As a booming tradition of the IU arts community for the past six years, the First Thursdays festivals bring together organizations and individuals from all over Bloomington for a grand celebration of its vibrant and thriving creative culture. The first such festival of the 2022-23 school year will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 1 in the Fine Arts Plaza.
Various showcases of local art and culture will be on display, ranging from fashion design and ceramics from the Eskenazi Museum of Art to student and community artists displaying and selling their work. This festival will feature 55 booths each belonging to different local organizations and artists.
The Eskenazi Museum will have a prominent presence at the festival, with their fashion design program organizing an “upcycling” station where attendants can give old t-shirts a new purpose. Gerard Pannekoek, one of the program coordinators for IU’s Arts and Humanities Council, said no prior knowledge of fashion design will be needed to participate in this activity.
“Anything at the festival is meant to be accessible to anyone of all ages,” Pannekoek said.
The Jewish Culture Center will make its First Thursdays debut as well. Pannekoek said they won’t put on a specific activity, but they and other culture centers will have a strong presence at First Thursdays.
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The humanities salon will feature departments of Medieval Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, African Studies, Philosophy and other language and culture-based exhibits. The design area will focus on design thinking and art-based displays.
The community corner invites local organizations and artists to the festival, with local institutions such as the Lotus Festival and Morgenstern’s Books making appearances. The artist row allows student and community artists to display and sell their work. This was a new addition to the festivals last year but has quickly become one of the staples of First Thursdays.
One such community artist, Heather East, has been selling her art at First Thursdays since artist row began. She was a student artist last year and will continue her participation in the events as a community artist this year.
East said the opportunity to sell her art at the events has exposed her to a number of local businesses and artists and brought her closer to the Bloomington arts community. She said her art is primarily “silly,” although she doesn’t always take this tone with her work.
“Sometimes I paint a realistic portrait of myself,” East said. “And then other times I draw cows wearing shoes.”
East said she mainly draws inspiration from her queer identity, but much of her work lacks meaning or direct influence. She was first exposed to art by her father, who works as a caricature artist.
“I’ve gone to some conventions where he’s sold art and had the opportunity to sell my art there as well,” East said.
East said she’s excited to have eyes on her art at these events, and she looks forward to being a part of this and future First Thursdays.
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Working with the council for four years, Pannekoek said that its creation coincided with the beginning of First Thursdays, and they both aim to show the breadth of local art in the local area. He emphasized the importance of having a free and open event where anyone in the IU and Bloomington communities can be exposed to local art.
“The idea was to support and amplify the arts and humanities offerings that exist both on campus and in the community as well,” Pannekoek said. “The council and the festivals share a mission which is to make the arts and humanities inevitable and essential to anyone who steps on campus.”
