It all started back in August 2019 when we pulled the trigger on our intended garage mural! We've always wanted one. But when my husband Alan & I (Deborah) were out of town and I saw (on instagram) that Jules Muck @muckrock just passed through Indy and was heading north, I begged her to swing back around for us - but one mural for our garage wasn't going to get her to turn back around... So we roped in our neighbors Chad & Adolphus, AKA Chadolphus, through a string of texts knowing they had shared their intention of having their nephew paint a rose mural on their garage as a gift to the community! Our then recently new neighbor Mary was an immediate YES as she too always dreamed of a mural! #kindredspirits
My wheels were spinning at that point and my eyes were gawking at the original old barn behind us. I knew that if we could get them on board— this could become the start of something bigger!
I sent my husband Alan over to talk to Dan, the owner of the barn back then. (I’m not much of a spokesperson;) Dan wasn’t against the idea but not 100% sure either, certainly not under the time pressure he was being put under: With the way Jules swipes by and gets things done in a day or a couple of days max, there was no real time to think things over. When it came down to cost keeping him from a definite yes- we offered to split it with him, knowing it would turn into a long lasting gift to ourselves AND our community.
The next few years involved spreading the word, putting together itineraries with Jules for new murals to be painted while inviting local artists to also join in! In some cases I would design flower mural proposals (photoshop mock-ups) for those that needed help visualizing their garage with a mural before committing, like I did for our own mural. Each time lodging Jules & crew into our @ripplebnb airbnbs as a part of our investment to further grow the flower alley. We have since financially supplemented a few other murals to make sure they would reach their full scope in potential and scale.
Taking a life of its own, the Broad Ripple Flower Alley— has inspired many great things since… Graduation, family, wedding or seasonal photo shoots, wedding rehearsal dinners, community gatherings and of course the now notorious SPRING & FALL REVIVALS by Jim Korn offering live music in the alley for our beloved community. Don't miss out on the next one!
Bring a smile and come feel the love!
None of this could have happened without the partnership of Chad Fallis
and Adolphus Fifer known as the glue of this community...
They are naturals at bringing people together and on board!
Chad is also the very one that gifted the flower alley with the stellar concept of each of us naming our flower murals “be …” to add meaning. They named theirs “Be love”
—which, they are! Pure Love.
A blessing to this neighborhood and community!
Thank you Chad & Adolphus!
& certainly,
None of this would have been possible without Jules Muck!
It takes a rare combined mixture of skills to create such movement:
incredible TALENT, extreme FLEXIBILITY to work with a variety of people (some having no idea of what they want requiring her full input and creativity to people that have an exact vision to execute,) and SPEED:
Creating an alley like this one needed MOMENTUM! Jules has all of it.
Thank you Jules!
To all the amazing mural artists that have since joined in and helped grow/spread the flower alley movement!
We love and appreciate you!
& Last but not least THE BIGGEST THANK YOU
to all our wonderful neighbors that have since part taken and invested in the #broadripplefloweralley project, by beautifying our community through painting giant flower murals onto their properties!
The amazing neighborly love, kindred spirits, help and support have made this a blessed alley.
There is no better time then now to come together through smiles...
~ Deborah Jacobs @ripplebnb,
Broad Ripple short term rentals design and management,
Orchestrator of the Broad Ripple Flower Alley...
Come check out the flower murals in Broad Ripple Flower Alley!