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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The BUTTER Fine Art Fair officially opened Friday morning. Opening day started with Education Day, bringing students to the Stutz Building in downtown Indianapolis.
2025 year marks the fifth anniversary of BUTTER. It features 50 black artists from Indiana and across the country.
Since 2021, Indianapolis-based GANGGANG has produced the event, saying it’s a way to celebrate Black art while setting a new standard for artists to earn a living.
The art collective aims is to sell or loan 100% of the art on display. According to organizers, it has sold more than $900,000 since it started. They expect to pass $1 million in sales this year.
BUTTER Director Deonna Craig says this year’s event is the biggest fair to date.
“It’s kind of like a homecoming,” Craig said. “We’re so excited to welcome artists from all of the years back, as well as our past collectors. We have artists from all over the world that are here with us this year, and we’re just following the trajectory of their journeys. It’s so exciting.”
Before the adults could experience this year’s BUTTER, students from area schools had a chance to see the artwork before the doors opened during Education Day.
BUTTER Education Day Coordinator Ess McKee says about 700 students experienced the fair on Friday morning.
“They need to know that artists look different ways,” McKee said. “A lot of the young people that are coming will also be black. For them to be able to see that there are artists that are doing things that they may be interested in, to know that it’s something that they’re able to attain, it’s highly important.”
Friday’s activities also included a short presentation from Indianapolis historian Sampson Levingston.
He says students learned about the history of Black artists in the neighborhood.
“We’re right where we’re supposed to be,” Levingston said. “It may not feel like that or look like that if it’s not BUTTER Weekend. I’m letting people know, BUTTER is not just by happenstance. We’ve been doing stuff like this for a long time.”
In addition to the art, the fair will feature five different stages for DJs, musicians and conversations. There are also food trucks lined up to sell food throughout the event.
General admission tickets to BUTTER start at $55.
BUTTER Fine Arts Fair 2025 Hours
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