Mosey’s back. Gallery Walk comes up ‘Roses.’ And more, in Tim’s Picks
Mosey’s on, so … Mosey On. Gallery Walk’s back, too. A release party for the Prannies. And more. Five choice ideas for your Greater Lafayette weekend and beyond.
This edition is sponsored by Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., presenting the Subaru Wilderness 5K Saturday, June 15, at the SIA Recreation Center Grounds in Lafayette. The event benefits Humane Society for Greater Lafayette, NICHES Land Trust, Multiplying Good / Students in Action and Mental Health America (Wabash Valley Region). To register, click the flyer below.
Here, again, with five suggestions for your Greater Lafayette week, it’s …
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
“Robert Pulley: ‘Courting the Mystery’” and “Heather Vickers: ‘Elegant Equine,’” through Sept. 8, Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, 102 S. 10th St., Lafayette — You’ve seen Robert Pulley’s large, figurative ceramic sculptures around Lafayette-West Lafayette for weeks now. The outdoor installation features several works, some as tall as 10 feet, all in a two-mile “art crawl” path. But be sure to check Pulley’s smaller works inside the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette. Pulley, an artist from Columbus, opened “Courting the Mystery” last week as a retrospective exhibit. Thirty bronze, clay and stone sculptures were selected and showcased from Pulley’s 30-year art career. “Courting the Mystery” is an excellent gateway before or after you go art crawling. Purdue University art educator Heather Galloway Vickers’ new exhibit, “Elegant Equine,” also opened last week. This powerful yet graceful show focuses on the anatomy and muscle tone of horses in peculiar poses. Vickers’ style is hyper realistic and evocative.
Gallery Walk, 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 17, downtown Lafayette — Put on those walking shoes and art-appreciating glasses because the downtown Gallery Walks are back. Leading the way for this weekend’s edition will be “Roses,” a powerful new show from Lafayette artist Sherri McGlothlin at Bindery Artist Studios, 511 Ferry St. Her first exhibition in 10 years, McGlothin spent more than a year creating about 80 works from various media that depict the same plastic rose plant, one of her late mother’s only possessions when she was moved into assisted living. Sometimes the artist focuses on one blossom; sometimes it’s all three — resting for decades in the same vase. McGlothlin credits her Herron School of Art and Design training for her proclivity to the prolific, and “Roses” fills Bindery’s space with a somber statement of loving remembrance and sadness of loss. McGlothlin has always excelled with the pen and paintbrush, but the artist stretched herself to depict her mother’s roses in media she never worked with before — fabric, monoprints, appliqué, stencil and even yarn. “You don’t find out as much if you’re not making as much,” McGlothlin said. Flanked by two pieces that feature gold leaf, another first for the artist, is the most sobering work in the show: McGlothin sewed roses to the nursing home gown her mother wore during her final days before her Nov. 28, 2022, death. The result is almost a shrine. “I just wanted to do something with it. I was trying to make it beautiful,” she said. Above the flowers on the gown reads “Mother Dear,” an inside joke between the two women inspired by a nerdy neighborhood boy who called his mother unironically by that phrase, as did his many siblings. The phrase became theirs in a joking way, but “Roses” pays tremendous tribute to Kay Beason’s life through her daughter’s first new art in a decade. “The subject is sad, but I think the work is pretty happy, which is what I like,” McGlothlin said. “I think she would feel good and appreciate this work.”
Other stops along the Gallery Walk include:
“Light and Line” by Robert Leavitt, Artists’ Own , 518 Main St.
Kaya Zak, Flourish Studio and Classroom, 514 Main St.
Eliza Gellis, Flora Candle Company, 609 Main St.
“Modern Moments,” by Martha Mysko, The Weather Station, 658 Main St., Suite 212
Stacy Sivinski, The Lobby, 526 Main St.
Mosey Down Main Street, 6-11 p.m. Saturday, May 18, downtown Lafayette — Another sign of summer: Mosey time is here again! Yes, your favorite series of monthly summer street festivals returns for a 16th year. From Sixth to 11th streets, Main Street will be closed to host three live music stages, several food trucks and dozens of booths from local businesses, artists and nonprofit organizations. Best of all, it’s free! Grab a beer; buy some art; eat some food; listen to some tunes; people watch and Mosey on!
Chrysalis, 9 p.m. Saturday, May 18, Spot Tavern, 409 S. Fourth St., Lafayette — The founding trio of a loose Chicago improv jazz group known as Chrysalis first met when they were hired by Sebastian Strinning to back his 2022 U.S. tour. The Swedish free jazz saxophonist knew how to pick them because those musicians — bassist Ausberto Acevdeo, pianist Jim Baker and drummer Dan Bitney — remained tight and now perform together in Chicago and beyond as Chrysalis. For its Lafayette debut, the band has brought on Windy City saxophonist Keefe Jackson into the fold. The quartet will perform two two-hour sets of improv jazz, so strap in and freak out. An interesting Chrysalis note: Bitney is the drummer for Tortoise, an influential Chicago post-rock band that has recorded for 30 years and collaborated with everyone from Mike Watt and the late Steve Albini to Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Bright Eyes. $10.
The Prannies, 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, People’s Brewing Company, 2006 N. Ninth St., Lafayette — There was Lennon and McCartney, Jones and Strummer, and even Stanley and Simmons. The Prannies has Richard Fudge and Don Staley — the chief songwriters of the Lafayette rock ‘n’ roll band that just released its sixth album over its long history. Like the aforementioned rock legends, Staley and Fudge have distinctly different songwriting, guitar playing and singing styles. Yet, one would suffer without the other. This phenomenon is evident on The Prannies’ new, 14-track album, “Prandemonium!” Like the band’s live show, Fudge and Staley’s guitars blend well on the recording — Fudge’s clean or acoustic, Staley’s plugged-in and sometimes distorted. The original tunes are arranged where each songwriter takes lead vocal duties on every other track, creating an interesting flow of music throughout the album’s entirety. Staley puts out a low, almost spoken style with a hint of twang. Fudge’s voice resonates higher with his unmistakable British accent in the mix. Fudge, Staley and the rest of The Prannies — drummer Blake Watts and bassist Brad Estes — will play many of these tunes next week to create some of the band’s patented “Prandemonium.” $10. Tickets.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
Thanks, again, to sponsor Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., presenting the Subaru Wilderness 5K Saturday, June 15, at the SIA Recreation Center Grounds in Lafayette. For details and to register, click here.
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.