Last modified: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
IU's ArtsWeek 2010 to present 'Standing Up for the Mountains,' 'Miami Made'
Events to address mountaintop removal of coal, lives of Miami Indians from Indiana
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 16, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Two major ArtsWeek 2010 events take place this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 19-20). On Friday, Indiana University's Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center will host "Standing Up for the Mountains," an evening filled with music, readings and discussion devoted to the economic, environmental and cultural impact of the mountaintop removal of coal.
On Saturday,The Project School will host "Miami Made: The Creative Lives of Four Miami Women," a celebration of the diverse cultural traditions of the Miami Indians of Indiana.
"Standing Up for the Mountains" is a free, open-to-the-public evening that is particularly relevant in Indiana, one of the most coal-dependent states in the country.
The evening will feature presentations from five speakers, four of whom are from Kentucky and are working to preserve the mountains of southern Appalachia.
Silas House is an author of four novels: Clay's Quilt (2001), A Parchment of Leaves (2003), The Coal Tattoo (2004) and Eli the Good (2009). In 2008, House received the Helen Lewis Community Lewis Award for his environmental activism. He currently lives in Eastern Kentucky where he is working on his fifth novel, Evona Darling.
Writer, editor and musician Jason Howard is from Eastern Kentucky. He is a former senior editor and staff writer for Equal Justice Magazine. Howard was a co-author of Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal and the editor of We All Live Downstream: Writings About Mountaintop Removal.
Western-Kentucky native Kate Larken is a songwriter, playwright, activist, educator, producer and publisher with EvaMedia Inc & MotesBooks. She has recorded five collections of original music and has contributed to various other recording and performance projects.
Photo by Anna Batcheller
Artwork by Katrina Mitten, a Miami Indian from Indiana, will be on display at "Miami Made: The Creative Lives of Four Miami Women," an ArtsWeek event Feb. 20 at The Project School.
Erik Reece, of Kentucky, is the author of award-winning book Lost Mountain. Reece's most recent book is An American Gospel, part family memoir, part exploration of America's spiritual and intellectual history. His essays have appeared in Harper's, Orion, The Nation and Oxford American.
IU Distinguished Professor of English Scott Russell Sanders is an award-winning author whose writing examines the human place in nature, the pursuit of social justice, the relation between culture and geography, and the search for a spiritual path. His latest books are the Pulitzer Prize-nominated A Private History of Awe and A Conservationist Manifesto, published by IU Press.
Miami Made
ArtsWeek continues Saturday, Feb. 20, with "Miami Made: The Creative Lives of Four Miami Women," a celebration of the diverse cultural traditions of the Miami Indians of Indiana.
The distinct, contemporary works of Miami artisans Katrina Mitten, Catherine Nagy Mowry, Patria Smith and Dani Tippmann will be on display, and the artists will be on hand to talk about the rich heritage of the Miami people as a Woodland tribe, as well as what it means to be a Miami Indian today.
The Project School (349 S. Walnut St.) will host the event, which takes place from 2-4 p.m.
ArtsWeek
ArtsWeek is an annual winter festival that has been celebrated for more than 26 years. The festival extends artistic expression with the participation of Indiana University, the city of Bloomington and the surrounding communities. For more information, see https://artsweek.indiana.edu/.
