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.

Hey I'm Irish Dave and welcome to Experience Michiana.

I'm here at Love Way in Middlebury.

We'll find out about an event that they have coming up called Barn Bonanza.

Courtney is going to be at the Midwest Museum of American Art to find out about their latest show.

But first, we're heading to Three Oaks in Michigan to meet a very famous filmmaker, John Hancock, to find out about his film festival that's coming up this weekend to.

It's nice to actually sit down for a moment and have a conversation.

I'm here with John Hancock, who's a filmmaker and director.

John, has the name John Hancock been a blessing throughout your life, or has it been something that has plagued you?

And your name is like it was harder at a certain point picking up girls?

That was hard, because they would say that was your name.

They would say, sure, I'm Martha Washington.

But it's I think it's been an asset.

I don't know, it's it's memorable.

My name has never been my problem with girls.

Before I was married, it was my face that was the problem.

Well, I had that, too.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

No, it's it's wonderful to meet you.

And you've been on the show, I believe, before talking about different things.

But, tell me about the film festival that's coming up and what's your part in it and what's happening?

Well, they're going to show nine of my movies.

So this is particularly rewarding for me because, you know, I, I go to the supermarket and people only know me for Prancer.

Yeah.

And here's a chance to be known in full.

I mean, see, the other things I've done.

I mean, I've, I did, bags of them slowly and weeds and let's go, Jessica, to death.

And I'm anxious to have people see those.

And when you have such a successful film like Prancer, that does become so synonymous with you again, is that something that sometimes it's like, obviously that's such a blessing to have that success, but does it feel like sometimes you just want people to see beyond that and see the other things that you've done?

Yeah, very much.

Also, it's a chance, you know, we're bringing in kind of celebrity guests from some of the actors and the producers and the editors and composers, and I'm looking forward to local people getting a chance to spend some time with them in and around the Q&A that we're having after each film.

And who are some of those people that are coming in?

While Glynnis O'Connor that starred in two of my pictures and, Bill Badalato that, produced a bunch of them.

And, I mean, he did Top Gun and About Schmidt, and he's a big Hollywood producer, and Ken Kitsch, my longtime partner from the theater, who, was very much part of weeds.

Weeds was, I lost negative when Dino De Laurentiis, who produced the Is company, went belly up.

Somehow they managed to misplay the negatives.

So we were over decades tracking it down, and we finally found it at Technicolor where it belonged.

And we've, going to bring it out now on Blu ray, misplace the negatives is almost like a brilliant title for something.

I don't know why.

Just as you said, misplace the negatives.

I thought it would be good to do in life, but.

Yeah, but not when it comes up.

Not with my, with my baby.

How did you get into film producing and filmmaking?

Well, I started in the theater, I started directing plays in college, and I directed a hit Off-Broadway when I was 22, and then I worked in the theater for 8 or 10 years and got a grant from the American Film Institute to make a short, and it was nominated for a Academy Award.

And then that got me my first two features, and I started working as a director in movies.

What are your thoughts on, I feel like every generation has a different opinion on what's happening, and it's not like it's good, bad, indifferent.

I think it's just what's going on.

But what what is your opinion on the state of film today versus, you know, when maybe a couple of decades ago or more when you were doing it when you first.

Well, we're in a kind of grim period right now.

This is not a moment of glory in the film industry.

I mean, there are just too many, Marvel movies.

Yeah, it just dominates.

And stuff for adults is, greatly diminished.

And it's a pity.

I think it'll turn around.

You know, the business is so sad.

It's like the fashion industry and how long skirts are in this and that.

I mean, it it.

Someone will come out with a very successful adult film, and then everyone will want to make those again for a while.

I hope not.

When you say adult five, you mean for for adults?

Not.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

And and again, with this film festival that's happening.

When is it happening, by the way?

There.

It's, October 24th, 25th and 26th in Three Oaks, Michigan.

And so here in the theater.

Yeah.

Which is absolutely beautiful.

