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Guest Column: When Is a Theater an ‘Equity House,’ and Does It Matter?

In its rich and diverse theater community, Bloomington has only one “Equity House.” What does that mean? And is “professionalizing theater” important to a town this size? As Cardinal Stage Company’s Rachel Glago explains in this guest column, yes, because among other benefits it leads to “to overall economic growth.” Click here to read the full story.

Busking 4 Freedom: Jesse Slokum, Unintentional Icon of Woodstock [video]

“Clap your hands, clap your hands!” And a lone figure stands, claps, and dances. Others rise to join him while Richie Havens sings “Freedom! Freedom!” onstage at Woodstock in 1969. In this Duane Busick video, meet Jesse Slokum, Bloomington’s “Busker 4 Freedom” and the man who got multitudes to dance at Woodstock. Click here to watch the video.

Ghouls, Zombies, and Butchers at the Barn of Terror [photo gallery]

Hiding in the wooded hills just north of town, off the old state highway, is a barn whose inhabitants have one goal — to scare the daylights out of you. Intrepid photographer Adam Reynolds captured some of the horrific ghouls that visitors will encounter at the Barn of Terror. Click here, if you dare.

Remembering To Be an Artist When Life Gets in the Way

Finding work-life balance isn’t what people normally associate with the Picassos and Pollocks of the art world. Yet it’s a real-life dilemma for many working artists. Writer Yaël Ksander talks with several artists about how domestic life makes it “hard to remember that you are an artist. Especially if you’re a woman.” Click here to read the full story.

In Memoir ‘Crazy Is Relative,’ Past Informs the Present

In her memoir, Crazy Is Relative, IU Professor Melissa Keller writes about her relationship with her “fascinating and hilarious” mother-in-law, Shirley. As Keller learned about Shirley’s childhood, she began to see how the past informs the present. Writer Allison Yates talks with Keller about how histories define normal and, thus, “crazy is relative.” Click here to read the full story.

The Cycle of Life in Osamu James Nakagawa’s Photography

Throughout his career, Indiana University artist-educator Osamu James Nakagawa has captured profound life changes in his photography. As an exhibition of Nakagawa’s work opens October 13 at IU’s Grunwald Gallery, IU Professor Emeritus Claude Cookman observes how Nakagawa’s striking imagery reflects “death and life, grief and joy, past and future.” Click here to read the full story.

‘Places, Things, People’ 4×5 Photo Gallery: Part 3, People

In the final installment of his photo series using a 4x5 field camera, Adam Reynolds reveals the collaboration between subject and photographer in portraiture. With a field camera, they have time to talk while the photographer sets up the shot. This ease allows the photographer to wait until the subject reveals their authentic self. Click here to see the photo gallery.

Lotus Time! Part 4, Young Musicians Fill the Bill

The Lotus World Music and Arts Festival is upon us, when performers from around the world fill the downtown streets with music. In part 4 of our series, writer Benjamin Beane profiles a young singer-songwriter from Scotland and an even younger brother/sister Indian-American duo who are rising stars in bluegrass. Click here to read the full story.

Behind the Curtain: Friends Play Female ‘Odd Couple’ in New MCCT Production

Longtime friends Sarah Mae Ruggles and Emily Bedwell have acted in the Monroe County Civic Theater for years, and now they play opposites in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (Female Version). Jen Pacenza looks Behind the Curtain at Olive and Florence in this hilarious performance playing at The Waldron this weekend. Click here to read the full story.

Joel Pett: Humanist with a ‘Mean Streak a Mile Wide’ Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Joel Pett served up an adult portion of art and stand-up at his homecoming

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and Bloomington expat Joel Pett returned to his hometown recently for a gallery show — and a stand-up gig. After talking to Pett about his work, writer Yaël Ksander wonders whether a man with “a mean streak a mile wide” has, deep down, a passion for humanity. Click here to read the full story.

Ross Lockridge Jr., a Great American Tragedy

In 1948, Ross Lockridge Jr. died by suicide in Bloomington just months after his best-selling novel, Raintree County, was published. In 2014, Doug Storm interviewed two of Lockridge’s sons for Interchange, his show on WFHB. Here, Storm writes about the sons’ conflicting opinions on the suicide and the assessment of Raintree County as the Great American Novel. Click here to read the full story.

World Music Trailblazers Bring Innovative Sounds to Lotus

Music speaks. And it can tell stories. Musical acts Meklit (Ethiopia) and Sabha Motallebi (Iran) will showcase their own forms of musical storytelling this year at the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival. In part 3 of his series, writer Benjamin Beane explores their genre-bending and -expanding music — and the stories they want to tell. Click here to read the full story.