Photo courtesy of Google Images

For my JRNL 281 blog wrap-up, I thought I'd jump one last grading hurdle and take a look at some data relating to the arts. I found an interesting 2008 study by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that is relevant to my blog because it relates to art and technology.

Below:  A painting by Kamal Youssef, courtesy of the IUP website.

Sandra Trimble, The Artists Hand Gallery's manager, discusses the organization's Christmas gallery during an audio interview Tuesday, Nov. 9.

The Artists Hand Christmas Gallery storefront at 10 S. Seventh St. in Indiana, Pa.

All photographs taken 11/5/10 by Rose Catlos

The idea behind the Christmas gallery is to make a profit during the holiday season and to raise awareness about the gallery, she said. Meanwhile, the organization must accrue the remaining funds necessary to open its doors at the now-vacant 732 Philadelphia St. building, which Trimble hopes will open this year.

IUP student Natalie Corkos (left) checks out some artwork, flanked by gallery manager Sandra Trimble (center) and gallery associated artist Joy Fairbanks (right)insde the gallery. 

Opening the Philadelphia Street gallery has been a two-year long process. Brian Jones, a theater and dance professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, purchased the building from Indiana Borough in October 2008, Trimble said, and she became the gallery manager in January 2008.  Since then, the organization has suffered from a series of financial setbacks and other complications which are keeping the gallery's doors closed.

But what happens after December 24?

That remains to be seen. But location is no obstacle for Trimble, who is willing to rent other locations to keep the gallery afloat.

"If we have to do it," she said, "We'll be 'the moving gallery.'"

Gallery manager Sandra Trimble at the gallery grand opening Saturday.

Financing the gallery remains an obstacle, as for-profit organization grants are "scarce," Trimble said. The organization is seeking other funding avenues in the mean time, including financial gifts.

 "Donations and sponsors are appreciated," said Joy Fairbanks, a photographer and one of nine "associated artists" who help run The Artists Hand Christmas Gallery.

Other associated artists include Trish Dodson, Wendy Fetterman, Jessica Green, Jolene Joyner, Nancy Laird, Greg Langham, Ron Moretti  and Jonelle Summerfield.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Christmas gallery will officially, for now, close its doors at 3 p.m. December 24.

An Indiana University of Pennsylvania student sings at India Night Saturday, Oct. 30. (Photo/Rose Catlos)

I tried this week to cover India Night held Saturday, Oct. 30, in the Hadley Union Building in Indiana, as a mobile journalism or "mojo" event. Unfortunately, my technology backfired, and all the pictures I attempted to send from my camera phone to Twitter via "twitpic" did not send. Regardless, I was able to shoot some photographs with my digital camera of the dancing, performances, food and people.

I happen to be an Indian food enthusiast and enjoyed my share of pakoras, and piled my plate with plenty of other things I could not name. I was not disappointed. Food included appetizers as well as traditional dishes such as curry chicken and naan bread, and other traditional fare.

Diwali Day at IUP is in its fourth year. The festival has grown considerably in size. This was my third year attending the event, and I think it was the largest and most lively crowd I have seen. The acts vary every year, but the performers never cease to entertain me and the bright colors and coming-together of all cultures never ceases to enchant me.

The event's growth has been helped by the recent influx of Indian students attending Eberly College of Business and Technology (ECOBIT). The college's Indian student population has doubled in size in the last few years, said Dr. Prashanth Bharadwaj, a management professor and event coordinator.

Also celebrated at the event was the success of 12 ECOBIT who participated in a three-day business competition from Oct. 9 to 17 in Bangalore, India.  Bharadwaj recognized the students stage, and a few wore traditional costumes purchased on the trip. They shared their experience and appreciation for the competition and trip abroad.

The ECOBIT students who particpated in the business competition in Bangalore, India, are presented by Dr. Prashanth Bharadwaj. (Photo/Rose Catlos)

"The India trip was great, and I enjoyed getting to meet the Indian students," said Lauren Young, a senior marketing major, who placed first in the competition's marketing component along with fellow senior marketing major Laura Leach. "They were very welcoming. It made the trip so much more fun."

