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.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Today.

We have a show loaded with the arts today and I'm feeling kind of fishy about it.

Maybe you are too but we have a great show for you.

We're going to be heading over to Premiere Arch.

They are opening up next weekend with Sister Act.

What a fabulous musical.

You want to make sure you get your tickets for that.

We also have the opportunity to head over to the 38th Annual Juried Show that was happening at Heartland Arts Center down in Plymouth, and they have some wonderful pieces of art.

But here, right now.

Well, we're going to take you there first for the 48th Annual Juried show at the Midwest Museum of American Art.

Let's go fishing.

Well, we have a juried art show, and this one, you know, because it has been around for almost half of a century.

We're coming up on this is our 48th anniversary.

Is that right?

It's really hard to believe, but yeah, it's exciting as always.

Midwest Museum of American Art.

And I always love coming here.

And I was saying to you, before we get started to the more and more I come to these shows, I'm starting to pick up some of the artists and see their artwork continually throughout the Michigan area, which is just so wonderful because I think it's so important for us to recognize that we are art here in Michiana.

Absolutely.

We have such a very strong arts community in Elkhart County, and it's really fun to celebrate these artists.

And the regional covers a 24 county area.

Really?

Yes.

Okay.

That's big.

That's not just Elkhart County.

No.

We go all the way to like, Fort Wayne up to Michigan City and then down to like, oh gosh, that like south towards Indianapolis and a little bit further north.

Okay.

I point to Indian and then we have four counties in Michigan.

So we are the machine area and a little bit more.

Now what makes it so interesting for artists to put their art into this particular show?

So one of the great things for the artists is that not only is it a juried competition, but because we've been around so long, we have a lot of cash awards that are given to the artists.

And so last night we just had our purchase award preview party.

That is a tongue twister.

That one is.

And we had $25,900 purchase awards.

Wow.

And for $500 for swords.

So we had almost 3030 purchase award patrons plus their plus one, and they came in and were able to select their purchase award.

And those purchase awards are going to be given out on Saturday night.

Now Saturday is a big event that you guys have going on for your books, right?

Saturday is the opening reception.

Okay.

For the jury to take off, right?

It is.

It is the kickoff for the juried regional.

And we are then open from October 10th through December 31st.

Okay, but who can come to the jury?

Yeah, that's open to the general public.

Right.

But no, I mean, no, but there is a way to get in.

So the way you get in is if you're a Society of Associates member and there is still time, you can become a Society of Associates member even on Saturday and show up.

Okay.

Or you're an accepted artist and there's over 120 accepted artists into the show.

Oh, okay.

You can be a sponsor of the show and any purchase award, patron or merit award patron.

And then, of course, we have a few honored guests.

So if you fit in any of those categories, you're more than welcome to come on Saturday night.

You guys are going to be having this.

How long does the is everything exhibited for?

Its exhibited until December 31st.

Okay, so we have a time to come in because I know there's a lot to look at here.

Yes.

And like right here, this is one of us.

This is best of show.

This is beautiful.

And yeah, it's a great scene from Chicago.

I think we all have.

We've been to Chicago.

We we feel that scene.

Yeah.

And it's by Tony Bianco.

He spell the scene right?

You can smell it.

You can't feel.

I know what Chicago smells like.

You can hear it.

You can feel it.

You can see it.

Yeah.

This is very real.

Yeah, but he is a great artist, and he's been in the show before.

But we're really feel honored to recognize him this year.

This is a very cool, very cool.

And this is all.

This is acrylic.

Yes.

Okay.

So let's walk because I know there's a lot of other different kinds of sculptures and stuff like that too.

What are all the different kinds of media that you guys have?

So we have watercolor.

We have drawings, etchings, mixed media.

Okay.

Here's a beautiful ceramic piece by Eric Coffman.

When we're talking about purchase awards.

Eric had two pieces.

They both got into the show.

Wow.

I did I do want to mention this.

We have a 40, had a 47% acceptance rate this year.

Or is that.

That's pretty tough.

That's tough.

It is tough.

And so it speaks to Eric because he had two pieces get in the show.

Yeah.

And last night both of those pieces were accepted for purchase awards.

Really.

He is a very popular artist.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah, I like that.

How many people usually submit to this?

We we usually have over 400.

Okay.

Works and over 200 artists.

Oh my gosh.

So yeah, every.

I want to be a part of this.

Yeah.

Every artist can submit up to two works.

They have to be original, okay?

And they have to be done in the last two years.