And, to get all these people to come in, the different people that you have, the producers and stuff coming in for the questions and answers sessions was a difficult to coordinate to get everybody in or where they like.

You know what, for you, John, we're good.

We're going to be there.

I think they were happy to come.

Yeah.

I mean, we're looking forward to seeing each other and spending some time, personal time together, remembering things.

It's, I'm very much looking forward to the weekend when they're all my old friends that I've worked with my whole life.

Yeah.

What's the relationship like when you work so closely with people for months and months and months on something, and then all of a sudden you let it free to the world?

I mean, it must be such a high and low at the same time, is it once you release it, does it feel like, oh, it's tremendous, the let down.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, you spend such intense time with people and then all of a sudden you don't see them for five years.

Yeah.

It's weird.

You think you're going to be friends forever, and maybe you are, but it's it has significant vacations from the friendship.

Yeah.

There's sometimes the best friendships though, right?

You know, sometimes you don't necessarily see them, but the connection never dies.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so it's great.

And so you've got nine films.

Yes.

That they're going to be shown here over the weekend.

How does it work?

Like when people get like a weekend pass or that they just pay for each one separately, or how does that work?

There's a very inexpensive weekend pass that enables you to see all of them.

Yeah, yeah.

That's great.

I love that $25.

You can see everything.

Yeah.

And I was this your idea to put this on this weekend or was it the theater's idea?

Like where the film festival.

It was the idea of my, co-writer, Marsha Broad.

Hacker.

We've written a screenplay together that we're trying to get on, and she thought it would be nice to have Three Oaks do my movies, and she spoke to the theater, and they they bit there, got excited and got behind it.

Are you from this area originally or where you're from?

Yeah, yeah.

And so do you live here now?

I do okay.

And Three Oaks seems to have a, you know, Three Oaks.

I feel like it's passed over a lot.

Just geographically even just people passing through.

But it seems to have, it seems to be really rooted in the arts right now.

It seems to have a nice, really artistic feel about the town she grew up with.

That or.

No, I do.

I feel partially responsible because I brought prints are here.

And that kind of started to, to, begin the revitalization of Three Oaks.

I mean, then they opened the Acorn Theater and then the vickers here and all of these antique shops and art galleries.

I mean, it it it, Three Oaks is a place, you know, it's like the Hamptons of Chicago now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is true.

I mean, there is a lot of people from Chicago that come out this way.

And, you know, some people complain about that, but also, you know, they're good for the industry when they're buying art and things like that.

They, you know, so it's great as well.

And Three Oaks, as you mentioned, there's such it's such a nice little town.

And the only time I'm ever here is every time we're recording something for Experience Michiana.

But it really is great.

So there's nine films happening over the weekend.

And you mentioned it's October 24th, 25th and 26.

Yes.

And it's here at the Vickers Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan.

And what would you say to people that are from a little bit further away that don't three Oaks really isn't on their on their radar?

Like, what would you encourage them about coming in for this weekend?

What why should they really do it or why would you like them to do it?

Well, I'm shocked that people don't know where it is, and I want them to get to know the town too.

Yeah, I mean, this is an asset, this town in this area, and they should they're welcome to come from far away.

Are you going to do questions and answers after every movie?

After every movie, there'll be a Q&A session.

Nice.

Yeah, that's fantastic with, you know, the actors and the producers and the composer and that kind of thing.

That is great.

Well, I love that you're doing it.

It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful weekend.

I'm looking forward.

Are you still working on things today?

You talk about having.

Yes.

Writer Marsha.

Yes.

We've got a wonderful screenplay that's getting some heat in Hollywood, and we're going to be going out there the middle of November to try to meet with people about that, get some money for it.

Yeah.

That's you got to get the money to get it going.

Yeah.

That's the trick.

What do you think about I'll ask you this finally, when one of the things I almost feel like I have paralysis is trying to figure out something to watch.

Sometimes when you go on streaming services and there's just so much content, sometimes I don't even know where to begin, and it makes me just want to switch it off because I have the same experience.

It's hard to figure out what to watch.

