Arts + Entertainment Blog

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We are embarking on an adventure of epic proportions. A 24 hour scavenger hunt organized by art collective Know No Stranger. Our team is comprised of three teens and myself; Matt and Madison, my twins, and Molly, Matt's girlfriend.

Here's the deal. There's money on the line. The entry fees become prize money for the winning team. We are in it for the fun, for sure, but we are here to compete. The party starts at 4:00 on Saturday at the City Market when we receive our packet and instructions. Please check here Saturday and Sunday for pics and live updates of our progress...

• Photo by Flickr user KimManleyOrt

Since 1998, the Ann Katz Festival has brought a steady stream of writers and fellow travelers to town. Last November, however, Hurricane Sandy had other plans, making it impossible for a few writers and artists to make it to Indy. Thus, this year will see a second, mini edition of the festival, May 6 until May 9, featuring two rescheduled talks and a film screening. All events are $8 for the public and $5 for JCC members.

David Javerbaum, a twelve-time Emmy-award winner and former producer and head writer for The Daily Show, will take the stage May 6 at 7 p.m. to open the mini-fest. His book and short film, The Last Testament: A Memoir by GOD and God - It Getteth Better respectively, will be discussed during a Q&A session.

Wednesday night is when journalist Alicia Oltuski arrives to discuss her latest work, a book titled Precious Objects: A Story of Diamonds, Family and A Way of Life. Oltuski uses her journalist knowledge to take the audience on a journey of New York's diamond district and the generations-long secrets kept by families in the business. A $2,000 diamond ring courtesy of Aronstam Jewelers will be given away during the event.

The Ann Katz Festival redo wraps up on Thursday night, as Heartland Truly Moving Pictures partners with the JCC to host a screening of the award-winning documentary Besa: The Promise, about the Nazi occupation of Albania and the heroic efforts of native Muslims to adhere to their code of honor. The film challenges our traditional thoughts about Jewish-Muslim relations, as men bridge generation gaps and differences in faith to survive.

• Photo by Flickr user Thomas Hawk

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the first public LGBT pride celebrations in Indianapolis, Indy Pride, Inc. will host an exhibition this at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, iPride: Indy Pride 25th Anniversary Exhibition, in concert with the Herron School of Art & Design and the Indianapolis Arts Council.The exhibition will run from May 31 until June 22, coinciding with the Circle City IN Pride Festival, which takes place from June 1 to 9.

The exhibition will draw from a collection of over 8,000 local and national artifacts pertaining to the Indianapolis LGBT community that make up the Chris Gonzalez Library & Archives, as well as original artwork inspired by the 25th anniversary celebration. Area artists working with any type of media can submit their work for the show by March 24; complete submission details can be found at CircleCityINPride.org.

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• Creek Stewart teaches "Natural Primitive Cordage."

Want to learn how to clean, re-string and tune a guitar? Or how to can your garden's bounty without fear of botulism? Or maybe you're more interested in having fun with fungi? While Sally Struthers might charge a very reasonable price for you to get a degree at home (well, perhaps not in permaculture), Trade School Indianapolis asks only that you give a little something of yourself in return for an hour or two of specialized instruction.

Trade School's inaugural month of classes opens Wednesday, Sept. 5, at Indianapolis City Market, with a party at 6:30 p.m. featuring brews from Tomlinson Tap Room, treats from Circle City Sweets and a raffle for a gift certificate donated by Edible Arrangments Indy.

Instructors for the courses will be on hand at the launch party, including Creek Stewart, whose “Natural Primitive Cordage” class will open the semester following the party at 7:30 p.m. A survival specialist whose lessons aim to prepare people for sudden survival scenarios ranging from natural disasters to terrorist attacks, Creek will teach how to make usable cordage from plants and tree fibers.

Trade School organizer Blaire Huntley says that the program is based on the idea of mutual exchange and cooperation: “This is an opportunity to learn for a very very minimal cost. I think that something that’s missing from a lot of communities is that people don’t take on another hobby or take on another skill because of the cost — or maybe they think that they don’t have anything else to offer besides money.”

