Indianapolis, IN –The city of Indianapolis is reeling from the sudden and heartbreaking loss of Kevin McKelvey—a visionary artist, educator, poet, and father—who died in a tragic accident earlier this week. He was 47.
Known for his gentle spirit, boundless creativity, and tireless devotion to community, Kevin’s passing leaves a profound void in the lives of his family, friends, students, and countless others who were fortunate enough to know him, work beside him, or be touched by his work.
For nearly two decades, Kevin was a pillar of Big Car Collaborative, a nonprofit arts organization that transformed Indianapolis neighborhoods through socially engaged art and grassroots placemaking. But Kevin’s contributions were never limited to murals or sculptures. He brought life—literal and metaphorical—into forgotten spaces, turning a cracked parking lot into a garden, building bocce courts where strangers became neighbors, and laying stone with his own hands to build the Indianapolis Bee Sanctuary.
“Kevin didn’t just make art,” one colleague said through tears. “He wove communities back together.”
From the sledgehammer to the pen, Kevin was an artist in every sense of the word. His work blurred boundaries—between ecology and art, between poetry and carpentry, between theory and soil. His projects were infused with humility, humor, and a deep love of place.
As a professor at the University of Indianapolis, Kevin inspired a new generation of artists and thinkers. He co-founded a one-of-a-kind graduate program in social practice art and placemaking, where students learned to build meaning in spaces long forgotten and to find poetry in the everyday. They didn’t just read his poems—they watched him live them.
A published poet, Kevin’s writing reflected his reverence for Indiana’s rural rhythms, the intricacies of nature, and the beauty of overlooked places—gas stations, fence lines, railroad tracks. His verses were quiet prayers for a better, more connected world.
Yet perhaps Kevin’s most important role was at home. A devoted father, brother, and son, he gave his heart and time generously. He balanced the complexities of his many commitments with grace and love, always making room for those who needed him.
His death has shocked and shattered the community that surrounded him. And yet, the gardens he planted, the students he guided, and the neighbors he uplifted will continue to carry his work forward.
In a statement, Big Car Collaborative said:
“Kevin was the soul of our organization. He taught us to slow down, to listen, to care deeply about people and places. We will never be the same without him—but we will carry his spirit in every project, every conversation, every seed planted.”
Plans for a public memorial and celebration of Kevin’s life will be announced in the coming days. In the meantime, the city mourns not just an artist lost, but a friend, a builder, a poet of place.
Kevin McKelvey changed lives—not loudly, but completely.
May his legacy grow wild and lasting, like the gardens he loved
