One, two, three, four.

Get my shoes then out the door.

Five I'm alive, six, seven, eight feelin' great.

Nine, gonna shine, life is good I'm doing fine.

Ten, Gonna do it right then do it again.

Yeah yeah.

I look up to the sky with all the beautiful color but, there's more than just for me so gonna share it with another.

I got to show, to give, let out, I want to sing and shout.

Take a look and see A beautiful morning that turns into beautiful evening.

And together make a beautiful life.

And if you want see, then come along with me.

That's right.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to experience.

Michiana One of the most wonderful things about our community is all of the art that we have to offer here.

And lots of places are also looking for submissions, so we're going to kind of go around to them.

But first we're going to go over to the Kroc Center with Dave and find out about all of the wonderful art programs that they have.

So I'm here at the Kroc Center, downstairs in the Kroc Center with Aaron, who is the public relations and marketing coordinator here at the Kroc Center.

So a lot of people want to think of the Kroc Center.

They think of the fitness aspect of it and the work outside of it, because that's what a lot of people use it for.

But this spring we've got some exciting things coming up like the Arts and Education program.

So tell me a bit about that.

Yeah, we're down in the basement right now and a lot of people come to the pool and might check out the gym, but they don't know that we've got this entire arts and education wing down here.

We've got music studios, art rooms, classrooms, and we do arts and education programing all year long, and we're excited to kick off another season of arts and education programs right now.

So it is really important to the Kroc Center to have these programs, right?

I mean, it's a big part of your mission.

Yeah.

So the orchestra was built ten years ago from a grant from Joan Kroc, and one of the things that she said was that she wanted children to have opportunities to explore their passions and God given talents for the arts.

Yeah.

And so what we've got down here is opportunities that a lot of kids may not find in schools or may not find, you know, in their community.

They can take low cost art classes, low cost creative writing classes, dance classes, steam classes, all sorts of things.

And it's all right here.

Well, I grew up in a lower income family and a very working class.

But, you know, we didn't have any extra cash.

So when it came to, Hey, Mom, I want to, like, learn how to play piano or I want to do this, I want to do that.

It was like, Sorry, we can't afford it.

So that's obviously one of the big barriers you're trying to break down here, right?

Yeah.

We want our programs to be accessible to everyone, so most of them are very, very affordable.

A lot of them are even free.

We've got a grant from the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County.

So right now all of our music classes are free for children 18 and under, which is amazing.

And again, it's also a case of and when I say stay out of trouble, I don't mean like serious trouble.

I mean the trouble we got into when we were growing up.

It's like it's also a great way for kids to actually be part of something that gives them more purpose and gives them more positive things to focus on.

Yeah, absolutely.

We're surrounded with opportunity in the city and we're surrounded with kids who have potential and have gifts and have talents and have passion.

And maybe all they need is an opportunity to explore it, to have a mentor or a teacher come alongside them and show them the ropes and then let them fly.

So how do people actually find out about this?

Like if parents are watching this and they want to find out more information, how can they actually do so?

Like, obviously, online is one way.

Are you also out in the community educating people about this or how does that work?

Yeah, so our website is my crack dawg, and that's where you'll find all the information about all the arts and education programs.

But then we've also we put fliers out in all the schools.

You can find our program guides at different locations around town.

Wherever the let us put it, we'll put it up.

And I know that again, there's a lot of parents who, you know, I know as well, growing up in a very working class family, is that they don't have a lot of time.

You know, they're very busy working.

They're very busy keeping everything going.

So, you know, what are the times of these classes like?

I know they're all over the board, but are these things that are accessible for parents?

Is there any way can the school corporation drop the kids off here on the busses or do the parents just have them bring the kids?

Yeah, we do have an after school university program that runs after school five days a week, and South Bend schools will drop kids off here.

So if any family wants their kids to be a part of after school university, they just register, call transportation.

The busses bring them here after school, they get to do dance classes, music classes, art classes, swim time, gym time, Rockwall time.

Yeah, from school and until as late as 6 p.m..

I want to find out more about the specific classes and what's going on in them.

So who am I going to talk to about that?

You're going to want to talk to Neal Carmichael, our director of arts and education.

He's a he's a great guy.

He is so passionate about working with kids and helping them discover their potential.

All right.

Let's go talk to him.

So, Neal, I hear you're very passionate about the spring arts and education programs.

First of all, why are you passionate about it?

So last year I was worked at Newton Fine Arts Academy, and I was there for three years.

And in 2021 to 2022, that school year, I was named the Teacher of the Year for that building.

And then I was in the top ten for the South Bend Community School corporations.

For the last 20 years, I've been in music education and I was really excited when this opportunity arose to come and kind of spread the message of the importance of the arts to more people than just the 500.

I had the opportunity to teach a new year.

So here it's accessible and we talked a little bit about this to Aaron but it's really about bringing the arts and making it accessible to everybody who wants it, as opposed to everybody who can afford it.

Yeah.

So our strategy is right now to keep our costs low and to do that, we have external funding sources that help us offset those costs.

We have free no cost music lessons and classes.

Right now, our music lessons are at capacity.

We have a home school program which you'll see a little bit today.

Yeah, and that runs from 10 to 3 on Wednesdays.

That's a capacity on a waiting list.

We have an after school program where we invited all of the folks that live around the Kroc Center into our neighborhood, into our neighborhood Kroc Center, to kind of serve that community.

We also have adaptive arts programing, so that serves folks with different abilities across Saint Joseph County and make sure that they have a place where they can express themselves.

We have all these great opportunities at very little cost here at the Kroc center.

Well, when you talked about people adaptive services as well, because often those children and their parents are actually the most isolated in our community.

So I like that you're doing that.

And so we have we're working with our instructor, Jutta Kruse, who is a phenomenal advocate for that community, and she brings theater classes, movement classes, vocal music classes to the Kroc Center.

And we are so fortunate to have her here.

You know, the vibe in here.

And the Kroc Center is very welcoming and it's very community oriented.

And it actually it feels like a beautiful melting pot of all the community has to offer.

When you walk in the door from the second you walk in, it's literally warm when you walk in.

But the vibe of it's really warm, too, right?

So when I first started here, actually before I started here, I was at my daughter's she was at a birthday party in the pool, and I was looking at my phone thinking, This place is great.

I should investigate membership and how, having not been here, it's been here for ten years.

So I'm looking at this and then I think I could work here too.

I could serve folks here.

So I found that the job description for the position that I currently have and then a few hours later, my parents texted me because they were with the business development director from the Kroc center and said, You should think about this position.

Crazy.

So it's kind of a weird alignment, but so there is this very warm, welcoming feel at all that.

No, no, not at all.

But again, it's very accessible to everybody too, which I really love.

And you mentioned about the community foundation of Saint Joseph County covering the cost of the music.

And when it comes to the other programs, which ones are you most excited about as well besides the music?

Right.

So there are some programs that there's creative writing for kids and for adults.

So there's two classes there called Young Writers Club, and they're superhero stories where the kids kind of imagine their own superhero stories, storyboard it, and then kind of write their own detail, and then they do.

There's a poetry class, and then for the adults, they can work on writing their memoir.

So thinking about all these things that they've done in their life so they can pass it on to the next generation.

Those classes are taught by a someone that has two master's degree, Ms.. Lori and she also teaches at IUSB.

And we also have visual arts.

So we have Make and move class where they use kind of principles of yoga and body movement to channel their creative energies on the paper.

They also we also have an adult painting class which is geared towards 16 plus.

And if you look at the walls all around our beautiful lobby here, you can see some of those pieces of artwork painted by our instructor.

Are they for sale?

They are for sale also.

And you can help out safe.

He's a really amazing guy and a phenomenal artist.

We we also have a photography and collage class where you kind of learn the basics of photography and collage and kind of marry those together and kind of our capstone visual arts class is our movie production class, which brings in all of those creative arts instructors and has they all teach a class one week throughout the five week session, and you learn how to storyboard, how to script write How to costume design, how to set design, how to record with video, how to make a soundtrack, and you can put your own movie together.

And of course, you have an amazing recording studio here, too, that I had a look in which that obviously goes into movie production.

The sound is so important, so there really just is a lot of opportunity, which is the main thing.

And again, I said this phrase to Aaron, but you, the Kroc Center really has broken down the barriers between the community and all these opportunities.

Yeah, and I love that.

Yeah.

I think that that that was the mission of Joan Kroc was to make sure that that every Kroc Center was located in an area that most needed those to take advantage of those opportunities.

And I'm so fortunate that I get to provide those opportunities for our community.

Now, there's also dance, right?

That's right.

So we were fortunate to have three instructors, one who's starting in February as Pierre Cooks, who works with Uzma, which is a local.

We know that because Kelly, who's a host of the show, is part of that group.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I met with her recently and she's just an amazing person.

Yeah, I actually the only time I've seen them perform was upstairs in the chapel, so.

Yeah.

So yeah, so it all, it's full circle, right?

Yeah.

So we also have Mike Jacob who teaches our hip hop dance of beginner, intermediate and Advanced.

He is a probably the best instru pleasure of witnessing.

And we also have Alison, Miss Alison, who teaches our ballet.

So she teaches parent child ballet, which is like little tiny two year olds with their parents and of beginner ballet and toddler ballet.

But she also we had a performance last year in our auditorium, in our chapel that had about 250 folks in the audience watching and supporting and 100 performers on stage.

Wow.

And her parent child ballet class had these little tiny two year old kids with these huge dads doing like, I'm a little teapot.

It was the most amazing thing ever.

I love it.

And all these classes are available for their free for members and they're $5 for nonmembers.

All right.

And if people want to get information about everything, it's all online.

That's obviously the best place.

Yeah.

So I would go to my kroc dot org to find out everything that we offer.

Or you could go to my kroc dot org slash education and you'll just find stuff specific to my department or of course, just walk in.

Yeah, Come on in, guys.

It's a really warm place, and you'll enjoy it here.

We'd love to see you soon.

So I have to admit, this is the first time we've ever done experience michiana in a hallway.

Ali and Jeff.

I'm here in Cassopolis, Michigan.

Ali, why are we standing here in a hallway?

That's what I want to know.

We're in this hallway because as you can see from this hallway, it's rather bland and uninteresting and even somewhat depressing.

And Jeff here, who was the county administrator at the time of our first exhibit, was the person who made that first exhibit possible.

And so all two of us coconspirators are standing in this hallway to show people what it looked like before and what it looks like during a show.

So this is the fifth year that you've done this.

It started in 2015, and then obviously you took a bit of a break.

Well, this is the fifth iteration.

It's a semiannual.

Okay.

So we do it twice a year, three months in a stretch.

So tell me about what actually goes on here.

Oh, well, what actually goes on is we invite artists from all over the Michiana area.

There's three counties in Indiana and five counties in Michigan that are eligible to participate.

And they come on what is called our intake day or Labor Day and drop off their art.

And they're in.

And the thing is, they don't have to be judged in nobody's criticizing the art or rejecting any of it.

If it comes through the door and we have room for it, it's in the show.

So why is it an important opportunity for the artists?

You know, too many people come through and see it?

Well, this is important for a couple of reasons.

One is that, yes, it's a public building and it gets traffic every day from people of all strata of life, all economic conditions and all cultures of But for the artists is important because it's totally free.

There's no entry fee, there's no judging fee, there's no commission on artwork sold.

The reception is free.

And plus they get awards.

Oh, nice.

Yeah.

So, Jeff, you're the retired administrator.

You were here, obviously, when it started.

Why was it important to you to get behind this with that?

Lee?

Well, I left county government 35 years ago, and one of the reasons I left was this building and its lack of humanity.

And people work here and spend a lot of their lives here.

And any opportunity that we had to live in it and to bring humanity and art here was just something that I was determined that we do so.

And how do you feel about it now?

I think it is incredible.

It's it's this fifth cycle is is just magnificent.

It has staying power.

As I walked through and saw people that I used to work with, they said, When's it coming back?

And I could say it's coming back really soon.

So an artists, local artists are often kind of forgotten about.

You know, a lot of the time artists are sitting at home doing what they do, and the opportunities to actually showcase their work is really few and far between.

Right Alli it's exactly right.

And we've had artists come in that don't even know how to put the wire on the back of their paintings.

You know, there's never had anything on a public wall.

And they come in and they see it for the first time on a real wall.

I was like, Wow, I can't believe this is super, you know, And that they're mixed in with artists from all levels.

They're professionals that come in here.

We had a professional sculptor with incredible work and right across from it was the guy with his first photography entry, you know.

And so it's it gives them a chance to be with other artists to see what other artists can do, to know that what you're doing is not impossible.

And, you know, this experience is I've had them come back and return.

I mean, one of the ones that really sticks with me is a girl named Brenda Klein, who was your Jackie's friend, Jackie was his assistant, and she had been painting at home and never showing it to anybody except family.

And Jackie was a her friend and said, you know, you kind of this is our first show.

You got enter in this Brenda was like no.

Jackie Yes, you do.

And she badgered badgered her and she finally gave and she comes in, she enters her painting it sells She brings in a replacement it sells.

She has been selling ever since.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

So this is just one of the stories.

There's a multifold story that, you know, the thing about art is it's so subjective that you don't and it's so vulnerable, right?

When you do it, it's so vulnerable to actually put it out there with people like anything.

So all you need is one person to love it, to buy it.

You know, you just need the right person.

So another one was a friend, a friend of one of our members, Paige, who and actually, according to this interview for a friend of hers who did graphics, and she kept telling me, you know, well, I out of the show, he's like, no, no, no, no, no.

He brings in his two paintings and one of sells to Jeff.

Jeff how many pieces do you have at home that you bought from here?

Not as many as I should have.

So this year's your year.

This is my year.

You can buy one of my own.

I'm going to buy and sell.

And I buy as many as the current county administrator buys.

Okay.

There.

So then the glove is thrown.

So how long do the pieces actually stay up for?

Is that like one day, three months, three months, Three months gives everybody plenty of time to come and see.

Plus, near the end, we do Facebook a lot.

We actually run ads on Facebook and near the end will tell everybody, this is your last chance, You know, So what's the deadline to actually get your art in for artist watching?

Because we feature a lot of artists from sculptors to different arts on the show.

So what's the deadline?

Is there a deadline?

Yeah, they need to have their art here on Saturday, January 28th, last Saturday of the month.

Okay.

And then the artists reception is the next Saturday, February 4th.

So we install it in that the next week there between the two dates, there are several rules and requirements.

Okay.

They can be found online at Cass Area Artists website, which is Cass area artists dot org.

We are on 501 c 3 and the link to all of the information and the tags that have to come on the back of your art so we know whose it is.

All the information about that is on the very on the home page down the bottom.

There's little thing you can click and take it right there and download it and fill it out and you're ready to go.

So, Jeff, the award side of it, why was why is that important to actually award people?

Well, it's for many artists, you know, this is an opportunity one of the for new artists to be acknowledged and there is no entry fee so an award is a sign of success and they're a judges that the guests are Artists Association has identified.

So it's really important.

I'd like to just say something about our awards because they're rather unique.

It's not like first place, second place, third place.

Ours are by category, so we have approximately depending on what comes in as artwork 11, 12, 13 categories for including the best of show and the categories are painting or sculpture or printmaking or for photography.

And our award is for outstanding achievement in that.

Okay, so people don't feel like they're in a placement, you know, only only that they're really good at their choice of.

And of course, how can you actually do it first, second, third when it comes to art?

Because again, you know, you could give first place to something that doesn't sell and second place sells.

So who's the winner?

You know?

Well, that's what that's why we also have People's Choice awards.

So they can they can go ahead and vote via a QR code or an email.

So that website wants more for people to get information.

Cass is c a s s area artists artists is plural dot org.

I can imagine someone right now being like artist is Purell or spelling out the whole thing.

All right.

Yes Cass.

Area artists dot org there we go.

We'll put it on the screen too.

Without all that, that's fine.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

And January 28th is the deadline for that.

So make sure that you do it.

And, you know, as you said, turn this into a beautiful hallway and turn it into an art gallery.

Again, again, again.

So, Matt, you're the current administrator.

What do you feel about this exhibition going on here in your hallways?

I think it's incredible.

You know, I mean, I think across the county we've talked several times about how we really want to drive like culture and arts and, you know, those sorts of things here in Cass County, even though it's a rural area, I think there's still a great market for things like that and for me personally, I mean, you look around our hallways and it's a bit, you know, institutional in that regard.

You know, there's a lot of white walls and empty spaces.

And so it's amazing that when we bring the art in, it kind of breathed life into into the space.

We don't have a lot of windows here either.

So it kind of gives us something really great to look at as we're walking around.

And, you know, obviously to it a, you know, honors and cherishes, I guess, the hard work of our local artisans here in southwest Michigan as well.

All right.

Well, Matt, thank you so much.

And don't forget to check out the website to find out more details on January 28th.

That's the date that you need to remember.

We are at First Unitarian Church in South Bend with Eric and Eric.

We are braving kind of a little bit of a windy, cold day, but it's for a very worthy cause.

Now, tell us a little bit about this art show that is coming up.

We are celebrating our 70th birthday and thank you very much.

And it is all it is all a part of that celebration on March 17th.

We are having an art show opening on Saturday.

The following day we are having a concert performed by Peter Mayer.

And on the Sunday we're having a number of panel discussions all about environmental justice.

And this art show is all about that birthday party.

Well, a good happy birthday.

Thank you.

Can you tell us a little bit more about what is environmental justice?

Environmental justice.

Oh, my gosh.

Well, we could use the words climate change.

We could talk about all the plastic that we're putting into our environment.

And it's like everywhere and we would like to just bring to our people's attention the importance of maintaining our environment because we're kind of like borrowing it against our future.

And so that's the theme of our our show.

And, you know, that is a call that we all have, is we're supposed to be good stewards.

Yes.

Over over the earth.

So you're talking about the generations.

It's really important that not only that we are, you know, having experience in the earth and enjoying it, but that we can ensure that our kids and our grandchildren have that as well.

That's our exac that's our idea.

And and this art show will help facilitate and demonstrate those ideas, communicate those ideas in lots of different ways.

Now, are you getting submissions in?

How does that work?

Well, our show will run from March 17th for about two or three months after that, and we are asking people to submit photographs two dimensional of two dimensional works to our website and I'll share with you the URL and they'll send a name and address and telephone number, and then they'll also send us a photograph, and that will be due February 24th, I think.

And then juried our show people, we have selected a juror and he will decide who gets it and who doesn't.

After lots of different characteristics, there'll be prizes, $900 for first prize.

That's a nice price.

$500 for second prize, I think $250 for third prize, maybe even a couple of honorable mentions.

That is wonderful.

Now, what was the inspiration behind this project?

Well, again, it's our birthday and we want to celebrate with the community.

That simple.

How do you think that we are reaching a point where if we don't address what's happening in our environment, we could possibly not even have an Earth or something to pass down to the general?

Well, that's possible, but think how long us people have been around a very long time.

We're not going to burn it up into a cinder in the next.

No, not.

Not in the next decade, but.

But the change happens slowly.

And so and we see change happening.

So we need to be doing something differently now.

No, the world is not going to come to end next month, but it behooves us to be better stewards and also kind of passing that down just how to work with the earth onto the next generation as well.

Yes, correct.

That's all part of the plan.

So one of the submissions and again, we will close submissions on February 24th, and then after that we'll do the judging and we'll do the hanging and then we'll have our opening opening reception, which again will be March 17th.

Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

And I hope that all goes well with the project and with the show.

And thank you again for what you're doing.

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

And, you know, we're out here.

It's kind of a cold, windy day, a little bit dark, but guess what?

Spring is on its way.

I know it doesn't feel like it.

You know how Michiana it can be, but it definitely is.

So let us know also what you'd love to see.

When spring comes.

What are some of the things that you like to experience during that season?

Because it will come.

Trust us, it will be here.

Thanks so much.

Have a great weekend.

We'll see you next week.

Experience Michiana is made possible in part by the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the state of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.