Visual Appeal

When you think of art, do metal, magnets, wood, bike wheels and an electrical spool come to mind? What if you piece these together, wrap everything in colorful fabrics, add flags and banners, then hand paint it with unique and intricate designs? Now does it seem like art?\nMaybe it was hard to visualize in the beginning, but these elements come together to create the eight venue sculptures of this year's tenth annual Lotus Festival.\nLocal artist Joe LaMantia is responsible for these massive sculptures, standing 14 feet tall by five feet wide. For over three months, he worked with local community service organization to bring this project to completion. Participants of all ages from these organizations donated recycled items and volunteered their time to work on it. Most of the work was constructed at Stone Belt, the host site for the project.\n"It's a nice way of blending one organization with another and introducing people that serve different functions," said 56-year-old LaMantia. "This creates experiences where segments of the community never meet each other. It's just a wonderful way to meet others and work in a creative way."\nThese collaborative works will be placed outside of their respective locations: Buskirk-Chumley Theater, First Christian Church, First United Methodist Church, InterArt tent, John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium, the Monroe Bank tent, the Union Board tent and the Convention Center.\nThis year's Lotus Festival started Sept. 25 and will close Sunday, Sept. 28. \nKnown as a celebration of world music, this year's Lotus Festival concentrates more on street art that the public can enjoy without necessarily stepping into a gallery. Organizers thought LaMantia's sculptures -- marking each of eight venues -- fit the bill.\nSusan Sammis, a member of the visual arts committee since its very inception in 1994, found that festival attendees of the past had little interest in both hearing music and seeing art in galleries. This led to a major shift in 2001 to focus more on visual arts.\n"It is truly festival art, public art, this year," said visual arts chair Lucy Schaich. "It's giving the community an opportunity to take it all in."\nNightly street parades have been integrated into the event this year as well. The festival headquarters are located on Kirkwood Ave., between College and Lincoln Streets. The parade will include handmade flags, noisemakers and a giant puppet. It is planned to start at the Lotus Gateway, which has been constructed at the intersection of Lincoln Street and Kirkwood Avenue. \n"We've had spontaneous parades kind of burst out in the past and we really wanted to build on that," Schaich said. "So in honor of that, we created the Lotus Gateway."\nNick McGill, responsible for the design and construction for the Lotus Gateway, worked on it for about eight weeks. This 14 by 13 foot structure is almost entirely made from recycled materials. Not only is it visually appealing, it is also interactive. One of the chains hanging from the columns rings a bell when it is pulled. \nThe archway will go up today in the afternoon, but will be open to the public at 5:30 p.m. It will remain up for two days.\nAnother important asset to the visual arts aspect of the festival is the stage backdrop that will be displayed during musical performances. A new backdrop is designed every year for the festival and displayed at the following festival the next year in one of its venues. This year's backdrop was designed by Joan Hershey and Daria Smith.\nThey quilted fabric on their own and then dyed, cut and sewed 55 yards of theater muslin to make a drop in five panels to cover an area of approximately 36 feet wide and 22 feet tall. This particular backdrop will be displayed in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29. \n"It's kind of a cacophony of colors, a mix of texture and pattern. We saw that as a reflection of what happens in Lotus," Smith said. "There is a layering of color and sizes and a pattern which reflects what happens in music-the layering in music with percussion and singing."\nAlthough this collaboration illustrates a mixture of artistic styles that flow together, there are certain aspects that remain representative of each artist's particular style.\n"If you saw Daria's work, you would recognize her influence," Hershey said. "If you saw mine, you would see my influence too." \nOther visual arts opportunities include an exhibit of Bloomington music posters from the 1970s. These hand silk-screened color posters were designed by local artists and will be displayed at the John Waldron Arts Center until Sept. 28. \nAnother important aspect to this year's Lotus Festival is "Lotus Turns 10," a retrospective of the festival's first decade through photographs, posters, t-shirts and more. These are on display at Bloomingfoods East, Theater Café and Encore Café through September, and on display at the Convention Center today and Saturday.\n"Lotus Under Glass," which consists of portraits from the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival by Levi Thomas, is also being displayed at Michael's Uptown Café though Sept. 30. \nFinally, a reception will be held on Sept. 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Fountain Square Mall atrium displaying Monroe County Community School Corporation student art which has been inspired by the Lotus Festival. Admission is free.\nIf you're interested in learning more about the festival, visit www.lotusfest.org.\n-- Contact staff writer Mary DeBrunner at mdebrunn@indiana.edu.