Waldron exhibit explores art of instrument building

Crafting Sound, an exhibit featuring 20 Indiana instrument builders and their instruments, begins tomorrow at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut Street.\nThe exhibit opens with a performance at 7 p.m. by the Brazilian dance-fighting group, North Star Capoeira, featuring Contra-Mestre Iuri Santos, who founded the group. North Star Capoeira makes their own instruments, which accompanies their performances. \nThis free exhibit, created by Traditional Arts Indiana, also features several related events. \nThe first is intended mainly for children and parents and is a “canjo” building workshop with instrument maker Eli Jackson from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 8. The cost of each instrument is $10. \n“Eli is really good with kids, he’s such a grandfatherly type,” said Traditional Arts Indiana Director John Kay. “He’s the rare breed of person who folks would enjoy getting to know.” \nKay will also be holding two lunches, where he will talk about handmade instruments and show several documentary shorts he developed, according to a press release. \nFrom noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12, attendees are invited to bring their lunches to the John Waldron Arts Center and hear ocarina makers David and M. Chipko Roach and tamburitza maker Milan Opacich talk about their instruments. At 7:30 p.m. Friday Sept. 21, David and M. Chipko Roach will be performing at the John Waldron Arts Center. Both of these events are free.\nKay said he has interviewed 50 Indiana instrument builders around the state over the last three years. \n“The people I talked to feel like friends of mine,” he said. “The 20 people included in the exhibit are just a fraction of the excellent builders. Some of the best have no instruments to loan.” \nThis is the first year for the exhibit and might be the last due to the difficulty of coordinating the many instruments and builders featured, Kay said. \nSuzanne Ingalsbe, the official curator for the event, has also been talking with the instrument builders involved in the exhibit. She said the exhibit is unique because it features builders who are still embracing and practicing their trade. \n“We haven’t had the instruments for the exhibit in hand yet,” she said. “I’ve been getting descriptions and hearing profound stories about what it’s like to be an instrument builder. Having all that come together in one room is going to be really exciting.” \nKay said there are three main goals for the event. The first is to raise exposure for the instrument makers. Kay said that more instruments are made in Indiana than in anywhere else in the world, but he’s found that most of the makers are men.\n“My hope is that after the exhibit, some women will step up and say, ‘You overlooked me!’ and then we can rectify that,” he said. \nThe second goal, he said, is to try to help create interest in the actual instruments, since the featured instrument makers are still trying to make a living. The third goal, Kay said, is to highlight the tradition and heritage of the people creating the instruments. \n“I just want to honor these people and what they do,” he said. \nIngalsbe said one of her goals with the exhibit is to highlight the aesthetics and the process of building instruments. \n“These instruments are really works of art, with immense amounts of care put into the process, from color to sound production, to choosing a type of wood to represent a certain area,” she said. “They’re really thoughtful choices.”\nFor more information, visit www.artlives.org or call the John Waldron Arts Center at 334-3100.