Is it magic or is it science? Have great fun exploring the surprising tricks mirrors can play on your brain! This special hands-on exhibition for people of all ages is on display at WonderLab (Tuesday – Sunday) through April 13.

Opening January 3 and running until February 1, a variety of new exhibits are on display at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center galleries.

National Society of Arts and Letters: 2014 Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition of Emerging Artists

Indiana artists aged 18-29 compete for a $1,000 Best in Show prize awarded annually by the Bloomington Chapter of the NSAL. This local group has given away over half a million dollars to support budding careers invisual arts, dance, drama, literature, music, and musical theatre since 1966.

Janelle Beasley: “Comfort Zone” (paper collages)

Lucas Adams and Bailey Tichenor: “Northern Exposure” (paintings and photographs)

Galleries are open Monday – Friday, 9 am – 7 pm, and Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm.

New in the Galleries: “Photographing Rosie the Riveter”
Runs October 1-January 26
The conscription of men into military service during WW II led to a demand for female workers in the factories supplying munitions and war supplies. Government photography projects, such as the Farm Security Administration (FSA), revamped their operations to support the efforts of the Office of War Information (OWI). This installation features propagandistic images of female assembly-line workers by Andreas Feininger, Alfred T. Palmer, and Howard Liberman. Organized by Maura Campbell-Balkits, a museum intern in the Department of Communications and Culture.

What: Tai Chi for Wellness with Margret Kingrey

Where: Endwright Center, 631 W. Edgewood Drive, Ellettsville, IN 47429

When: Tuesdays & Thursdays, January 7 through 30
Intermediate Tai Chi: 10:00 – 11:00 am
Beginning Tai Chi: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Cost: Eight Classes for $50 (preregister & pay-in-full), or $7 pay-per class.
(Endwright Center Members: $45)

About: Tai Chi is a program which improves flexibility, muscle strength, balance as well as increases energy and metabolism. It is also known to decrease anxiety and allow improved breathing. Being a form of movement with intention developed centuries ago in China, it has been used as a martial art as well as a meditative practice.

Margret Kingrey, MA, OTR, is a certified instructor for Tai Chi for Health from Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Health Institute since 2009. Dr. Lam’s program is internationally recognized, as well as by the Arthritis Foundation and the American Diabetes Association.
Margret has taught Tai Chi for Health at the Endwright Center, Meadowood Retirement Community and at Ellettsville First United Methodist Church. Prior to becoming a certified Tai Chi instructor, Margret practiced occupational therapy for over 35 years in a variety of settings. She is currently a licensed occupational therapist in Indiana and Massachusetts.

For more information call 812-876-3383 ex. 515

“Community Voices Gallery: League of Women Voters”
League of Women Voters exhibit, open now through March 29, 2014, through photos, documents, written history and objects you will be able to see the involvement of the Bloomington Chapter of this nationwide organization. Please note, museum hours are Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm.

“Giants in Cornfield, Civil War Sesquicentennial”
“Giants in Cornfield, Civil War Sesquicentennial” exhibit open now through April 12, 2014, gives an incredible look at the soldiers from Monroe County and their role in the battles of the Civil War. Please note, museum hours are Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm.

“Old Fashioned Christmas”
Come view Christmases from the past in the History Center’s “Old Fashioned Christmas” exhibit. November 29 – February 15, 2014 Please note, museum hours are Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm.

A holiday show of handmade work by more than 50 local artists.

Opening January 3 and running until February 1 at Pictura Gallery is a new photography exhibit by Antonio Bolfa: “Haiti: Mass Garbage Dumps of Cite Soleil”.

“The town of Cite Soleil has the biggest garbage dumping grounds in the city of Port au Prince and possibly the country of Haiti. It is a vast wasteland that stretches to the horizon, always expanding as peoples’ waste is dumped there. On and around this massive wasteland a community has grown. People erect makeshift homes and raise families among the fields of garbage where they scavenge the refuse for food, scrap metal and other recyclable items so they can survive. There are no jobs, health care or education. A good day is when garbage trucks deliver batches of spoiled meat that are free for eating. Following the tragic earthquake on January 10th, 2010, the international community poured financial assistance into the country. Since that day, not a single penny has been received by the community of Cite Soleil. As I watched people fight for their survival, I would always think to myself, “What do these people need to sacrifice in order to live like this? Do these people have to relinquish some part of their humanity in order to survive? Or does this kind of hardship define a part of what humanity is in the 21st century?” I am still shocked that this level of poverty and base survival still exists in 2013.”

Artist talk will be held Thursday, January 30 at 7 pm. Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm.

What: Healing Grief through Arts & Music

When: Tuesday, January 14, 2:00-3:00 pm

Where: Area 10 Agency on Aging, Endwright Center, 631 W. Edgewood Dr, Ellettsville

Who: Rick Clayton, Southern Care Hospice Chaplain

Additional Information: Hosted by Rick Clayton, Southern Care Hospice Chaplain, BA – Anderson University, Masters – Christian Theological. “Healing Grief through Music.” Sponsored by IN Southern Care Hospice, and the Endwright Center (a program of Area 10 Agency on Aging)

About the Instructor:
Rick Clayton is from Nashville, Indiana. He has always had a passion for music and uses it as a positive outlet while helping families to express grief both during hospice care and after. Throughout his life he has had a fond interest in how the arts can positively contribute to our lives. Rick encourages people to approach the grieving process with an optimistic approach and helps them to express their thoughts through multiple outlets. His simplistic approach helps to reach all audiences. He conducts support groups in multiple counties and settings.
For More Information: (812) 876-3383, ext 515

Registration is REQUIRED by January 10. Cost is $5 per person; limited to 10 people. Sign up by calling the Paynetown Activity Center at 812-837-9967.

Program Location: Paynetown Activity Center

An educational afternoon tea for nature lovers! You’ll sample different varieties of tea made with wild edible plants – harvested right here at Monroe Lake. As each variety of tea is served, Monroe Lake’s naturalist will discuss that plant’s habitat, identification, harvest, and preparation. Light snacks included. 1 hour

Falling in love is easy, and anyone can do it. Staying in love requires a unique set of tools most of us have never learned. Join us on Tuesday, January 14, at 5:30 pm, at The Venue Fine Art & Gifts, for the “Art of Thriving Relationships” to learn the Top 10 Relationship Poisons and how to avoid them and the 8 Essential Ingredients for Lasting Love. Come alone or with your partner. You’ll walk away inspired, with new insights, and equipped with concrete ways to instantly start creating the relationship of your dreams!

Presenters Christine and Bret Eartheart LSW, Co-Founders of the Center for Thriving Relationships, are passionate about helping people awaken to new levels of lasting love in fun, easy, and revolutionary ways. They help people identify and dissolve what’s not working and create the fulfilling relationships they’ve always really wanted. Through their counseling and retreats, they help couples transform gridlock issues once and for all, turn breakdowns into breakthroughs, shift from problems into possibilities, change growing pains into growing gains, replace power struggles with playfulness, leap from conflict into co-creativity, and move from settling to sensational.

Refreshments will be provided by The Venue. Our fine selection of paintings, jewelry, ceramics, and other objects de art will also be on display and available for purchase. Free parking is available in the lot on the corner of 4th and Grant.