And they can't have one another major award, meaning they can't go from one show to another and just use the same work over and over.

They have to show creativity something new.

Yes.

Yes.

And so is there one in here?

This this is the.

This particular one is my kind of art.

It's my kind of art.

I love this this afternoon.

So well together.

This is this is beautiful to me.

And, you know, it doesn't show a particular scene.

It doesn't show, you know, an abstract, but it calls to me.

And I think that's what's beautiful about art.

It is.

And one of the interesting things is not every piece of art that is entered is available for purchase award, but they are for sale.

So we had a purchase award patron last night that picked out another piece of art, First Purchase award, but he and his significant other are interested in buying that.

Okay, well, we might have a little conversation about that.

I want to make sure everyone knows that I want to do all that.

Yeah.

If you're interested in art, want to collect some wonderful local artists, regional artists come to our show and you can buy the art.

And let's talk about that too, because that's important for, you know, the community itself and getting their name out there as far as an artist.

Oh, this is really cool too.

Okay.

So this is done by Mike Tudor and you might have heard Mike's name before.

He is a master woodworker.

He enters in the show almost every year for the last five or so years.

But he is also a huge, supporter of the museum.

Okay.

And I don't know, we have several wood pieces that he has done for the museum.

Repurpose.

So there's a bench outside my office.

Okay, we've talked about that before that.

And he's made that and that whole reception area that was redone last year with the repurposed wood and glass from the museum.

Well, from the bank that we used to be.

I remember we talked about that.

He made all of that.

Look at that.

So this guy right there is.

Yeah, my kind of guy.

My kind of guy.

He.

And this also was selected for a purchase award last night.

Wonderful.

So yeah.

So it gives you an idea of the varied works of art that are available here.

And if you're a purchase award sponsor, you get first dibs.

We call it the sneak peek.

Yeah, yeah.

You get to think it's like being an artist to submit work to a juried show.

Like, what is the process that they go through?

Well, you know, I, I would love to be able to tell you exactly what this is, but I am not an artist.

You just.

I wish I had that creative ability.

But, you know, I think they look at the shows that, have a lot of recognition and prestige and we've been around for 48 years.

And so we have that.

And so most of I say most 100% of them submit their A game.

Okay.

So we have some really well known artists this year that didn't get in.

And that just shows you how competitive is.

So when you submit to the show, it's got to be the best of the best.

And they're submitting it.

They're bringing them here in person, right?

They bring them here in person.

And like I said, they can submit up to two works.

And this year we had a lot of artists that even though they submitted two works, they only got one in.

There's a couple of artists like I showed you one back there on the ceramics, Eric Kaufman, he got two in, but most people only got one work in.

Okay, well, you have chance.

So yeah, but I think that's why they they like to come because it's competitive.

It's well respected.

It carries a lot of cash.

And then of course, every artist there really is such a thing as the starving artist.

And so it's really nice when they're recognized and they can get a cash award.

Absolutely.

And like I said, starting to recognize that the more they get their work out there and it's seen.

Oh yeah.

You know, that gives a growing component to their name as well.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

All right.

So when can people stop in here?

Levon, a m to 5 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday, starting, on the 13th, which next week is on, I think, a Tuesday and then through December 31st.

Okay.

All right.

And look us up on Facebook, Instagram.

We also have our website Midwest museum.org.

You can get all our information all of our events.

So yeah come on in I love it.

Thank you so much.

Well we're not going to show you everything because I do want you to come and check it out and do plenty of opportunity to do so.

Thank you so much for telling us a little bit of our.

Thank you.

You got your own sneak peek.

Thank you.

Well, we're back over at The Learner with Premiere Arts, and I'm so excited because we're actually backstage right now.

It's a little sneak peek.

I know we're a week before the actual performances, but Sister Act is coming here.

I'm so excited.

I have my friends joining me here today and this beautiful screen behind us.

I mean, this is gorgeous.

This is actual stained glass.

I know it looks like it.

You do a great job with this stuff.

Thank you.

We've got some good love out of this.

You know, we try to make pieces and then we're like, how can we reuse this again?

So this is a reuse piece.

This is a reuse I think we made originally from beauty and the beast.

But well okay I can see that.

We're gonna we're going to recycle it.

Reuse.

You know it gets us in the mood I like it, I like it.

I know you guys have a lot of events going on, so we are doing a little bit backstage and the set is going to be going up this weekend.

Performances next weekend.

I love that, Sarah, you are playing a fantastic part.

Yes, ma'am.

Is this your first time playing that role of Dolores?

Yes it is.

