The Mathers Museum of World Cultures presents a new exhibit for the year 2013, “In The Kitchen Around The World”, which will be on display in addition to the already-installed exhibits from 2012. This exhibit will run until November 15, 2013.

“In The Kitchen Around The World”: an exhibit that presents objects used in preparing food and food service from different areas of the world. It breaks down into two categories: what the viewer perceives as familiar, such as plates, cups, and dishes, and what is unfamiliar, such as a Peruvian corn toaster and an Ecuadorian grater. The goal of the exhibit is to look at what other cultures have come up with as solutions to help them in cooking or eating food, allowing the viewer to make comparisons to the solutions that are similar or dissimilar to their own.

Other exhibits include:

“Picturing Archaeology”: Described in their words and illustrated by their images, the research and fieldwork of 13 Indiana University archaeologists is presented in Picturing Archaeology at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures/Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology.

“Rhythms of the World”: a free audioguide tour of musical instruments from around the globe featured in exhibits throughout the museum. The audioguide includes narration and musical clips of the highlighted instruments.

“Thoughts, Things, and Theories…What Is Culture?”
Thoughts, Things, and Theories…What Is Culture? examines the nature of culture through the exploration of cultural traditions surrounding life stages and universal needs.

“From the Big Bang to the World Wide Web: The Origins of Everything”
This exhibit examines history on a large scale, through the exploration of cosmic, biological, and human origins.

“Treasures of the Mathers Museum”
Decades of collecting and curating will be featured in this exhibit, presented in conjunction with the institution’s 50th anniversary.

Museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays, from 9 am to 4:30 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 to 4:30 pm. Check website to see all of the Mathers Museum’s exhibits.

Design, build, test, and engineer all kinds of structures! The special exhibition’s three-dimensional building experiences include the Skyline Toolbox, developed and designed by Chicago Children’s Museum, where children can use wooden struts and braces, fabric curtain walls, and real construction tools to build imaginative, original structures big enough for them to walk inside! Other components include the Earthquake Shake Table, the Multilevel Building Zone, the Bridge the River Cantilever Challenge, unique materials construction stations, and more. There also is a special place for toddlers and preschoolers to build with age-appropriate materials.

The library’s talented storytellers take you on “A Summer Picnic.” Ages 2-6. Groups welcome. Please register online at http://mcpl.info/calendar, call 349-3100, or visit the children’s department.

Recent Explorations in Form and Color Porcelain by Scott Frankenberger. Functional porcelain, intended for use in the home or workplace. Scott enjoys embellishing the surfaces with a variety of marks and textures, as well as building up a layered blend of colors from overlapping glazes, slips, and overglaze decoration.

By Hand Gallery is open Monday – Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm. Exhibit runs until August 31.

Several new exhibits can be seen at the Indiana University Art Museum. The galleries are open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, 12 pm to 5 pm. Running time varies by exhibit. Check website for more detailed information.

Breaking the Gilded Ceiling, Women Artists of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
March 5-August 25, 2013

This installation will feature women artists—some former artist’s models, some wives and mothers, and some trailblazers—who worked in a variety of media. Included will be work by photographers Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Laura Adams Armer, as well as prints and drawings by Mary Cassatt, Suzanne Valadon, Gwen John, and Käthe Kollwitz.

Three Remarkable Women: Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Margaret Chinnery, and Félicité de Genlis
March 23-September 1, 2013

The IU Art Museum will premiere a focused exhibition featuring Vigée Le Brun’s Portrait of Mrs. Chinnery (1803) and selected materials from the Lilly library. The exhibition presents an unusually rich opportunity to use a single artwork as a lens for an interdisciplinary study of the history, politics, art, literature, and music of its time.

New in the Galleries: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: A Visiting Master Print
May 29-August 18, 2013

One of the originators of the Impressionist style, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was particularly noted for his depictions of his friends, family, and their children in scenes of domestic activity and repose. A favorite subject included two young girls pinning flowers on a hat. Renoir did several versions of this scene in a variety of media, including an important large-scale lithograph that is on temporary loan to the IU Art Museum for the summer. The installation will be complemented by several small prints by Renoir and two portraits of the artist by Pierre Bonnard and Jean-Louis Forain.

New in the Galleries: Sam Gilliam: A Lyrical Abstractionist in Indiana
May 29-September 15, 2013

Sam Gilliam draws on a wide range of inspiration, from his African American heritage and abstract expressionism to the poetry of Pablo Neruda and jazz music. Although associated with the Color Field painters of Washington, D.C., Gilliam had a strong connection to this region of the country. This installation will feature several works produced at IU’s Echo Press and a miniature watercolor painting given by the artist to Bloomington’s Second Baptist Church in honor of his brother Clarence and his wife Frances, who were recently named by the City of Bloomington as a Black History Living Legends.

Special Installation: Tapa: Unwrapping Polynesian Barkcloth
May 29-September 1, 2013

This spring, students taking the course On Exhibit: The Pacific Islands have had the opportunity to create a small installation, as well as an online web module focusing on Polynesian tapa cloth from the permanent collection of the IU Art Museum.

Enjoy a traditional county fair, complete with 4-H projects and competitions, a rodeo, loads of food vendors, carnival rides, games and more! 4-H projects are on display throughout the fair in a variety of subject areas and a large commercial exhibit building offers tons of booths and a great way to explore the Bloomington community.

Runs July 27 through August 3. Visit website for all details.

“The Cruise” explores ideas of travel, dichotomies, sincerity, and the “good life” in ways that are both subversive and matter-of-fact. Paintings and works on paper and photographs by Christopher Stanton & Justin Clifford. Opening reception: June 7th, 5-8 pm. The Cruise will remain on display from June 7 – August 1. Monday – Friday, 10 am-3 pm.

The newest Community Voices Gallery exhibit, on display at the Monroe County History Center, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Indiana Extension Homemakers Association. Exhibit is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and runs until July 31.

The mission of the Indiana Extension Homemakers is to strengthen families through continuing education, leadership development, and volunteer community support. Its activities have included: support for Riley Children’s Hospital; support of Ronald McDonald House; Health Awareness Programs; annual participation in National Make a Difference Day; and support of local community projects.

Every Wednesday morning at 10:30 is Discovery Time at the WonderLab science museum for kids. Enjoy a hands-on activity, book, or both with a different science topic each week. Siblings are welcome. Ideal for kindergarten age and younger children. Visit the website for information on other WonderLab programs and events.

In “City Space”, Clarissa Bonet employs stark light, deep shadow, muted color, and Chicago’s urban area as a stage to explore the physical space of the city and its emotional and psychological impact on the body. In her series, Umbra, Julie Renee Jones mines her experiences of everyday life in Ohio, manipulating our perception of the physical world by creating moments where magical elements are presented as real occurrences, where observable reality briefly collapses into the realm of the unknown and the surreal. In the Brick Gallery, Pictura Gallery presents “Look What’s New!” featuring Bloomington photographers Michael Finger, Ivona Hedin, Emily Moore and William Pierson.

Runs until August 31. Gallery open Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm.