1234.

Get my shoes in.

Out the door.

Five.

I'm lost.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Feels great.

I'm gonna shine.

After I do what I'm gonna do.

I do it again.

Yeah.

Look at the sky with the beautiful color.

But never just for me.

You gotta share it with another.

I got to show, to give.

Let I want singing show.

Take a look and say a beautiful morning that turns into a beautiful evening.

And together make beautiful art.

And if you wanna see that, come along with me.

That's right.

Welcome to Experience Michiana.

We're so glad that you're with us as we showcase some of the wonderful things that are happening in the Michiana community.

The 10th annual Performing Media Festival is happening here in South Bend, and we're going to find out all about that.

We're headed over to Goshen to find out about First Fridays and this month's theme of Giving Back.

And we're going to see how you can do that and be a part of that.

But first, Dave is headed over to Fire Arts to find out about their latest exhibit.

I'm here with Dervish, who is actually from Turkey originally.

And you're a professor at Notre Dame, right?

As well as being an artist.

Tell me a little bit about how you ended up here in this area and what you're what you're doing in this area.

Well, I came here, because of Notre Dame.

I'm a theoretical physicist, by training and, the academic world is tough to find job, so.

Yeah.

I'm very grateful and happy, to be working here at Notre Dame in the physics department.

I feel like as someone who was born in another country, like, that's the number one question I always got, like, how did you end up here?

Notre Dame is a big answer, obviously, for most people.

So I felt like I needed to start off with that one at least.

So that's what you do professionally, you know, full time.

Tell me a little bit about your, what's the style?

What is it that we're looking at here?

I know nothing about it.

So I'm a complete novice when it comes to all this.

Can you tell me a little bit about what it is and the process behind it?

Yeah.

So my my artistic interests kind of align with my academic interests also.

I'm very interested in, aging and death, how things fall apart, how how biological organisms fall apart, how ecosystems fall apart, how things go extinct, and so on.

It's a little bit dark, maybe, but I, I like this.

But, you know, there's also something to be said about the beauty of things that are not traditionally, viewed as beautiful, such as a crack in the wall or, I don't know, you crumple a piece of paper, but like, if you draw a frame around the crumpled piece of paper, it's like it could be like a cathedral, right?

It's actually very beautiful.

Yeah.

Or maybe you pour your beer in a glass and a foam.

Right?

And you look at the structure of the foam and it's like, it's like a masterpiece, right?

So, like, I appreciate the little, the beauty and little things.

Let's say I love that.

I think about that sometimes.

Like, if I make, like, tea in a glass and put some milk in, you see the milk?

Oh, yeah.

That's me.

I'm like, that's one of the, like, the way it mixes together.

So I totally get it.

And I actually think if we stop and appreciate those things more, there's beauty everywhere.

Yeah.

So, when did you start doing arts?

Like what?

Like, is this something that you've done all your life or.

I mean, you have this big exhibit that's happening here in downtown South Bend.

How did you get to a point of being this good?

So actually, I my hobby is to collect hobbies.

I very much enjoy being in the growth mindset.

And I have so many, so many things that I like to do.

I'm a composer also, and I write little things, like I play with mud, I play with my little equations and things.

But so I started doing pottery really just two years ago.

And, but when I get into something, I get consumed with us.

Yes.

And so I, I do spend a lot of time these days on pottery, and all my other hobbies are now kind of a burner there.

They're waiting for the pottery to, to die off.

But and again, explain some of the pieces here, like what were some of your favorites?

Like, you talk about things being you find beauty and things that are not perfect.

Yeah.

So for example here, like, I, I really love cracks like, oh, desiccated earth.

Yeah.

I don't know, like an old person's skin.

Yeah.

Wrinkles.

Right.

So you can see that in a lot of my pieces, like cracked crackling patterns.

Yeah.

I really love the patterns that form in the biological world.

