Indiana Humanities 2022 Holiday Gift Guide

Need a gift for the humanities fan in your life? (Or maybe for yourself – we won’t judge!) Check out our staff picks, which include books, getaways, memberships and more. 

Indiana Authors Awards Books

Sam Opsahl, Program Associate

Struggling to find a gift for that Hoosier in your life that loves awards season? Find them a good read from our list of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award winners! With eight books to choose from that cover the literary spectrum from children’s to genre, there’s something for everybody in this year’s Indiana Authors Awards selections. And if you’re hunting for even more good reads, take a deep dive into our Indiana Authors Awards shortlists and fill up your family and friends’ bookshelves this holiday season! 

Indiana Landmarks Membership

Grace McDowell, Public History Intern

Indiana Landmarks works to preserve and interpret historic sites across the state through grants and long-term initiatives like their recently-launched Black Heritage Preservation Program. With an Indiana Landmarks’ membership, you can support the revitalization of sites significant to Black Hoosiers’ history and culture. You also get exclusive access to events and discounts on fascinating historical tours of places like the Athenaeum or the City Market Catacombs, which was the setting of 2020 Indiana Authors Awards winner Maurice Broaddus’ novel Pimp My Airship. Indiana Landmarks’ website makes it easy to gift an individual membership for $25 or a dual membership for $40. 

Indiana Waterways: The Art of Conservation

George Hanlin, Director of Grants

During the height of the pandemic, five Indiana artists toured the state and painted Indiana’s waterways, creating 100 works that depict dozens of Hoosierland’s rivers and streams—from the mighty Ohio in Vanderburgh County to the tiny Salamonie in Jay County. Museums in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Muncie and New Harmony will exhibit the paintings, and the JMetzger Group has reproduced them in a book titled Indiana Waterways: The Art of Conservation. The limited-edition book is handsomely designed, and the images celebrate Indiana’s natural beauty. But accompanying essays, supported in part by an Indiana Humanities grant, paint a more nuanced picture, calling attention to Indiana’s history of environmental neglect and making an appeal for increased conservation and restoration.  

Butler University Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium

Lydia Laker, Kristen Fuhs Wells Communications Intern

Stargazers, poets and hip-hop lovers, this is for you! Enjoy a night observing the stars at Butler University Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium while reading former Indiana Poet Laureate Adrian Matejka’s coming-of-age collection, Map to the Stars. This is the perfect gift for someone who wants a unique, poetic experience under the stars! 

Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Membership

Marisol Gouveia, Director of Engagement

For the 19^th state enthusiast in your life: Get this Indiana-themed leather travel journal (or any other exquisitely handcrafted journal from the Indiana-based Binding Bee) and pair it with an Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites membership, which includes admission to the museum in Indianapolis as well as 11 other sites across the state. They can consider the beginnings of our state at the Capitol in Corydon, our role on the Underground Railroad at the Levi & Catharine Coffin House and visions of a model community in New Harmony. Memberships start at $75. Explore Indiana! 

Stranger Things Inspired Getaway at the Graduate Hotel

Beth Kloote, Office Manager and Development Associate

For the pop culture fans, gift them a weekend away in Bloomington with the Stranger Things suite Upside Down Experience package at The Graduate Hotel. This gift includes exploring the city on a bike with a Polaroid to capture your perspectives. May we suggest a stop along the way at an upcoming IU Arts & Humanities Council event? Or just pretend you’re an extra in Breaking Away. 

Michigan City Getaway

Jackie Rodriguez, Communications Manager

For those unfamiliar with northwestern Indiana, Michigan City sounds like a town you’d find in our northern neighboring state. Luckily, this gem is actually nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan in LaPorte County. Plan a beachy getaway for someone you love and visit the Old Light House Museum, walk along the sandy waterfront shores, marvel at the critters and creatures inside the Washington Park Zoo or discover the legacy of Naomi Anderson Brown, Michigan City’s “hometown suffragist,” at Charles R. Westcott Park.   

Indiana Writers Center Membership

Lyndsey Blair, Program Associate

Have you or a loved one made a resolution to write more next year? Then an Indiana Writers Center (IWC) membership is the perfect gift to purchase this holiday season. IWC provides a wealth of opportunities to learn about writing in various disciplines (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, playwriting, etc.) as well as connect with writers of like mind. Plus, an IWC membership keeps the Center’s classes and programs affordable for other residents in Indiana.  

Indiana State Parks Pass

Keira Amstutz, President and CEO

If you are looking for a way to avoid the crush of after-Thanksgiving shopping, join the Opt Out movement and experience a state park near you for FREE on Friday, November 25.  Many parks are offering guided hikes that day including Pokagon State Park near my hometown. While you are there, pick up a 2023 park pass for $50 as a gift for the outdoorsy person on your list.  

Visit Columbus

Tom Streit, Creative Technologist

I usually suggest whatever record Stuart Hyatt put out this year (there’s a reissue of his Grammy-award winning album “The Clouds” that you should look into) but this year I’m encouraging you to spend a little time in one of my favorite cities, Columbus. Grab a friend, a paper shoot camera or smartphone, and explore the architecture downtown. Visit Columbus has all the resources in one place (tours, guides and attractions) but ditch the car and walk around for the best vantages. Make sure to check out Viewpoint Books, ZwanzigZ and have everyone choose a favorite public art installation while in town.  

PATTERN Magazine Subscription

Hailey DeWolf, Events Associate

Looking for a gift to give the creative in your life? Get them a subscription to PATTERN Magazine! Not only will their annual subscription include the spring and fall editions of the award-winning publication, but it also will go toward supporting the nonprofit organization’s work to make Indianapolis a world-class destination for culture, fashion, art and music. 

frank: sonnets, The Rabbit Hutch and Booth

Megan Telligman, Director of Programs

In addition to Indiana’s own book awards, the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award, tons of authors with Indiana ties were recognized by big prizes this year. I’d recommend making gifts of any of these award-winning books for the literature lovers in your life. Poet Diane Suess was born in Michigan City and her collection frank: sonnets took home the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle awards for poetry. Winner of the 2022 National Book Award for fiction, Tess Gunty’s debut novel The Rabbit Hutch is set in a fictionalized South Bend, where Gunty was born and raised. For the history-lovers in your life, Karen Joy Fowler’s fictional treatment of the family of John Wilkes Booth in Booth made the Booker Prize longlist this year.  

Hoodox Subscription

Lee Durham, Digital Production Intern

To secure the everlasting love and adoration of the film buff in your life, consider gifting them a subscription to Indiana’s very own, very cool documentary streaming service – Hoodox! Hoodox works a lot like most video streaming platforms, but it only features nonfiction content either created by Indiana filmmakers, about Indiana stories, or both. If you’re already sold, cool your boots, because it gets better: Hoodox is also a non-profit organization working to build a robust community around documentary film here in Indiana. You can level up and go with a membership, too. These are offered in three tiers and include bountiful, awesome perks (the best one among them being your much-needed support of the Indiana filmmaking community). 

Belt Magazine Subscription

Marlena Ratchford, Finance, Grants and Program Associate

A subscription to Belt magazine is essential for any folks in your life who have found themselves rooted and raised in, transplanted to, or otherwise passionately connected to the Rust Belt, the region of the U.S. marred by post-industrial decline. Belt viscerally captures the nuanced life and culture, both beautiful and brutal, of a unique American landscape. The magazine’s essays, poetry, artwork, cultural and politically commentary avoid reducing the Rust Belt to its most tragic realities, and instead, create vivid, complex and moving portraits of communities committed to finding hope and vibrance in the most unexpected places.