Yeah, it feels very noisy, you know?

Yeah.

And there's a lot of bad work.

Yeah.

And it's a much bit too many bad films being made.

Well, sometimes I look at things like even, say like a twister movie that's remade.

And I look back at the original from the 90s and I think that the graphics look better, you know, from back then there was something about it that maybe it's just my eyes with my age and I don't know what it is, but because they remade twister, they did.

They remade it?

Yeah.

There's a tornado in it again.

What for?

You know, there's never you can never have enough tornadoes now.

So, but thank you so much, John.

And thank graduations on on all you've brought to Three Oaks and just in your career.

It's always great to do something fulfilling.

So I hope it's a really great weekend for you.

Oh, I do too.

I think it will be.

Thank you.

Today we're in Elkhart at the Midwest Museum of American Art, and I've been to this show before, and I'm so excited to be back here again with my friend Jennifer.

Thank you for having us today.

You guys have the regional juried show, and this is always just an incredible collaborative event where everyone comes together across the region to put their art on display.

Absolutely.

So this is our 47th year.

47 yes.

That's incredible.

We are really excited.

And this year we had over 400, almost 400 works entered into the show.

Wow.

188 were actually accepted by our judges.

It's 24 counties, 20 in Indiana, four in, southern Michigan that are eligible.

So these are really regional artists.

These are local local artists, artists you've probably seen at other juried shows in the area.

But this is everybody bringing their best work, their A-game, their A-game.

Yes.

I feel like we need a big, like, sculpture of a. Exactly, exactly.

And it was a it was a really hard year for our judges because that's exactly what they said.

There were so many good works and to start at almost 400 works, and I cut them down to 188 is extremely difficult.

I can't even imagine what goes into making those kinds of decisions.

Well, I'm not a judge.

Okay?

Thank God you're not it.

But I have watched them.

And the first they do about 2 or 3 rounds of passes to try to get down the first pass is pretty easy.

The first pass eliminate, like 100 works of art.

Oh, wow.

And the first time that happened, I had a little bit of anxiety because I thought, oh my gosh, is that going to be anything left to say?

But that was a sham.

But then it becomes more and more difficult.

And usually we like to hang between 160 and 180 works.

Okay.

And this year when they got to the 190 mark, they said, you know, we're really starting to cut some good works.

Is there any way you can hang, you know, just a couple extra?

Yeah.

A couple extra.

Yeah.

So for us yeah.

So we said we will figure it out.

And so that's why this is one of our bigger shows with 188 works.

It is actually.

And again you guys have been doing this for 47 years.

Yeah.

Let's talk about that and the impact that it and how you've seen it grow over the time.

Well, we didn't start out with 24 counties for small and it was just a couple of counties and and over the years has grown and grown to where we're at.

Over this, these 47 years, we've given away three quarters of $1 million worth of prize money.

Oh my gosh.

So $750,000.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

Oh it's wonderful.

And that's one of the reasons the artists come, because the artists know that their work's going to get recognized and that they do get are or are eligible for cash awards.

And so this year we gave away almost $40,000.

Amazing.

I mean, and I do want to mention to the artists for sale here, right?

Absolutely.

The artists for sale artists, are excited about that.

We do, how we raise our awards.

We have purchase awards, which are purchase award patrons.

They are a society of associate members of the museum.

And if you're a society of associate member or a corporate member, you can be a purchase award patron and a 100% of the purchase award money goes to the artist.

Oh, incredible.

So yeah, it's a very good thing for the artists.

And so it's a win win because the purchase award patron gets the piece of art.

And the artist gets the cash.

Yeah.

And yeah.

And then we have other people who want to just do what's called a merit award, and they might have certain reasons why they want to do a merit award.

Okay.

But that cash goes 100% to the artist.

The artist still keeps the work of art.

And all remains for sale.

Okay.

That's like a blue ribbon.

It's like a it is, it is.

So, for example, the visitors bureau does a, well crafted purchase award or I'm sorry, merit award, and that the only restriction to that is it's someone from Elkhart County.

Okay.

So so you guys have like, a variety of merit awards.

Yes.

Yes.

And I'm sure that's a great draw for individuals who want to participate in this too.

What I'm looking at some of the beautiful artwork behind us too.

What are some of the different, what are what are they offering here?

Because I all your painting.

I see photography.

Absolutely.

So we have best of categories that are chosen by the judges.

Oh, and is that based on what they what they have submitted to them?

Or so they select.

Best of show and best, photography, best ceramic, best mixed media, best sculpture.

And all of that is based on a criteria that the judges.

It's basically their experience, their expertise, and their in the field of art.

And I and I know you have the right judges in here because this is just incredible art.

Well, they're, most of the time, these judges are either full professors of art at local, or I say a local, a university or college or they're a director of a gallery.

Yeah.

So both of the judges this time, one was a director of the gallery out of Fort Wayne, and the other judge had been a fine arts professor.

Me so they they have the credentials.

They do.

They.

Absolutely.

So let's talk about this because this is just this is eye catching.

There's a number of pieces in here that are eye-catching.

We're not going to show you all of them because we want you to come here and visit the museum.

Exactly.

This is just a beautiful piece.

This is best of show.

And this is called evacuation.

It's a porcelain and a spy noir.

Both Amsterdam and Norway.

This is out of style, and she's very talented.

She has one other awards, not only here, but in other competitions.

And she has another piece on the second floor that people need to come and see that also won a purchase award, and it almost looks like it needs to be in a history museum.

I mean, it's it's like her conclusions are very thematic.

Yes.

It's incredible.

Yeah, it's a very beautiful piece.

And then this one is can we talk about this?

This one draws my eyes.

Oh yes.

The Reds, or so it is.

Mary Amador is out of Goshen and she is a very well known artist.

And that's just a portrait.

And it's a mixed media.

And the reason it's a mixed media is it's using more than one, medium of art.

It's not just oil, it's got applique.

So mixed media is when you're using some two, two or more things.

Okay.

And I know there's other stuff over here too.

I mean, this is just a beautiful mixed media piece.

So this is the best sculpture.

This is called Ali Ali and Free.

It's a mixed media sculpture and it's by Haley Heidi Bailey out of Warsaw.

And again, she's also a very well seasoned artist.

This particular gallery was set up by, our curator, Randy, and his theme of this gallery is local landscapes.

Okay.

And, some of these, you have to kind of look to see the landscape, but this one in particular, many people think this is a photograph, but this is best painting.

It's a painting, it is a painting and it is called Open Road.

And it's an oil by Jesse Armstead.

So it looks like a photograph.

Absolutely.

It's incredible.

He he's extremely talented.

Well no wonder he got an award for that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

These are things I cannot do right now.

Then we had a lot of people love catching.

And so it is it's super.

It's called Neon Nights and it's an acrylic by Lee McCarty out of, one of that.

Wonderful.

Now, when can people come and visit the museum?

Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 5.

And on Saturdays from one and till five.

Okay.

And this particular exhibit, what you guys are doing here with the juried show.

Yes.

You're going to have this available for people to see for a while, right?

We're keeping it up until December, December 31st.

So we have a couple months.

Absolutely.

So feel like you might need to come a couple times.

So we have had people come a couple times and it's great if you have company for Thanksgiving or Christmas bring them in.

Yeah I mean it's a great show I love it I love it okay.

Now let's take a look at this okay.

This is a mixed media.

It received best mixed media is called indeterminate agency.

And it's by Stephen Jeffrey Pro and he's from Elkhart.

Oh wow.

So yeah.

And once again you can see cutouts.

It's, it's like all different kinds of mediums in there.

Yes.

That's really cool.

I mean, very artistic.

It's just amazing.

I love it and I love that you guys have a new display here too.

You guys have worked hard to bring the gift shop out so people can purchase stuff.

Yes, yes.

It's amazing.

Our gift shop had been hidden away for many years.

Some people didn't even know we ran against shop.