Like, for example, here, this orange one, looks very much like how a slime mold, would be looking for food.

You know, they form this beautiful, beautiful networks, here in the back.

Maybe, you might find some similarities.

Perhaps with a fingerprint.

Oh, yeah.

Which we never think about.

Right.

Because it's always in our thumb.

But it's actually, like, a gorgeous pattern.

And, like, like branches, roots.

Yeah.

And corals.

Brain corals.

Yeah.

These, these patterns have a name in general, like the sand dunes and your fingerprints and the brain coral or the zebra stripes.

They're called turning patterns.

Okay.

And, it's also an academic interest of mine.

Like in the living world.

How do these patterns emerge?

So you only started doing this two years ago.

Yeah.

And you're already just have, like, your own exhibit.

It's my it's my first solo exhibit, right?

Yeah.

But it's still, I mean, even to have this, there's there's many things on display and just to have this, how does that feel?

Like that must be kind of cool.

It's.

I feel very proud.

I mean, maybe this might sound a little egocentric or something, but when I, when I look at something I build, I really find it very beautiful.

And in a way, that's the advantage of making your own kind of art, like composing or pottery, but, like, you can make things exactly the way you want.

Yes.

And you can, like, it's customized exactly for you and.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's a big draw for me.

I, I always believe I love creating too.

And one of the things I always believe is that, you know, so, so much emphasis is put on people consuming your creation as that's the level of success.

But to me, the real success is enjoying the creation.

I very much agree.

I'm the consumer.

Like, yeah, but as the person making it, I'm the consumer.

I'm making it exactly like I want.

And that way it's like, okay, if someone buys them, that's cool.

That's a great thing.

But the the joy of the experience is not dictated by whether these are sell.

You know, in the special case of pottery, there's also an element of like, a dopamine rush when you open the kiln because like before that point, it's just mud.

It's just it doesn't look beautiful.

It doesn't look like vibrant.

It's basically mud.

And then you just make it undergo this magical process.

You open the box and it's like, wow, Christmas, Christmas Day for me.

I love that your enthusiasm for this is really infectious.

I really like it.

I also think about that the more I get into like, science was not something that I was very much into until a few years ago.

And when you talk about different patterns and things like that, there's actually there's so many things that have similar patterns across the world that we never think of, like even in the galaxy or in, in small things or in, in just a leaf of a tree, like, there's, there's so many things that have similar patterns, right?

Like that.

You see them in so many places.

So there's only so many.

I mean, you can customize it, but it feels like there's only so many things you can do as well.

And there's so many similarities between a lot of, yeah, in physics we call this universality class.

Okay.

There you go.

Okay.

Class number one, neurosurgery.

Class number two.

Well, like, totally unrelated things exhibit the same behaviors.

And yeah, in physics, which is yeah, these systems, as I'm saying it, I'm like, I could be talking gibberish, but that's what it feels like to me.

And then you gave it a really nice, you know, academic name.

So you made me feel like better about that.

So I appreciate it.

So tell me about this exhibit that's here.

Like, do you know when it's open and and people can come and see it.

Yeah.

It's it's here.

Flight arts, this gallery opens after like after 12:00.

Yeah.

It's open every day except Sunday and Monday.

Yeah.

And this exhibit is going to be on until the end of March.

And are you hoping to do any like are you planning on being here for any events?

I know sometimes, you know, the artist likes to be here as well.

So that's something that you're going to do or.

Yeah, we had a very crowded opening events.

I was very happy.

At the end of the exhibit, I'm going to give a talk here.

There's going to be like a public talk at the very end of this, exhibit.

I'm going to give a talk, and I'm going to show a lot of pictures about, you know, how these patterns form in nature.

It's going to be a little bit sciency, actually.

Nice.

That's awesome.

As I said.

Yeah, that's just, it's something that the older I get, the more I want to know these things.

And so that's really cool.

Well, good for you, I like this.

I'm glad you found this hobby.

I wonder what your next hobby is going to be.

And I don't know, maybe it'll just be pottery.

And when it comes to putting a price on things, just finally, how do you put a price on something?

Do you think about the consumer like what's okay for someone to buy or do you think about?

Truly, I'd be happy for that to go.

So this is extremely difficult for me.

I don't typically sell my pieces, especially my good pieces.

So when they told me that, okay, that we're going to have an exhibit for you, what I did is I open my cupboards, my cabinets, my.

So most of these things are the stuff that I use at my own house.

Okay.

These are my own plates and my cups and my flower pots and so on.

And then, like the ones that I thought, okay, I want to continue using this because I just really love this so much.

I just inflated their prices so that nobody would so that nobody would buy them.

That's awesome.

But, sadly, they kind of do.

Sadly, people are buying my lovely people and buy my favorite stuff.

And now you're eating off paper plates at home till the end of March?

Yeah, there's a little bit of that.

Definitely.

Well, thank you so much.

You know, your enthusiasm for it really comes across.

So I do hope all of them sell or not.

Whatever you prefer.

So.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming.

Well, we are a decade into the Performing Media festival and I have with me Ryan.

Ryan, you are the host for the event.

And this is is it the 10th year you guys have been doing this?

Yeah, it's our 10th year.

We're very excited for performing Media Festival number ten.

That is amazing.

Now this is my first time really diving into what the festival entails.

So I'm really excited to hear from you and to share with our community what all they can expect out of it.

Now, what's happening next weekend?

Correct?

That's right.

We have events running Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

There's roughly two events a day, so we have, opening concerts at 7 p.m.

on Thursday, and then we have a noon on Friday and a seven on Friday, and a noon on Saturday and a seven on Saturday.

And there's a wide variety of events that encompass within this.

And I really love that you have such a wide spread.

Anything for performances.

And you also have some artist talks, things like that.

So I want to kind of dive into that, but let's draw things back first.

How did you get here to begin with ten years ago.

Wow.

So, yeah, I came to South Bend to work and teach at IU South Bend, and I'm a composer at heart.

And, found my way working in multimedia spaces.

And I was creating works that use visuals to kind of give motion to electronic sound, to accompany and work with live performers.

And when I got to IU South Bend, I met a colleague, Eric Sadler, who was a video artist at heart and was found himself working with music to create the same kind of in result.

So the two of us got together, we talked about the works that we were interested in, and we started working with students could be both instructors.

And what we realized as we started to work with students and create pieces with them, is that we needed a place to showcase what we were doing with the students, and then also to bring in some practitioners to South Bend that are doing this stuff nationally, so that the students and the community can start to experience some of this kind of experimental and new art form that we are working with in the performing media world.

And I'm not really familiar with what that means.

You know, when I think of performing arts, you often think of what's on stage or what do you hear at a concert?

So talk to us a little bit about what the difference and what people can expect in this regard.

Yeah.

So we take a really broad view of what it means to perform with different types of media.

But we really focus mostly on works that involve both audio and visual as a kind of holistic art form.

So you can kind of, make a juxtaposition against like the good old fashioned music video where you've got a song that everyone listens to on the radio, and then here's the music video for it.

And most of the artists working with the kind of art form that we're doing at Performing Media Festival, they're starting to think not first I'll make a song and then make a video, but they think first about the video outcome and create both the song and the visuals to work towards that unified art form.

So some are doing this to perform things live, just like you mentioned.

We have concerts that happen at IU South Bend.

We have performances at Lang Lab, but we also have artists who are creating works that are exhibit in galleries.

So we have a little installation at the South Bend Museum of Art.

Oh, okay.

Artists that are doing things to just be screened, like in a movie theater.

So we have screenings of video works at the Browning Cinema, at the Department Performing Arts Center, and they're also doing a screening at the Saint Joseph County Public Library.

So pretty diverse group of, venues.

