Currently the deputy director of the Indiana Arts Commission, Miah Michaelsen served as Bloomington “art czarina” (her words) under former Mayor Mark Kruzan. During her stint in city hall, she led the successful effort to declare the state’s first municipal arts and cultural district here. She also was instrumental in getting the city and Ivy Tech to sign an agreement …
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A veteran of seven previous political campaigns, Kate Rosenbarger has announced her own candidacy for the Bloomington city council District 1 seat now held by Chris Sturbaum. Rosenbarger was deputy director of Liz Watson’s campaign for US Congress in 2018. Now the executive director of TEDx Bloomington, Rosenbarger previously worked as an analyst for NeighborWorks America, a federally-funded nonprofit helping …
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His work can be seen in any number of public locations around town, both indoors and outdoors. Joe Lamantia creates three-dimensional art with the help of individuals and groups, his collaborators ranging from pre-schoolers to the elderly. In Joe’s world, the finished work of art is nowhere near as important as the cooperative process that created it. He works mainly in …
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He worked as a reporter and columnist for the Herald-Times for nearly 35 years. Then he went on to write and edit for Bloom magazine for another two years. Leonard is a journalist’s journalist. He’s covered everything from rock stars to elementary school teachers. Journalism has changed since Leonard came out of Ball State University with a degree in the …
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Board chair for Bloomington Pride, Cummings has helped guide the LGBTQ advocacy and outreach nonprofit for the last three years. The organization’s signature event, the 2019 Bloomington Pride Film Festival, takes place this weekend, Friday and Saturday, February 1st and 2nd, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and several other venues. Cummings characterizes this year’s presentation as the best slate of short …
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Future Georgia congressman John Lewis was the 25-year-old chairperson of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) on March 5, 1965, when he participated in a voting rights march in and around Selma, Alabama. That day has become known as Bloody Sunday as some 600 marchers were attacked by state troopers and posse members. Lewis suffered a fractured skull in the …
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She comes from a storied Bloomington family that’s produced a Shakespearean scholar, the city’s first civil engineer, and Iraq’s former ambassador to the United Nations. Teacher of the Arabic language and a long-time community activist, Zaineb Istrabadi calls herself a “midwestern gal” despite being born in England, raised in Baghdad, and having lived a large part of her adult life …
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She cut her teeth working for a faith-based community advocacy organization in Minnesota and now she’s back in Bloomington, her home town. Hess Pace returned to her roots in 2017 to head up Hoosier Action. Serving as executive director of the citizen-empowerment group, Hess Pace hopes to rouse the troops in Monroe County and surrounding areas to call for economic …
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Celebrating one year of Big Talk as a stand-alone program following the Daily Local News every Thursday, we present an encore interview with our very first guest, Indiana poet laureate Adrian Matejka. The author of The Big Smoke, a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, Matejka is an associate professor in the Indiana University Department …
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Cindy Brubaker loves old buildings. So much so, she’s devoted her professional life to renovating and preserving them. The developer and manager of the I Fell complex, she is a key player in the transformation of the area around Rogers and 4th streets into a burgeoning arts and entertainment district just southwest of downtown Bloomington. Host Michael Glab goes one-on-one …
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