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

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.

Featured exhibit on display in the Upper Loft Gallery: Annual Winter Exhibition, featuring paintings by Contemporary Art Guild Member Artists and works from the Marie Goth Estate Permanent Collection. Now – December 31

Reception: Second Saturday, December 14, 5:00-8:00 pm (during the Holiday Village Art Walk)

Please join the Guild for an evening of light refreshments and to purchase your $10 raffle ticket for your final opportunity to win the beautiful autumn landscape created collaboratively by nine Guild Member Artists. Contributing artists include Mark Burkett, Ronald Mack, Thom Robinson, Rena Brouwer, Patricia Rhoden, Wyatt LeGrand, Jeanne McLeish, Pamela Chase Newell, and Chris Newlund. The lucky raffle winner will be drawn during the Holiday Art Walk reception. (need not be present to win).

Bring your kids, dogs, strollers, competitive spirit, non-competitive spirit, friends, family, arch-enemies, and super heroes. This is a totally free race! No registration, no money required and everyone is a winner. Plus we have a guy dressed in a turkey costume! See you on race morning… Free bagels, schmear, coffee and swag post race!

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. This exhibit will run until December 20.

“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.This exhibit will run until December 20.

“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. This exhibit will run until December 20.

“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. This exhibit will run until December 20.

“Photos in Black and White: Margaret Bourke-White and the Dawn of Apartheid in South Africa”
In 1949, Margaret Bourke-White, one of the most famous photojournalists in America, travelled to South Africa on assignment for Life magazine. Some of her rarely-seen images from that period are featured in Photos in Black and White: Margaret Bourke-White and the Dawn of Apartheid in South Africa at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Curated by Alex Lichtenstein, Associate Professor of History at Indiana University, the exhibition offers a comprehensive look at Bourke-White’s photojournalistic portrayal of South Africa in 1949 and 1950. This exhibit will run until December 20.

“Melted Ash: Michiana Wood Fired Pottery”
This exhibit explores the methods used to produce hand-made, wood fired pottery, and features works from northern Indiana and southern Michigan. This exhibit will run until December 20.

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.

Showcasing photographs taken by local residents, the ‘This is How I Live United’ gallery captures how our friends, family, and neighbors Live United by giving, advocating, and volunteering to create a better tomorrow for our community.

United Way of Monroe County and our partners work every day to ensure everyone in our community has the building blocks for a better life — Education, Earnings, and the Essentials. And you are part of this work — whether through donations, volunteering, or lending a helping hand to those in need. www.monroeunitedway.org/LU

From boldly graphic raffia textiles to intricately incised carving on wooden cups, complex surface design is a hallmark of Kuba aesthetics and an indicator of prestige and value for Kuba and Westerners alike. Complementing the Kuba objects permanently on display in the Wielgus gallery, The Patterned Kingdom includes additional objects from the museum’s collection, including several hats given by the late IU textile artist Budd Stalnaker, as well as loans from IU professor emeritus and painter William Itter.

This exhibit runs through December 22, 2013 Raymond and Laura Wielgus Gallery of the Arts of Africa, the South Pacific, and the Americas, Focalpoint, third floor.

Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, noon to 5 pm.

Brick Gallery is a special section of Pictura Gallery dedicated to local and regional artists. The exhibit features the work of several photographers who traveled together to Yunnan Province, a rural area in southwestern China, during the spring of 2013. The exhibit highlights the tension between the modern world and the ancient cultures of this region of China. Yunnan province is home to many ethnic minorities, including the Yi, the Bai, and Tibetans.

Images on view by Douglas Beasley, Diane Drinnon, David Moore, and Martha Moore. Douglas Beasley is a career photographer who led the trip to China and has established ‘Vision Quest’ workshops throughout the world. He is recognized as a person who seeks the sacred connections between what we see and do not see. Diane Drinnon, from New York City, was a participant in the Vision Quest workshop in China, as were Martha and David Moore, owners of Pictura Gallery.

Exhibit runs until November 30. Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm.

Pictura Gallery presents two new exhibits by Adam Katseff and Conner Green, running until December 27.

“How do you map and understand the essence of a space? Adam Katseff and Conner Green present us with a void. On one hand we have a world that simmers to the surface from a blanket of black. On the other, we have a tangle of lines that writhe and snake their way through empty whiteness. This visual rabbit hole draws us in and demands an intimate gaze. The images seem to suggest that if we look close enough we might be able to decipher the pith of these spaces.”

Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday: 11 am to 7 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.

“For the Beauty of the Earth”, an exhibition of photographs and artwork by Glenda Breeden and Patricia C. Coleman, opens November 1, 2013 in Lennie’s Restaurant and Brewhouse. Opening Reception is Tuesday, November 5th 7:00pm to 9:00pm in Lennie’s Bar and Brewhouse, 1795 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN. Exhibit runs through December 31, 2013. Glenda Breeden is passionate about photographing nature. She is a peace activist, writer, photographer, poet, mother, grandmother and advocate for justice. Patricia C. Coleman loves the process of moving ideas into artist reality. Artist, poet, storyteller, she is owner of Patricia’s Wellness Arts Café where she shares her arts and crafts and herbal products, and the creations of ten other local artist and artisans. Photographs and art purchase information will be available at Lennie’s. You can reach Patricia at 812-334-8155 or see more of her work online at http://www.hartrock.net/cafe.htm.

Sunday – Thursday 11 am – 11 pm
Friday & Saturday 11 am – Midnight
*The Pub is open one hour later.