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.

Medicare Open Enrollment is from October 15-December 7. Your health needs change from year to year. And, your health plan may change the benefits and costs each year too. That’s why it’s important to evaluate your Medicare choices regularly. Open Enrollment is the one time of year when ALL people with Medicare can see what new benefits Medicare has to offer and make changes to their coverage. It’s worth it to take the time to review and compare, but you don’t have to do it alone. Help is available through SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program). Counselors can answer your questions and help you find the best plan at the best price. Local sponsors Area 10 Agency on Aging and IU Health Bloomington Hospital provide one-on-one assistance to help people sort through Prescription Drug Plans and Medicare Advantage Plans. Also, if you have limited income and resources, you may be able to get help paying your prescription drug coverage costs and other healthcare costs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that more than 2 million people with Medicare may be eligible for the subsidy, but are not currently enrolled to take advantage of these savings. A recent law changed how your income and assets are counted, so even if you were previously turned down due to income or resource levels, you should reapply. Keep in mind that Medicare is not part of the Health Insurance Marketplace. The new Health Insurance Marketplace won’t affect your Medicare coverage and is not part of Medicare Open Enrollment which occurs from October 15 to December 7. You do not need to enroll in the new Health Insurance Marketplace to maintain or change your Medicare coverage. Criminals are trying to scam seniors with false information regarding Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. Never give your Medicare number to someone who calls or visits and requests this information.

Call to make your appointment anytime during Open Enrollment to discuss prescription coverage or any other Medicare questions.

Area 10 Agency on Aging 812-876-3383
IU Health Bloomington Hospital 812-353-9300

The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market is held every Saturday from 8 am until 1 pm, from April through November.

The Farmers’ Market is located at 401 N. Morton St. next to City Hall – Showers Building. Locally grown produce, annual and perennial plants, and a variety of prepared foods are available. Purchase your food directly from farmers and ask them questions about their products. Local entertainment adds to the shopping as well as socializing experience. Tantalizing scents and the inviting atmosphere may cause you to make the Market a weekend tradition.

New exhibits for the month of November will be on display at the galleries of the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center.

Jiangmei Wu: Folding Into Light. “Torus”; “Crystalline New Night”; “Durian, Durian”—acid free recycled paper, wire, LEDs.

Mac Fleming: From War to Peace in 1944-45 NYC, Paris & Germany. “Wings Over Eiffel–Paris”; “Tanker Guards Rhine–Germany”; “Nuremberg After Allied Bombing–Germany”; “Check On Your Love Life–Gob & Girl In NYC”, photographs.

Ivy Tech Fine Arts Students: Fall Show. “A Woman’s Power”, detail. charcoal, Vickie Williams; “Romance”, ceramics, Jake Laudenbarger; “Theory of an Organic Daydream”, ink, April Middleton.

Susan Shorter: Flights of Fantasy. “Wonderlust”, detail, acrylic; “Mermaid”, detail, acrylic; “Through Fire and Rain”, detail, acrylic; “Old Man and the Sea”, detail, graphite & colored pencil on blue paper.

Show runs through November 30.

Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 9 am -7 pm. Sat 9 am – 5 pm. Open later during theatre performances.

Week of Thanksgiving: Mon 9 am – 7 pm; Tue – Wed 9 am – 5 pm; Closed Thur-Sat.

The Local Clay Potters Guild Show will showcase a wide range of works from local and regional clay artists. 24 studio artists living and working in south-central Indiana will participate. Ideal for holiday gifts. November 8, 5 pm – 9 pm, and November 9, 9 am – 5 pm.

The Local Clay Potters’ Guild is a cooperative organization that promotes individual artistic growth and promotes the artistic standing of Local Clay as a whole and contributes to the growth of interest in ceramic arts in Indiana. Visit website for more information.

Bloomington Handmade Market founders Mia Beach, Sally Harless and Nicole Wolfersberger saw the need for an artistic venue in Bloomington that would enable contemporary, emerging artists and crafters to showcase their wares at an affordable price. During the summer of 2009, the Bloomington Handmade Market was born and has been going strong ever since!

BHM is a juried show, meaning that participating artists are selected from a pool of applicants and notified a few months in advance of the show. In selecting artists, we look for artists and crafters that are creating quality, unusual work of a type that we don’t often see in more traditional craft fairs.

Artists come from both Bloomington and around the midwest to participate, and we are always looking for new artists to apply! In the “Vendors” page is a list of links to artists who have participated in the past, and browsing these can give you a good idea of the types of arts and crafts we seek.

We now hold BHM once a year, in November. Admission to the show is always free and open to the public.

Special Exhibition, “Art Interrupted: Advancing American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy”
Runs September 15-December 15
This exhibition reconstructs a 1946‒47 exhibition titled Advancing American Art, which featured over one hundred examples of stylistically diverse American art from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s. Organized by the State Department as a form of cultural diplomacy, Advancing American Art traveled to venues in Latin America and Europe before political controversy in the United States led to its cancellation. Art Interrupted illuminates a fascinating historical moment when modern art was seen as a powerful tool for furthering democratic ideals around the world.

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.

New in the Galleries: “Ancient Jewelry”
Runs October 15-December 15
In conjunction with the Jewelry Symposium in the Hope School of Fine Arts (October 17–20, 2013) and the accompanying international jewelry exhibition in the Grunwald Gallery, a new selection of ancient jewelry will be on display in the second floor gallery. The IUAM collection of jewelry is one of the largest in the United States. Necklaces, bracelets, diadems, earrings, and finger rings from our collection are breathtaking examples of metalsmithing skill—and of beauty.

New in the Galleries: “Stories with Shadowy Figures”
Runs October 22-December 21
An installation of puppets from Java, presented in conjunction with the shadow puppet performance on October 27.

Artist show of “Moe’s Menagerie” by Cappi Phillips. A collection of animals, birds, fish and much more, all derived from recycled and up-cycled materials.

The Bloomington Spinners & Weavers Guild presents the 28th Annual Fiber Art Show & Sale, which will be held at the First United Church on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9. Items at the show include tailored jackets, rugs, baskets, cards, journals, tapestries and more.

Guild Booth will include work from Kathleen Glaser, Ruth Rives, Ulla Linenthal, Karin Lauderback, Ronnie Lynn Hayes, Tris Boltridge, Monique Cagle, Lynn Copeland, Jennifer Peterson, Laura Stuart, Lu Brunnemer.

The Bloomington Glass Guild Holiday Show is held each year in early November, making it a great holiday shopping event. The show is held at University Baptist Church, on East 3rd Street in Bloomington. Also held the same weekend in November, are the Bloomington Spinners and Weavers Fiber Arts Show and the Local Potters Guild Show.