Live shows coming to Playhouse this fall
Dress in your best Woodstock-era clothing and relive the music of 1969 at “The Summer of ’69: Music from the Woodstock Era.” Two performances are set, both beginning at 7:30 p.m.: Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 5. Tickets are $21.50, or $20.50 for seniors, military and students. Concessions, beer, wine and mixed drinks will be sold.
Revisit musical classics at “The Birth of Rock and Roll,” Friday, Sept. 6 and Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Audiences can enjoy songs of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, who will all be represented by the cast.
Explore music that has changed the world at “Rock and Roll Will Never Die,” Saturday, Sept. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. This show performs music from rock’s originators such as Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp.
Comedians Greg Hahn and Dave “The King” Wilson will be at the Playhouse Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13 and 14. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.
The American Variety Show will pay tribute to American favorites such as “The Carol Burnett Show,” Andy Williams, Donny and Marie Osmond, “Hee Haw” and much more. The show will play Friday through Sunday, Sept. 20 to 22, and Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28. Evening shows begin at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee is at 2 p.m.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit browncountyplayhouse.org.
Plein air painting to take place in state park
Artists of all ages are welcome to set up and paint at Brown County State Park on Saturday, Aug. 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tamara Brown will be painting at various locations throughout the day:
- 9 to 11 a.m.: Demonstration at Weed Patch Hill, past the park office on the way to the Nature Center.
- 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Hands-on painting activity at the Nature Center.
- 3 to 5 p.m.: Painting demonstration at Hesitation Point.
Entry to the park is $7; participating in these events is free.
For more information, call the state park at 812-988-6406.
Festival in Bloomington to feature local artists
BLOOMINGTON — The annual Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, on Fourth Street between Indiana Avenue and Grant Street, will take place Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 31 through Sept. 1 and will feature the work of six Brown County artists:
- Larry Spears, pottery
- Anna Brown, fiber
- Sidney Bolam, sculpture
- Adam Egenolf, pottery
- James O’Black, painting
- Sharon and Jessica Bussert, photography
The event hosts 120 artisans from across the country who offer their work to the public. There will also be music and spoken word stages, kids’ booths and community booths for all to enjoy. For more information, visit 4thstreet.org.
Events coming up at music park, campground
BEAN BLOSSOM — Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground, 5163 State Road 135 North, will host several music festivals this year, as follows:
Sept. 3 to 8 — Biker Fest
Sept. 18 to 22 — Hall of Fame and Uncle Pen Days
For more information, visit billmonroemusicpark.com or call 812-988-6422.
Teen center offering adult classes
The BETA center, 175 S. Jefferson St., is offering classes for adult students throughout the 2019-20 school year.
Professional guitarist Jeff Foster will offer private lessons for adult students on Monday evenings between 3 and 8 p.m. The cost is $25 for 30 minutes or $50 per hour.
Foster has produced several albums and is nationally well-known acoustic guitarist. He also has been a guitar instructor for the After School Arts Committee.
Visit stringdancer.com to book a lesson or email [email protected] for more information.
Local artist M.K. Watkins will offer an adult art class once a week for four weeks beginning Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The five week session costs $80.
Class size is limited to 10 people; register in advance to secure a spot. No previous experience is required.
To register, call Clara Stanley at 312-310-3617 or email [email protected]. For more information on the art class, call Watkins at 812-988-4923 or email [email protected].
First season of concerts begins at music center
The Brown County Music Center, 200 Maple Leaf Boulevard, celebrated its grand opening on Aug. 24 with a sold-out concert by Vince Gill and has a variety of shows and acts set for the fall:
- Sept. 6 — Henry Lee Summer
- Sept. 7 — Tesla
- Sept. 12 — Art Garfunkel
- Sept. 13 — The Breakfast Club
- Sept. 19 — Tanya Tucker
- Sept. 20 — Clint Black
- Sept. 28 — Gordon Lightfoot
- Oct. 4 — Terri Clark
- Oct. 5 — Gordon Bonham Blues Band
- Oct. 6 — Home Free
- Oct. 12 — Josh Turner and Isaac Rudd
- Oct. 13 — George Thorogood & The Destroyers
- Oct. 16 — Peppa Pig Live!
- Oct. 17 — Duke Tumatoe
- Oct. 26 — Here Come the Mummies
For more shows, information and tickets, call 812-988-5323 or visit browncountymusiccenter.com.
Local art and craft show seeking artists
A juried fine art and fine craft show that will take place on Thanksgiving weekend is now accepting applications from fine artists and fine crafters.
The Seasons Holiday Art and Craft Show has been a Brown County tradition at The Seasons Lodge and Conference Center, 560 State Road 46, for nearly 40 years. This year, the show will take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30.
