Each year, Lotus brings performing artists from around the world to intimate stages in downtown Bloomington, Indiana. Lotus has something for everyone, from acoustic music presented in quiet indoor venues, to dance-party rave-ups and standing-room-only street tents. One ticket gets you into a full night of multiple performances: your wristband is your passport, from one cultural adventure to another. For a full schedule of events, go the Lotus website: http://lotusfest.org/festival-main/festival-events

The 2013 Lotus World Music and Arts Festival’s special exhibit showcases indigo textiles from around the world — from creatively reconfigured blue jeans and other custom-made garments, to finely woven fabrics.

Indigo has been used across cultures for more than 9000 years, making its unique blue one of the earliest and most prevalent colors in cloth. The antique to mid-20th century cloth objects in this exhibit come from private collections in Bloomington, Nashville, and Indianapolis. Taken as a whole, these textiles — from China, Italy, Japan, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sumatra, Peru, Germany, Iran, Guatemala, North America, and other countries — reflect indigo’s universality and reveal its practical and aesthetic uses.

When: September 6 – 28
Where: Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center (122 S. Walnut); Rosemary P. Miller, Treasurer’s, and Vault Galleries
Opening reception:
Sept. 6, 5 – 8 p.m.
Gallery talk by Rowland Ricketts
Sept. 11, 5:30 – 7 p.m., Rose Firebay
Gallery talk with World Blues Collectors William Itter, Barbara Livesey, Harold Mailand, Suzanne Halvorson, Jim Canary, and Joan Hart
Sept. 28, 3 – 4:30 p.m., in the Miller, Treasurer’s, and Vault Galleries

“This is How I Live United” gallery showcases photographs taken by residents throughout the area, the capturing how they Live United by giving, advocating, and volunteering to create a better tomorrow for our community.

The exhibit will remain on display until Friday, September 27. Normal gallery hours are Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm.

Indianapolis artist and now Meadowood resident Jean Vietor, is widely known as a Nature artist with beautiful renditions of wildlife and landscape. Her work encompasses many, mediums such as watercolor, acrylic, graphite and ink, computer art, and polymer clay. This show is primarily a retrospective of Jean’s extensive work.

About Meadowood Retirement Community
Meadowood continues to develop as a leader in providing community-based retirement living as we grow and offer more options to our residents. As an industry leader, Meadowood enjoys the privilege of attracting distinguished retirees from around the country including physicians, artists, lawyers, former university presidents, directors, diplomats, athletes, administrators, alumni, faculty, trustees, and staff. It Includes 101 garden homes, 88 mid-rise apartments, a community building, and a 66-bed health pavilion. Meadowood accommodates not only the needs of our individual residents, but their imaginations as well.

Since 1983 Kevin Pope has worked professionally as a humorous Illustrator. His art has been syndicated, licensed, integrated into advertising campaigns, sidekicked great writers visually in many forms of print and have moved and spoke in animation ventures. He has worked locally, nationally, and globally…visit gallery406.com for more information. Local tidbit: Kevin Pope is illustrator for Oliver Winery’s Beanblossom Hard Cider bottles.

Gallery is open Monday – Friday, 9 am – 6 pm. Exhibit runs until September 27.

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.

September 25-29, 2013

The Festival is proudly based in downtown Bloomington and named in part for Indiana musician Lotus Dickey (1911-1989). Every fall, the world brings its music to Bloomington, with dancing in the streets and in downtown venues. This year, Lotus hits the big 20! We’re planning a great party to celebrate the end of our second decade – booking artists, planning visual splendor, mapping out a Lotus parade for Saturday night, rounding up volunteers, and bringing on sponsors.

A wristband is your passport to multiple performances each showcase night, at multiple venues. Stages range from the Buskirk-Chumley Theater to standing-room-only street tents, to churches where traditional music shines. Lotus offers both ticketed showcases and free events for all ages. Saturday’s Lotus in the Park is packed with live performances, hands-on art projects, and interactive workshops with Festival artists.

For a Festival First Look, visit http://lotusfest.org/lotus-at-20-festival-first-look
For ticket information, visit http://lotusfest.org/festival-admission

Cirque Arte
Large canvas and acrylic paintings by Juliana Burrell, an artist and member of the Flight Fitness Club-Bloomington. Juliana was born and raised in South America. After completing multiple degrees at Indiana University, she joined a professional circus troupe as an aerialist and toured nationally for four years. After touring, she returned to Indiana and began work as an artist and art educator. The paintings in this exhibition draw upon her varied experiences and have the bold lines, vivid colors, and defined shapes that are the hallmark of her style.

The Flight Fitness Club-Bloomington will be featured in the First Friday Evening Science of Art: Aerial Arts on September 6 and at the benefit gala Science Night Out: Cirque on September 13.

Construction Junction: The Science of Building
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.

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 September 28.

Blueline Gallery is excited to announce the opening of its new show, “ELEVEN,” a compilation of local artists. A variety of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and photography are being presented for the months of August and September, with eleven different artists being showcased. Artists include: Tylla Carlisle, Tom Colcord, Ben Durst, Grant Heger, Eduardo Izquierdo, Kim Luther, Katelyn Patton, John Shestak, Lauren Stern, Betsy Stout, and Zack Worcel.

Exhibit runs until September 27. Gallery is open Monday – Friday, 10 am – 3 pm.