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Arts 205 results

Busking 4 Freedom: Jesse Slokum, Unintentional Icon of Woodstock [video]
Duane Busick
“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.
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The Butcher at the Barn of Terror. | Photo by Adam Reynolds

Ghouls, Zombies, and Butchers at the Barn of Terror [photo gallery]
Adam Reynolds
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.
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Artists (clockwise from left) Ellen Starr Lyon, Christy Wiesenhahn, Meg Lagodzki, and Sarah Pearce gather in Lyon's home studio to discuss how domestic life makes it “hard to remember that you are an artist. Especially if you’re a woman.” | Photo by Yaël Ksander

Remembering To Be an Artist When Life Gets in the Way
Yaël Ksander
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.
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In her memoir, "Crazy Is Relative," Indiana University Professor Melissa Keller, left, writes about her relationship with her “fascinating and hilarious” mother-in-law, Shirley. Shown here in 2002. | Courtesy photo

In Memoir ‘Crazy Is Relative,’ Past Informs the Present
Allison Yates
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.
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"Kai, Ninomiya," 1998, from the series Kai, Following the Cycle of Life. | Courtesy photo

The Cycle of Life in Osamu James Nakagawa’s Photography
Claude Cookman
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.
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Katherine Thomas sits outside of the Monroe County History Center. | Photo by Adam Reynolds

‘Places, Things, People’ 4×5 Photo Gallery: Part 3, People
Adam Reynolds
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.
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Rachel Sermanni, a 25-year-old singer-songwriter from Scotland, will perform at the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival on September 29 and 30. | Photo courtesy of Ian Wallman

Lotus Time! Part 4, Young Musicians Fill the Bill
Benjamin Beane
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.
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Friends Emily Bedwell, left, and Sarah Ruggles play Florence and Olive in the Monroe County Civic Theater production of "The Odd Couple (Female Version)" this weekend at The Waldron. | Limestone Post

Behind the Curtain: Friends Play Female ‘Odd Couple’ in New MCCT Production
Jennifer Pacenza
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.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and Bloomington expat Joel Pett returned to his hometown recently for a gallery show — and a stand-up gig at Thomas Gallery. | Photo by Devta Kidd

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
Yaël Ksander, Devta Kidd
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.
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Writer Ross Lockridge Jr. (RLJ) killed himself on March 6, 1948, just two months after his book "Raintree County" was published. Pictured here, RLJ is signing autographs at an L. S. Ayres department store in Indianapolis on January 20, 1948. This is the last known photograph of RLJ. | Photo by Robert Lavelle, "The Indianapolis News." Photographs from raintreecounty.com are used with permission of The Estate of Ross Lockridge, Jr.

Ross Lockridge Jr., a Great American Tragedy
Doug Storm
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.
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Meklit, an Ethiopian-born, Oakland-raised, Ethio-jazz musician and philanthropist. | Courtesy photo

World Music Trailblazers Bring Innovative Sounds to Lotus
Benjamin Beane
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.
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The graceful and mesmerizing aerial acrobats of AsaBela WINGS Aerial Academy will perform in both the matinée and evening Va-Va-Va-Vaudeville shows. | Photo by Chris Rall

Behind the Curtain: Va-Va-Va-Vaudeville
Jennifer Pacenza
It’s a juggernaut! It’s a celebration of Bloomington’s amazing talent! It’s an extravagant array of performers — jugglers, dancers, comedians, aerial acrobats, burlesque performers, musicians, and even clever canines! It’s Va-Va-Va-Vaudeville! Jennifer Pacenza takes you Behind the Curtain of this variety show playing this weekend at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Click here to read the full story.
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