Come see Posoltega, Nicaragua! The Bloomington-Posoltega Committee of Sister Cities International has been supporting projects to feed the neediest children of the village a hot lunch each weekday for close to 26 years. The sister city committee also provides scholarships to Posoltegan college students so they can attend universities in nearby towns. The exhibit, featuring twenty-three photographs by photographer Debbi Conkle, focuses not only on scenes of typical village life in and around Posoltega, but also on the children and youth who benefit from the sister city programs. Come view the photographs while enjoying a delicious meal at Lennie’s Restaurant and Brewpub. The exhibit is up through the end of October. After 4:00pm on each Tuesday in October, present a “Helping Hand Certificate” while dining, and Lennie’s will donate 20% of your tab to the Bloomington Posoltega Sister City Committee. All proceeds from the sale of the photographs will also go to the committee. Learn more about our sister city and print a certificate at our website above.

The Mathers Museum exhibition hall and Museum Store are open Tuesdays through Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and closed all major holidays.

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 E permits. During the weekends free parking is available on the surrounding streets.

“Açaí From Local to Global”
“Açaí From Local to Global” examines the transition of the açaí berry from a local Brazilian commodity to a global superfood. The exhibition is curated by Eduardo Brondizio and Andrea Siqueria, and sponsored by Themester 2014’s “Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science,” an initiative of the IU College of Arts and Sciences.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“Food is Work: Tools and Traditions”
“Food is Work: Tools and Traditions” explores the tools and traditions used in the production of food. The exhibition is also sponsored by Themester 2014’s “Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science,” an initiative of the IU College of Arts and Sciences.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“Instruments of Culture”
“Instruments of Culture” provides an overview of how musical instruments around the globe are classified and studied, and why.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“In Their Own Words: Native Americans in World War I”
“In Their Own Words: Native Americans in World War I” illustrates WWI experiences using photographs and veterans’ stories.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“The People of the Coffee Highlands of Nicaragua”
“The People of the Coffee Highlands of Nicaragua” traces coffee’s journey from the fields to our cups in a photo essay by Claudia Gordillo, funded by IU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Office of Global Educational Programs, and the US Department of State.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“Thoughts, Things, and Theories…What Is Culture?”
“Thoughts, Things, and Theories…What Is Culture?” explores the nature of culture.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“State of an Art: Women’s Wall Painting in Ghana”
“State of an Art: Women’s Wall Painting in Ghana” will show tradition and innovation in wall paintings by women in Ghana’s Upper East Region, as documented by photographer and curator Brittany Sheldon.
This exhibit runs until December 21.

“Auto Indiana”
From Elwood Haynes’s early machine to today’s numerous parts manufacturers, this exhibition examines the role of the automobile in the Hoosier State. Indiana was one of the leaders in automobile production until the 1930’s when Detroit emerged as the nation’s technological and industrial giant. Come see the Howe car, Monroe County’s first automobile, graciously on loan from the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Runs through December 31.

The History Center is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-4pm.

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00 – 5:00 p.m. Sunday: Noon – 5:00 p.m.

New in the Galleries:

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Partying in Ancient Greece and Rome
Continuing through December 28, 2014
Gallery of the Arts of Asia and the Ancient Western World, second floor

Pop Food
Continuing through December 28, 2014
Gallery of the Art of the Western World, Doris Steinmetz Kellett Endowed Gallery of Twentieth-Century Art, first floor
Food provided a perfect subject for Pop artists. This installation includes a sweet treat by Wayne Thiebaud, an out-of-this-world still-life by Andy Warhol, and an artwork created with food as its medium by Edward Ruscha.

The Politics of Food
Continuing through December 28, 2014
Gallery of the Art of the Western World, first floor
This installation focuses on several contemporary artists who use food as a reflection on consumerism and cultural identity (Chuck Ramirez), a social commentary on excess and gluttony (Tom Huck), and a platform for political activism on animal rights (Sue Coe).

Celebrating 35 years of creativity from By Hand members and their friends. Arts and crafts by members and friends of By Hand will be displayed with refreshments and music will be provided by the younger generation of By Hand members.

“Boxes” a special exhibit by Steve Rapp will also be on display. He describes his boxes as a museum of Earth’s wonders, each with a unique fingerprint. Wood is the main medium with emphasis on minerals, fossils, artifacts, and sea life. He goes on to explain that most significant is this ability to manipulate these natural wonders of our Earth into a visual metaphor, expressing his vision of nature’s beauty.

“Celebrating Lotus Exhibit”
From his quaint hometown in Orange County, Indiana to cities all over America, Southern Indiana musician Lotus Dickey made his mark on the musical world. A prolific singer-songwriter who played guitar and fiddle, Dickey had a love for music unmatched by any other. In honor of the legend, the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival was established in Bloomington in 1994 as a celebration of music, song, dance, and art. As the 21st Lotus Festival approaches, the Monroe County History Center Community Voices Gallery presents: Celebrating Lotus.
This exhibit runs until November 29.