Although my first attempt at working my mojo did not work, I was able to enjoy another great Diwali festival. I know I am not alone in saying that I hope the event will continue to shed it its light for years to come.

Dancers at India Night. (Photo/Rose Catlos).

What's in a name?

Juliet once said:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Shakespeare might have been right, but having a catchy, memorable name never hurts your cause.

A lot rides on the names of products, services, companies and even people. Hollywood starlets rename themselves all the time to make their personal brand more appealing and memorable. Did you know there are even professional namers, (i.e. people who sit around all day thinking up creative names for new companies, products, etc.)? Certain brand names such as Kleenex, a facial tissue brand, have become so embedded in the public's mind that everyone knows that product as its brand name. Other examples include Band-Aid, Chapstick and Brillo Pad. (For a more thorough alphabetical listing, click here.)

Above image provided by Microsoft ClipArt.

The ugly aftermath of writer's block, brought to you by Microsoft ClipArt!

I Need Your Help!

Yes reader, that means you. The thing is, I don't like the name of my blog, and I seem to be in a creative bind as far as formulating a new one. I reached out to my Facebook friends, and the effort yielded two results... from the same person (who also happens to be my roommate *sigh*). View her ideas here, and then give me some new ones...stat! 

These are ideas she has formulated so far:

1. Exploring Indiana's Artistic Expertise

2. Ingenutiy in Indiana

Here are my ideas:

This is me. I'm stumped. And also an Asian male.

So as you can see, I have a lot of work to do, and I am commissioning YOU, magnificent, creative, wonderful, thoughtful reader (becaue I probably only have one, total) to leave beautiful comments to help me find a new title instead of "Artsy Fartsy" (barf).  And while you're at it, how about browsing (and commenting!) my hard-working colleagues' blogs here.

For real, I don't want to speak for everyone, but I think even if you wrote "I hate this blog," we would be happy.

Update: I've received one new suggestion via Facebook. "This is Art Town." Thoughts??

 Tyler Gregorchick and Mark Kephardt perform at a  house show  held in Christian Freeberg's basement.

(Photo courtesy of Christian Freeberg's facebook page.)

I was wracking my brain for ideas to write about for a blog this week, when I happened upon a Facebook invitation for a music performance hosted by my friend Chris Freeberg's (senior, communications media) house. As I realized I was missing the event, it struck me that these so-called "house shows" are sort of a college phenomenon. From frat houses to hipster havens like Freeberg's basement, college students love to watch other college students play their guitars. So I called up Chris and we sat down at Commonplace Coffeehouse, often a venue for free-spirited music itself, to discuss his personal inspiration for musical collaboration.

I have attended a couple of his house shows and have always enjoyed the open, relaxed atmosphere. I always feel that the experience is much more personal at such events, especially considering the close quarters.  Some artists are fellow IUP students, while some have even ventured in from the Pittsburgh area.

Freeberg was inspired to start playing with other musicians in his own basement by going to other party house shows, he said. The first he attended like his was called "Dan's Basement" in Pittsburgh where he listened to a one-man band called Dandelion Snow, who has since made an appearance at Freeberg's.

Freeberg's first show was last fall semester, he said, when he and Colin O'Brien  along with IUP alum Diego Byrnes teamed up to present a few songs each. They did it just because they didn't have any other place to play and wanted to get together with other music lovers and perform, without the time restriction of open mic night. 

His house show debut included just a few close friends and the performers, he said. His shows now have a reputation, and his house on Locust street in Indiana is appropriately nicknamed "The Green House."  He hosts shows 1-2 times a semester, with a minimum crowd of about 10-15, but record attendance is 40, he said. Large crowds have an advantage because local bands gain exposure, he said. But the smaller turnouts have their upside as well.

"Small crowds are fun too because it's more intimate," he said. "Usually it's closer friends who are there who have been to shows before."