The show offers cash awards for the best two-dimensional and three-dimensional work, as well as a people’s choice award selected by guests’ ballots.
For more information or an application, visit seasonsartandcraftshow.com, or contact the show’s volunteer hosts, Tom and Pat Carothers, at [email protected].
Brushless painting class taught at winery
Local artist Anabel Hopkins has started “Pour ’n More,” a series of art classes centered on a technique of fluid acrylic pouring. This is a brushless form of abstract painting on canvas, tiles and other surfaces.
Hopkins will teach the final class from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Country Heritage Winery (formerly Chateau Thomas) 225 S. Van Buren St. in Coachlight Square.
All materials and snacks will be provided; beverages will be sold. Participants will complete two projects under Hopkins’ guidance.
The cost of the class is $40, payable in advance. Reservations are required at 812-340-8781, call or text. Updated class schedules can be found at Facebook.com/PournMore.
August art classes, live music and more at park
Join Julie Barber of the Hot Jazz Preservation Society for live music on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m., in the amphitheater behind the Nature Center.
Rachel Johnson will lead a program, “Sketching Indiana Native Plants,” at Brown County State Park on Saturday, Sept. 28. The event is funded by a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission as part of Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites for 2019.
For more information call 812-988-5240.
Special exhibits and events planned at gallery
After years out of print, Bill Zimmerman‘s “The Birds of Indiana” will go on sale Sunday, Sept. 8 at the Brown County Art Gallery, 1 Artist Drive. This event is made possible by the Johnson Family. Jenny Johnson has given 40 copies to the gallery and Bill’s wife, Judy, will be on hand to sign copies. The Indiana Raptor Center also will host a program beginning at 1:30 p.m. A $5 donation for the center will be collected at the door.
The Indiana China Painters will show at the gallery from Sept. 21 to 29. A garden tile painting workshop will take place Saturday, Sept. 28. Call the gallery to register at 812-988-4609.
Many events planned for Art Colony Weekend
Several events will take place during Art Colony Weekend Sept. 13-15.
The Brown County Art Guild will offer a plein-air painting workshop from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13. Wyatt LeGrand and Larry Rudolech will take students out to paint the countryside on a property south of Nashville. All painting styles and levels are welcome. The price is $220.50 for members and $245 for non-members. A picnic lunch is included.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, the guild will be the site of the Founders Cocktail Party. All are welcome to join for an evening of art, a catered appetizer buffet and live music from the Amanda Webb Band. The price is $25 per person or $40 per couple.
Sunday, Sept. 15 will conclude the weekend with the second annual Art Colony Auction at the Brown County History Center, 90 E. Gould St., from 1 to 4 p.m. Jackson’s Auctions and Real Estate will oversee the event.
The guild is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from noon to 4 p.m. Sundays or by appointment. For more information, contact Executive Director Andra Walters at 812-988-6185 or email [email protected].
To register for the workshops, call the guild or visit bcartguildshop.com/education.
Paint with local artist at the library
The Brown County Public Library will welcome local artist M.K. Watkins for a free acrylics class for teens and adults, Saturday, Sept. 14 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the library, 205 Locust Lane.
All materials will be provided. Each participant will produce a painting, so wear “paint” clothing.
Registration is required for this program, with a limit of 12 participants. Call the library at 812-988-2850 or stop in to register.
Annual art contest at T.C. Steele Historic Site
BELMONT — The 31st annual Great Outdoor Art Contest will take place at T.C. Steele Historic Site Saturday, Sept. 14 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Part of the Brown County Art Colony Weekend in Nashville, the oldest plein air art contest in Indiana is for artists of all ages, beginners and established talents. Join in the competition or visit and watch the artists at work en plein air — the style Steele preferred for his impressionist landscape paintings of Indiana.
First place and People’s Choice winners will be displayed until the end of September at the Brown County Art Guild.
Registration and materials are available for download at tcsteele.org/calendar/great-outdoor-art-contest. Early bird rates apply now. Regular rates begin Sept. 1 with day-of registration available. Artists shall provide their own supplies. Parking is $3 for the general public.
Gallery to feature exhibit of porcelain tile
The Brown County Art Gallery, 1 Artist Drive, will open a special exhibit called “The Porcelain Painters of Indiana, a Fragile Art that Endures” on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Examples of handpainted porcelain art will go on display. Porcelain expert Ellen Wilson-Pruitt will present a program on Indiana’s important role in this art form at 2 p.m. There will also be demonstrations. The event is free.
The exhibit runs through the following weekend with a workshop on Saturday, Sept. 28 at noon. For $20, participants can paint a garden tile. Call the gallery to register at 812-988-4609.
