“Robbing The Bank” Bohemian Art Festival, Oct. 1

Inside the Art Bank Gallery. AroundIndy.com staff photo.

By Bella Louisa
On behalf of the Art Bank Gallery

The Art Bank Gallery at 811 Massachusetts Avenue, Indianapolis, is hosting the “Robbing the Bank” ™ #10 Bohemian Art Festival on Saturday, October 1st, 2011, from 2:00 to 7:00 pm.

During this outdoor festival, there is music all day along with Art Bank Gallery artists and other invited artists creating visual art, poetry, up-cycled/repurposed art, murals, time lapse video, dance, and much more. Patrons may get involved in the creations. One artist is inspiring the other as they “rob” creativity from each other.

The Luke Austin Daugherty Jam Band will perform between 4:00pm and 6:00pm and other musicians may join in to create new music and sounds as the “Dancing as Art” goes on in front of the band. Patrons may dip their feet in paint and dance on the canvas to create a new work of art.

The Art Bank’s indoor art gallery will also be open during this event with over twenty artists exhibiting their works. This gallery is a genuinely Bohemian atomosphere with affordable artwork less than $100 all the way up to fine art over $10,000. It is open Tuesday – Saturday from 1:00 to 8:00 pm.

There will be food/drink vendors at the event. The festival has a casual and welcoming atmosphere. It is a family friendly festival!

The Art Bank Gallery is in a historic bank building with the original teller’s cages and safe. Since the idea of the festival is to have art being created during the event and for one artist representing an art form to inspire the other…or you may say “robbing” ideas one to the other…the name “Robbing the Bank” ™ Bohemian Festival was created. It is very well known and an established festival on Mass Ave. in Indianapolis.

The co-founders are Dan Haynes (Art Bank Gallery owner) and Luke Austin Daugherty (singer/songwriter, poet, painter, author). Luke named the festival. The Luke Austin Daugherty Jam Band is the anchor band and Luke encourages other musicians to join in to create new music.

This is the 4th year for the festival and  October 1, 2011 is the 10th “Robbing the Bank” event. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=136578269772590, or call 317-834-8148.

“My Gypsy Soul” at The Tarkington, Oct. 7-8

"My Gypsy Soul" at The Tarkington, Oct. 7-8. Image provided by the theatre.

By Kirsten Ferger
Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre
http://www.gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org/

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre (GHDT) will open its 2011-2012 concert season as the resident professional dance company at The Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.

The company will present My Gypsy Soul on October 7-8, 2011 at 8:00 PM at The Tarkington, located at 3 Center Green in Carmel, Indiana.

Single tickets and season subscriptions are now on sale at www.thecenterfortheperformingarts.org and at 317-843-3800.

Embark on a journey through the origins of the Roma!  Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s My Gypsy Soul traces the footsteps of the gypsies from India to Spain.  Featuring music of India, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Africa, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, this beautiful concert is a perfect way to experience the color, diversity, passion and artistry of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre.  Don’t miss GHDT’s debut concert at the Tarkington.

Visit the company’s website: www.gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org

All roads lead to home…

“Making a Jewish Home” Opens Oct. 11 at the History Center

Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center. AroundIndy.com staff photo.

By Amy Lamb
Indiana Historical Society
http://www.indianahistory.org/

Indianapolis, Indiana. — The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) will tell a family’s story of tragedy, courage and new beginnings with You Are There 1950: Making a Jewish Home, which will be open Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, through Sept. 29, 2012. The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, home of the IHS and its Indiana Experience, is located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

The You Are There element of the Indiana Experience allows guests to step through–and into–an IHS collections photograph that has been recreated three-dimensionally. In Making a Jewish Home, guests can visit Berek (Benny) and Frania (Fanny) Kaplan’s Union Street home in a southside Indianapolis neighborhood on April 5, 1950, just a year after their resettlement from a post-World War II displaced persons camp.

The recreated scene at the History Center features Fanny ladling soup to serve for a family meal. In the new experience, guests will join Mrs. Kaplan as she prepares a kosher meal and learn how Hoosier hospitality helped the Kaplans create a new home.

Having known of one another as distant relatives before the war and after having lost most of their families during the Holocaust, Benny and Fanny reconnected and married in Poland after the liberation. They then spent three years in a displaced persons camp in Germany after the end of World War II. Jewish Social Services in Indianapolis financed the family’s relocation, including their two young children, to the United States in 1949 and helped them settle in.

The authenticity of the You Are There recreations hinge on not just the development of the physical space, but also on the real-life characters (portrayed by interpreters) who could really have been present in that particular place at the time the photograph was taken. Guests will have a chance to meet not only the Kaplans, but also Nathan Berman (head of Indianapolis’ Jewish Social Services), Tekla Wolf (a leader in the United Services for New Americans), Charlotte Epstein (an English translator/tutor), Rosemary Marie Hessman (a Catholic neighbor and Shabbas helper) and Carolyn Tucker (a census worker from the area).