Freeberg, whose greatest musical influence is Dustin Kensrue of Thrice, is piloting his own new music project titled "Heavy Hearts Will Anchor." It is music based on a story he wrote revolving around the idea that, "no matter how far away from your problems you get, if you don't deal with them, they'll weigh you down," he said. You can check out his project explanation and lyrics in the "Notes" section of his Facebook page. 

Budding musicians like Freeberg get plenty of feedback online throug sites like Facebook and Myspace. But in my opinion, house shows are the perfect place to try out new material. The audiences are generally small and accepting, and if mistakes happen, they happen. It's better to mess up in front of your friends than in a bar full of uninviting strangers or a huge crowd. And audience member have a special advantage:  Getting a sneak peak at unreleased, new or experiemental material you may not hear elsewhere. 

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's annual Homecoming event is always, well...quite an event. Indiana Borough residents are graced with such delightful memories as "Horsegate," or trashed streets and broken windows. Some probably assume that drunken debauchery is the norm for homecoming, and perhaps it is.

But be aware Indiana:  Some IUP students will make their mark by making a difference this Homecoming.

N.A.E.A. volunteers painted children's faces, drew caricatures and helped with craft projects such as making bean bag pumpkins last weekend, said Rebecca Harmon, N.A.E.A. president and a senior art education/art studio major.

The craft tent at the Reeger's Farm Pumpkin Festival Saturday, Oct. 9

                          (Photo/Rose Catlos)

The craft tent has a specific goal in mind:  to raise money for an art class scholarship through The Artists Hand Gallery. Attendees are invited to make donations at the tent, which go directly to the scholarship fund, aimed at underprivileged children.

"All the money that we're making this weekend and last weekend is going toward the scholarship for kids that want to participate in Artists Hand Gallery classes, but financially can't," Harmon said.

Jessica Green, a senior art education major at IUP, paints a child's face at the children's craft tent at Reeger's Farm Pumpkin Festival Saturday, Oct. 9. Green and other N.A.E.A. members volunteered to help children with arts and crafts at the festival. All donation proceeds collected at the tent  will benefit a children's art class scholarship through The Artists Hand Gallery in Indiana.

(Photo/Rose Catlos) 

The group has raised $396 so far, exceeding its minimum goal of $330, said Roxanne Hotaling, a senior art education major and the event's coordinator. The gallery on Philadelphia Street in Indiana is not yet open, so the organization must host its children's art workshops at the Indiana Free Library, she said. Classes require a minimum of six and a maximum of 12, and costs for renting a room and buying supplies range between $330 and $660. That's how the group decided on its funding goal, she said.

Hotaling is a baker at Reeger's Farm Café, a member of N.A.E.A. and teaches classes through the Artists Hand Gallery. She was already thinking of ways N.A.E.A. could contribute to the scholarship fund, she said, when Reeger's employees approached her to run the tent. Reeger's is a family-owned and run business, so family members ran the tent in past years, she said. But the usual volunteers went off to college, and Hotaling was called upon to fill the void.

Hotaling has seen children barriers such as language, financial and behavioral barriers benefit from socialization and education art classes offer, she said. But all too often, these same children cannot afford to participate.

"These kids need and want to take these classes," she said.

So put down your cup and head out to Reeger's farm Saturday to help area kids take art classes.

Zbrzezny works on a caricature at the craft tent.

                                                     (Photo/Rose Catlos)

Ten area artists participated in the 2010 Artists' Open Studio Tour, sponsored by the Indiana Arts Council. Eight artists participated in the free, public event Saturday, Sept. 25, and Sunday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Indiana. Two artists from Clymer and one from Dayton also participated. 

(Photo/Rose Catlos)

Have you ever looked at a painting so abstract it boggled your mind or gazed at wildly formed sculpture and thought, "I wonder how they came up with that?"

I have. I am a fairly creative person who dabbles in drawing and painting, and I enjoy art museums more than the average person, but sometimes I just don't get it. Maybe I'm just too much of a realist, or maybe I just don't give art enough of a chance. So, I traveled to the second floor of the Indiana Theater building at 637 Philadelphia St. September 25 in Indiana, camera and curiosity in tow, to find out how they really did come up with that.