Music festival set at eXplore Brown County
VAN BUREN TWP. — The Good People Good Times Music Festival will take place at eXplore Brown County, 2620 Valley Branch Road, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 27 to 29.
The festival will bring together artists, musicians, vendors and performing artists.
Early-bird weekend passes are available for $50. Parking is $10 when purchased before the event; $15 at the festival. Carpooling is encouraged.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit gpgtmusicfest.com.
History seminar to be held at historic site
BELMONT — Jon Kay of Indiana University will give a 45-minute presentation at T.C. Steele Historic Site, 4220 T.C. Steele Road, on Sunday, Sept. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. He will answer the question, “Why are cities perceived as holding our collective future, while rural communities are so often viewed as being trapped in the past?”
In the early 20th century, Midwestern elites envisioned Brown County as a place where Hoosier folk culture remained “untarnished by the march of time.” City dwellers came to see its rustic beauty and meet the rural “natives” who lived in log cabins, played traditional music and made handicrafts. In the midst of rapid urbanization and industrialization, people all over the world searched for a lost “authentic” heritage; in Indiana, it was Brown County that was believed to be the place where Hoosier folk culture continued.
What happened in Brown County reveals a larger story about how perceptions of urban and rural emerged, namely that cities hold our collective future, while rural communities are trapped in the past.
In his talk, Kay will share this little-known history and what this particular Indiana story can teach us about the ways “urban” and “rural” are thought and talked about today.
A part of the INseparable Speakers Bureau, this Sunday at Home program in the Singing Winds Visitor Center is included with standard site admission.
Kay directs Traditional Arts Indiana at Indiana University, where he also serves as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. He grew up in Brown County and has spent his life researching the folk history of this rural community.
‘High Spirits’ at T.C. Steele State Historic Site
BELMONT — Enjoy an evening of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while exploring the “”world beyond the living” at T.C. Steele State Historic Site on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 5 to 7 p.m.
At “High Spirits,” guests can learn how belief in the supernatural and advances in science went hand-in-hand during T.C. Steele’s early years and watch a magic show by Richard Darshwood.
The House of the Singing Winds will be open after hours.
Tickets are $25 for members; $30 for non-members. This event is for ages 21 and older only. For more information or to reserve tickets, call 812-988-2785.
Second annual art and craft market in October
Join at Parkview Church of the Nazarene, 1750 State Road 46 East, on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the second annual Brown County Handmade Market.
The craft show features handmade creations from more than 70 vendors from Brown County and across the Midwest. There will be snack booths, kids activities and a silent auction, with proceeds benefiting ministries of Parkview church.
For more details, visit bchandmademarket.com.
Art guild raffling off pastel painting
The Brown County Art Guild, 48 S. Van Buren St., has begun its annual raffle. Visitors can stop by the guild or go online to purchase a ticket for a chance to win “Crimson Spring,” a pastel work donated by guild member Pamela Newell.
The website is bcartguildshop.com/raffle. One ticket is $25, or get three for $50 or six for $100. Money will be put toward the preservation of the guild’s historic collection, promotion of its award-winning artist members and the offering of workshops and programs throughout the year.
The drawing will take place Saturday, Nov. 23 at the guild. The winner does not need to be present to win.
Shared art studio space available in town
B3 Gallery has created a space for artists and the community to come together.
S3, the Nashville “shared studio and maker space” is on the second floor of the gallery at 61 W. Main St. It is a meeting area for artists, craftspeople, inventors, clubs, seminars, classes or individuals.
S3 can provide painting and drawing easels; an alternative process darkroom; macro photography equipment; a digital projector; a glass annealing kiln and burnout kiln; PCB etching equipment and tanks; leaded glass tools; metal forming and casting tools; electronics and robotics fabrication tools; various computer numerical control tools; a scroll saw; band saw; drill press; centrifuge; bench grinder/polisher; laser cutter/engraver; air compressor; vacuum pumps; and chemistry vent hood.
The organizers seek “fun, energetic, enthusiastic and creative people to bring life to the space.”
Donations of under-utilized equipment or specialty tools also are being accepted.
For more information, call S3 at 812-369-6969, email [email protected], or visit meetup.com/preview/S3-the-Nashville-Shared-Studio-Maker-Space.
Gallery seeking artwork to display
B3 Gallery is expanding. The owners are seeking artists to display 2-D and 3-D work.
Artists would have a co-op type arrangement but with no work requirements.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 812-988-6675.
Gallery requests local artists to display work
The Paint Box art gallery, 92 W. Franklin in Antique Alley, is celebrating its 45th year in Nashville. The gallery, on the corner of Jefferson and Franklin, displays a variety of artwork. Artists interested in displaying their work can contact Manager Sherry Barnett at 812-597-0039.
