One of the many perks of getting a college education is that you get the chance to go to different events, often at reduced or no cost, be it a speaker, a lecture, a play, or concert. For example, I recently had the opportunity to see the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast here at Emens along with about four thousand of my closest friends. I’ve lived in Muncie for the better part of my life and gone to many shows at Emens and have never seen it so packed.
I’ll admit that when I first went with my roommate to get tickets, I wasn’t too excited. She had to go see a play for her dance class, and I thought it’d make a good event report, so why not? The tickets being no charge for students didn’t hurt either. I’ve seen the movie plenty of times before and wasn’t too sure what to expect out of the play. When we found our seats, however, and saw the decorations they had on the curtains, I was thoroughly impressed before I even sat down. Huge painted, canvas flowers and vine curtains hung down, one after the other and behind it all, a huge, glowing red rose. When the play actually started, it was like every amazing childhood Disney related memory come to life onstage, singing and dancing and telling that tale as old as time. The characters nailed each and every one of the characters, from the surly Beast to the gorgeous Bell, the ever flamboyant Gaston and even Mrs. Pots, the anthropomorphized tea kettle. Watching the movie as a child simply cannot compare to seeing it live. As typical with Broadway (or big shows in general), there were huge, intricately choreographed dances, wonderful singers, brilliant actors, and even the occasional acrobat. The costumes were gorgeous, richly colored, and over the top. Bell’s ball gown was huge, with ruffle after golden ruffle flowing to the floor. I was even amazed by the various ‘extra’ characters. There were so many complicated dance scenes and amazing costumes. The set was even a work of art, with huge spiraling staircases that could simply be wheeled about and placed wherever they were needed. Huge curtains, torn and shredded by the beast, could be dropped and lifted onto the set as needed. I’ve only ever seen one other show this big at Emens, and it always amazes me what they are able to do in terms of a set, particularly one that, in this case, must be able to go from forest to village to castle in a matter of minutes. The set even went beyond what was on stage to include colored lighting, strobe lights, streamers, and even jets of smoke out of two enormous Champaign bottles in the chorus of the oh so well-known number ‘Be Our Guest’.
Throughout the play, I couldn’t help but find my mind occasionally wandering and thinking about all the children I had seen coming into the theater before the show. It just made me wonder how they were enjoying the show and what they thought of it. For some, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that perhaps this was the first time they’d ever seen the Beauty and the Beast. For people in my age group, that’s something that’s hard to imagine. Most of us have grown up watching these movies, these stories are a part of our childhood. As I sat there totally engrossed in this play, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more so the younger kids would be. As awesome as I thought this was, how much cooler would this play be for the little girl across the aisle dressed in her very own princess gown, finally seeing a princess not on a TV screen, but in real life, finding her prince charming and living happily ever after? And what about the actress? What must have it have felt like to portray this character that means so much to so many people and is so well known? To be, if only for a night, a real princess?
Perhaps one of the greatest things about Disney, or fairy tales in general, is that they appeal to so many people throughout the years. We look up to the characters, admire them, boo at the villains, and cheer at the victories over evil. There’s just no comparison to something that is truly, in its own way, magical.
Last Friday (9/23), the Minnetrista Cultural Center opened up its Open Space exhibit in one of its main galleries. This exhibit is a juried art show that is held every year by Minnetrista and features art about the land. Every work is made by local artists and includes everything from paintings to jewelry and sculpture. As one would infer by the title, much of the art focuses on landscapes, floral paintings, fields, forests, creeks, and other various natural scenes and themes, but it goes so far beyond that. Artists are creative individuals, and just because a flower was the inspiration for a piece doesn’t mean that the work will actually depict a flower. Art about the land just implies a general, organic feel for everything. For example, a white plaster sculpture in the show didn’t look anything like a tree or a flower or landscape, but it had this rounded, flowing shape that just gave the impression of being alive. There was movement and fluidity in it, this feeling that it was in motion. I’ve attended this show several times in the past, and one of the things that I always love about it is how artists who don’t paint or draw still manage to represent nature in their own element and medium. Two of the pieces were tapestry weavings with huge waves of color slashing their way across the piece. They looked very much abstract but at the same time, if you stepped back, you could almost make out a landscape, a barn, maybe even the occasional tree. There were ceramics there with glazed images of intricate leaves, jewelry with trees carved into silver and stone, even a fold-out book with landscapes and mountains sketched all over.
Of course, featuring the land as the theme for the show, landscape paintings and photography were also common. There were amazing impressionistic pieces and convincingly realistic ones. As an aspiring artist, these were the pieces that just seemed hypnotic to me. Art in general just seems to strike people as this almost mystical ability that only a selected few have, and in our digital age, it is the traditional artists that only seem to be becoming more and more exceptional. Just the thought that someone could create a photorealistic image or even an impressionist painting with their two hands almost seems to blow one’s mind. It’s the idea that someone used these supplies that, especially in the modern age, are easily available for so many people, and mastered them to create this work in front of you. As an artist, I can understand what has to go into a painting, but at the same time, I cannot yet even imagine what it must be like to set down your brush and step back from this amazing thing that has just been created.
I think one of the most appealing things about Minnetrista’s art shows, be it this or another, is that everything in the show was created by local artists. These people aren’t famous dead guys, no one commissioned by a king or chopping their ears off (or at least not that I know of). These are friends, family members, neighbors, people that come from this town to create a tight knit community of amazing artists. My drawing professor, Dave Johnson, even had a piece or two entered in the show. It means that these people are relatable. These aren’t people that you’ll only ever dream of meeting, these are people in the community sharing their gifts with the rest of us. It is truly inspiring to see talented, successful artists even in a small community like this and leads me to hope that someday, I’ll be able to show some of my work as well.
