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Cathy Morris, the seven-string electric violinist who’s been a pillar of the Indianapolis music community for decades, had no problem finding gigs in 2024.
She played multiple dates at the Jazz Kitchen and at Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. Morris performed as part of the Carmel Jazz Festival, and she’s consistently in demand to supply music at upscale weddings.
But behind-the-scenes work leading the nonprofit Arts with a Purpose may qualify Morris as the hardest-working musician in central Indiana.
In 2024, the Columbus native coordinated more than 700 performances by fellow creatives who take the arts to audiences who lack access to or can’t afford similar experiences.
“I want to use the arts to embellish people’s quality of life,” said Morris, who founded Arts with a Purpose in 2016. “I want to give everybody a big hug of arts.”
Morris said one of her favorite aspects of Arts with a Purpose is that it has no boundaries or restrictions in terms of audiences it serves. Initiatives range from preschool programs at Flanner House’s Ujamaa Community Bookstore to senior communities in multiple cities.
Arts with a Purpose performers have visited the Abbie Hunt Bryce Home, a facility operated by Morning Light Inc. that offers a free place to stay for terminally ill patients of low income.
The list of performance sites includes Julian Center and Coburn Place, two facilities that support victims of domestic violence.
“We use the arts to create a positive energy for them, even if it’s just a distraction,” Morris said. “None of us are therapists here. We just have something to offer … trying to transform negatives into positives.”
Morris, 63, became an inductee of the Indianapolis Jazz Hall of Fame in 2003.
Indiana all-stars populate the roster of mentoring artists that Morris assembled for Arts with a Purpose. Standouts include saxophone player Rob Dixon, blues vocalist Tad Robinson, guitarists Andra Faye, Peter Kienle, Scott Ballantine, Tim Wright and Marrialle Sellars, dancers Ronne Stone and Vanessa Owens, and keyboard player Darren Vincent.
It’s a point of pride, Morris said, that Arts with a Purpose pays its artists.
Morris, who grew up in Columbus, earned degrees in both music performance and arts management at Indiana University.
She’s worked with Arts for Learning Indiana, which provides arts education programs for young Hoosiers, since 1990. Morris credits a stint on the board of Arts for Lawrence, a performing arts and visual arts nonprofit based at the Fort Ben Cultural Campus, for expanding her knowledge of the nonprofit world.
“It gave me firsthand knowledge of that aspect,” she said. “It was the last thing I needed to know before I did this.”
The early part of Arts with a Purpose’s 2025 calendar includes a public event Feb. 7 at the Harrison Center, 1505 N. Delaware St. A jazz ensemble featuring Morris and Dixon will perform in the Harrison gymnasium during First Friday gallery openings.
To donate to Arts with a Purpose, visit artswithapurpose.com.
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