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News Release

Last modified: Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Bloomington Herald-Times

February 16, 2010

ArtsWeek stretches to 10 days to fit in events
February 14, 2010

ArtsWeek, the annual arts bash that brings out the best of the arts communities in Bloomington and on the IU campus -- and also fetches arts illuminati from across the country to bedazzle us -- kicks off its 26th year Thursday. It begins with an environmentally-themed workshop by Windfall Dancers, then wraps up 10 days later with a full day's schedule of concerts and recitals.

For anyone bothering to count, this particular week manages to stretch across more than a week and half of real time -- all that excitement just couldn't possibly fit into the standard seven days.

That's not an unusual occurrence with the week, which for several years has expanded beyond its original bounds. An event that will be conspicuously missing this year, though, is one that had been planned as the official inaugural for the week -- the annual Bloomington Area Arts Council Arts Leadership Awards luncheon, which this year has been postponed because of the crisis the arts council is now dealing with.

But more than a score of events, all with a general theme of arts and the environment, will more than fill your schedule, which could include dropping in on a lecture by famed author and food activitst Michael Pollan (if you have tickets, since none remain for the anticipated event), visiting a trash-to-fashion showcase the explores the possibilities of remaking discards to couture, to musical tributes to our world.

Line up the sitter

Miah Michaelsen, director of the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District, remembers that when her kids were small, this was the week she labeled as babysitter boom week -- the time when all the grown-ups wanted to be out for the evening, every evening, providing a real pocketful of cash to the city's babysitting corps.

"ArtsWeek is a beautiful thing," she said "It's one of those great things about Bloomington -- the fact that campus and community come together for this weeklong blitz of arts event, concerts, performances, public art, etcetera." It is a wonderful experience and among the best ways to "communicate the role and value of the arts in our community."

And coming as it does in the depths of gloomy February, it's "a bright spot in the trudge toward spring," she said.

The week is sponsored in part by the IU President's Office and the IU Office of the Vice Provost for Research and also is inclusive of non-campus but related events and events that are thematically connected, even if not receiving funding support from IU.

A real trashy outfit

One city/campus cooperative venture is the Trashion/ReFashion show at the Bloomington convention center Saturday. Sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Living, a local non-profit with a mission to promote a sustainable lifestyle, the interactive fashion show will feature "trashion" pieces or items made from recyclable materials and "refashion" pieces that re-work used items of clothing. There will be two 20-minute fashion shows that will feature work from about 25 designers. During the intermissions, guests can participate in a silent auction with some of the featured pieces on sale.

"It's going to be a blast," said Center for Sustainable Living treasurer Jeanne Leimkuhler. "Epiphany Modeling Troupe, IU Fashion Design group and many other volunteers are helping to make this event a success. I think people will really enjoy what they are going to see."

"I wanted our organization to sponsor an event that would be a lot of fun, stay true to our mission and cause people to think."

Advance tickets are $15 and are available at the theater. Tickets are $20 at the door. All proceeds benefit the Center of Sustainable Living.

Dance in the biology atrium

The winner of the first annual Anya Peterson Royce Showcase Award, named for Royce because of her leadership in launching the first ArtsWeek in 1984, is a Dancescience lab performance in the atrium of Jordan Hall, the biology building. That will feature two one-hour performances, at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and will showcase life forms in a choreographed arrangement by IU choreographer Selene Carter, with the performance by students in IU's contemporary dance program. Movement and costumes will reflect movement patterns and biologic forms on display in the atrium, with the performance designed to reveal the universality of movement among all life forms.

Other highlights from the week include Pollan's visit, a video festival at the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archeology, poetry readings and discussion, and the Cardinal Stage Company production of "The Drawer Boy."

Saturday, "The Welcome Table," a musical extravaganza by local musician Malcolm Dalglish and friends will be at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Saturday and another nationally known local musician, Monica Herzig, will cohost a concert with Jazz from Bloomington Feb. 26 that presents "Human Activity Suite: Sounding a Response to Climate Change," composed and performed by Brad Shepik and his quintet.

For details of price, time and location on the concert, and for all the events of arts week, go to our long events listing on this page. And don't forget to call the babysitter early.

Hoosier Times intern Meghann Estrada contributed to this report.

