"People" by the Boys and Girls Clubs to be December exhibit in City Hall

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 6, 2012

For more information, please contact:
Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, City of Bloomington Department of Economic and Sustainable Development, 349.3534


Fourth annual Winter Art Show by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington to be December exhibit in City Hall atrium

Bloomington, Ind. - During the months of December and January the City of Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District (BEAD) will showcase artwork from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington in the City Hall atrium, 401 N. Morton St.

The exhibit, "People," is a collection pieces done 6- to 12-year-old members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington and Ellettsville. This exhibit is the culmination of a themed semester during which members investigated numerous ways of depicting people, both real and imaginary. Throughout the semester guests, such as a police officer and an EMT, were invited into the Lincoln Street Club and were drawn during live model sessions. Other projects from the semester included paper mache mask-making, figurative sculptures, and multi-media self-portrait collages.

"People" includes a special exhibition of 12 Bloomington celebrity portraits. This project involved children researching a famous or noteworthy person from Bloomington and painting a large portrait of him or her. People depicted include John Mellencamp, Mayor Mark Kruzan, Hoagy Carmichael and Charlotte Zietlow. The portraits will be for sale during the exhibit and proceeds will go to the Boys and Girls Clubs to cover the costs of basic art supplies for their 2013 visual art programs.

The exhibit will be on display from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Dec. 7 to Jan. 29, as well as additional evening and weekend hours when City Hall is open for meetings. A public reception for the exhibit will be held on Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the atrium at City Hall. The reception will feature the Clubs' Performing Arts Showcase. These classes are part of the Lindsey O'Brien Kesling Performing Arts Program, funded through the L.O.K.Foundation. Members of the IU Jacobs School of Music Singing Hoosiers will perform at 6:30 before the showcase. The public is invited to attend.

This project is another effort under the City's strategy to leverage and expand
the economic development potential of the arts in Bloomington. According to a
2012 Americans for the Arts study, Bloomington's nonprofit arts sector contributes $72.3 million to the local economy annually through direct spending by arts organizations and their audiences. For more information on the study visit [www.bloomington.in.gov/arts|www.bloomington.in.gov/arts].

The City of Bloomington is committed to providing opportunities for area artists to exhibit artwork in the City Hall atrium. For more information on the program, contact Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, at [mailto:michaelm@bloomington.in.gov] or 349.3534.

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