I think we passed by it every time we've been here before.

Yeah.

And so what's really fun about this is this is yet another way for us to showcase local and regional artists.

And what's super fun about this is there are many artists that are actually in the regional that also have their artwork in here.

Oh, okay.

So like Nora Ruth who won Best of Show.

Oh, this is more people.

These are some of her pieces.

I love it.

So if you don't get that piece, you have an opportunity.

You can have a piece.

Yeah, yeah.

She has some really lovely things here.

Then, for example, this is Sunday, Marsha, and Sunday has a piece in the regional, but you'll have to come in to see what piece that is.

Yeah, that's not going to give everything away for everybody.

Right.

Yeah.

That's on the second floor.

But again that's a local artist.

Then we have just in Russia over here.

Many people know him, and his wife, Brooke Ross Shank.

She has these prints I love it.

Where can people get more information about your hours and space on our website?

Okay, perfect.

WW Midwest museum.org.

Wonderful.

So yes, so much.

I hope everyone gets a chance to come out and support our regional and local artists.

Absolutely.

This is a great way to do it.

Yes.

Thank you.

So happy to have you and congrats on 47 years.

Oh yes.

Thanks.

I know it's hard to believe three more years will be 50.

Yes, I know you guys will do it big.

Them too.

So yeah, absolutely.

Thank you.

I am here at Love Way in Middlebury, and I'm here with Jessica, who's our director of communications.

Jessica, tell me about this horse that's here right now.

Yeah.

For sure.

This is Buttercup.

Buttercup has been here for about three years.

Buttercup is used in weekly classes with our students.

Super, super trustworthy horse.

And.

Yeah, he looks like he's, like, kind of a bit sketch of me.

Come on.

Which I can understand.

I don't have anything nice for him, but, tell me a little bit about what goes on here at lovely.

Yeah.

For sure.

So lovely has been around for about 52 years.

And we provide equine assisted services to children with diagnosed disabilities.

So we partner with local schools.

We're partnered with, I believe it's 14 Elkhart Community Schools right now.

And those students in those classes come once a week for anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half, and they go through a different, class each week.

With our certified instructors and instructing team, and they go through the basic horsemanship of, a horse.

You talk about some of the, the programs that they go through.

I know that when the kids here, like a lot of the kids, might be, like nonverbal and things like that, and often, like, there's kids that actually have, like their first words here because it's almost like the horses just do something for their growth.

That's just amazing.

Like it's not a place where kids just come for a fun, like horseback ride.

Like there is an immense amount of therapy that's achieved with these.

There is, there is, which is amazing.

And and I know the nonprofit organization, these schools, the parents, they don't pay for the services.

But obviously having all these horses in this barn and all the renovations you just did as well is expensive.

So some of the things you do are different fundraisers.

But I know you have, and Barn Bonanza coming up.

So tell me a little bit about that.

Come here.

Buttercup.

The horse is like, I want to get as far away from David.

Like.

And.

Yeah, for sure.

So barn Bonanza is going to be this Friday, October 24th, from 5 to 7 p.m.

here at LoveWay in Middlebury.

And it is a trick or treating event for children with disabilities.

So it's really it's an inclusive event.

It doesn't matter if you know you have a wheelchair.

It doesn't matter.

Any ability you can come to this event and be a part of it.

We'll have different stalls, decorated local community partners like the Logan Center and other, local community partners, that will decorate the stall.

And they dress up as their favorite Halloween character.

We'll have treats.

We'll have trinkets for those that can't have the treats.

And then we'll have some fun games in the arena.

Sensory friendly.

We just really want to make sure that this is all inclusive to all students.

And all children in our community, have a diagnosis and just making sure that it's an inclusive event for all.

I will say I've become a slightly grumpy old man when I see the amount of different Halloween things are on them.

Like, when did Halloween become like a two week thing with 400 events to go to?

Yeah, but when it comes to things like this, I absolutely love it.

Because again, you never want a kid based on their different abilities to be able to go or not.

