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Media Relations

Events at Indiana University

March 30-April 13, 2006

Edmund Barry Gaither Lecture
March 30, 5-6:30 p.m., Indiana Memorial Union, Frangipani Room, Bloomington -- Edmund Barry Gaither, director and curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists and special consultant at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, will give a lecture entitled "'Still Life Revisited' and Other Adventures in Iconography: The Art of Eldzier Cortor." A dance performance, based on a print by Eldzier Cortor and featuring new choreography from Iris Rosa, director of the IU African American Dance Company, will follow at 6:45 p.m. on the first floor of the IU Art Museum's Thomas T. Solley Atrium. The evening will continue from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with a reception on the second floor of the Thomas T. Solley Atrium for Gaither and to mark the opening of the IU Art Museum exhibition "Black Spirit: Works on Paper by Eldzier Cortor." There will be gallery tours beginning at 7 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~iuam/iuam_intro.htm.

AAAI spring concert series celebrates transitions in ensembles' direction
April 1, 8, 14, 8 p.m., Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington -- The African American Arts Institute's annual spring concert series will begin April 1 with the African American Dance Company's spring performance. The African American Choral Ensemble will perform a farewell concert for James Mumford on April 8, and the IU Soul Revue will get down during Little 500 weekend on April 14. Each concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. All adult tickets are $15. Tickets for seniors, children and students are $10, and there is a special advanced IU student rate of $5. Tickets are available now at the Sunrise Box Office, which is adjacent to the theater. The African American Dance Company's concert theme, "Moving the Movement: Dancing Liberation," examines the phenomena of resilience of African descendants throughout the world and honors the role of dance and music in this struggle. For more information, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~aaai/

Our Country's Good
April 1, 7:30 p.m., Wells-Metz Theatre in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center, Bloomington -- Called "a moving, often funny story in which art and humanity triumph over ignorance" by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, this play addresses the ability of the theatre to move and change lives. A recipient of the 1988 Olivier Award, it dramatizes Thomas Keneally's novel The Playmaker. For more information, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~thtr or call 812-855-1103 for ticket information.

Singing Hoosiers spring concert
April 1, 8 p.m., Frangipani Room, Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St., Bloomington -- Join the Singing Hoosiers for an evening of entertainment with a concert. For more information, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~singingh/ or contact Laura Brumback at labrumba@indiana.edu.

Winner of three Coretta Scott King Awards will hold reading and conversation session

April 4, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Savannah Center Auditorium, IU Northwest, Gary -- As a critically acclaimed author, Angela Johnson has been honored with several prestigious writing awards including the Coretta Scott King Award and the Michael Print Award for Young Adult Literature. The public is invited to hear a reading by Johnson, followed by a conversation period with the author. A reception and book signing will be held immediately following the session. This event is free and all are welcome. Born in Tuskegee, Ala., in 1961, Johnson didn't realize until her mid-20's that her life's passion was the written word; that storytelling -- a talent passed down from her father and grandfather -- was her call in life. But from even an early age, she felt compelled to put her feelings on paper, even if they weren't always meant for others to see. But soon, her teen angst turned into an adept penchant for writing stories that spoke to children and young people. For more information, contact Mary Russell at 219-980-6575 or Lacey Finchum at 219-980-6680 or lacwilso@iun.edu.

Evening caving trip -- IUOA
April 5, 6 p.m., Bloomington -- This evening trip will visit southern Indiana caves. Southern Indiana has over 3,000 caves located south of Bloomington. We'll be taking a drive to some of Indiana's classic caves with small groups (no larger than six). Come with us during a weeknight and take a break from the bars. We'll leave campus around 5 p.m., and you can still come strolling in sometime in the morning hours. Best of all, you'll be able to remember the great times you had the night before! See the real wild side of Indiana and go underground with IUOA. Fee: IU students $25, nonstudents $30 (includes transportation and group equipment). Contact John Meuser at jmeuser@indiana.edu for more information or visit http://outdoors.indiana.edu.

Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater presents Carmen
April 7, 8, 14, 15, 8 p.m., Musical Arts Center, Bloomington -- Deemed today to be the most famous opera in the world, Carmen was originally described by critics as "immoral" and "low," and its slightly Latin music was resisted. The stunning Spanish gypsy Carmen, who is as passionate in her loves as she is for her freedom, convinces a young corporal seduced by her to leave his current sweetheart and desert his regiment. She soon leaves him for a flashy and roguish toreador. Passions boil to a tragic ending as Carmen tries to join the victorious bullfighter in the arena after her discarded lover fails to convince her to return. Tickets are $15-35 ($10-20 students). Call 812-855-2255 or for tickets, 812-855-4733. For more information, visit http://music.indiana.edu/opera.

Mozart Marathon--The complete Mozart sonatas for piano and violin
April 8, 4 p.m., Recital Hall, Bloomington -- Mozart's 17 sonatas for violin and piano are a truly miraculous body of work. It is not surprising that they are beautiful in the way that we expect everything Mozart wrote to be beautiful. The surprise is in the amazing inventive power he shows, perhaps even more here than in his piano sonatas: each of the seventeen is unique and reveals the composer at his most creative. As part of our celebration of Mozart's 250th Anniversary, more than 30 students of the Jacobs School have been studying all the sonatas in a graduate seminar, and will be performing the complete cycle in one Marathon Concert . Only a handful of the sonatas are often heard in concert, and this project has been a revelatory experience for the students -- as it will be for the audience as well: this concert is, without exaggeration, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear all of these wonderful sonatas together, as played by our finest graduate students.
The sonatas will be performed in the order Mozart composed them, with brief intermissions between groups of sonatas. For more information, visit http://www.music.indiana.edu/apps/prelude/new/index.php?id=2591

