September's First Thursday (full listing)

Beyond I CAN "A Family Affair" at Cornerstone Center for the Arts "Herstory/History" by Dame Leo Bohemian Rhapsody at the Fickle Peach GIRL POWER by GindhART, Madjax 2nd floor Handmade frames at Gordy Fine Art and Framing Co. Dave Johnson, "Characters From An As Yet Unwritten Book About Muncie " "Curb Furniture" by Eric Kroczek, Madjax 1st floor "Curb Furniture" by Eric Kroczek, Madjax 1st floor Muncie Maker's Market, corner of Adams and Walnut "Vultures and Violets," work by Erin Williams and Jessica Calderwood Spiral Bound Fine Art United Way Campaign Kickoff, Walnut Street

Beyond I Can (Madjax, 1st floor)
515 E. Main St.
Beyond I CAN is a creative day service for adults with special-needs. We will be on the 1st floor of Madjax selling items such as pottery, greeting cards, signage, mosaic benches, wreaths, paintings, and other gift items.

Book Arts Collaborative (at Madjax)
514 E. Main
Book Arts Collaborative welcomes a new semester of students who are learning and teaching letterpress printing and hand-sewn book binding. Stop by to meet our new class and learn about our community workshop offerings for fall.

Cornerstone Center for the Arts
520 E. Main
Join Cornerstone Center for Arts on Thursday, September 5 for the opening reception of A Family Affair featuring art by Linda, Jerry, and Eloise McKean. The reception will take place in the Judith Barnes Memorial Gallery on the second floor of Cornerstone from 5 to 7 p.m. in conjunction with September’s First Thursday events.

The McKean family is in love with the visual arts. Subscribing to art pages on Facebook, visiting art galleries and museums at every opportunity, and regularly attending First Thursday events in Muncie. Cornerstone has been their headquarters for training in drawing, painting, ceramics, and mixed media. They are grateful for the chance to share their love of art with others.

Linda studied art in college, then stepped away from it for many years.  Five years ago, she decided she was in a time in life when she could return to her art.  She started painting and taking classes at Cornerstone Center for the Arts.  While her earlier paintings were very abstract, she is surprised to find that her style has evolved into “Representational Abstract”. One thing that has remained constant though, is her delight in and focus on the excitement of color.

When he was seven years old, Jerry started copying Batman comic books.  Thus began a life long appreciation of comic art. He began painting landscapes in classes with Gini Deaton and Sarah Shaffer.  Most of his other training comes from napping during episodes of “The Joy of Painting” by Bob Ross.  Joy, he has found comes from the play of color, brush and canvas in making happy little trees, mountains, and skies. 

Eloise is a junior at the University of Delta High School. She takes many art classes at school and as well as at Cornerstone Center for the Arts. Her love for art started in elementary school and grew stronger as the years grew. She has taken glass, drawing, painting, ceramics and general art classes. 

In addition to the First Thursday gallery opening, The Muncie Chamber of Commerce will also be at Cornerstone for the ribbon cutting ceremony and reception for the Muncie Altrusa Foundation Beulah Frogge Digital Arts Studio on Thursday, September 5 at 5:30 pm. Please plan to attend both of these exciting events at Cornerstone.

A Family Affair will be on display and open to the public in the Judith Barnes Memorial Gallery throughout the month of September.

For more information about the exhibition call Cornerstone’s Department of Education & Communication at 765-281- 9503, ext. 23 or visit cornerstonearts.org.

Dame Leo (at Madjax)
514 E. Jackson St. (2nd floor)
“Herstory/History”: Dame Leo is tellin’ storieZ! We are our stories and they deserve to be told. Our stories not only celebrate us but they serve to pass on cultural/tribal traditions, where we come from, lessons from our uniqueness, and serve as a most important tool to keep it all alive and growing. Also featuring portraits Dame Leo style!  Come have a look-see! Commission one of you or a loved one! 2nd floor, 5-8pm.

The Fickle Peach (21+)
117 E. Charles
Muncie Downtown Development will host outdoor “Afterhours Art Reels” following the First Thursday Gallery Walk. September’s movie is Bohemian Rhapsody. Films will be projected onto the Mutual Bank wall on Charles St. at dusk.  Seating will be available on the Fickle Peach patio located at 117 E. Charles St. for guests 21 and up. For more information, please visit our website @ downtownmuncie.org/events

Forever Young Children’s Boutique
125 E. Charles
Forever Young will have extended hours from 5-7pm for September’s First Thursday.

Gindhart (at Madjax)
514 E. Jackson St. (2nd floor)
Local artist Debra Gindhart is channeling her inner Jean-Michel Basquiat in a new series GIRL POWER. Plus join her for “gindhART at madjax 67 pARTy!”: Debra turns 67 during the month of September. She has a long standing ART-birthday celebratory ritual with Downtown Muncie's First Thursday gallery walk event. There will be birthday treats and light refreshments. First Thursday at Madjax Muncie is an opportunity to meet the artist. See a new text collection of art featuring aerosols, acrylics, assemblage wall art. A new Green Glam Studio recycled jewelry PEACE, LOVE, AND WAR collection too. Recycle chic is the way of Real Babes Recycle art anthem of longtime artist/designer and educator Debra Gindhart. 2nd floor gallery, 5-8pm.

Gordy Fine Art & Framing Co.
224 E. Main
Gordy Fine Art & Framing Company is one of a few picture framing studios in the Midwest that offers handmade, hand-gilded, and hand-decorated frames made from locally milled wood.   During the month of September, our gallery will feature new frames made from original and historical designs as well as a restored antique frame from our collection. The show will open on Thursday September 5, from 5-8pm. At 6:15, shop owner Carl Schafer will speak briefly about the work.  Light refreshments will be served and the public is invited to attend. 