Trade School was launched in New York City in 2009, when three co-founders of OurGoods, a barter network, thought about just how hard it is to learn a new skill without spending money. They created a system by which teachers propose a particular class and ask for barter items from students. For instance, for a baking techniques class, students might bring ingredients, clothes, vegetables or tips on doing something else. The first Trade School offered 85 different classes in 35 days.

Slowly, the project began spreading to other cities and countries, including England, Germany and Singapore. Huntley heard of the project while living in New York. “I think that a lot of people don’t realize how many talents they have, but I think that anyone is capable of sharing their knowledge,” she says.

Also on the course catalog are “Nail Art 101” (on how to spruce up that keratin-using basic household product; taught Sept. 12), “Writing Workshop: Self-Editing Tips & Techniques” (Sept. 19) and “Build Your Own Website” (Sept. 27). All classes are open for enrollment at tradeschool.coop/Indianapolis.

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• Wild Mercy performing

I spent the weekend of July 6-8 at InConJunction, a sci-fi/fantasy convention put on by the local fan club Circle of Janus. This was InCon's 32nd running, and it looks the Circle of Janus know what it's doing at this point, given the sheer amount of programming on offer. From a Doctor Who room to writing and literary panels to gaming to filk (I'll explain what that is later) and more, InConJunction had something for everyone even remotely interested in sci-fi and fantasy.

When I got to the convention, I headed for the Dealer's Room, sort of the InConjunction's gift shop. Among other things, I bought an anthology of short sci-fi/fantasy stories set in Indy called Unreal City and published Das Krakenhaus (a local sci-fi/fantasy publishing company) and an album by Wild Mercy, a local Celtic filk band that was the musical guest of honor at the con.

Filk is any sort of music (typically folk with a sci-fi/fantasy twist, particularly in the lyrics. Many songs are inspired by specific fairytale characters or characters from books like The Chronicles of Narnia or TV shows like Firefly. Others take a more general tact, discussing zombies or potential scenarios in outer space in a post-apocalyptic future. The latter example is the driving force behind Wild Mercy's album Dream of a Far Light.

I loved Open Filk (an open mic for filkers, natch), as well as full-on filk concerts by established groups such as Wild Mercy, Jen Midkiff, Wax Chaotic, Cheshire Moon and Herculean Cheese Storm (Star Trek-specific band Five Year Mission also performed, but I couldn't attend.) If someone didn't bring an instrument to Open Filk but wanted to play, that was fine; other members of the filk circle were happy to lend theirs. It was a warm and welcoming environment, and probably my favorite part of the con.

I also walked in on the preview for "Going... Going... Gone," an IndyFringe play about an auction house's last day that involves extensive audience participation. The short segment of the preview that I caught was hilarious.

I caught up with Wild Mercy guitarist and bassist Barry Childs-Helton during the Con to talk more about all things filk.

NUVO: Wild Mercy is obviously well-known in the filk community, but not as much in the rest of Indianapolis. Can you give me a bit of background on the band, like how you guys got started?

Barry Childs-Helton: Debbie Gates, our keyboard player, and I work for Wiley and Sons Publishers.. So we knew each other, and she and Jen had been playing in town as a Celtic duo that went by the name of Wild Mercy, and they decided in the summer of 2002 that they wanted a rhythm section, so they asked me if I could fill in on electric bass and if my wife would be so kind as to contribute percussion. As it happens, my wife Sally had been learning the bodhran, the Irish frame drum, so it was a natural move. It wasn't terribly long before the we became aware that all four of us were rabid science fiction and fantasy readers, and had been since day one. So in 2004, when Sally and I were invited to be Music Guests of Honor at InConJunction, we asked the con committee if they wouldn't mind having a whole band, and they said, "Sure," so that was Jen and Deb's entree into fandom.

NUVO: Since the theme of the convention is "End of the World," I have a feeling you guys will be playing a lot from your album Dream of a Far Light. For those who don't know, can you tell me about the overarching story concept behind the album?

Childs-Helton: Part of ... Far Light involves the industrialization of space because we have to. Essentially, the planet is trashed, and the only other resources available to us are in the solar system. So the lightships begin as a way of economically gathering resources from the asteroid belt and farther afield, but also as a way of maintaining a high-tech culture while at the same time maintaining authoritarian control. So it all starts with a kind of dystopic beginning; essentially, the culture wars writ large.