Yeah, the idea is all the same that there's people creating performance works with the end goal, that it's a unified kind of multimedia experience and trying to create some new art with that end goal in mind.

I love that so much.

And, you know, since you've been doing this for a number, I have to ask, how have you seen this expanding and how wide are the people that are coming to this?

Because this is this is a draw.

Yeah, yeah, for sure, I hope so.

We as I said at the beginning, you know, we're here at IU South Bend working with students.

And that was our first year, was mainly working with students and a few colleagues that both Erik, the co-founder and I knew and brought into town.

And then we kind of just slowly started to grow from there.

So each year kind of adding a little bit.

And I think one of our biggest, growth moments was when we started to have installations at the South Bend Museum of Art, which is obviously a kind of an iconic place in the middle of downtown where the community can come and experience art and know to go there for new things.

And that gave us a bit of a blueprint to reach out to other community partners.

So after that, we started to work with, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center to screen with The Browning Cinema.

And pretty early on, we also started having our concerts at Lang Lab, which is another arts venue in town known for kind of, audience members going to experience something new, maybe a little bit outside the box.

Right.

We're trying to have the festival go to these places that are known for showcasing new art, showcasing art from both the community but also nationally.

And it's just been really exciting to see how these institutions have come together in this kind of networked fashion, and then also showcase our city to the artists that come to town.

It's really great to hear them after they've been talked about.

Oh wow, South bend is so great.

You know, you've got this great art museum, these great venues.

So it's really fantastic to have both the community and the artists who come to present works kind of see themselves together in these festival experiences.

Absolutely.

And I know our, our viewers always hear me say, but the performing arts are just so incredible here at a community.

So I love that you are giving them the opportunity to to expand on this, let's talk about a couple of the different things that are going to be happening.

It's a three day event.

That's right.

So we have some stuff coming on.

Is it start on Thursday or Friday starts on Thursday at 7 p.m.

and we kick off as we have, I think from the beginning at IU South Bend.

So we'll be at the joshi performing, performance hall at IU South Bend at 7 p.m.

on Thursday.

And that concert's really for works in the concert hall.

And if you haven't been to IU, South Bend's Joshi Performing Arts Center or Performing Performance Hall, one of the most amazing things about it is it has a surround sound audio system.

And so we have works that will be featuring, composers who wrote specifically to have sounds coming from all around and a really beautiful screen and a lot of live performers for that opening concert to get that very, very cool.

And I know then you guys, is there a calendar posted online so everyone can follow along with where they want to be and where they need to go?

Yes.

Yeah, it's tricky when you've got so many different venues.

So we just have a really long website name called Performing Media festival.com.

So it's the whole title there.

It's a lot to type in, but it is just the name.

So WW dot Performing Media festival.com will have the venues listed but then also a schedule, the quick schedule overview at the top and then kind of a list of what to expect at each place.

And then if people need to get tickets for each event or how does that work?

So the events are all free, some event places.

Yeah.

You know, it's great, right?

And some places do ask for you to get a ticket, but you can get a free ticket.

So, for example, Browning Cinema, they do have tickets, but that's something you can get at their box office.

Other venues.

It's simply, you know, walk in.

But the events are free to attend.

So we really hope the public comes out and with an open mind to experience this new art form and kind of see some of the things that artists or living artists are doing and creating this new space.

I love that aside from artists, you know, who else would be a great person to come and catch something like this?

Is it family friendly for the most part?

Yeah.

It's it kind of depends on the venue.

I would say that the South Bend Museum of Art is a great family friendly space.

I mean you can always walk in there and see all sorts of things if you didn't know.

Right now they're doing their scholastic's, experience.

So you're already showcasing high school artists from around the region.

And the concerts at IU South Bend are also open to the public and a great space, very accessible.

So those are probably the high ones.

If you're going to kind of come with family or just looking for like a really nice venue, it's just a late evening.

