When you think of Staycations in Indiana, don’t leave downtown Valparaiso off your bucket list. Valparaiso Creative Council has been working hard to promote the arts and develop a thriving community for creators since 2017. Visitors to this exceptional downtown will be overwhelmingly surprised with all the culinary, shopping, parks, entertainment, and now creative district options.
The Creative Council, long powered by volunteers, is turning an unused space at 256 Indiana Avenue into “Valpo Creates Center,” which will contribute immensely to Valpos’s burgeoning arts and creative district.
“We are finally putting our location on the Creative District map, and we can’t wait to engage visitors in ways that will captivate their creative expression and experiences,” says Jessica Corral, who was just extended to full-time Executive Director of VCC for 2025.
“Phase One is merely the beginning of all we have planned for our center,” she adds. “We highly encourage everyone near and far to stay connected to us as we roll out some incredible concepts.”
The 3,000-square-foot Valpo Creates Center space will be divided between tenants and will facilitate an arts educational space, event space, conference room, and artist hub. Interested creators and art organizations can apply to rent these spaces.
Simply visit valpocreates.org and select the “space rental” prompts. The building will provide open access to areas that serve creatives’ needs best. They will be able to paint, create, and store artwork on the site. They will have meetings, peer reviews and creative strategy sessions to bring the artist community together. It will be a center with a lot of resources for artists and information posted and shared.
The first phase opens up the space to artists and organizations who also need a creative place to call home, while the second phase will develop art programs for the community.
“The ultimate goal is accessibility for all ages, stages, abilities, and idea makers. We want to make sure everybody is able to participate and engage in creative processes that excite them.”
The Valparaiso Creative Council is working on ideas for partnering with other organizations, such as staging historic theatrical events with Porter County Museum, sharing events with the Artists’ Guild of Valparaiso right across the street, and mini art walks to Moon Mug, Veleros, all current mural map locations, Memorial Opera House, and more.
“We are currently having our artist callout for all our 2025 events. Part of our mission is to layer events and programming with a diverse range of talent to facilitate the art experiences we envision. Our Sip + Social Speakeasy is one great example of how we contracted 16 artists across artforms such as theater, dance, performance art, live painting, photography, and more, all the while immersing our audience into a 1920s unforgettable theme!” Jessica continues.
Charlie Chaplin greeted them at the secret door, a sketch artist drew their ‘mugshot’, a trio band provided era-themed music, and actors permeated the venue with believable speakeasy scenes between mobsters, glamorous gals, mimes and more. “The talent became the gem of the event, and we want this to be felt at every VCC experience whether at a partnering venue like Lower Lincoln or at our new location on Indiana Avenue. Expect VCC creative programming to pop up anywhere in 2025,” according to Jessica.
You can stay up to date by following Valparaiso Creative Council @valpocreates and visiting valpocreates.org.