So I love that you have this going on and plus it's such a beautiful place to visit as well.

It is.

So you're talking about these stalls behind the each one gets decorated.

What happens to the horses while the stalls are being decorated?

Yeah for sure.

So we actually keep some of the horses in the stalls in the barn.

For the event, I think right now we plan on having ten stalls decorated.

The rest of the horses, if they're not in the barn during the event, they will be outside in their pasture where they have a little shelter, and we have hay and water, and they spend most of their day out there anyways when the weather's good.

Well, I think it was like 80 degrees last weekend.

So I mean, you know, at this point, is winter even going to come?

I don't know.

We hope not.

We hope not.

And so you have all these horses.

I absolutely love it.

And all these events going on.

You recently did a lot of renovations here as well, which is really cool.

Can you tell me a little bit about what's going on as well with the whole building?

Yeah for sure.

So we are currently going through some renovations, making it a safer facility, more accessible for everyone.

We are adding in some doors, so it's Ada accessible for everyone.

So it doesn't matter.

The ability again.

That this is really supposed to be a community focused, center and just making sure that everyone in the community feels welcome, and able to access our stables.

Our horses really get to know, the community that makes this possible, which is really cool.

So we just replaced our roof.

We just repainted our facility, the inside right now.

I can't wait to show you guys.

Currently have some drywall being put up and some new framing going up.

Yes.

But we plan to do, like, a little ribbon cutting.

And welcome to the community, if they aren't familiar with the the facility to come out once everything is completed.

Hopefully I don't want to say a date, but hopefully by November, middle of November it will be complete.

But hey, it's still open and you're still doing everything and the kids are still being helped, which is amazing.

So, barn Bonanza, as you mentioned.

What times is it happening on Friday?

Yeah, for sure.

So it starts at five.

You can come anytime between 5 and 7 on Friday.

Yeah.

What do you smell?

I'm just jealous.

Buttercups got some nice hair going on there.

Does.

Hey, buttercup.

Let's do.

Horses are so sensitive.

I remember being here before, for something and even just having, like, a camera or anything that's out of their normal environment, they really are aware of, right?

They're hyper aware.

And so, I have not spent a lot of time around horses.

I don't really like anything that can kick me to death.

So I'm more like, but I'm kind of like, I don't fear them, but I'm very much aware of their power.

Like they have a lot of power, even though they do.

But yes, they're super intelligent.

They are.

And they're super calming to like.

It's really cool to see, like, when our students, get on the horse for the first time, or even when they just have those interactions of simple interactions with petting the horse or brushing the horse.

Seeing how the horse reacts and seeing the impact that the horse has on the children, and also that the child has on the horse.

It's really cool.

They kind of have a calming effect on each other.

Yeah.

My first week here at Love Way, I was able to be a side walker.

So I was able to walk alongside, our student on the horse, and then also our horse leader.

And really, just through the arena, just see the impact that not only the kids have on the student or the kids have on the horses, but the horses have on the students, and then also the volunteers.

Like, that's really cool to see the power and the impact of the horse on the volunteer.

And I know that you have a huge volunteer base, so do make sure to watch out at Love Way if you follow them on social media.

I know that throughout the year you have a couple of, volunteer sessions.

We do, which is really important because, you know, every child and a lot of cases needs three adults in a lot of cases around.

And so that's mostly volunteers.

Again, it's not some of them are staff, but some volunteers.

So yeah, make sure and check out Love Way on Facebook or Instagram or lovely on their website.

But yeah.

Barn Bonanza happening on Friday, October 24th from 5 to 7 p.m.

and, I wonder if they'll let me go on the horse.

Probably would probably wouldn't do that to the list.

So there's never any excuse to not do anything right.

Some people say there's never anything happening.

There's lots to experience.

That's why we can do this show every week.

If you're out and about and you do experience something that you think we should highlight on the show, go to Facebook, search for Experience Michiana.

Follow us on there.

Send your suggestion.

And you never know.

It might be on one of our upcoming shows.

Until next week.

We'll talk to you then.

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