Norb Krapf and Monika Herzig Give Special Event on Sunday Afternoon

A small but very interested audience attended Sunday's poetry and jazz performance at the Jasper Arts Center today. In the tradition of the Beat generation, Norb read many of his Indiana poems while Monika played jazz piano, accompanied by her husband, Peter. Everyone had an opportunity to speak with Norb and Monika after the reading. What a great complement - jazz and poetry.

Sing-a-long to the Wizard of Oz Movie A Big Hit!

Over 100 people attended the Wizard of Oz sing-a-long tonight. Approximately 75% were in costume, including me, the Director. My costume? Why Oz, of course! The person behind the scenes. ;-) People of all ages were in attendance. What a fun pre-Halloween event!

Oz Lecture

In celebration of Judy Garland, we have three Oz events. This first event consisted of Wayne Schuetter enlightening the audience on the real story behind Frank L. Baum's Wizard of Oz books. We had some real Oz fans attend this one.

Congressional Debate at Jasper Arts Center

Just two weeks before election day, we hosted a Congressional debate for Indiana's 9th district. Although this one didn't receive as much publicity as the gubernatorial debate that we had last month, we still had over 200 people turn out. It was also aired on regional TV and radio. Thanks to our good neighbors at VUJC, the even went off without a hitch.

Mauvais Sort Performs at Jasper High School

Over 1,000 students enjoyed the Mauvais Sort concerts at Jasper High School today. It's great fun to see an entire gym filled with kids doing a Quebec line dance.

House Concert for Mauvais Sort

One of the events that Mauvais Sort participated in this week was a house contert at the home of one of our board members for Tri Cap. This was an informal event to promote the Arts Midwest Worldfest group in our community. They even had some members up and dancing!

Mauvais Sort

Bon jour! Mauvais Sort, a French-Canadian group is visiting us all week through the Arts Midwest program, Midwest Worldfest. They started their week off today with two informational performances at Tenth Street School. Over 400 children participated with clapping, stomping and singing. Nick and Patrick even got Principal, Kent Taylor up to dance. Way to go, Mr. Taylor!

New York Theatre Ballet Performs at Jasper Arts Center

Nearly 1,000 children, grades K through 2, were entertained at the Jasper Arts Center by the New York Theatre Ballet. Following their two day-time performances, the ballet troupe conducted an entirely different public performance in the evening for people of all ages. The first Act was He Said, She Said: A Radio Reverie which took the audience down memory lane with a review of Gershwin favorites. Act II consisted of three short ballets: Trio con Brio, Suite form MAZURKAS, and two dances from Carousel. The dancers met with the audience in the lobby afterwards for photos and to sign autographs. It was a fun...but very long day!

Pianafiddle conducts workshop at Jasper High School

Adam DeGraff and Lynn Wright of Pianafiddle conducted a workshop at the Jasper High School for band students. At the end, students and a teacher were invited on stage to jam with them. What fun for all!

Pianafiddle kicks off season at Jasper Arts Center

Pianafiddle, a duo consisting of master violinist Adam DeGraff and pianist Lynn Wright, kicked off the season here tonight. Their performance was totally improvisational and blew the audience away. You could have heard a pin drop. Not a cough or whisper in the entire theater. Adam really showed his talent when he jumped in on our state song, Back Home Again in Indiana. He had never even heard it before! These are two really great guys and so fun to work with.

Dubois Middle School Visits Krempp Gallery

Teacher, Trish Mehringer from Dubois Middle School, brought her students out to visit our Krempp Gallery for our Juried Show exhibit.

Gubernatorial Debate at Jasper Arts Center

The Indiana Debate Commission sponsored a gubernatorial debate at Jasper Arts Center. It was co-hosted by the City of Jasper and our neighbors, Vincennes University - Jasper Campus. Months of work and preparation culminated in a smoothly running event. All of the candidates - Governor Mitch Daniels, Democratic challenger, Jill Long Thompson, and Libertarian, Andy Horning, were very professional in answering questions posed by the audience. We were very proud to be chosen as one of only three venues from across the state to host one of the gubernatorial debates. We were also the only rural area which was selected to host a debate.

Next month, the 9th Congressional debate with three candidates.

Edmund Battersby Plays for Jasper

Jasper citizens were treated to an astounding performance by master pianist, Edmund Battersby from Bloomington. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, Battersby is a professor at Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. This concert previewed his upcoming European tour and doubled as a fund raiser for our Building Expansion project. It was a delightful Saturday afternoon event and paired well with the Elizabethan costume exhibit in the Krempp Gallery.