The event: The Indiana Arts Council's 2010 Artist Open Studio Tour held Sept. 25 and 26 from 10 a.m.-4p.m. The council held the free, public exhibition of ten artists' studios to promote its artists and give people and idea of what goes on in the creative mind and the creative space. 

And I wasn't the only curious IUP student in attendance. Liz Judge, a junior economics and finance major, was helping artist Ned Wert in his studio. Judge was volunteering for "Into the Streets", a student service event held by the Office of Service Learning, and had never been up close and personal with the artist's abstract paintings.

"I think they're amazing," she said. "Every time I turn around, I see something new in them."

Abstract Artist Chuck Olson in his studio at 637 Philadelphia St.

(Photo/Rose Catlos)

My first stop was at Charles "Chuck" Olson's studio. He is an abstract painter and the chairman of the fine arts department at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. I couldn't help but notice several massive canvases piled near the entrance. They were covered with segments of maps and painted over, with some of the segments peaking through -- definitely worth asking about. And I never have, now that I think of it, even though I grew up with his son and have hung out in his house, which is, of course, decorated with Olson originals my mind could not comprehend. 

The huge paintings had recently arrived via tractor-trailer from the Amarillo Museum of Art in Amarillo, Texas. Olson showed 80 such map "hybrids" as he calls them, in a four-month-long exhibition in 2009 titled "Chuck Olson:  Visual Histories."

"They're sort of a trinity of how I find a lot of form and fresh ideas out of history," he said.

Some 16th- and 17th- century maps of the Holy Land Olson found in a monastary in Parma, Italy helped inspire him, he said. He has also had a lifelong fascination with history and maps.

Additionally, he is intrigued by the advent of map technology like GPS and the fact that people are only concerned with arriving at their destination when they look at maps now, he said. Contrast this with the way medeival maps were represententations of the 17th century concept of reality, he said.

"Maps are hugely abstract," he said.

Maps are based on humans' perception of what's important, he said, and can shape how people perceive other cultures. Olson recalled a particular medeival map he saw that had Jerusalem as its center, and everything else radiated from it.

His paintings combine artifacts taken from such places as flea markets and junkyards, according to his artist's statement from "Visual Histories."

"Everybody has a map," he said. And the project continues to evolve.

A look inside fiber artist Sandra Trimble's studio at 637 Philadelphia St. in Indiana.

(Photo/Rose Catlos)

My other main stop was Sandy Trimble's studio. I have known her practically my whole life, but, again, have never really conversed with her about what she does.

Trimble is a fiber artist. She can take pieces of wool and put them together to create nearly life-size sculptures. This is a process called felting which involves attaching pieces of wool by poking them repeatedly with a needle until they take shape. I tried it once and hated it. Her work (and patience) amazes me.

Trimble has been felting puppets recently, and she displayed a few atop a glass case outside her studio. My favorite was her rendition of Dracula, complete with a widow's peak, mean canines and a black collared cape. Trimble sometimes makes pieces with certain clients in mind, she said, and that one was ready to be shown off to a prospective buyer.

She also showed me a fish and a mermaid she has been working on.

Trimble propped a flap of purple felt on a still-eyeless fish form to signify his fin. She then produced a few small seashells from a box that will become the mermaid's necklace. She found the shells on the beach during her recent trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, she said.

"She still needs hair," she said, holding up the mermaid to get a better look.

I was glad to have talked with old friends and found out new things during the tour:  both about them and the way art is created. And all the artists' works-in-progress are sure to dazzle other onlookers the way they did Judge and me.   

Trimble at work in her studio Saturday, Sept. 25, at 637 Philadelphia St.

(Photo/Rose Catlos)

UPDATE:  Some of my readers provided their generous comments to help me out with my blog.

   I hope to preview and review some of these events and to include commentary from Indiana residents as well as the artists themselves. I would also like to interview a few artists to give people an inside look at how they do their work.