Economic distress, loss, and isolation due to the pandemic have increased the need for mental health services in Monroe County. While local providers have reinvented how they offer such services, many people still confront barriers to accessing them. Eszi Waters spoke to people at several agencies to see how they have adapted.
Click here to read the article.
Abattoir Gallery, at 4th and Rogers streets in Bloomington, will exhibit across mediums while maintaining a safe space for LGBTQ+, Black, and brown people, says its lead curator, Gnat Bowden. Writer Ian Carstens attended the soft opening and says Abattoir “is an open door to the streets of Bloomington to challenge its anti-Black, anti-LGTBQ+ realities.” Click here to read about Abattoir Gallery.
Building equity and supporting community access to healthy food are at the heart of the People’s Open Pantry, a new initiative under the aegis of the People’s Market, writes Ellen Wu. But starting a pantry during a pandemic takes dedication and planning. Wu talked to several of the people involved in the effort.
Click here to read the story.
On two consecutive days in downtown Bloomington, protestors expressed outrage at the racial aggression, profiling, and anti-Black violence that residents have faced — recently, historically, and continually — in the community. Each protest was attended by hundreds of supporters, culminating in a march through the streets. Click here to learn more.
As the 16th annual PRIDE Film Festival runs this weekend, PRIDE, the local organization that represents the LGBTQ+ community, is “focused more on helping people on the margins,” says Board Chair Janae Cummings. “We don’t want to leave anyone behind.” Writer Erin Hollinden reports on PRIDE’s “recalibrated” vision — and about the Festival. Click here to read the full story.
Jennifer Pacenza opens her theater column in Limestone Post with a preview of “fierce, funny” The Legend of Georgia McBride. Pacenza, author of Bravo, Bloomington!, a blog dedicated to local performance, says this Cardinal Stage Company production about the drag community challenges its audience “to consider the permeability of gender and sexuality.” Click here to read the full story.
Aaron Tilford, publisher of the art journal Spunk, wrote in the 10th issue that the intention has always been “to inspire, to explore, to create, and to see things in a new way.” Writer Dason Anderson talks to Tilford about living in New York City, publishing an art magazine, and returning home to Bloomington. Click here to read the full story.
Many people think what’s happening at The Back Door is culturally transformative,” Zak Szymanski writes about Bloomington’s only queer bar. In a post-Orlando world, places like The Back Door, with “its diversity and ideology,” are becoming sanctuaries for the disenfranchised — and “the future of LGBT space." Click here to read the full story.
McKee Woods and Natasha Komoda attend rehearsals of Trading Faces, the latest play from Sitcom Theatre, a local theater troupe that creates experimental plays “with a tight lens on the absurd and cleverly bizarre.” Co-founders Bethy Squires and William McHenry reveal how their creative inspirations (from ’50s sci-fi movies to Friends sitcom episodes to the local punk-rock scene) help to inform their themes — whether wacky, campy, straight, or queer. They will perform Trading Faces Friday, September 25, at The Back Door. Show at 8 p.m., doors open at 7. Click here to read the full story.
