaster for all of us.

Our absolute proudest achievement, you ask? Easy. We paid $323K to creatives across Indiana who helped us with events, story-telling, activations, and client projects.

Thank you for being a bright, shiny part of this journey!

The Second Annual Indiana Creative Economy Summit

Our main event of the year, the Indiana Creative Economy Summit, took place on October 25th. 240 of Indiana’s leaders and stakeholders gathered to learn, discuss, and celebrate the creative economy with us. Throughout the day, we discussed attracting and developing talent, leveraging statewide strengths, and building a financially sustainable creative economy. Thanks again to the key sponsors and partners who made it happen!

If you’re interested in economic development and policy, we think you’ll love the Indiana Creative Economy Summit! We hope you’ll join us for the next one on October 14th, 2025.

The Magazine

This year marked a quiet yet momentous shift for Pattern magazine. With immense pride and excitement, the role of Editor transitioned from our Executive Director to our incredibly talented Jenny Walton. Polina, who cherished (almost) every moment of leading the magazine, is thrilled to pass the reins to Jenny, whose passion for storytelling shines through her work at Pattern and her pursuit of an MFA in Poetry with Butler’s Creative Writing program. This seamless transition has brought fresh energy and vision to the magazine, allowing Polina to focus on advancing Indiana’s Creative Economy initiatives.

Under this dynamic new leadership, the magazine team delivered back-to-back hits with Volumes 25 and 26. We started the year strong with The Basketball Issue, a love letter to Indiana’s favorite sport and the culture surrounding it. Then, in the Fall, we shifted gears with The Independent Issue, a deep dive into what it truly takes to thrive as an independent creative. Both issues showcase the talent, resilience, and diversity that make our creative community so exceptional.

(By the way, if you love Pattern mag, but are not yet a subscriber, what are you waiting for?? )

If you want to see some of the (not-so-glamorous) behind-the-scenes of how a magazine gets made, check out the making of Volume 25 video here:

But of course, our magazines weren’t the only thing we published this year! We also had our monthly digital cover stories, supported by our friends at Life in Indy, where we feature an interview with a single creative Hoosier, finding out what makes them tick and why they love what they do. 

For example, our March feature was pianist Clare Longendyke, who had just released her debut album, …of dreams unveiled. In June, we spoke with the talented Consuelo Lockhart, founder of the Latinas Welding Guild. Our most recent feature was Craig Mince, president of the Athenaeum Foundation, who we spoke to about Christkindlmarkt and his over thirty years of experience with the IMAX and the Indy Film Fest. 

Check out our digital cover and newsletter archive to read up on all the amazing creatives we featured this year!

The New Look

You may have noticed a little something different about Pattern’s look…after nearly fifteen years, we figured it was about time for a refresh! 

Our previous brand was exactly what we needed at the time, but as that time went by and by it became, well, a bit dated (as these things do). And let’s be real: that’s not us! So, we did the branding thing. We played with more colors, fonts, logos…and voila! A phoenix emerged from the ashes. 

See that period propping it up? Man, we think that’s a cute lil’ block doing a lot of work.

StitchWorks

Let’s not forget that 2024 was a big year for our StitchWorks team, too!

StitchWorks—an initiative of the Pattern universe—serves as a fashion education, community, and production hub moved operations from 9th Street to a new home in the Stutz. In total, we:

• Served 165 unique students through our short-term sewing & construction classes

• Piloted a high school program with Believe Schools and graduated 3 students and currently work with a new cohort of 5 students

• Graduated two sewers from our Industrial Sewing Certification program.

• Hosted our second annual Summer Teen Fashion Course, instructing eleven students over two weeks.

Come 2025, StitchWorks will expand our production capacity and further develop collaborative events that engage the community. 

Select Client Projects

Maybe you’ve heard that, as a creative agency, we provide high-quality design, along with photography, and writing work for a variety of clients.

This work continues to be a significant source of income that—in addition to offsetting our operational expenses—we share with creatives across Indiana for their professional contributions.

A few of our favorite projects this year…

• IEDC’s 2024 Entrepreneur Yearbook and ESO Summit merch, event graphics and program

• IU Innovates’s inaugural IU Entrepreneurship book

• Pocket Guide for Butter’s Fourth Annual Art Fair

• Design, event, and social media work for the Stutz

We specialize in storytelling through exceptional design, bringing your vision to life with high-end print projects, custom merchandise, event and environmental graphics, and editorial layouts. By partnering with us, you’re not just getting top-tier creative solutions—you’re also investing in Indiana’s creative economy. We’re proud to collaborate with local talent, ensuring that every dollar spent fuels the growth and vitality of our community. Want to talk about a potential project? Email [email protected]

The Stutz

Over the course of more than 70 events, we engaged over 100 artists and entertainers at the Stutz including photographers, DJs, live musicians, visual artists, florists, chefs, and more. Having this incredible location in one of Indianapolis’s premier live-work-play destinations has allowed us to plug SPACE residents and other creative professionals into paid opportunities and exposure. Thank you to Somera Road for their ongoing support in helping us maintain the Stutz as a creative hub.

Some of our favorite events in the past year include our bimonthly art shows in the SPACE Gallery (curated by Pattern Community Manager Salma Taman!) and the Epicurean International Food Festival, which brought in a few thousand visitors in its first year.

Interns, Fellows, Residents (oh, my!)

This year we worked with nine interns over three semesters as we plugged them into Indiana’s creative scene and the professional opportunities it affords for these new and soon-to-be college graduates. We do similar work with our Creative Fellows program, but those folks are with us for a year, and here are some of their 2024 highlights:

Jacob Chaves, graphic design fellow: “I’ve really enjoyed getting to work with the writers and designers to help put together Volume 25 and 26. Most importantly, I really cherish all the friends I’ve made here and getting to know the other interns and fellows!”

Samantha Hines, strategic communications fellow: “I’ve really enjoyed getting to learn from and work with creatives all over the state. It’s so cool to hear what inspires them and how they make it work!”

Micah Horne, social media fellow: “The Creative Economy Summit was definitely a highlight for me. It’s always great to see Pattern’s work manifest in real and meaningful events like this. It’s even greater to see so many people backing our vision and supporting us. It’s like our own little army!”

Emily Worrell, strategic communications fellow: “My highlight this year was putting together Volume 26. I got to speak to so many interesting independent creatives that add to the vibrancy and diversity of our creative scene!”

And of course, our SPACE residents were fabulous as ever! For 2024, they included Julian Jamaal Jones, Madeline MacKinnon, Liz Wierzbicki, and Priya Wittman. We can’t wait to see what they do next!

All this exciting work you see here isn’t possible without financial support, which is why we’re thrilled to utilize our new grants from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, the Herb Simon Family Foundation, the Samerian Foundation, and the Indy Arts Council to continue our advocacy, events, and education around the creative economy. 

Join us in 2025!

P.S. We love these guys!