Celebrate the Arts on First Thursdays Downtown Muncie

Downtown Muncie, Indiana celebrates the arts on First Thursday, March 1, from 5 to 8pm. On the first Thursday evenings of every month, downtown's many art galleries host meet-the-artist receptions and spotlight their exhibit openings for the month. All the specialty and gift shops are open late on this evening; and music and light refreshments can be found at almost every stop for a free, family fun event.
Visit www.munciedowntown.com for details.

Some of the gallery events at the next First Thursday, March 1, from 5 to 8pm:


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~ The Artist Within, 313 S Walnut Street • 765-289-7895
Lucinda Rarick of Muncie and Susan McCollum of Yorktown will be the featured artists throughout March at the Artist Within, 313 South Walnut, Muncie. Their show, titled “Companion Plantings”, is an exploration of plants, both native and non-native. An opening reception will be at First Thursday, March 1 from 5 to 8 p.m.
They chose the title of this show; “Companion Plantings” not only because they are friends but also because plants are like “companions” to humanity (they also liked the pun, of course). "As a society, however, we don’t act as if vegetation were very important so we want to show the exceptional beauty of unappreciated plants and the surprising ways we live with them." explains the twosome.

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~ Artworks, 301 South Walnut Street
Artworks is an artist owned and operated sales gallery, featuring original works for sale by outstanding Indiana artists.


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~ Gordy Fine Art & Framing, 224 E Main Street • 765-284-8422
“Liberty Crossroads,” the March exhibition at Gordy Fine Art and Framing, pairs a painter/printmaker from Ghana with a local art teacher’s decorative clay vessels. Nana Ekow Maison and Carol Burt will meet the public at a reception during the First Thursday art event at the downtown gallery & frame shop on March 1, 2007 from 5 to 8 PM. Light refreshments will be served.
A local artist, Carol Burt has a distinguished career as an art educator, receiving numerous awards and grants while holding numerous offices in the Art Education Association of Indiana. She has taught at Sutton Elementary School in Muncie the past twelve years and at Ball State University five years. In addition to her teaching, however, Carol has spent the last five years in intensive study of ceramics, with a focus on the effects of various firing methods on the final patina of her vessels.
Nana Ekow Maison holds an MFA from Bradley University with a concentration in printmaking and painting. He earned his undergraduate art degree in Ghana at Kwame Nkrumah Univerisity. He is currently living in Muncie with his wife, Barbara, and their baby. The pair plans to return to Ghana after Barbara completes a degree at Ball State. In the meantime, the artist uses the walls of their apartment to paint “spiritual impressions and factual symbols” of his daily life. His work is multi-layered, often with human figures and symbols silhouetted within a neatly defined pictorial space. The paint application is reminiscent of pointillism, or even the paintings made famous by aboriginal artists of Australia.

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~ Gallery 308 (formerly MPG), 308 E. Main Street • 765-289-8575
The coming will bring a breath of fresh air to the art world when "Vignette" opens at Gallery 308 in downtown Muncie on February 28, featuring 13 Department of Art + Design Students from Anderson University. An opening reception will take place Thursday, March 1 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at 308 East Main, Muncie.
"Vignette" is a representative exhibition of works from the various disciplines offered in the Department of Art + Design at Anderson University, including painting, printmaking, glass, ceramics, textile sculpture, photography, graphic design, artists' books, drawing and mixed media. The exhibition will run through March 31.


Please stop by and visit these and the many more downtown Muncie businesses who celebrate the arts on First Thursday and all year long:

~ Blue Bottle Coffee Shop, 206 S Walnut Street • 765-284-3630
~ Cortex Hair Salon, 112 W Jackson Street • 765-288-6685
~ Danner's Books*Gifts*Yarns, 1316 N Wheeling • 765- 288-1122
~ David Dale Designs, Interior Designs & Fine Art Gallery, 421 S Walnut Street • 765-284-4987
~ FB Fogg, 418 E Main Street • 765-289-7464
~ Glitterati in the Rose Court on Charles Street
~ Minnetrista, 1200 N. Minnetrista Parkway • 765-282-4848

Additionally, all of our independently owned bars and restaurants will be open and ready to serve you!
For more information, visit www.munciedowntown.com.