First Thursday

Art by Debra Grindhart Dragoo on display at The Artist Within Art by Missy Adams on display at Cornerstone Center for the Arts Art by Hannah Barnes on display at Gallery 308 Art by Hannah Barnes on display at Gallery 308 Art by Jessica Summers on display at Gordy Fine Art & Framing Co. Art by Jessica Summers on display at Gordy Fine Art & Framing Co. Art on display at Muncie Makes Lab Photography by Christine Johnson on display at Muncie Makes Lab Photography by Lorri Markum on display at Rose Court

The Artist Within
313 S Walnut
Sprayart Colour Layers

A series of new paintings by local artist designer Debra Gindhart Dragoo. This exhibit of aerosol paintings is a design series where colours and textures combine creating fabulous funky fun! Celebrate local art, celebrate this artist turning 63 and celebrate paint your own pottery upstairs! This exhibit also includes Green Glam studio earrings from the “Onepairaday” artist challenge. Make plans to stop by for live music, light refreshments and birthday cake and to wish Debra a “Happy Birthday”. The exhibit is free and open to the public and will remain on display through September 26th during normal studio hours.

Cornerstone Center for The Arts
520 E Main
Pop Art Presidents

The show entitled “Pop Art Presidents” is a collection of paintings by Missy Adams honoring the lives and history of the 43 presidents of the United States.

Missy Adams is a local artist who took her love of portrait painting and history to create a series of paintings celebrating the colorful personalities and interesting lives led by the nation’s presidents. The show was painted with the limited color palette of red, white, and blue and utilizes shading and layering to create depth representing each president’s own personality. Each painting features a corresponding quote from that president displayed under their portrait.

Adams describes painting as her passion, love, therapy, and her nightmare at times. She started painting at a young age and has been primarily self-taught. She has experimented with watercolor, acrylics, oil, gouache, and even coffee to paint on glass, cardboard, canvas, and paper to discover what works best. She describes her style as not realistic per se, attributing her ability to see things differently from others as her inspiration.

For more information about the show visit http://www.cornerstonearts.org

Gallery 308
308 E Main
Kali Yuga

Gallery 308 will showcase the talents of abstract artist Hannah Barnes, with an exhibit entitled "Kali Yuga". The opening reception for the new exhibit will be held Thursday, September 3 from 5 to 8 p.m. The public is welcome.

Barnes said, "My inspiration for the exhibit is a reflection on a six week research trip to southern India that I took last summer. In Hindu cosmology, Kali Yuga is the name for the era the world is currently cycling through - the last of four in a cycle. It is marked by conflict, discord, and strife"

According to Barnes, she has been making abstract images since she was four years old.  She added, "A combination of my experience in India and the events of the last year inspired me to create a body of work that emphasizes the accumulation of patterns and structures marked by conflict, discord, transformation and degeneration."

Barnes is an Associate Professor of Painting at Ball State University. She creates work that draws on a familiar vocabulary of abstract forms and tropes to explore the nature of meaning within abstraction. Her work has been exhibited in such places as the Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, Maine; the Academy of Fine Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland; Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. Barnes recently completed a residency at the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation in Cranberry Isles, Maine, and she was the recipient of a 2013 Full Fellowship to attend the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT.

Ms. Barnes received an MFA in Visual Art from Rutgers State University of New Jersey and a BFA in Painting from Maine College of Art. In 2008 she joined the School of Art at Ball State, where she teaches beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses in painting and drawing, as well as undergraduate senior projects and graduate seminars in studio art practice.  Born in Massachusetts, Barnes resides and works in Indianapolis, IN.

According to Barnes, "My work engages the interplay of drawing and painting to explore ideas of structure and fragmentation, surface and depth, perception and illusion, and the indeterminacy of images. My recent work draws on the fragile and indexical qualities of watercolor to foreground touch, trace, mark, process, and impermanence."

Gallery 308, which provides space for local and regional artists with monthly "First Thursday" exhibits, is in its 14th year as a nonprofit art gallery.  For more information about the Gallery 308 exhibit opening, contact sherry@jackscamera.com. The gallery is open Fridays from 3-7pm and Saturdays from 12:30 – 5:00pm.  Admission is free. The show continues through September 26.

Gallery 308, located at 308 East Main in downtown Muncie,  is a 501(c)(3) community art gallery which exists to provide exhibition space for artists, encourage innovative work and serve the community as a cultural and educational resource. The Gallery opens a new exhibit every First Thursday. Contributions to Gallery 308 are tax-deductible. For more information about upcoming exhibits, volunteer and donor opportunities, please call 765-289-8575 or visit http://www.gallery308.org.

Gordy Fine Art & Framing Co.
224 E Main
Interiority: New Paintings by Jessica Summers

Jessica Summers has been selected to exhibit for the month of September at Gordy Fine Art & Framing Company. Her oversized drawings and oil paintings command attention, as the viewer feels included in the scene, or just offstage. The artist explains, “I honor the tradition of artists representing the contemporary domestic interior and choose to use my suburban home as the subject and setting for my work.”

Beneath the exceptionally detailed surface, Summers’ pieces “explore modern relationships in which couples cohabitate but for numerous reasons rarely connect.”  Her use of dramatic lighting and sharp camera angles, along with eye contact to acknowledge the audience, brings intimacy into the these private spaces while the artist remains in control of what is revealed or concealed, undoubtedly leading her viewers to seek for more information in details, angles and shadows.