Naoko Takada, Marimbist

We were delighted to host Naoko Takada, a Young Concert Artist from Japan, this week. Naoka entertained audiences with her wit and lively performance. She conducted a Masterclass for Jasper High School students and performed on our sold-out Backstage performance. What a treat!

Tales and Scales a Big Hit with Schools

Jasper elementary school students were treated to live performances by Tales and Scales, a national touring company. Junkyard Wars was the performance. The kids learned new instruments as well as being treated to a lively performance.

Wow! Elizabethan Costume Exhibit Opens Tomorrow

Our Visual Arts coordinator, Amy Laakman, and several tireless volunteers have been working since yesterday hanging a scrumptious Elizabethan Costume exhibit. These are real costumes on loan from regional theatres. This kicks off Shakespeare month, celebrating the Bard with an exhibit of costumes, theatre design, art lecture and the film, "Much Ado About Nothing." The show will be hung through April 28th. Admission to the gallery is free.

Tom Schum Clay Class

Tom Schum, a regional celebrity in clay fabrication, is teaching an adult clay class at our satellite arts space. In this class, he helps students learn the slab roller technique. Everyone will go home with a wonderful project!

Youth Art Month in March

Youth Art Month is celebrated across the nation in March, but local schools particularly look forward to the event. All four county High Schools exhibit the first part of March, with Middle Schools and Elementary Schools alternating the latter part. This year we have Middle School students. It's always a treat to see the creative projects of the kids, not to mention a little friendly rivalry between schools...and even teachers. Both receptions are well attended.

Irving Berlin's I Love a Piano Is a Huge Success!

The Broadway production of Irving Berlin's I Love a Piano came to town today. Although the audience only sees the final performance, the trucks began unloading at 8 a.m. Over sixteen volunteers were needed this morning, with nearly as many to run the show and wrap up at the end of the day. Since it was a workday for most people, many of our crew members actually took vacation days to make this event happen.

The audience might have been expecting to hear a few familiar tunes but what they were treated to was an extraordinary performance. Six talented actors sang and danced over 60 of Berlin's tunes spanning seven decades. I'm sure many in the audience were quietly singing along and all went home with a tune in their hearts.

Thanks, everyone! What a grand finale to the end of the performing arts season!

Susan Carr teaches photography class

Susan Carr, photographer from Chicago, gave a gallery talk Tuesday. Her photography has been the feature exhibit in the Krempp Gallery during February. The exhibit of black and white photos depicts the home interiors of people who have lived in them for 40 or more years.

On Wednesday, Susan taught two digital photography classes at the Jasper High School with our very own Amy Laakman presiding.

Elizabeth Keusch performs backstage

Elizabeth Keusch performed two shows backstage at the Jasper Arts Center yesterday. This Dubois County native is a graduate of Forest Park HS and now makes her home in Worchester, MA. A talented soprano, Ms.Keusch tours the United States and Europe. Her performance was a delightful mix of standards, opera, as well as classical music. Between her family and friends in the area, both shows were near sell-outs. She also presented a masterclass on Monday, February 25, for Jasper High School music, French and German students.

Backstage Crew

A typical performance requires 10-12 hours behind the scenes work for every two hour performance. We are very fortunate that we have a dedicated core of volunteers who help us on these long days. This involves unloading trucks filled with equipment at the crack of dawn, unpacking, setting up, lights, moving scenery, etc. The long day is not concluded until everything has been disassembled and loaded back onto the truck. Their only pay? Pizza and twinkies. Thanks, folks!

Evening preschool art class

Both kids and parents have fun at our popular evening preschool class. Designed specifically for parents to have fun and share the art experience, little tykes have a blast. The messier the better. Nicole Anderson comes up with a new idea every week. What patience!

Board Member, Gerald Gagne Steps Down After Sixteen Years

After sixteen years of dedicated service, Board member Gerald Gagne stepped down. He held offices as Board President and Secretary/Treasurer for much of his tenure. Jerry is pursuing his activities as church Deacon. We'll miss you, Jerry!

NYC

Hey, all, from NYC!

Donna Schepers and I have been visiting showcases and talking with agents to line up next year's shows. Boy, have we got some new things for you! Think Woodstock!