Join Newfields in its annual Harvest Nights for festive art, spectacular lights and friendly frights. Photo by Darcy Leber.
SOPHIE PURVIS | STAFF REPORTER | spurvis@butler.edu
Newfields’ Harvest Nights returns with evenings full of family fun. For the sixth consecutive year, Newfields’ Indianapolis Museum of Art brings spooky — not scary — fall-themed celebrations to the community. The event includes tens of thousands of pumpkins and gourds, tasty snacks, a haunted house, an award-winning lightshow and much more.
The event runs every evening until Nov. 2, with ticket times beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m. Prices start at $25 for adults and admission is free for children ages 5 and under. Guests will experience the grounds, as well as see 2,500 carved jack-o-lanterns and 35,000 pumpkins and gourds.
Junior music composition major Christian Miller described some of the most memorable parts of his Harvest Nights experience.
“They had so many carved pumpkins — at least 100 — which was crazy cool,” Miller said. “They had local artists [who] made homemade Halloween sculptures that were really awesome.”
Also featured at the festival were the Garden Monsters, a display of different creatures sculpted by local artists.
Jonathan Berger, the Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs and the Executive Producer of Harvest Nights, discussed how Garden Monsters showcases art from across the community.
“Garden Monsters [is] where we reach out into the community and people send us their ideas,” Berger said. “Then, we pick from those different ephemeral sculptures and highlight those 10 or 15 throughout the garden.”
One of the larger-scale artists showcased this year is Kara Kent. Her unique and hand-crafted mushrooms are displayed in the newly added Fungi Forest. Stationed in California, Kent has an online shop that sells an array of products, from bandanas and skull figurines to commissioned lawn sculptures. Kent emphasized that her craftsmanship is what makes her work unique and personalized.
“[The sculptures] are all handmade,” Kent said. “They’re sculpted from clay, made from molds and then cast. Every inch of them is handmade and painted from start to finish.”
All of the artists, from local to large-scale designers, contribute to the American Advertising Award (ADDY)-winning production. Berger illustrated the amount of detail and care that goes into the production of the event.
“Our fully immersive events are curated,” Berger said. “We think of all the details. When you’re walking and getting your hot chocolate or your caramel popcorn, it’s the smells, the aromas, fog [and] even the music. I hand-picked all for the event … [to] create the whole experience.”
For months, Berger and the Newfields events team prepared to put on an unforgettable experience.
“It’s months in the making,” Berger said. “We have a great team that really starts to transform our campus into this spooky — not scary — Harvest Nights.”
Another highlight of the evening is the ADDY-award-winning light show that is projected onto the Lilly House. Starting last year, Newfields partnered with Cincinnati-based company Lightborne to redesign the light production. As part of the event, guests can experience Mischief Manor, which showcases the unique light show.
Harvest Nights not only provides a dose of fall family fun, but also the chance to become acquainted with Newfields.
“[For] many, this is an introduction to our campus, and then they’ll follow up and come for Winterlights later on,” Berger said.
The event also offers themed concessions and drinks on the Art or Treat trail, as well as non-food goodies for those with allergies. For guests ages 21 and up, Eerie After Hours offers themed alcoholic beverages.
Running from now until Nov. 2, Newfields invites anyone interested to join them for a spectacularly spooky night of fun.
