Artists show work at Convention Center

Driftwood sculptures, expensive paintings, and handmade clothing filled the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center on Saturday when more than 70 local artists and artisans showed their work for the Bloomington Local Artists Showcase.

Artisans showed and sold their wares at individual booths from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

People visited the showcase to explore and purchase works of art from local creators.
It was the third-annual showcase organized by Ivy Tech Community College and Bloom Magazine. Admission was $2.

Almost 1,000 people attended last year’s showcase, according to Bloom’s website.
The artists included wood craftsmen, painters and weavers. Some of the artists were represented by agents, while others sold their wares personally.

Professional woodworker David Reuter was present at Saturday’s showcase.

He has worked with wood for 20 years, and said he has sold his pieces for five years.

Reuter said he attends showcases whenever he can to sell and show his wares.

“I like selling the stuff that I make,” Reuter said. “It’s fun making it, and, if I can sell it to someone, I know they’ll enjoy it.  Even if I don’t sell to someone, I like showing off, too.”

All of the pieces Reuter sells and shows are made from dead or storm-damaged trees. His 100-acre tree farm gives Reuter plenty of lumber to work with for his projects.
His wares had numerous labels for the different types of wood and the species of tree from which they came.

“I could haul wood 24 hours a day, seven days a week until I was 150 years old and never run out of storm-damaged or dead wood,” Reuter said.

While some of the artists like Reuter were independent craftsmen, other artists relied on a collective to represent their works.

Gathering, one of the artist collectives represented at the Showcase, was founded by Bloomington resident Talia Halliday.

Her collective presented various mediums of art.

“It started with just a bunch of artists getting together and showing their work,” Halliday said.

Gathering has staged similar events in the recent past.
 
In addition to shows last year, Halliday said Gathering had a month-long Holiday Pop-Up Shop during November and December at Fountain Square Mall.

“Soon we are going to have a fundraiser in May to open our permanent shop,” Halliday said. “There will be a benefit concert and a silent auction for donated pieces of art.”

Gathering members will organize more events in the future to showcase art.

“We’re also going to have an event in June called the Bloomington Open Studios Tour,” Halliday said. “There will be an illustrator, a jeweler, a book binder and who knows what else.”

Julie Hill, another representative at the showcase, spoke for Bell Trace Senior Living Community at the Showcase.

She, along with other employees, showed the works of art created by Bell Trace residents in their various art programs.
 
“This is our first time at a big show,” Hill said.  “We have had our own art shows before, but we’ve never done something of this size before.”

Hill said the artistic expression of the elderly was a subject close to her heart.

She recounted the story of singing for the final time with her aunt who was dying of Alzheimer’s, and she said she wanted to give others same moment that she had.

“It’s one thing to make art with older people. It’s another to celebrate their art for the public,” Hill said.