NUVO: You yourself wrote the words and most of the music for the entire album. What inspired you to come up with it?

Childs-Helton: I've had a lifelong interest in space flight. More on the "what if?" side of things, the idea that space travel is a watershed point in human history. That after that point, it's like nothing we've ever seen before, and I don't think we'll ever be the same again if we manage to continue doing it. I was 20 years old when Apollo 11 landed. There was this incredible thing going on where science fiction had started to come through the membrane that separates fantasy from reality. And there it was: people were actually on the moon.

NUVO: Any idea what's next, album-wise, for Wild Mercy?

Childs-Helton: We have one in mind. I think it's going to be a collection along the lines of our first two CDs, and sampling from a number of different traditions; there'll be some Celtic things, there'll be some filk, that's for sure, because there are so many talented writers in the filk community, and so much of their repertoire has found its way into our repertoire. And there will also be filkish tropes on traditional tunes; one of which was largely composed for this "End of the World" concert. It's essentially us singing about the end of the world as if it were a good, rollicking bar tune!

On Friday, Feb. 17, at the IUPUI Campus Center, an overflow crowd was treated a fashion show that spanned the global gamut, from The Philippines to Iran to Morocco to the United States.

A presentation by the IUPUI International Club, this performance was headed up by Evangeline Hodgson (creative director and head coordinator), Susana Bickel (I-Club vice president and co-coordinator) and Nick Pitts (runway director).

Over 300 people were crammed into the room as models walked and danced the runway, to the world-music sounds of DJ Kyle Long. In addition, audience members were treated to three cultural dances: Honduran Punta, Indonesian Magpag and Salsa.

Donations collected at the event will go to an underprivileged school in Akuapem, Ghana.

Slideshow

International Fashion Show pt. 2 (slideshow)

IUPUI hosted an International Fashion Show, Highlighting fashions from around the world.

By Dharma Syamim Fikri

Click to View 9 slides

On Friday, Feb. 17, at the IUPUI Campus Center, an overflow crowd was treated a fashion show that spanned the global gamut, from The Philippines to Iran to Morocco to the United States.

A presentation by the IUPUI International Club, this performance was headed up by Evangeline Hodgson (creative director and head coordinator), Susana Bickel (I-Club vice president and co-coordinator) and Nick Pitts (runway director).

Over 300 people were crammed into the room as models walked and danced the runway, to the world-music sounds of DJ Kyle Long. In addition, audience members were treated to three cultural dances: Honduran Punta, Indonesian Magpag and Salsa.

Donations collected at the event will go to an underprivileged school in Akuapem, Ghana.

Slideshow

International Fashion Show, pt. 1 (slideshow)

IUPUI was host to an international fashion show, showing off fashions from around the world.

By Dharma Syamim Fikri

Click to View 25 slides

Slideshow

Irvington Halloween Festival (Slideshow)

The largest and the oldest Halloween festival in the nation - with over 35 Halloween-related events and 150 vendors - breaks an attendance record.

By Mike Allee

Click to View 13 slides

NUVO was on the scene Saturday for the 65th annual Irvington Halloween Festival. The festival caps off a week of over 35 Halloween related events in the Eastside community. It is the largest and oldest Halloween festival in the nation (we're taking their word for it).

Four blocks of East Washington Street between Arlington and Ritter Avenue were blocked off Saturday for the event; over 150 vendors set up tents and sold food, artwork and the unusual. The festival began at 10 a.m. with the annual Pleasant Run Run 5 mile race and ended with a parade of costumed participants down Washington Street led by an honor guard, fire engine and marching band.

A variety of other events took place throughout the day including a window painting contest, musical performances on multiple stages, visits from mayoral candidates Melina Kennedy and Mayor Greg Ballard, a costume contest and a bicycle polo match.

The 65-year-old festival draws five to ten thousand people each year, and at four o’clock it was announced that the previous record for attendance had been broken.

NUVO enjoyed "Indiana's nicest day" at the Penrod Arts Fair 2011, located at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.