Center bridges gap between University and community

As IU students sign housing contracts and consider which classes to take next fall, art enthusiasts throughout Monroe county are agonizing over their own class schedules. From budding Bloomington photographers to ordinarily sedate residents who just couldn't pass up the chance to design the ideal clay dragon, eager Hoosiers have transformed an unimposing building on the corner of Walnut and Fifth streets into a miniature campus since the John Waldron Arts Center's spring semester began March 24. \nAlthough the JWAC celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, it is relatively unknown among IU students. Ask a senior where the Waldron Arts Center is located and most likely the response will be a blank stare. But question an English major who has helped create and teach a poetry workshop or a Master of Fine Arts student who has presented his or her work at one of the JWAC's galleries and the response will be different. \nWriter Thomas Jones, an IU graduate student who is assisting his English professor with a course she is teaching at the JWAC, said he enjoys working at the Waldron Arts Center because it allows him to build bridges between the collegiate world and the public for whom he is writing. \n"I'm interested in teaching creative writing outside academia," said Jones, adding that it helps him "in terms of thinking about who my readers are."\nThe JWAC serves Bloomington preschoolers, senior citizens and every age in between by providing courses in a variety of visual media including sculpture, oil and watercolor painting, photography, jewelry design and calligraphy. A sub-unit of the Bloomington Area Arts Council, it is run by several full-time directors who oversee its instruction, performance and outreach programs. \nThe JWAC building houses ceramics and photography labs, two performance spaces and several art galleries. \nThe art galleries are one of the JWAC's main draws, and provide important venues for local artists to exhibit their work. They are also a potential asset to IU students interested in displaying their creations off campus. \n"Anyone who's interested in exhibiting can submit a portfolio," said local cartoonist and JWAC painting instructor Michael Teague. \n"Once a year there is a selection process … (and a) committee decides who is going to be placed in the gallery," said the JWAC's Education Director, Roger Meridith. \nAs the major center for visual media in the Bloomington area, the JWAC is reluctant to present classes that overlap with the programs offered by instruction-oriented performance troupes in the area such as the Bloomington Playwrights' Project and the Windfall Dancers.\n"We've tried to develop a good collaboration between us," Meridith said. \nWhile this approach reduces competition between local arts organizations, it limits the possibility of incorporating performance courses into the JWAC curriculum. Except for a few fringe classes, such as guitar instruction or swing dance, the JWAC's course selection sticks tenaciously to visual and written art. \nCooperation with performing ensembles pays off, however, when it comes to promoting the Arts Center as a home for live arts organizations in need of performance space. In fact, many of Bloomington's theater, dance and musical groups have done shows at the JWAC, either by renting the space or through Bloomington Area Arts Council collaborations such as the partnership between the JWAC and Detour Productions, which will be presenting its latest production, "The Importance of Being Earnest" starting March 28 at the JWAC. \nThis commitment to fostering local performance organizations is an indirect asset to IU performing art majors, many of whom appear in productions such as "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the JWAC throughout the year. \nIU and the JWAC seem to have forged a win-win relationship over the past decade as IU students benefit from opportunities to teach, exhibit and perform, and the JWAC enjoys an endless supply of fresh faces and ideas. \n"I think it helps those students who are trying to hone their own craft and then bring their personality and skills to the Bloomington community," Meridith said. \nWith the beginning of the JWAC's spring semester, the partnership is waiting to be renewed.