So it goes from like seven til about 10 or 11.

So it's kind of a later night.

Okay.

So it just kind of depends on the space and some of the art can be a bit, bright.

So in dark spaces.

So if you're sensitive to like really flashy lights or loud sounds, then you may just want to kind of experience the the exhibit at the South and Museum of Art, where you can walk in and see it.

If you need to step out, you can.

And so I think there's a way to kind of test the waters to see what you want to experience more as you want.

I love that we love experiencing things here in this.

Yeah, sure.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much, Ryan.

Good luck on your festival and thank you.

Ten years.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much Courtney.

It was great talking with you.

You so.

It feels like all winter we've been stuck inside because of the weather, and it finally feels like we're able to get back out again.

And I'm joined by DEMARÉE, who wants to talk about Goshen First Friday DEMARÉE and first.

First Friday has been going on all winter long, even despite the weather in Goshen.

Or are they back?

No.

Goshen First Fridays is a 12 months of the year event, and we're happy to be holding such a great event here in March.

But Goshen gives back, and it does feel like the weather finally feels a little bit like, It's nice to think about these events and over the winter where they well-attended.

Or do you find the summer ones are better attended or how how does that go?

You know, our summer ones always do have tons of crowds and lots of fun, but we have lots of great things that happen in the winter, too.

You know, we've got our hometown holidays, light parade in November or the Fire and Ice festival in January, so we are happy to put on events that bring people out all year round.

And so what's happening this Friday?

Yeah.

So this Friday in Goshen, we're hosting Goshen gives back to the great event so that folks can get out, enjoy a little bit of this warmer weather, do some shopping around downtown Goshen, maybe going out to dinner.

And with their purchases at participating locations around downtown Goshen, those locations will be donating 10% of their profits for the evening to various partner charities and nonprofits in the local area.

So we've got businesses that are partnered with places like Cordell House, The Window, First Light Mission, the Post Youth Center, or National Immigrant Justice Center as well.

So lots and lots of places for people to, make their purchases go a little bit further here in Goshen.

Nice.

And I know, my full time role in my business is working with nonprofit organizations.

And I know that giving back is something that's on people's radar at the end of the year a lot, but around March, it's not really something people don't necessarily think about giving to nonprofits.

So I love that aspect of it.

Why was that kind of chosen in March to do that?

Well, you know, it is a great opportunity in March for us to be able to help people get out into the spring weather and, and, do a little bit of shopping, a little bit of fresh air.

And, it's just a great opportunity for us in terms of our calendar through the year to be able to find a time to give back.

And you're right, it's a time when giving is a little bit lower for lots of nonprofits and charities.

So it's nice to be able to help businesses in downtown and help those nonprofits at a time when they, could use a little more donations.

Absolutely.

And so what's kind of going on, you know, you talked about over the winter, different things like the lights and the fire and arts and all those things.

What's the kind of highlight or what are the kind of things that people can do this Friday?

Sure.

So certainly we want folks to go out shopping those businesses, there will be a shopping passport for folks.

So as they shop, they will get stamped in their passport.

And once they've shopped in three separate locations that are partnered with a charity for the night.

So the entered into a drawing for a downtown Goshen prize pack.

We've also got other activities going on.

There's going to be live music at Goshen Brewing, the free activities for kids at Garden Center Church.

Maple City Market is partnering with Goshen Public Library to host a Hungry bookworm scavenger hunt at the market.

Lots and lots of events happening around downtown on Friday nights.

And again, it's, you know, there's there's very few main streets that remain, you know, that's something, you know, that a lot of areas struggle with.

But Goshen still has that Main Street feel, and it's something that I absolutely, really like.

I love downtown Goshen.

I know a lot of the nonprofits down there, too, like the window like first light mission that you mentioned as well.

And I love when local businesses support local nonprofits especially.

That's something that I'm very passionate about.

