From the builders of some of America’s earliest railroads and farms to Civil Rights pioneers to digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life. “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation” explores the Indian American experience and the community’s vital political, professional, and cultural contributions to American life and history. The exhibition moves past pop-culture stereotypes of Indian Americans to explore the heritage, daily experience, and diverse contributions of Indian immigrants and their descendants in the United States. Weaving together stories of individual achievement and collective struggle, “Beyond Bollywood” uses photography, narrative, multimedia, and interactive stations to tell a uniquely American story, while conveying the texture, vibrancy, and vitality of Indian American communities.

“Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation” was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The Mathers Museum’s presentation of the exhibit has been generously funded by Indiana University alumnus Robert N. Johnson, the Madhusudan and Kiran C. Dhar India Studies Program, the Asian American Studies Program, and the Department of American Studies. Gallery is open 9am-4:30 pm Tues-Fri and 1pm-4:30pm Sat/Sun.

Free visitor parking is available by the Indiana Avenue lobby entrance. Metered parking is available at the McCalla School parking lot on the corner of Ninth Street and Indiana Avenue. The parking lot also has spaces designated for Indiana University C and ST permits. During the weekends free parking is available on the surrounding streets.An access ramp is located at the Fess Avenue entrance, on the corner of Ninth Street and Fess Avenue. Reserved parking spaces are available on Ninth Street, between Fess Avenue and Indiana Avenue. If you have a disability and need assistance, special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs. Please call 812-855-6873.

Tom Rhea was trained as a painter at Indiana University, where he graduated with a
BFA. After twenty years in the demanding field of medallic arts, his paintings still retain a very sculptural feel, with an emphasis on the unique limestone architecture that distinguishes the IU campus. Besides providing celebrity portraits for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, LA Weekly, and XXL Magazine, he has written extensively on arts topics for local and national publications. He currently teaches drawing and History of Art at Ivy Tech Community College. While most are views of Bloomington, the show also contains two paintings from a recent trip to Italy, including a view of the ancient city of Matera, carved into the limestone cliffs in the southern region of Puglia. These paintings were executed in gouache, an opaque watercolor, over the past five years.

For one year cellist Steuart Pincombe and his wife and singer Michelle are traveling around the country bringing the highest level of classical music performance to homes, churches, cafés, bars – places where people are comfortable and where community already exists. The tour is called Music in Familiar Spaces and it will be stopping in Bloomington in March.

On Wednesday March 16th at 6:30pm at the Bloomington First Presbyterian Church the couple will present a concert called “What Wondrous Love” together with local violinist Jody Killingsworth. The program features spirituals and music from the early shape-note tradition in America, adapted and arranged for voice, violin and cello. The audience will experience some elements of the early shape-note singalongs, being seated on all four sides of the performers and asked to join in singing for the last piece.

One of the aims of the Music in Familiar Spaces tour is make classical music accessible to a wide and varied audience. This will be accomplished not only by performing in familiar spaces, but by designing programs that invite the audience to experience the music in a new and engaging way. Concert-goers will also be asked to name-their-own-ticket-price, paying what they can afford and what they deem the concert is worth.

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Concert details: Wednesday, March 16th at 6:30pm, First Presbyterian Church (221 E 6th St, Bloomington, IN 47408). For more information: www.musicinfamiliarspaces.com