One of the many perks of getting a college education is that you get the chance to go to different events, often at reduced or no cost, be it a speaker, a lecture, a play, or concert. For example, I recently had the opportunity to see the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast here at Emens along with about four thousand of my closest friends. I’ve lived in Muncie for the better part of my life and gone to many shows at Emens and have never seen it so packed.
I’ll admit that when I first went with my roommate to get tickets, I wasn’t too excited. She had to go see a play for her dance class, and I thought it’d make a good event report, so why not? The tickets being no charge for students didn’t hurt either. I’ve seen the movie plenty of times before and wasn’t too sure what to expect out of the play. When we found our seats, however, and saw the decorations they had on the curtains, I was thoroughly impressed before I even sat down. Huge painted, canvas flowers and vine curtains hung down, one after the other and behind it all, a huge, glowing red rose. When the play actually started, it was like every amazing childhood Disney related memory come to life onstage, singing and dancing and telling that tale as old as time. The characters nailed each and every one of the characters, from the surly Beast to the gorgeous Bell, the ever flamboyant Gaston and even Mrs. Pots, the anthropomorphized tea kettle. Watching the movie as a child simply cannot compare to seeing it live. As typical with Broadway (or big shows in general), there were huge, intricately choreographed dances, wonderful singers, brilliant actors, and even the occasional acrobat. The costumes were gorgeous, richly colored, and over the top. Bell’s ball gown was huge, with ruffle after golden ruffle flowing to the floor. I was even amazed by the various ‘extra’ characters. There were so many complicated dance scenes and amazing costumes. The set was even a work of art, with huge spiraling staircases that could simply be wheeled about and placed wherever they were needed. Huge curtains, torn and shredded by the beast, could be dropped and lifted onto the set as needed. I’ve only ever seen one other show this big at Emens, and it always amazes me what they are able to do in terms of a set, particularly one that, in this case, must be able to go from forest to village to castle in a matter of minutes. The set even went beyond what was on stage to include colored lighting, strobe lights, streamers, and even jets of smoke out of two enormous Champaign bottles in the chorus of the oh so well-known number ‘Be Our Guest’.
Throughout the play, I couldn’t help but find my mind occasionally wandering and thinking about all the children I had seen coming into the theater before the show. It just made me wonder how they were enjoying the show and what they thought of it. For some, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that perhaps this was the first time they’d ever seen the Beauty and the Beast. For people in my age group, that’s something that’s hard to imagine. Most of us have grown up watching these movies, these stories are a part of our childhood. As I sat there totally engrossed in this play, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more so the younger kids would be. As awesome as I thought this was, how much cooler would this play be for the little girl across the aisle dressed in her very own princess gown, finally seeing a princess not on a TV screen, but in real life, finding her prince charming and living happily ever after? And what about the actress? What must have it have felt like to portray this character that means so much to so many people and is so well known? To be, if only for a night, a real princess?
Perhaps one of the greatest things about Disney, or fairy tales in general, is that they appeal to so many people throughout the years. We look up to the characters, admire them, boo at the villains, and cheer at the victories over evil. There’s just no comparison to something that is truly, in its own way, magical.
Last Friday (9/23), the Minnetrista Cultural Center opened up its Open Space exhibit in one of its main galleries. This exhibit is a juried art show that is held every year by Minnetrista and features art about the land. Every work is made by local artists and includes everything from paintings to jewelry and sculpture. As one would infer by the title, much of the art focuses on landscapes, floral paintings, fields, forests, creeks, and other various natural scenes and themes, but it goes so far beyond that. Artists are creative individuals, and just because a flower was the inspiration for a piece doesn’t mean that the work will actually depict a flower. Art about the land just implies a general, organic feel for everything. For example, a white plaster sculpture in the show didn’t look anything like a tree or a flower or landscape, but it had this rounded, flowing shape that just gave the impression of being alive. There was movement and fluidity in it, this feeling that it was in motion. I’ve attended this show several times in the past, and one of the things that I always love about it is how artists who don’t paint or draw still manage to represent nature in their own element and medium. Two of the pieces were tapestry weavings with huge waves of color slashing their way across the piece. They looked very much abstract but at the same time, if you stepped back, you could almost make out a landscape, a barn, maybe even the occasional tree. There were ceramics there with glazed images of intricate leaves, jewelry with trees carved into silver and stone, even a fold-out book with landscapes and mountains sketched all over.
Of course, featuring the land as the theme for the show, landscape paintings and photography were also common. There were amazing impressionistic pieces and convincingly realistic ones. As an aspiring artist, these were the pieces that just seemed hypnotic to me. Art in general just seems to strike people as this almost mystical ability that only a selected few have, and in our digital age, it is the traditional artists that only seem to be becoming more and more exceptional. Just the thought that someone could create a photorealistic image or even an impressionist painting with their two hands almost seems to blow one’s mind. It’s the idea that someone used these supplies that, especially in the modern age, are easily available for so many people, and mastered them to create this work in front of you. As an artist, I can understand what has to go into a painting, but at the same time, I cannot yet even imagine what it must be like to set down your brush and step back from this amazing thing that has just been created.
I think one of the most appealing things about Minnetrista’s art shows, be it this or another, is that everything in the show was created by local artists. These people aren’t famous dead guys, no one commissioned by a king or chopping their ears off (or at least not that I know of). These are friends, family members, neighbors, people that come from this town to create a tight knit community of amazing artists. My drawing professor, Dave Johnson, even had a piece or two entered in the show. It means that these people are relatable. These aren’t people that you’ll only ever dream of meeting, these are people in the community sharing their gifts with the rest of us. It is truly inspiring to see talented, successful artists even in a small community like this and leads me to hope that someday, I’ll be able to show some of my work as well.