But it is it does still have that downtown Main Street feeling going on with lots of established businesses that have been there a long time.

And I, I think in a world full of getting everything delivered to your house in 24 hours, I think it's so important that we continue to support these businesses personally.

That's something that's important to me.

Absolutely.

We're very, very proud of our downtown, proud of the downtown businesses that that we have and the vibrant community that we can support, and our downtown area, including those nonprofits like you mentioned for Dale House, the Post Youth Center.

We have a lot who are partnering with us this month, so it's great to be able to do that.

You mentioned this passport, obviously.

That's that's a bit of an idea to get people to, you know, buy things in different stores.

So is that something that was done before or is this the first time that's been done for First Fridays?

That is something we've done before.

And you're right, we want people to shop in these businesses.

We want them to support the local business, keep our downtown vibrant, but we also want people to get out there and support as many of these charities as they can.

Right.

It's a great opportunity to be able to do that.

True.

And it's not like you have to spend a fortune at each shop.

You know, you can spend anything you want at the shop.

And so what did you mention?

If you shop at at least three downtown locations, what is it that you're entered into something.

Is it.

Yes.

So you will get a passport.

And if you shop in at least three locations, have dinner at one of them, for example.

That sounds to, you would be entered into a drawing to win a, downtown Goshen Pride pack with downtown Goshen businesses, contributing to that.

So, it's a it's a great opportunity to, to get to know a few businesses downtown that maybe you haven't shopped in before and get to know a few nonprofits that you might not know to.

Yeah, true.

And there's also going to be music.

Is that right?

Between 7 and 9 p.m., there will be some music at Goshen Brewing Company, between 7 and 9 p.m., as well as a number of other activities.

Nice.

So again, people going along, what time does it start as a 5:00?

I don't know, but yes, we start at 5 p.m.. It goes from 5 to 9 all over downtown Goshen.

And you can find all the information about this event, as well as all of our events through the year at downtown goshen.org.

And so obviously this this one, this Friday, as we look ahead and I'm starting to think already about spring, some people are talking about summer.

And I'm like, calm down, okay.

We still have spring to enjoy.

That's a nice time where I'm not just like dying from the humidity, being born in Ireland and can handle it.

But what are some of the staples looking forward into the spring as well that are that we're kind of looking forward to?

Yeah.

So in April we're doing an arts and music event called Rhythm and Hues.

And then in May we will be on the courthouse lawn for Goshen Green Days with lots of, green gardening, springy sorts of activities.

In June we are doing a birthday bash, and, we'll have lots of fun sort of birthday party activities all through June.

And then tons more activities through the fall where we're very excited about our entire lineup of events for the year.

That's fantastic.

So get out this Friday eve.

No more excuses.

The snow is gone.

Maybe.

I'm not sure about rain, but the snow is gone anyway and that's all that matters.

And again, downtown Goshen, it's such a great Main Street environment, I love it.

There's lots of great food options, including my favorite pizza in the world, that is in downtown Goshen, which has a very nice cocktail bar right beside it to, you know, there you go.

But but yeah, but thank you.

So much.

I appreciate everything that's being done.

I love main streets.

I think we should get out and support them.

And this is a great way to do it.

So thank you.

Wonderful.

Well, thank you.

And we look forward to seeing you out.

Well, that's it for this week's show.

Everybody.

Thank you so much for being with us.

We really hope that you'll be back with us again next week as we bring you a few more things that you can get out and experience in the Michiana area.

Well, it is just about spring and we are really looking forward to getting out in the spring and the warmth and explore the Michiana area outside.

Do you and your family have some things that you do every spring, or some favorite areas that you love to explore?

Would you let us know about them on Facebook?

Just search Experience Michiana on Facebook and send us a message and we'd love to hear what you guys are doing and possibly even feature it on the show.

Well, thank you so much for being with us.

We really hope you have a great week.

And until next time we'll see you out.

Experience in Michiana.

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