Traveling Exhibit Rock, Rhythm & Soul at City Hall in January

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2009

For information, please contact:
Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Director of Economic and Sustainable Development for the Arts, City of Bloomington, 349-3534
Danny Lopez, Communications Director, City of Bloomington, 349-CITY, lopezd@bloomington.in.gov

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Bloomington, IN -- The City of Bloomington is hosting the traveling exhibit Rock, Rhythm & Soul: The Black Roots of Popular Music in the City Hall Atrium January 2-26, 2009. The exhibit was created by Indiana University's Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC), one of the largest scholastic repositories devoted to black music and expression.

Rock, Rhythm & Soul consists of nine double-banner panels, each highlighting specific genres and issues related to the history of African American popular music. The exhibit draws upon materials from the AAAMC's extensive collection, and each banner presents viewers with images and text highlighting musical milestones and personalities, and a concise timeline of key historic events. Topics featured include soul, funk, hip-hop, gospel, rhythm and blues music, black rock, black radio and the Civil Rights Movement.

After its presentation in Bloomington, the exhibit will be on display at the Crispus Attucks Middle High School Museum in Indianapolis during Black History Month in February and later this spring at Purdue University, the Evansville African-American Museum and the San Diego (Calif.) County Fair. Portions of the exhibit recently were displayed at the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus and at the Brightwood branch of the [image:4359,right]Indianapolis Public Library.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Moveable Feast of the Arts program, which was initiated by the IU Office of the President in 2004 with administrative and financial oversight provided by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The program's mission is to showcase and extend IU's cultural resources to Hoosier communities and IU campuses across the state.

A public reception for the exhibit will be held Thursday, Jan. 15 from 5:30 - 7 p.m. in the City Hall Atrium (401 N. Morton St.) and will feature entertainment by local musician Curtis Cantwell Jackson and remarks by Portia Maultsby, co-curator of the exhibit and Director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture. Maultsby also will present a Gallery Talk in the City Hall Atrium, Monday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. All events are free, and the public is invited.

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