Best Free Family Sites To Visit In Indianapolis Near Me

4worldlovers:
Help us advance chimpanzee care within a groundbreaking new environment, enhance the Zoo entry experience, and support the Global Center for Species Survival.

Summer camps, dolphin-in-water adventures and animal art adventures await you at the Zoo.


From animal care to guest services, there are wild opportunities waiting for you! Learn more about our current job openings.

By visiting the Zoo, you're supporting our efforts to save wildlife and wild places that are at risk.

We protect nature and inspire people to care for our world.

4worldlovers: The Indiana War Memorial and Museum are now open five days a week from Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., to welcome and assist all visitors. Indiana War Memorials Commission will follow all guidelines and recommendations outlined by Governor Eric Holcomb, the Indiana State Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In accordance with the State of Indiana face covering mandate, visitors are required to wear face coverings inside the Indiana War Memorial and Museum. Masks must be provided by the visitor. Hand sanitizer is located throughout the building and social distancing must be maintained. Increased cleaning and sanitizing protocols and schedules are in effect.

Indiana War Memorials Commission is thrilled to welcome events and tours back to our properties. For further information on open days and times, events or tours, please call 317-232-7615.

The Indiana War Memorial Plaza Historic District includes the 30,000 square foot IWM Museum complete with military equipment and artifacts, three parks, four fountains, and 25 acres of monuments, statues, and sculptures in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. The IWM's properties include the Indiana War Memorial, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the Indiana World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War Memorials, the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Memorial, the Medal of Honor Memorial, the 9/11 Memorial, and the Indiana Gold Star Families Memorial. No state has a city with more monuments dedicated to veterans than Indiana's capital, and no city in the country maintains more acreage honoring veterans than Indianapolis. It is also home to the American Legion National Headquarters, which is the largest veterans' organization in the world. The IWM Commission operates these facilities in pursuit of its primary mission: to commemorate the valor and sacrifice of the United States Armed Forces and to honor Hoosier veterans and Indiana's role in the nation's conflicts.

IWM Historic District interview with Brigadier General Stewart Goodwin, Executive Director IWM

The Indiana War Memorial Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

The Soldiers & Sailors Monument and Gift Shop are open Friday-Sunday from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

The War Memorials are closed on all National and State holidays except Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

The Indiana War Memorials Foundation commemorates veterans with "Bricks of Honor". Each brick is engraved with a veteran's name, rank, branch and dates of service, and placed around the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in the heart of Indianapolis, ensuring that our heroes will not be forgotten by future generations. You can order a brick for $125 tax-deductible charitable donation. You may also request the location of your brick and schedule a ceremony to have it installed with the veteran and family present. Bricks of Honor are prepared and installed on a quarterly basis as weather permits. For more information, please visit IWMF's Bricks of Honor page, or download the brochure.

The Indiana War Memorials has collaborated with the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana to collect US Flags that should be retired. The purpose of the collection is to provide a proper way of retiring the flags, which will take place at the Girl Scouts summer camps where the scouts will learn the history and meaning of flag retirement. Flags will be collected at the Indiana War Memorial throughout the year. US Flags that are structurally damaged or faded should be respectfully retired. This program provides for proper retirement and presents a learning opportunity for the Girl Scouts. Click here to listen to an interview about the program on WFYI's "No Limits".

The American Legion 500 Festival Memorial Service will take place at 6:30 pm on Friday, May 26, 2023, at the Indiana War Memorial. The event is free and open to the public. Please visit the American Legion 500 Festival Memorial Service website for more information.

The Indiana Gold Star Families Memorial is IWM's newest memorial. Please see the website and the Indiana Gold Star Families Memorial brochure for more information.

4worldlovers:
Our vision is to expand the boundaries of our historical and natural resources by exploring, celebrating, and improving the human experience. Through a heart for the past, a head for the present, and an eye to the future, our doors are always open to a diversity of voices and limitless experiences.

4worldlovers: You asked, we listened. THE LUME Indianapolis featuring Van Gogh is back by popular demand for a limited time only. 30,000 square feet of iconic post-Impressionist work will once again dance in vivid color on Floor 4 of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.

4worldlovers:
Today you can immerse yourself in art and nature in the newly-endowed Hawryluk Sculpture Green in the heart of the park. Come back “home again” to experience and interact with new art installations in The Hawryluk Collection of Art in Nature to be launched in 2024.


Take in the Home Again exhibition, the first in a new and evolving series of outdoor public art installations in The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, themed around its refresh and rejuvenation. Home Again includes a newly commissioned artwork by Brooklyn-based artist Heather Hart as well as two other interactive multimedia sculptures by Indianapolis-based artist Anila Quayyum Agha, and New York-based artists Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood.

A $3 million gift by longtime Newfields patron Kent Hawryluk will support the ongoing artwork commissions of large-scale contemporary sculpture for years to come. Mr. Hawryluk first became involved with the Indianapolis Museum of Art nearly 20 years ago, when he joined the Young Friends of Art and Contemporary Art Society. Through his experience with these groups and the relationships he built with collectors and curators, he developed the passion for contemporary art that ultimately led to this transformative gift.

No tickets needed. The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park is completely free year-round from dawn to dusk.

Free and accessible parking is available at The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. The parking lot entry is located at 1850 West 38th Street, about one-half block west of the main Newfields entrance.

If traveling by car, the park entrance can only be accessed from westbound 38th Street and is located off the exit ramp for North White River Parkway East Drive.

There is an ADA and stroller accessible parking lot at The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park (directions below). The park is also accessible from the Central Canal Towpath. The towpath runs north from Broad Ripple and south to connect to the White River Trail, leading to Downtown Indianapolis. Bike racks are available at all entrances to the park. There is also a Pacers Bikeshare Station at the Central Canal Towpath entrance. If taking the bus, Newfields is located on IndyGo bus routes #34 and #38.

Accessible restrooms are located at the Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion. Please be advised the pavilion is closed from November 1–April 1.

Portions of The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park include accessible pathways.

Three new art installations planned for 100 Acres park at Newfields (Indianapolis Business Journal)

4worldlovers:
Early Life Charity Adams was born on December 5, 1918 in Kittrell, North Carolina. She grew up in Columbia, South Carolina until moving to Ohio to continue her education at…

Visit Monument Circle this holiday season to see the holiday projection of Shining A Light! You’ll be moved by the massive 360° coordinated audio, video and light projection that transforms Monument…

The Indianapolis National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony, led annually by the Indianapolis POW/MIA Council, Inc., will be held Friday, September 16, 2022, 12:00 p.m., at the Indiana War Memorial, 55…

Explore the monuments, museums and memorials of the Indiana War Memorial Plaza Historic District—virtually.

Download the PocketSights mobile app to take a self-guided tour of the IWMC Properties on your GPS-enabled mobile device. Learn more