Summers holds a BFA in 2-Dimensional Studies and Art Education from Bowling Green University and an MFA from Bowling Green State University, where she is currently an adjunct professor in Fine Arts. The winner of numerous awards, Summers was invited by Ohio’s First Lady, Karen Kasich, to be the Fall Spotlight Artist at the Ohio Governor’s Residence, where she delivered an artist talk that was later televised. She has also had solo exhibitions at Durham Arts Council in Durham, North Carolina and Fairmont State University in Fairmont, West Virginia. Jessica has also participated in a number of invitational small group shows at Indiana University South Bend, University of Findlay in Ohio, and Portland ArtsPlace in Portland, Indiana, among others.

There will be an opening reception on Thursday, September 3, 2015 from 5 to 8 PM and the artist will speak about her work and answer questions, beginning at 6:15 PM. Light refreshments will be served, and the public is invited to attend. There will be art-related activities for both children and adults.

Gordy Fine Art & Framing is located at 224 East Main Street, next to Muncie Civic Theatre. For information, call 765-284-8422, visit Gordy Fine Art & Framing on Facebook, or go to http://www.gordyframing.com.

Grace Episcopal Church
300 S Madison
Violist Katrin Meidell and Friends

I would to let you know that Grace Episcopal Church has begun a concert series on First Thurs. We realize we are several minutes away from the center of downtown but we wanted to support the art scene and downtown Muncie. Our concerts are planned to run from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. Our main hallway has in the past been for hanging art works and will be on First Thurs. events.

The Sept. 3rd concert will feature violist Katrin Meidell and friends.

Muncie Makes Lab
628 S Walnut

Featured Projects from Muncie Public Library’s UDo Makerspace
Muncie Public Library's UDo makerspace hosted a six week Google Maker Camp for the second year in a row. The purpose of maker camp is to help inspire and instruct young innovators, engineers, and artists. Our featured projects included felt finger puppets, cardboard guitars, circuits and LED's, and even a DIY terrarium.

College of Architecture and Planning First Year Design Students Retrospective
Students within the First Year Program at the College of Architecture and Design at Ball State University learn and develop environmental design principles and skills through presented questions and a series of explorations. This exhibit is a celebration of the exemplary responses to these questions throughout the 2014-2015 academic year. Individual projects displayed within the exhibition include: "The Order of Things," "Defining Spaces," "Translations," "(S)P(L)ACE and EVENT," "Folding Space," "Biomimicry," and "Stitching the Urban Fabric of Muncie”.

Faces of the Cheonggyecheon, Christine Johnson (BLA '16)
During the spring semester of 2015, Christine Johnson (BLA '16) conducted an observational photography study about the Cheonggye Canal in Seoul, South Korea, and the people that came to visit from the middle of winter to spring. From that she has produced maps, drawings, photos, and videos that look deep into the history and culture of the Cheonggyecheon and into the experiences of those who visit. She hopes that through this project she can raise awareness about how important these types of landscapes are to people in the form of social, insightful, and pleasant experiences.

Mutual Bank Marble Wall
110 E Charles
Afterhours Art Reels – Phantom of the Paradise

Muncie Downtown Development Partnership, in collaboration with The Fickle Peach, presents After Hours Art Reels following the First Thursday Gallery Walks in June through September. Come enjoy the gallery exhibits from 5-8pm throughout DWNTWN, and join us afterwards at dusk for these great cult and art film classics!

Our final show is: Phantom of the Paradise. Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 American musical film horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma, and starring Paul Williams, William Finley and Jessica Harper. In the film, a disfigured composer writes his music for a woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, a record producer betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise. Betrayed, the composer dons a new appearance and exacts revenge on the producer.

The story is a loosely adapted mixture of several classic European works: Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Faust by Goethe/Christopher Marlowe.

Initially, the film was a box office failure and received negative reviews, however it earned praise for its music, receiving Academy Award and a Golden Globe nominations. Over the years, the film has received much more positive reviews and has since become a cult classic.

The Ball State University student short film shown prior to this month's movie is "WHOLE" . Film by the Rieth Brothers. This film was the winning short film for the 2015 BSU Frog Baby Film Festival.

Films are projected onto the Mutual Bank wall on Charles Street at dusk. Seating will be available on the Fickle Peach patio area located at 117 E. Charles St. for guests who are 21 and up. Viewers who are not yet 21 can watch the films from the sidewalk surrounding the patio area. A hot dog food cart and beverages will be available.

This will be the final film of the summer series. Go to our website to see the film trailer.

http://www.downtownmuncie.org/after-hours-art-reels/

Rose Court
125 E Charles

Life is short, capture it! Born and raised in Delaware County, and a graduate of Ball State University, Lorri Markum has spent most of her life behind a lens. Her professional career began with a love of music and live performance. After landing her first concert photography job photographing Aretha Franklin, and soon after, Sir Elton John, she has spent nearly twenty years photographing the top artists, and legends in music.

Though most of her work is known through her work in the music industry, her true love as a photographer lies in pursuing photojournalism and street photography in black and white. She enjoys capturing moments as they naturally unfold, the common, the forgotten, the subtle, and the bizarre from New York City, to New Orleans.

A collection of Lorri Markum’s photographs will be on display during September 3 from 5–9 p.m. at the Rose Court on East Charles Street. The works are black and white canvas prints of street scenes, and nature, from Indiana to Mississippi, New Orleans to Muscle Shoals. All will be available for purchase.