The William H. Smith Memorial Library is home to an extensive collection of archival materials that detail the story of Jewish communities in Indianapolis and around the state, including more than 40 manuscript collections and more than a dozen printed collections. In addition to invaluable assistance from many local individuals and organizations, Rosie Kaplan (daughter of Benny and Fanny) was instrumental in bringing the scene to life-from anecdotes about her childhood to sharing the ladle and dishes featured in the photograph for exact reproduction.

Beyond an exhibit, Making a Jewish Home will serve as a meaningful humanities resource and a launching platform for a variety of contemporary discussions on Hoosier philanthropy, humanitarian outreach and Indiana’s diverse cultural heritage. IHS will host programs that connect the themes of this You Are There to contemporary issues.

You Are There 1950: Making a Jewish Home is being presented with support from The Ackerman Foundation, Citizens Energy Group, and Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information on this and other IHS programs, call 317-232-1882 or visit www.indianahistory.org.

HCCVB “Super Feathers” Initiative Begins Oct. 2

Getting the "Super Feathers" treatment in Hendricks County. Photo provided by HCCVB and used with written permission.

By Josh Duke
Hendricks County Tourism
http://www.tourhendrickscounty.com/

Danville, Indiana. – The Hendricks County Convention and Visitors Bureau (HCCVB) is pleased to announce a joint initiative with area salons and the Metropolis Mall as part of Indy’s Super Cure which benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center.

Beginning Oct. 2, 2011, Hendricks County will kick off its Super Bowl XLVI festivities with six area salons selling Super Feathers of which $5 from each feather sold will be donated to the Indy Super Cure which benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center. The promotion will begin with an event from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday Oct. 2 at Metropolis Mall, 2499 Futura Parkway, Plainfield. During the kickoff event, area stylists will be available to style the Super Feathers into your hair for $15 a feather or two for $25.

“The HCCVB and the Hendricks County Super Celebration Site Committee have been actively seeking a way to participate in the community initiatives led by the Host Committee for the 2012 Super Bowl,” said Jaime Bohler Smith, associate director for the HCCVB. “When the Super Cure initiative was announced, a beloved friend of the HCCVB was still fighting a lengthy battle with the disease.

“With Sandy Lencke’s recent passing, we are glad to see this promotion come together to honor her memory,” she added.

In addition to the Oct. 2 event, six locally owned salons will continue providing the Super Feathers to customers through Oct. 31. Those salons include:

• Cass & Company Salon, 7374 Business Center Drive, Avon.
• Design 414, 414 E. Main St., Brownsburg.
• D-Zign Salon, 783 E. Main St., Danville.
• E.M. Studio, 1460 N. Green St., Suite 500, Brownsburg.
• Elements Spa & Salon, 330 E. Main St., Plainfield.
• Salon Nouveaute, 2680 E. Main St., Plainfield.

“I’m just so pleased we can utilize our talents to give back because that is so important for us and this community,” said Christin Guilinger, owner of Salon Nouveaute. “Feathers have made an overwhelming impact in our industry. To be able to use that fashion to raise awareness about a disease that impacts so many people is exciting.”

In addition to the Super Feathers, the kickoff event will include a live remote from noon to 2 p.m. with B105.7 FM. Several participating businesses will be at Metropolis with giveaways, door prizes, games, live entertainment and more.

“As a Super Celebration site, Metropolis is thrilled to be the location for the kick off of the Super Feathers event,” said Lance Angle, general manager at Metropolis. “As a partner with the Indianapolis Host Committee for Super Bowl 2012, Metropolis is committed to our community and this initiative to increase awareness and raise funds to fight breast cancer.”

Metropolis and Hendricks County will serve as one of about a dozen Super Celebration sites statewide. Those sites will provide opportunities for visitors and residents to get information about the many activities surrounding this year’s Super Bowl.

For more information about the Super Feathers initiative, call the Hendricks County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-321-9666, visit http://www.TourHendricksCounty.com/,  or find us on Facebook by searching Hendricks County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Celebration of the Dead” Exhibit at Indy Indie Artist Colony

"Celebration of the Dead" Exhibit, by Chris Harden. Image provided by the gallery and used with written permission.

By Philip Campbell
Gallery Director, Indy Indie Artist Colony
http://www.indyindieartist.com/

Celebration of the Dead, scheduled for Oct. 7-29, 2011, at Indy Indie Artist Colony, is not your typical Halloween show.

Artists including Justin Cooper, Jennifer Bleem, Christopher Harden, Rumman Ali, David Mattingly and many ​others will be exhibiting fun, quirky, dark, dead works of art. Wear your Halloween costume to the opening. Special performances to be announced.  This event is free and open to the public.

Indy Indie Artist Colony is located at 26 East 14th Street (14th and Pennsylvania) in downtown Indianapolis, and is open Thu-Sat, 12-5 PM, or by appointment. For more information, visit http://www.indyindieartist.com/, or call 317-919-8725.