ArtsWeek events

ONGOING

"Forgotten and Future Landscapes," Feb. 1-28

"Forgotten and Future Landscapes" is a series of billboards designed to draw attention to environmental health and the idea of landscape in the immediate surroundings. Featured artists include Megan Abajian and Shelley Given, Sage Dawson and Max Heller. Billboards are at the South Walnut Street/Miller Drive intersection; Ind. 37 North, south of Bales Road; Ind. 37 North, 3.6 miles north of the College Avenue exit; and Ind. 46 at King Road.

THURSDAY

Reduce, reuse, redance! Workshop

9:30 a.m., University Elementary School

Windfall Dancers work with MCCSC schools to create dance pieces utilizing the concepts of recycling and the environment. Students in two MCCSC classes will collect recyclable items and company members will develop movement utilizing both the materials collected and pictures taken during the collection process. During the workshops, dance company members will assist the students with developing their own movement. Dances will be integrated into pieces for the spring show, April 23 and 24.

Dancescience lab: Site Specific Dance Installations

12:30 and 7:30 p.m., Jordan Hall Atrium, 1001 E. Third St.

This site-specific dance was designed to relate to the architecture and content of the atrium of the Jordan Hall science building. Students from the IU Contemporary dance program assisted in creating and performing the dance, which will be repeated on a cycle through the hour. Choreographer Selene Carter created the event, which received ArtsWeek's first annual Anya Peterson Royce Showcase Award for its artistry.

FRIDAY

When Green is More than a Color: The Environment in the Visual Arts panel discussion

5:30 p.m., IU Radio/TV Building Room 251

The panel will address how creative artists working in a variety of media address environmental and social issues in their themes and/or in their techniques, how the "green" movement has influenced the art market, sustainability in art, the evolution of new forms or modes of practice, the role of social responsibility in the visual arts, the relationship between artists and environmentalists, and the consideration of place, globally and locally.

Exhibition Receptions

The IU Art Museum's Special Exhibitions Gallery features the Hope School of Fine Arts faculty show which includes "green art", and the School of Fine Arts Gallery, which features a solo exhibition by Leslie Sharpe; student work from "The Canary Project"; and an invitational group show of environmentally-conscious art, "Inhabit."

Two receptions will be held 7-9 p.m. in the first floor atrium of the Indiana University Art Museum and in the second floor lobby of the School of Fine Arts Gallery.

Margaret Mead Traveling Film & Video Festival

7-9 p.m. Friday, Glenn Black Laboratory of Archeology Auditorium, 423 N. Fess Ave.

The free festival features film selections which focus on the environment. Information is available on the Mathers Museum's Mead Festival web site at https://www.mathers.indiana.edu/mead/.

Standing Up for the Mountains

7 p.m., IU Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center

An evening of music, readings, slides, and discussion devoted to the environmental, economic, and cultural impact of mountaintop removal of coal. This program features presentations by four Kentuckians who are at the forefront of the struggle to save the mountains of southern Appalachia.

"The Drawer Boy"

7:30 p.m., Friday through March 7, Waldron Auditorium

In this Cardinal Stage Company production, a young actor abandons the big city and heads back to the land to find some authenticity.

SATURDAY

Our Home

2 and 7 p.m. performances with a 4 p.m. instrument-making workshop, former VFW building, 209 S. College Ave.

WFHB Bloomington Community Radio and Dr. Music's Little Band School present an original script loosely based on themes from Theodor Geisel's "The Lorax." The performance features music, skits and an original radio theater piece.

In the workshop, children ages three to 13 will create musical instruments from recycled goods. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children 16 and younger. The workshop is free.

Miami Made: The creative Lives of Four Miami Women

2 p.m., The Project School, 349 S. Walnut St.

The event will celebrate the diverse cultural traditions of the Miami Indians of Indiana through the distinct and contemporary works of Miami artisans Katrina Mitten, Catherine Nagy Mowry, Patria Smith, and Dani Tippmann.

Music and Nature: The Composer's Perception

4:30 p.m., Simon Music Center, Sweeney Hall (M015), 1201 E. Third St.

Constance Cook Glen lectures on how a variety of composers have interacted with their environments by showcasing particular topics in the pieces. The works will be heard in live instrumental and vocal performances, as well as audio and video recordings.

Performers include vocalists Janice Hauxwell-Hammond, Scott Hogsed and Laura Waters, pianist Nariaki Sugiura, and members of string quartet Studio in Bloom: Gwen Chan, Emily Nehus, Elena Kraineva and Helen Ford.

Margaret Mead Traveling Film & Video Festival

7-9 p.m. Saturday, Glenn Black Laboratory of Archeology Auditorium, 423 N. Fess Ave.

