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.

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. 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.

Nathan Hunter & Vincent Edwards, contemporary furniture; CRUSH II, jewelry; Kelly Novak, jewelry; Indianapolis Area Artists, prints, drawings, & paper quilts; Vincent Desjardins, digital illustration. M-F 9-7; Sat 9-5. Closed Sun.

Cultural Snapshots by Jonathan Wilson, Photographer. Jonathan Wilson displays recently reprinted/reformatted photographs and digital images; a variety of past work encompassing investigations into the cultures of India, Native Americans, Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as a series of digital composites representing memories and life experiences. Recent work is concerned with the theme of dance and portraits of children with life-threatening illnesses. While diverse and eclectic in subject matter, the exhibit attempts to showcase a singular viewpoint and approach to art and humanity.

Exhibit runs until October 30. Gallery open Monday – Friday, 9 am – 6 pm.

The 30th Annual American Red Cross Book Fair will be held October 3 – 8 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, Commercial Building West. There will be 100,000 gently used books, CDs, videos, DVDs, cassettes, records, games, puzzles, maps, sheet music, and many other items for sale at very reasonable prices.
Opening day admission is $10, but the rest of the week’s attendance is free. Please call to receive a Book Fair bookmark with dates, times (vary from day to day) and specials listed. All proceeds from the Book Fair benefit Red Cross disaster relief, service to military families, and emergency preparedness services in Monroe and Owen Counties.
Thurs., Oct. 3, 9 am -7 pm OPENING DAY! $10 admission for best selection of books & media.
Friday, Oct. 4: 9 am – 7 pm: No admission charge. 4th annual food drive for Hoosier Hills Food Bank – bring non-perishable food and you’ll receive a “book buck,” good for $1 off book and media purchases.
Saturday, Oct. 5: 9 am – 6 pm : 4th annual food drive for Hoosier Hills Food Bank – bring non-perishable food and you’ll receive a “book buck,” good for $1 off book and media purchases
Sunday, Oct. 6: 9 am – 6 pm: Half-price day & Military Family Appreciation Day – Military families present ID and get free goodie bags for your children!
Monday, Oct. 7: 9 am – 6 pm: $10 bag-it day – we furnish the bag or bring your own of comparable size. You can fit at least two dozen books in a grocery bag – all for ten bucks.
Tuesday, Oct. 8: 9 am – 12 pm Community Day; Books and media left are free. Donations are encouraged.
Contact us at (812) 332-7292 or [email protected] for more information or to volunteer for this event, or visit us on the web at www.redcross.org/in/bloomington.

For our autumn feature the Farmer House Museum steps back in time and presents “Psychedelic Art.” In our Workroom Gallery we will exhibit striking examples of the work of major San Francisco rock and roll poster artists of the late 1960’s. The posters will be displayed with information about the artists, promoters and the bands they advertised. We will also take a look back at the student culture of the time. In a back room, we have created a special feature: a dark room with blacklight posters of the era. In the dining room we continue the psychedelic theme with a table setting designed by Peter Max.

Show runs until November. Museum closed Monday. See website for all hours and further details.

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.

Visit Musgrave Orchards for a taste of the fall season. Freshly pressed apple cider, apples for eating and baking, caramel apples, pumpkins, honey, vegetables, crafts and all kinds of treats! Open Wednesday through Saturday, until November 3.

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.

Osamu James Nakagawa’s series Gama puts the viewer into the interior of dark Okinawan caves where people took refuge during the war. He does not deliver his subject matter in flat, two-dimensional scenes. Rather, through the conscious construction of light, perspective, color, and selective focus, he “builds” his imagery so that each scene has three-dimensionality, tactility, and atmosphere. He composes disorienting perspectives where it is impossible to make sense of the space. This visual maze mirrors the unsettling and somber emotional landscape that one experiences while getting lost in the work.

Nakagawa often says that he is “painting with light.” Indeed, the manner in which he creates the color, shadow, and depth within his depictions of the caves produces an environment so moody and present it seems as if one can feel the air.

September 6 – October 26. Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm.