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.

Hey, I'm Dave and welcome to Experience Michiana on this week's show.

I'm here in Saint Joseph, Michigan at the Box Factory to find out why here in just a second.

But Courtney was also out and about this week at Arts and Bloom the Garden Walk.

I'm also going to find out about the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra.

They're doing the music of Queen at Saint Mary's College, and this show sounds fantastic.

But first, as I mentioned, I'm here at the Box Factory in Saint Joseph, Michigan to find out about their 30th anniversary, which is happening this Saturday.

I always love and experience Michiana when I get to come to places that have never been before.

And today I am at the box factory with board member Deborah Baker.

Deborah, this is beautiful.

I mentioned before we start recording.

It reminds me a little bit of the old bag factory in Goshen and.

But tell me about this building.

I know that it's been around since 1910, as it says, up on the sign, but where exactly are we?

Well, it started out as a box factory, the Williams box factory, and it had been an abandoned building for some time when in 1995, the Berry Artists Guild took a big leap of faith and purchased it as an empty shell of a building, and over the years put in a lot of hard work to make it what it is today, which is a 55,000 square foot multidisciplinary space for the arts.

It's wonderful.

There's something about these buildings.

I don't know what it is.

Maybe it's my old soul or something, but there's something about these buildings, the how they're constructed, the ceilings.

They're just so warm to me.

There's just something about them that's just so inviting compared to newer builds.

Well, it works perfectly for our purposes.

We exhibit art, we have live performances, we hold classes and workshops, and it's the wonderful, multi-faceted space that artists can really make their homes.

They have.

We have 69, studios for artists, up in the three floors that we have.

So it's a wonderful home for the arts.

And of course, artists, it can be such a lonely endeavor.

So having a space like this, that doesn't cost them a fortune to be here.

Also, having the collaboration of energy and just being part of a community makes such a big difference.

Well, that's exactly right.

That's our mission to support emerging and established artists.

And we take that mission seriously in terms of making sure that artists can have affordable space, that they have a place to show their work, and that they have a place to gather.

And we see it as a real sort of creative incubator and a community hub where people can come for low cost access to the arts and Saturday, June 14th, it is a day for people to gather.

So tell me a little bit about what's going to be happening in this room.

Well, throughout the year, we're using this opportunity to celebrate that this is our 30th anniversary, and we are going to have a wonderful benefit here on Saturday night with Brian Lubeck, who was is a wonderful, musician who got his start here on this stage, 30 years ago.

So he's coming back to celebrate with us along with Andrew Fisher, a wonderful local musician will have a silent auction, a live auction, wonderful food, wonderful drink.

We have a, specialty drink called the Painters Mule.

So our painters mule painters mule sounds good.

But it'll be a fun night.

And we look forward to having as many people come and join us as I can.

And so, what are the details for the concert this Saturday?

For the enterprise from 5 to 9.

The doors open at five.

The auction is from 5 to 7, and the concert starts right after that.

We hope everyone can get here in time to enjoy all of it.

Well, I know that's happening this Saturday, but there's lots for people to experience.

Whether they can make it on June 14th or not.

So we're going to chat with David about some of the exhibitions that are going on here as well.

So thank you so much and I hope you have a great night.

Thank you very much.

Enjoy those painters mules.

So we just spoke with Deborah Baker and now we're speaking with David Baker.

But no relation, no relation, although you are also serving on the board here of the box factory.

Actually I'm, co-chair of the exhibitions department.

Oh, the exhibition.

So tell me a little bit about the exhibitions that are actually going on here right now.

So, well, just a brief overview.

The box is, six exhibition series per year.

Each of those runs, 6 or 7 weeks.

And we are currently in our series number three, which is a regional juried show.

The acronym is the MAAC which has been modified to be MAAC in the box.

It's the, M A A C the the Michiana annual art competition.

Okay.

And it's a juried show.

Our guest year was, Jessica Boas, who was a sculptor.

And, top finalist in the Art prize and, and Grand Rapids.

And she selected from the 275 pieces that were entered, 158 pieces for our show.

And so the show was, offer four levels and four galleries and on three levels.

And it's it's really a special one.

This is really quite nice.

And this is one of the pieces here behind me.

Can you tell me a little bit about this escape velocity?

This is a beast, a Doug Laferle from Grand Rapids.

By trade.

He's an architect, but he also paints and does these wonderful kinetic sculptures.

And this is based on, a NASA launch and, the recording out of this antique 1968, sound machine is actually the, footage taken in the control panel during the NASA launch.

And here we have the planets and, all this cosmic things and and wonderful motion and, and there's 130 artists here in total that are representing.

Correct.

So there's a lot of variety, a lot of like this is definitely unusual and special, certainly, but there's a lot of variety that you can see across the floor.

So there's a great variety.

We have eight different categories and prizes awarded in each three painting categories oil, acrylic and watercolor.

Mixed media sculpture, three dimensional art.

This one is as a kinetic, which is sort of in our mixed media area.

We have ceramics, we have fiber art, printmaking, drawing.

I hope I've hit a book.

You have?

It's it's quite, quite an array.

And we have good representation in all the areas.

So you mentioned that this is made by Doug Laferle.

And it's funny because there's actually a portrait of him just around the corner.

Right.

Exactly.

The portrait is actually done by a wonderful, very inspiring portrait.

Harry Ahn.

And Harry's portrait is of this artist, Doug Laferle, with another of his wonderful kinetic machines.

And so there's a lovely tie there.

We put him close together, hoping people wouldn't miss that.

And so we talked to Deborah about the 30th anniversary coming up, which is on Saturday, June 14th.

But obviously with the exhibition and this goes on a lot longer.

So, how long is this here for you talk about this.

This is third out of six.

Yeah.

This particular exhibit, the MAAC runs through July 6th, and our next, series is series number four, and we will actually have four new shows, one in each of our four galleries, and we turn them over, rather rapidly.

This one closes on July 6th, and the new one opens on July 11th.

And, for people, because a lot of people watching, they may live in Elkhart or South Bend and may not really think about coming up here, but what would you say to them as an overall just perspective of this whole 55,000 square foot building?

It's it's a wonderful, dynamic place, and we try to have things going on all the time.

We generally have 2 or 3, concerts or performances, going each month.

We have an open mic every Wednesday night.

We have several groups that meet.

There's a weaving group, a spinning group.

Bob Williams teaches portrait classes twice a week.

So there's just an awful lot happen.

It's really within our mission to promote, established and emerging artists.

And, that's, we do it pretty well and pretty actively.

It's a very beautiful building, and there's lots to see here.

And, yeah, just it's really nice.

And as I mentioned, Deborah I love these buildings, you know, the stone walls and there's just something about them that they just feel better than they do buildings, the building I tell people when they come in, you know, the building is half of the treat It is in addition to the artwork on the walls, in addition to our fourth floor galleries, we actually have a couple, volunteers, who are tenants here, artists, tenants who have decided here's a little spot of empty wall.

Let's make another gallery.

We've now added, four.

We're calling them boutique galleries.

So small, intimate spaces that weren't part of our main four exhibitions.

They're not really part of our exhibition committee's efforts, but, we're turning those over about every month, and those are really a lovely opportunity for our members.

Yeah.

The guild is, the guild owns the box.

The guild is 350 members strong.

And so these small, spaces are an opportunity for art makers to show something.

They may not have three dozen pieces for a major show in one of our big galleries.

And so it provides even more opportunities.

And no space wasted.

No space wasted.

That's that's a great tagline.

We may we may use that in our marketing.

Wow.

I'll take some commission for that if there's any available.

Well, thank you so much.

I hope a lot of people show up to the concert on Saturday, but just in general, I hope they put this on the radars of places to visit.

So it's like so wonderful happening place.

Thank you for the thank you.

Well, the gardens are blooming and we are here.

Combining that with some art.

The arts and bloom Garden walk is happening.

It's coming up.

Thank you so much for joining me on this.

What your role is because you I mean, this is a pivotal event that you guys are putting on.

So I'm the publicity chair for this year's garden walk.

I'm a volunteer, so I'm not getting paid for any of this, but that's okay.

But we love it.

And this is such a great event.

You guys have been putting this on for, what, 30 plus years?

35 years?

30 plus years.

Yes.

Amazing.

So for anybody who hasn't been a part of the garden walk before, talk to us about what that looks like.

I mean, what the purpose of it really is to combine what we see, what we know and love nature and combine it with the arts.

Okay, so logistically, here's how the day is going to run.

So you start off at the hospitality center.

So the hospitality center is at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Cleveland Road.

So you go there, you get your guidebook and in the guidebook you have a map of all the gardens, and then you just take your time.

You go to the garden, it's self-paced.

You can go at any time during the day between 930 and 730.

So you just go to the gardens and then you'll see artists working in the gardens, and you can just enjoy your day.

I love it.

And these are, you know, this is someone's home that you're going to.

Absolutely.

And we're in someone's backyard right now.

Yes.

So we're in Julie and David deal's, garden.

So they've been so kind as to volunteer their garden this year for the garden walk.

Okay, so for people who maybe I've been working really hard on their garden for a long time.

Yes.

How do they get to be a part of the garden walk?

I think they secure people.

I mean, I think they actively look the year prior, so I'm not sure.

I think they have a because it takes time to get to that point.

Right?

Yeah.

It takes time.

So they look a year in advance and I think they just might ask people in the ask if they know people within their neighborhood to see if they'd be interested.

And if there's enough interest, I think then that's how they choose the gardens and how many gardens are on the walk this year.

Oh good question.

I want to say there's a lot of information available on your website that's available on the website.

Okay.

Perfect.

And I know we're not giving up information ahead of time because we don't want anyone walking through people's backyards ahead of time.

But when is the event happening?

The events happening on June 25th from 930 to 730.

Awesome.

So for these, for these different houses that people are going to go to, they're going to be able to see the gardens.

And, you know, we're also bringing in the artists to it.

Yes.

How many artists do you guys have?

We have 20 artists this year and all different mediums from drawing, painting, pastels, ceramics.

So yeah, we've got a lot of different mediums.

A lot of, variety as far as the types of art is called.

Okay.

So when I walk into the garden, I'm going to see those artists actually doing their art.

Yeah.

Garden.

Right.

Absolutely.

They'll be working in the gardens I love that.

So maybe they're going to take some of the background, I guess.

I don't know, that house is probably one of your favorites I love yes, yes, yeah.

Do but like finding those unique pieces, unique, visuals.

Yeah.

To make and create art.

What happens with art afterwards?

Afterwards, I think the artists decide what they want to do with it.

I think some of them, actually donate the pieces to the the garden owners, just as a kind of a thank you.

Otherwise they get to decide what they do with it.

And I want to point out this isn't a free event.

You have to get your ticket.

And that's also how you get the information of where the gardens are at.

Yes.

So you can get your tickets.

You can get them online at, South Bend art.com.

You can go to the South Bend Museum of Art and you can get them directly from the counter.

Or you can get them the day off at the hospitality center.

So they're $20 in advance, but $25 if you, get them the day of.

Okay.

And this is really, like, a fundraiser for you guys.

It's a fundraiser.

It's a fundraiser to support our arts and outreach programs.

I love it, I love it.

I think we're going to talk to some of the artists.

Yes.

Okay.

Let's do that.

Absolutely.

Okay.

Now we're going to talk to some of the artists.

And some of you have done this before, but you have not.

This is your first time doing arts in the garden.

Tell me about what you're expecting out of this experience.

I'm honestly not sure what to expect.

I usually do plain air paintings, which is.

What does that mean?

So plain air is where you sit in nature and you draw what you see as it is.

So it's not from a picture.

So I'm hoping to do some of that.

Well, okay.

Sitting in the garden wherever they place me.

And I'm really excited.

Hopefully some people are intrigued and want to try it for themselves someday.

Maybe.

Yeah.

And this is one of your drawings here?

Yes.

What did you use for this one?

This I used chalk pastel.

Okay, okay.

It's beautiful.

Now it's just something you saw here in Michiana.

So this is from Kobus Creek in Elkhart, okay.

And I sat next to the creek and there was this little stump covered in moss, and I just decided to sit and draw it.

I love it, I love it.

Okay, tell me about yours, too.

This is a beautiful piece.

Thank you.

My piece is of cone flowers and lavender, and, cone flowers are an Indiana flower.

So I made this, very much, you know, within our region.

Yeah.

This is, plein air as well.

So just done or done, like immediately.

So in oil painting, we say all prima.

This is a fancy way to say it, but, I'm excited.

I'm excited to be in the garden.

And this is my second time doing this, okay.

And back when I was in college, ten years ago, I was doing it at another garden, so I'm excited.

Oh, cool.

And I know you guys don't know yet where you're going to be placed yet, right?

Okay.

So it's going to be a surprise.

We're going to see that Kolton tell me about your art.

Yeah.

So I did a charcoal drawing of some calla lilies.

We did this in a studio.

And so when you're working with charcoal, you can get a lot of heavy contrast and be able to create a lot of form.

So it'll be excited to come out here and be able to work in the outside of the studio and be able to lighten up the drawing and do some different things with it.

Now you guys have done this before?

Yes, yes.

How does that feel when you're able to kind of do your art surrounded by others and surrounded by nature?

It's it's really nice.

It kind of breaks the pattern.

As artists, a lot of the times we're in our studios, we're alone.

We're, you know, we're focusing on like our more personal visions and being able to go out and not only share our art, but share that experience with others.

I think is a really unique and beneficial thing for us as artists, but also the community.

Yeah, I think the when we're out in, in the field or in the yard, per se, it's fun because, yeah, we might work on our own type of work, different genres of work as well.

But being out in the air and outside is really freeing, and it's really fun and it's very meditative.

So hopefully people traveling through the gardens will get that experience as well.

Or you'll see me in the background like, oh no, I think you need to add more paintings.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

Absolutely.

You know, I love that.

It's such a great experience for you guys.

How long have you been doing art?

So I've been doing art since I was a little kid, and it just was something that I love so much that I decided to go to art school, and now I work at the museum, so everything's worked out.

I guess.

I love this, this is an example of how things work out.

That's great.

Well, I'm really excited for you guys to be a part of the garden Walk and just to get out and experience nature and seeing in so many different ways.

So when people are here, they're watching you do their artwork.

I mean, what has been some of your guys's experience in the past when you are interacting with those individuals?

Yeah.

So when they come around, they're always curious about the medium we're using.

What we're looking at, how we do it.

And so it's fun to explain to people the process.

So they're very interested in the process and what goes into it, maybe even what materials we're using specifically.

It's really fun to see people really curious.

How did you start with the background?

Do you start with the Foreground?

Right.

Right.

Like these are these are questions we need.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

It's very educational in that way where as artists we're giving to explain what we're doing.

But it's also things that we don't expect.

I remember someone asking me like, oh, how did you choose your composition?

What made you choose this spot compared to other ones?

And sometimes, you know, as artists, we're like, I don't know.

You know, I have to think about it a little bit more.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's I think overall it's just a good way for us to interact with the broader community as well.

Absolutely.

This is rain or shine.

So I hope you guys are going to have maybe a tent over if you need it to.

Yeah.

We're going to bring our umbrellas.

Yep.

Yeah okay.

Hopefully not.

So we're going to have a watercolor painting.

Yeah absolutely.

Yeah.

There you go.

Yeah absolutely.

So in the South Bend area, we are very spoiled with a lot of great performers and a lot of great shows that come through our area, and one is coming up in the next couple of weeks.

That is the music of Queen.

I'm joined now by three different people that we're going to talk about, including a conductor, the the performer behind it, and then the creator of the show as well.

So we're very excited for that.

I'm here with Rob, MiG and Brant and Rob.

Tell me a little bit about the show, the music of Queen that is coming here.

How did it end up being in South Bend, and what's your role in it?

Sure.

Well, thanks for having me here.

A lot of people in the community probably know me as Doctor Robert Boardman, but in this case, I'm the doctor of rock for this concert.

So, I've been music director for 14 years in South Bend, and, we've done a lot of crazy cool things.

We've done the Lord of the Rings Symphony four times with almost 300 performers on stage.

We've done star Wars concerts, we've commissioned composers and brought in famous soloists.

And, you know, for our summer camp, I really wanted to, do something completely different and exciting for the community.

And so, a lot of people don't know this about me, but I played in half a dozen rock bands when I was in high school and college, and, and then I went on to get a doctorate in orchestra conducting, and I wanted to find a way to bring those two worlds together.

And last, you know, Summer, I heard about this music of Queen show that Brant Havens had created and, that MiG was going to be singing.

And I had the incredible opportunity to go down to the Detroit Symphony and see them in concert.

And, they totally blew my socks off.

And I watched the audience go wild.

And it's an incredible rock concert.

And so I just.

This is perfect.

This is exactly what we need to bring to South Bend.

And like, I know that the community will be excited about this.

This is not just going to be a kids concert.

This is going to be for the community.

This is a professional rock concert.

So when people hear youth Symphony, what they immediately think like less or something like that.

But can you just share some of the talent of of these young people that are performing in this?

Well, sure.

I mean, it's an all star, youth symphony.

We're lucky enough to be, joined by 13 of our alumni.

So we have a number of students who graduated from the Youth Symphony, went off to college, have music degrees, have come back.

They're going to be coaching the students all week during, the camp, and they're going to be playing in the orchestra.

And then we'll have a few other members of the community who pile on.

So there's going to be like almost 85 people in the orchestra, plus the rock band, plus MiG who's going to be our front man, who's like an increase incredible at working in the audience.

So everybody's going to want to see this now.

Brant, you're the creator behind WindBornes, and can you tell me exactly what that is and why that's different and what exactly that is?

When you're bringing the music of Queen to South Bend?

Yeah.

Well, it's a, it's basically taking a full orchestra and you take a rock band, and then you mix them all together.

So it's, And I try to.

I try to explain even to my musicians when, when I hire the the band for these shows.

Look, you guys are part of the orchestra and part, and the orchestra is part of the band.

So, like, you have the brass and you have the strings, and then you have the band.

So there's it's it's just a section of the orchestra.

So it's, it's a mash together and it's not really a mash.

It's just a wonderful combination of the two to of the two items, you know, a rock band, electric guitar, bass, bass guitar, a keyboard player, a drummer and then a MiG out front.

And then you've got the orchestra surrounding it and, you know, it's all written together.

It's not like, okay, here's the band over here, and here's the orchestra over here.

It's one big, wonderful piece of, of music that that really works well together, especially with the Queen music.

So, MiG, you were born in the Philippines, then moved to Australia and then in 2001 moved to London.

And then you moved to the US and you're you're a Wikipedia page.

Makes me think I've achieved nothing in life.

You've done quite a lot and how did you end up in this show?

the trajectory of my career, I ended up doing a show on Broadway called Rock of ages.

And I played Stacy Jackson.

That.

That's why I was doing the first national tour.

And, we worked as the Broadway Rock of ages band.

We do some corporate gigs after that, after Broadway is closed, but we do as a band, which I was unit, but I'm doing the the original members of the Rock of ages band, and we did one concert with With Brent, where Brent orchestrated the whole show of what we do, all these songs from the 80s, and we did this, a massive, production in, Saint Louis and Louis, Missouri.

And, we only had one concert.

I'm afraid.

But, I think it was several months later.

Brant was needed someone to take over the Queen show because the original, the, the usual singer couldn't make one concert, and he remembered that I did this show with him in Rock of Ages and called me and said, hey, MiG, are you available?

Would you like to do it?

Do you want to work with me?

And of course, I jumped at the opportunity.

And here we are.

I feel like I'm out of all the diets I've tried.

Maybe I just need to be cast as, Freddie Mercury in order to really get me to stay in shape.

That must be the ultimate tenor.

What?

Everyone worries about hitting his vocals.

I'm just thinking about hitting the suits that he wore.

So well, especially especially the early years when you wear those onesies, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, the thing is, the good thing is, one thing I have to say, if you come to see the show and expect me to be in that onesie, you'll be very disappointed because I don't wear the onesie.

I don't have a mustache.

I can't really grow because I'm part Filipino and I don't really have much facial hair.

The thing is, I don't pretend to be Freddie Mercury.

We are celebrating the music of Queen.

And so.

Yeah, I don't want him.

I don't want him to be Freddie.

I don't want him to act like Freddie, necessarily.

I want him act like MiG.

That's why I hired him.

I he's he is MiG and he's phenomenal at it.

But the idea here is celebrating, like you said, celebrating the music, not celebrating Freddie Mercury per se, or trying to be an impersonator of of, of Freddie.

It's really celebrating that wonderful music in a different way.

And he handles it just incredibly well, just incredibly well.

I probably tapped into an ignorance that was good there, because a lot of people will assume that it is somewhat of a tribute show, but then hearing that, it's really not I mean, it's a tribute to their music, but it's not.

Yes, and that's good.

And again, my ignorance on that probably helped a lot of people that will watch this.

No, that that's not what it is, which I think actually makes it more attractive.

And in my opinion.

So yeah.

Yeah.

And MiG actually says that right from the get go, he comes out, he sings, refers to anything.

He goes, I guess you're expecting to see somebody and you know, that looks different with the mustache and not happening.

I am not Freddie.

Yeah.

There is no because I can only be one Freddie Mercury and that's the that's the whole point.

But what we are do celebrating is the music, the catalog that they have.

I mean, all four members of Queen were incredible songwriters and individually wrote worldwide number one hits.

You know, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Brian May, Freddie Mercury.

So it's about their, you know, collaborations and their catalog, which is really their, their legacy.

I love it.

Well, Rob, can you tell us the details for people watching that actually want to go along now and and see this show?

When's that happening?

And what are the details there?

The concert is happening Friday, June 20th at 7 p.m..

It's at Saint Mary's College in the O'Laughlin auditorium in the Monroe Center for the Arts, and those tickets are available online.

I don't have the website on hand, but, I mean, I think if you go to SBYSO dot org and they click around our events, it'll take us take you eventually to the ticketing page.

But yeah, it's all right.

We've got producers.

It's probably on the screen right now as we speak.

Okay, okay, okay.

Not it'll be linked to the story.

So we'll find it all there.

But, it sounds like it's going to be a wonderful night.

MiG, I'm so glad that, you know, your career is taking you to this moment because, you know, people will really love this, and they'll really love what you're doing.

And the same will bring to your vision to bring this alive.

And bring it to a live audience in South Bend.

And then Rob also bringing in the youth orchestra with some alumni and professional musicians.

It just sounds like an all around night that's going to be such a feel good night and such a celebration of music.

So I love that we're we're excited to be there to working with the South Bend Youth Orchestra.

It's going to be something have been working with these young musicians.

They're hungry.

They're excited.

You know, and that's the that's what we want in a band and, and and a great experience for them moving forward in their careers.

If they decide to choose music as, as their career, this is something they can say, oh, I've done this.

This is a wonderful thing for me.

So well and a great opportunity to that you might get to see some standout talent that you can, you know, the same way that.

So yeah, it's it's wonderful.

I'm glad it's coming to town.

I'm glad you put it all together and all the hard work.

I know that the performance is the grand finale.

I know there's a lot that goes into it beforehand, so thank you so much.

And I just hope it's a sell out night for you guys.

So thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

Thank you so much Dave.

Thanks.

Take care.

If you told me the music of Queen like.

Don't get me wrong, I like the music of Queen, but after listening to those guys talking and hearing about the youth orchestra as some of the alumni coming in, I'm really excited about that show.

And it sounds like it's going to be a great night at Saint Mary's College, so make sure you head along.

There's no excuses.

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