Art exhibit reveals the process behind the piece

April 10-28, various times, Whitewater Hall enclosed gallery, IU East, Richmond -- The process of creating art is usually left behind on the artist's floor when the finished pieces are displayed in galleries. India Cruse-Griffin will share her approach to creating her mixed-media artwork in "The Other Side of Me." As part of the exhibit, Cruse-Griffin will include her unique sketches, along with new work and art she has created just for herself. She has worked on the project with gallery curator Ed Thornburg. Through a show that includes the step-by-step process, India hopes to teach viewers the importance of creation and not just the finished product. Cruse-Griffin is well known for her creative use of color and texture. Her mixed media artwork includes bold colors, shapes and patterns that tell stories of love, pride, visual culture and spirit of community. Cruse-Griffin's art pieces have been on display at the Kellie Rae Theiss Gallery in Minneapolis, the Richmond Art Museum and the IUPUI Cultural Arts Gallery in Indianapolis. A reception will be held at 7 p.m. on April 12 in the gallery. There is no charge for the exhibit. The gallery is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment on the weekends. For more information on the artist or the exhibit, please call curator Ed Thornburg at 765-973-8605.

Black Women Filmmakers Forum
April 5, 4 to 6 p.m., Woodburn Hall 120, Bloomington -- Three filmmakers -- Alile Sharon Larkin, Jessie Maple Patton and Yvonne Welbon -- will offer insight into filmmaking from their different perspectives and will screen some of their films. The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow in the Rawles Room. For more information, call 812-855-6041 or visit http://www.indiana.edu/~bfca/events/bwff.html.

Mamma Mia!
April 11-14 at 8 p.m. and April 15 and 16 at 2 and 8 p.m., IU Auditorium, Bloomington -- A mother. A daughter. Three possible dads. A trip down the aisle you'll never forget! And the best part? The entire story is told through the songs of '70s supergroup ABBA! Over 20 million people have fallen in love with the characters, the story and the music that make Mamma Mia! the ultimate feel-good show! ABBA's timeless songs propel this enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship. Hits like "Dancing Queen," "The Winner Takes It All," "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Take a Chance on Me" combine to give you a near-perfect theatre experience. Tickets are $34.50-$57.50 for the public and $17.50-$37.50 for students. For more information, visit http://www.iuauditorium.com or call 812-855-1103.

Black Spirit: Works on Paper by Eldzier Cortor
Now through May 7, Hexagon Gallery, IU Art Museum, Bloomington -- This exhibition, comprising 18 prints in a wide variety of media and three early drawings, explores the African American painter/printmaker Eldzier Cortor's interpretation of the Black American experience from his WPA-period portrayal of the working class on Chicago's South Side, to his study of African retentions in the former slave cultures of the U.S. South and Caribbean, to his focus on the allegorical Black female figure in his later works. The exhibition, which highlights the artist's thematic and stylistic evolution over almost 50 years, is presented in conjunction with IU's interdisciplinary conference, "Variations on Blackness." For more information, visit http://www.artmuseum.iu.edu.

Art from the private collection of John & Norma Thompson on exhibit

Now through April 2, various times, Herron School of Art and Design galleries, Indianapolis -- Visitors to the Herron Galleries will be treated to a sampling from the private contemporary art collection of John and Norma Thompson, now on exhibit. The collection includes the works of African American artists Romare Bearden, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Norman Lewis, Jacob Lawrence, Sam Gilliam, Richard Hunt, Elizabeth Catlett and more. For more information, visit http://www.herron.iupui.edu/new_web/news/e-news.html#B.

Talking Shoes
Ongoing, Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Bloomington -- This Children's Gallery exhibit features hands-on activities and shoes from around the world. "Talking Shoes" explores how shoes can reveal much about their makers and wearers. Native American beaded moccasins, sandals from the Republic of Congo, felt shoes from Tibet, and wooden shoes from the Netherlands and Surinam are just a few highlighted artifacts in the exhibit, which features some hands-on activities for younger visitors. The exhibit was developed by students in Anthropology A403/Introduction to Museum Studies during spring semester 2004-05. The students worked with staff at the Mathers Museum to select shoes from the museum's collections, research and write the exhibit labels, prepare the artifacts for display, design the case lay-outs, and install the exhibit. For more information, or to schedule a guided group tour, please call 812-855-6873 or e-mail mathers@indiana.edu.

The Big Shoe Exhibit

Now through April 5, downtown Indianapolis -- If basketball is your thing, then head for downtown Indianapolis to see a parade of traffic-stopping, big basketball shoes. Really big basketball shoes. This display of public art celebrates Tourney Town, USA -- commonly known to Hoosiers as Indianapolis -- as the host of several basketball championships during the months of March and April: the boys' and girls' state high school championships, the men's and women's Big Ten Conference championships, and the biggest "shew" of all, the men's NCAA Final Four. The display features fiberglass basketball shoes mounted on a platform that measures 7 feet by 3 feet, with the actual shoe standing 4 feet tall. Each shoe has a sponsor -- thus the Jaguar shoe, sponsored by IUPUI in honor of its big cat mascot. It also can be seen on IUPUI's events page at http://events.iupui.edu/. The IUPUI shoe can be seen "up close and personal" at the corner of Meridian and Pearl Streets. IU Bloomington also has a shoe called "Big Footsteps to Follow." It was designed by Kyle Caird, a junior from Elkhart, who is majoring in fine arts and minoring in art history, in a university-wide contest. The shoe illustrates how fans think of their beloved players and court. This shoe can be seen just outside Circle Center Mall. For a look at "Big Footsteps to Follow," go to http://tourneytownusa.com/story.php?id=34.

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