June Exhibit: Lotus: A Moveable Feast

[Lotus banners and mobiles grace the Atrium entryway|image:5155]

Lotus: A Moveable Feast exhibition to open in City Hall Atrium

Bloomington, IN - The City of Bloomington and BEAD will showcase kinetic work created in support of the [Lotus Foundation|www.lotusfest.org] and the [Lotus World Music & Arts Festival|www.lotusfest.org/] in the City Hall Atrium Friday, June 5 to Friday, June 26, 2009.

The exhibit, entitled Lotus: A Moveable Feast features mobiles from local artists along side banners and masks created as part of collaborative community arts projects focused on creating new art in support of the Lotus Foundation and the Lotus World Music & Arts Festival.[Student working on mask|thumbnail:5121,right]

The mobiles are handmade creations by local artists, Lorraine Farrell, Gail Hale, Sarah Noggle and Rowland Ricketts. Each mobile was made specifically for the Lotus Foundation's annual fundraiser Edible Lotus held May 1.

Jewelry artist, [Lorraine Farrell|www.fossilrain.com/], crafts beautiful works incorporating minerals, fossils, and semi-precious stones. Her store, Fossil Rain, was a fixture in downtown Bloomington for a decade. Farrell's jewelry pieces are now available through art fairs and commissions.

Gail Hale, an accomplished textile and installation artist, creates work that reflects her passion for using everyday and recycled materials. Hale is a founding member of the Lotus Festival Visual Arts Committee and was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Lotus backdrops frequently seen at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

A recognized master weaver and spinner, [Sarah Noggle|www.browncountystudiotour.com/sarahnoggle.htm] is well known for her functional textiles created in her Nashville studio the past thirty years. Her work is infused with color, pattern and texture. Noggle is currently studying the care of heritage textiles with the Indianapolis Museum of Art's nationally known Textile Conservation Services.

Also a textile artist, [Rowland Ricketts|http://rickettsindigo.com/] creates textiles colored by dyes derived from wild and cultivated plants, using centuries old traditions. He has established his own indigo farm and studio in Japan and plans to establish a new indigo farm in Bloomington to continue creating custom dye-goods.

Along with the mobiles, the exhibition will include banners and masks mad ein partnership with the [Mathers Museum of World Cultures|http://www.indiana.edu/~mathers/] Family Craft Days, Lotus in the Park and Lotus Blossoms World Bazaar. At each of these events participants were invited to decorate blank masks or banners. The results include interpretations of everything from Chinese dragons and Southeast Asian demons to Native American animal totems and Australian aboriginal dot paintings.

[Masks and banners along the stairway|image:5156]

The City of Bloomington is committed to providing opportunities for Bloomington and area artists to exhibit artwork in City Hall Atrium. For more information on the City Hall Atrium exhibition program, contact: Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, at michaelm@bloomington.in.gov or (812)349-3534.