The Kinsey Institute Gallery is open 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm weekdays or by appointment 8 a.m. to Noon weekdays. Admission is free. Due to adult content, visitors should be 18 years of age or older, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. Guided group tours of The Kinsey Institute may be scheduled by calling 812-855-7686. The Kinsey Institute is closed for all IU holidays.

“The Taste of Seduction: Arousing Desire with Edible Aphrodisiacs”
Taste of Seduction examines the rich tradition of linking the enjoyment of food and drink with romance and sex, through a display of works of art and cultural artifacts from the Kinsey Institute. Curators combed the collection for depictions of food and beverages and selected more than 50 photographs, prints, paintings, ceramic and glass objects, and artifacts that relate to the consumption of food and beverages and its association with sexual desire, romantic love and seduction. This exhibition is part of the 2014 Themester: Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science.

Featured artists include Albert Arthur Allen, Herbert Ascherman, Lynn Bianchi, Gili Chen, Ian Cook, David Deaubrey, Anthony Droege, Beryl Fine, Gene Greger, Bill Haigwood, Naomi Harris, Danielle Kaltz, Maureen Kaveney, R. Leftwick, Henri Monnier, April Renae, Feodor Rojankovsky, Mark Sawrie, Sam Steward, Betsy Stirratt, and Marie Weichman.
The exhibit runs through December 19.

“Undress Me”
Undress Me presents a selection of playful vintage photographs of women in lingerie from the Kinsey Institute art collection paired with period underclothes such as corsets, petticoats, brassieres, drawers, robes, and other garments on loan from the Sage Collection at Indiana University. Ranging in date from the late 19th century through the 1920s, the clothing on display illustrates the dramatic shift in desired body shape from the hourglass, to the S-curve, to the straight boyish lines of the Roaring Twenties. Tight-fitting corsets were eventually replaced by simple brassieres, and the volume and number of undergarments worn by women dramatically diminished. While the historic undergarments on view served the functional purposes of shaping and protecting, their decorative elements reveal that undergarments, though private, were also meant to be seen and appreciated for their erotic possibilities.

Overseen by the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design, the Sage Collection serves as a resource for students, professionals, and the public. The Collection contains both a high-quality permanent museum collection intended for exhibition and research and a hands-on collection used in classroom instruction and fashion design studios. The Sage Collection was founded by Elizabeth Sage, the first professor of Clothing and Textiles at Indiana University. For more information, go to http://www.indiana.edu/~sagecoll or call 812-855-4627.
The exhibit runs through December 19.

In Conversation: Bridgett M. Davis and Renee Cox
An extensive discussion between writer/director Bridgett M. Davis and artist/photographer RenéeCox of their creative partnership on NAKED ACTS and their work individually on themes of black women’s sexuality and its representation in film, literature, and art. Moderated by Marlon Bailey, Associate Professor, Gender Studies, American Studies.

In 2013, IU’s Black Film Center/Archive (BFC/A) received an important donation from Bridgett M. Davis of the original 35mm elements for her independent feature, NAKED ACTS (1996), along with an extensive collection of contextual material, including the shooting script, production notes, journals, press kits, and other items related to the film’s development, production, exhibition, and reception. Cited in S. Torriano Berry’s The 50 Most Influential Black Films as the first feature film to be written, directed, produced, and entirely self-distributed by an African American woman, NAKED ACTS broke ground as well for Davis’s expressly Black feminist project: to “explore the myriad influences—personal, familial, communal, and societal— that have an impact on [a Black woman’s] sense of herself as a sexual being” and to examine the impact on self-image of “the dominant film portrayals of Black women in this country’s cinematic history.” In casting the role of Diana, the “sistah spirit” in the film, Davis found a creative partner in her fellow image-maker, artist Renée Cox, who grounds the film with her performance as an art photographer taking the nude black female form as her subject. Davis’s film was embraced by critics and audiences on the festival circuit, appearing at over two dozen festivals in the US, Europe, and Africa.

Sponsored by Black Film Center/Archive, College Arts & Humanities Institute, the Kinsey Institute, Departments of American Studies, Gender Studies, English, and African American and African Diaspora Studies, the Creative Writing Program, and IU Cinema.

Jonathan Bloom is the author of American Wasteland — a 2010 award-winning book chronicling how Americans end up throwing away almost 50% of their food. From farm to fork, waste is everywhere–how does waste operate behind the scenes in our own kitchens, and what impacts does this have on our world? Bloom’s blog, www.wastedfood.com, explores current topics in food waste and recovery politics and his waste-related articles have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Newsweek, among others. Since 2009, Bloom as served as the Durhma, NC Food Recovery Coordinated for the Society of St. Andrew and the Inter-faith Shutttle. In his spare time, Bloom consults on food-waste remediation with the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organizaiton, startups and nonprofits.

On Tuesday, September 30th, beginning at 5:30p.m., in the midst of the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, The Days of Awe, The Venue Fine Art & Gifts is pleased to host a poetry/prose reading by Shana Ritter, the poet laureate of The Venue. Shana’s writings and readings will illuminate the special significance and beauty of these holy days of Awe.

Join us.