The festival features film selections which focus on the environment. Information is available on the Mathers Museum's Mead Festival Web site at www.mathers.indiana.edu/mead/.

Trashion/ReFashion Show

7-10 p.m., Bloomington Convention Center, 302 S. College Ave.

The Trashion/ ReFashion Show is an all-ages, interactive fashion show and fundraiser for the Center of Sustainable Living, featuring designs made from trash and recyclable materials not normally used as clothing and ReFashion designs made from previously used clothing that has been reworked into a new style. There will be two 20-minute fashion shows. Guests will be able to peruse accessories up for silent auction as well as create a community "Trashion" piece.

Advance tickets $15 for adults and $10 for 17 and younger; tickets $20 at the door. Advance tickets at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Box Office, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.

For more information, check out bloomingtontrashion.org.

The Welcome Table

8 p.m., Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.

Directed by Malcolm Dalglish, performers will take to the stage for an hour-long fast paced extravaganza of music, song, dance, and theater. Dalglish's nature based vocal music dovetails perfectly with this year's theme: Art and the Environment. Features Dalglish's new vocal band Ooodoo, Moira Smiley's ensemble Voco, puppetry by Sam Bartlett, body percussion, street theater, dancing reindeer, string band music and more.

SUNDAY

Margaret Mead Traveling Film & Video Festival

2-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Glenn Black Laboratory of Archeology Auditorium, 423 N. Fess Ave.

The free festival features film selections which focus on the environment. Information is available on the Mathers Museum's Mead Festival Web site at www.mathers.indiana.edu/mead/.

Nature and All That Jazz

2 p.m., Monroe County Public Library Auditorium, 303 E. Kirkwood Ave.

The "Nature Songs and All That Jazz" concert will showcase work drawn from more than 200 submissions by children in grades 2-6. Bloomington jazz vocalist Janiece Jaffe invited children to write short poems about what they love about nature. Thirty young authors will be featured in the free concert, which includes some poems set to music by Jaffe, Monika Herzig. Tom Clark, Peter Kienle, Dan Deckard and Curtis Cantwell Jackson, who will help perform the songs. The remaining poems will be read aloud by Arbutus Cunningham.

All poems will be displayed during the concert, which will be followed by a reception for the young writers.

TUESDAY

Dreaming of Forests

8-10 p.m., Bloomington Playwrights Project, 107 W. Ninth St.

This new full-length play, by BPP Resident Artist Doug Bedwell, features a powerful Senator who wants to 're-purpose' a section of the National Forest as a building site for a new coal power plant, and environmental activists want to stop him. The production includes video created by multimedia artist Julie Rooney, adding a dynamic visual environment that adapts to the shifts of character and scenery instantly and seamlessly.

FRIDAY, FEB. 26

Michael Pollan

7:30 p.m., IU auditorium

Bestselling author and contributor to the movie Food Inc., contemporary thinker Michael Pollan tells the story of the path his writing and thinking has taken since he first planted a vegetable garden under the influence of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Free general admission tickets are available at the IU Auditorium Box Office. There will be a ticket limit of four per person. For more information call 812-855-1103.

Jazz from Bloomington presents the Brad Shepik Quintet

10 p.m., KRC Catering, 215 S. College Ave.

Guitarist Brad Shepik's Human Activity Suite is a 10-part musical journey around the world documenting the impact of human activity on the environment. Brad will bring New York's improvisational leaders to Bloomington for this performance as well as an improvisation and composition workshop.

The event begins at 7:30 p.m. with a dinner buffet. Cost for the buffet is $12.

Advance tickets f available to Jazz from Bloomington members for $10 and to the public for $15. Buy them at Sunrise Box Office, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. and www.buskirkchumley.org. Tickets at the doowill be $15 (Jazz from Bloomington members) and $20 (public).

Letter: College Goal Sunday financial aid event

February 16, 2010, last update: 2/15 @ 4:58 pm

Financial aid event
To the editor:

An important college financial aid event is being held in Bloomington on Sunday, Feb. 21. The Indiana Student Financial Aid Association is hosting College Goal Sunday at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington. Financial aid professionals from Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College join forces to help students and families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

This year, several computer labs will be made available to students who wish to complete their forms online. Spanish interpreters will also be available to provide assistance. Registration starts at 1:30 p.m. in the main lobby at Ivy Tech and the event starts at 2 p.m. Additional information can be found at https://www.collegegoalsunday.org/.

Patt McCafferty, Bloomington

The writer is the director of financial aid at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington.

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