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.

“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.

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.

Four Fridays: January, 24 & 31, February 7 & 14 – 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Participants will explore their individual life experience and creatively express events & memories in collage format. The journey will begin by time-lining the most memorable life events then collecting imagery to compose into a design. The process & construction of this collage project gives one an opportunity to reflect & depict visually their unique “Life Design” & journey. Participants are encouraged to bring magazines, photos and other visual materials to incorporate into their collages. Magazines and class supplies will be on-hand at the center as well.

About the Instructor: Jenny Stankiewicz is a multi-media artist and an archival framer based out of Bloomington, IN with 30 years of archival picture framing experience. She was an art instructor at the Indianapolis Art Center before relocating to Bloomington. She has taught a variety of media, and has an extensive portfolio including pastels, acrylics, mixed-media, collage, and more. actsofexpression.com

For Additional Information:
812-876-3383 ex. 515

PRIDE is a Bloomington, IN film festival exploring a wide variety of issues and situations involving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. PRIDE programs a variety of live performance, lecture, public participation events and films that express a wide range of viewpoints and feature many different personality types and situations, advocating community-wide attitudes of awareness, acceptance and appreciation of diversity. The goal of the festival is to educate and strengthen the local community and celebrate artistic talent and achievement. The 2014 festival will run from January 23-26.

Visit the website for more information and the events schedule: http://pridefilmfestival.org

4 local ladies cover songs you know with Ukuleles.

Friday, January 24, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Thomas T. Solley Atrium, IU Art Museum, first floor

Featuring 38 artists, both current and emeriti faculty, from IU’s renowned Hope School of Fine Art. This exhibition offers a survey of recent works in a wide range of media, including ceramics, digital art, graphic design, painting, sculpture, metals, photography, printmaking, and textiles.

Otaak Band, the exciting cross-cultural collaboration between drummer Miguel Merino from Bloomington and the remarkable singer Ahmed Said Abuamna from the Beja community of Eastern Sudan, will be performing at the Mathers Museum on the IU campus on Friday, January 24th 2014, at 7 PM. This concert is free and open to all ages.

Otaak Band will be performing music from their 2012 release Bejawiya, the first recording to take an ancient East-African lyre, the masankop, out of its traditional setting and feature it as the lead instrument in a contemporary ensemble. Banning Eyre, producer of Afropop Worldwide on NPR, says Otaak Band’s “best tracks are sensational.”

For more information about the 2014 Midwest tour please visit www.otaakband.com