Examples on view will demonstrate many traditional techniques used for decorating picture frames. These include gilding with 24K gold leaf and 12K white gold leaf, carving, sgraffito, granito, and compo ornaments. Also included will be more modern designs which are less decorative with the focus on form and surface such as wood grain, metal leaf, or other laminate.  “Gordy Framing has a long history of reproducing historical designs, creating original designs, and offering museum quality work restoring antique frames,” said owner Carl Schafer. “We are carrying on the tradition and adding to the portfolio established by Brian Gordy, the company’s founder.” On view will be frames inspired by Dutch and Italian renaissance styles, 19th century French and American styles, the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 20th century, and contemporary American styles. 

The exhibition will remain on view throughout the month of September. Gordy Fine Art and Framing Company promotes talented artists, provides appraisals, and offers expert design and craftsmanship for framing and displaying treasured family possessions and works of art.Business hours: Monday through Friday, 9 am – 5:30 pm, Saturday, 9 am – 3 pm. Gordy Fine Art and Framing Company is located at 224 East Main Street, next door to Muncie Civic Theatre.  For more information, visit www.gordyframing.com or call 765-284-8422.

Grace Episcopal Church
300 S. Madison
There is music in the downtown air. Come down to Grace Episcopal Church (corner of Madison and Adams) for an evening of great folk music. Ric Dwenger will be performing at 7pm some of your favorite folk tunes. Ric is a local musician who has performed throughout Muncie for many years. Come and hear his take on folk music played on both the guitar and banjo.

The Guardian Brewing Company (at Madjax)
514 E. Jackson
The Guardian will feature "Characters From An As Yet Unwritten Book About Muncie " by artist David Johnson.

Madjax Muncie
515 E. Main St.
Eric Kroczek’s “Curb Furniture” consists of the framed and/or plastic-wrapped Instagram snaps of sofas and other furniture found abandoned on Muncie streets. He has been collecting these images on walks throughout town and posting them on social media over the past few years.Madjax, 1st floor gallery

Muncie Makers Market
Corner of Walnut and Adams
The Muncie Makers Market is excited to bring fresh homemade food, locally grown fruit and vegetables, fresh and dried herbs, live plants, beautiful art, and handmade crafts of all kinds to First Thursdays in Downtown Muncie! We’ll be near the *corner of Walnut and Adams Streets in Downtown Muncie, in front of Muncie Map Co at 111 East Adams Street, from 5-8p, during our town’s monthly celebration of local arts and culture, First Thursday! There is soooo much to do every First Thursday throughout Downtown Muncie, come see! Shop LOCAL and watch for our Markets year-round throughout Muncie! Please JOIN us on Facebook and Instagram, and please SHARE this information!

*The Muncie Makers Market is open rain or shine! Our First Thursday rain location is inside of MadJax on the corner of Madison and Jackson Streets in Downtown Muncie.

Muncie Makes Lab
628 S. Walnut
Please join us from 5-8 pm for Vultures and Violets, a two-person exhibition by Erin Colleen Williams and Jessica Calderwood at Muncie Makes Lab. Trained as metalsmiths but working in multiple media, Williams and Calderwood both create drawings and sculptures that use the devices of narrative and anthropomorphism. While vastly different in materiality and approach, both artists seek to express a complex spectrum of human experiences, including fear, love and loss. 

Erin Colleen Williams (www.erincwilliams.com) received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Material Studies, focusing in metalsmithing and sculpture. Using interdisciplinary media and methods including drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and metalsmithing, her work examines the intersectionality of human and animal experiences. Her work has been exhibited nationally with solo exhibitions at the Anderson Gallery (Richmond, VA), and the Arlington Art Center (Arlington, VA), and with group exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Alliance (Philadelphia, PA); the Virginia Arts Center (Richmond, VA); the Ford Gallery at Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI); the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art (Wilmington, DE); among others. She is currently the Residency Coordinator for PlySpace, an artist residency program of the Muncie Arts and Culture Council, and is an Adjunct Professor at Ball State University. 

Jessica Calderwood (www.jessicacalderwood.com) is an image-maker and sculptor that works in esoteric craft media. She uses a combination of traditional and industrial metalworking processes as a means to make statements about contemporary life. She received her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and her MFA from Arizona State University, with an emphasis Metalworking. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally. She has participated in artist residencies with the John Michael Kohler Arts/Industry Program, Ferro Corporation, and the Mesa Arts Center. Her work has also been published in Metalsmith Magazine, American Craft, NICHE, Ornament, the Lark 500 series, and the Art of Enameling. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Ball State University.

Spiral Bound Fine Art (Madjax, 2nd floor)
515 E. Main St.
Spiral Bound Fine Art will be located at MadJax on the 2nd floor, in the free range makers space. Due to popular demand, Spiral Bound will be demonstrating paint pouring methods on the hour at 5 and 6 pm. There will also be art and notecards by the artist and available to purchase.

United Way
Walnut Street Downtown
Join us for the United Way Campaign Kickoff Celebration w/ Cook and Belle from 6-9pm. An energized United Way enters the next phase of its 2019 fundraising campaign with a citywide block party combining First Thursday and live music on Walnut Street in the heart of Downtown Muncie. Local headliners, Cook and Belle, will take the Walnut Street stage at 7pm to get the celebration started. Last year, more than 5,000 people jammed the streets to dance, sing, and support United Way’s efforts to end generational poverty and change the trajectory of our community through literacy.

Valhalla  (21+)
215 S. Walnut
Valhalla presents “Blues Jam” every Thursday. “Blues Jam” is an open event with sign-up starting at 7pm and music from 8-11pm. Come show us your talent!