Okay, my first time I was so excited.

I loved Sister Act the movies.

The musical is totally different.

Brand new music for everyone.

But so fun, a great show.

No, I haven't seen the musical, so I don't know how that's different from the movie.

I love the movie.

Grew up with the movie, right?

So in your opinion, like how has that shifted or what's the differences between those?

I think there's a lot of the same elements, like Dolores is still in trouble because she saw someone get killed by her boyfriend and she's still on the run.

And then you have these amazing different personalities and the nuns throughout the show.

So virtually same premise.

She's not starting in Vegas, but she just is trying to get discovered.

That's a big difference.

But also, I just think it's it's just a really cool show and everybody needs to come see it.

I love it all original music, all originals.

It is an menken.

Heard of him.

Disney yeah.

Composed the lyrics and the music for this show and I just love this music.

We did it a good number of years ago and we decided to bring it back.

And the songs I'm just obsessed with.

Well, I'm excited to hear those two.

Okay, so what's maybe one of your favorites?

Oh, I have a few.

I really like singing Fabulous Baby because it has a reprise too.

But it just it it just really explores like who Delores is and how we have fabulous she is and won't let anybody stand in her way, like how determined she is.

And it's like the world's going to see me for who I am.

Yeah, and I think that's a really important message to.

And I think that's kind of what Sister Act really is all about to.

I mean, that's what audience will hopefully walk away with too.

Right.

It's finding yourself and finding ways to help others and just pouring in and becoming a new version of yourself, someone you can be proud of as well, and knowing that you still have the opportunity at any point in your life to do so.

And speaking of that, what's really cool about this show, and it's something that we did eight, nine years ago when we did the first time is we have choir nuns, and so we're going to have an entire choir loft of nuns that come in to really bulk up some of those big chorus numbers.

And a lot of those women are women that would never have auditioned otherwise.

They think there's not a place for me, but here is an opportunity where a lot of people are like, I don't sing, I don't dance.

I'm like, okay, Lise, you do sing, but you just aren't confident.

But you put them in a group and they're banding together.

They're practicing outside.

Yeah, they're having a great time.

So it's I literally love this show specifically because it, it really gets to highlight a community that don't often get that same spotlight.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So how big is the cast then?

About 53 or so.

Yeah.

And I know there's also a little cast.

Right?

God.

Precious I love that.

And what you guys do here.

Premier Arts is just always wonderful.

And being able to showcase the same performances oftentimes for both the main stage then also for the youth to support us about that.

You performances coming up next weekend?

Oh my God, can you imagine about 50 or so little tiny nuns?

Yes, all in habits.

I cannot wait to see their first costumes.

But yeah, we're doing an all youth production.

Saturday, October 17th at 2 p.m.. And we love to be able to highlight not only the very talented adult cast members in this community, but create the path for the next generation.

And so they get a new for sister act, many of whom never heard of the movie.

Yes, because a lot of those probably have never heard of it.

I don't even know my kids have heard of it.

And so the parents were saying like that.

They watched a movie with some of them since they started drama, but made them understand it's it's different and they can see that, like, I love having a mini me.

Like it was like a little Dolores baby.

Dolores, come here.

Like we talk.

And I got to talk to her mom last night, so it's like, well, there's my miniature for the only roll up in theater, right?

I know, because we're theater babies.

Oh.

We are.

You grew up a theater, too?

Yes.

I mostly grew up in dance, but also doing theater within my school.

I grew up in South Bend Community School Corporation, but I hadn't done adult theater until I moved here to Elkhart to work for a while.

And Premier Arts is how I got my my feet wet and found my voice as an adult outside of singing a church choir, I love that.

I'm so glad you found out I am Sue.

You guys are awesome.

I always love being with Premier Arts.

You guys are always so much fun.

Now let's talk about what you guys have going on as far as coming up with the production itself, what can people expect when they are here, or are they going to be dressing a costume like, can the audience dress and cast into I mean, that you come straight in your Sunday best?

Yes.

You know, they like I love about this production that the audience is our congregation, like Dolores even gets to interact with them in that song.

Fabulous, baby.

Like she's saying.

Come on, let me feel the love.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

And they are our congregation for the church.

So I'm hoping that we get a lot of good interactions.

And they feel that energy and feel the love.

As our monster was saying, I always feel like we're going to be up.

Like saying, here is, can I do that?

Yes I can.

We'll tell you.

Sure.

It's to stand down.

Yes.

Stand out.

Normal behavior.

But what's really great about this show, in this slot in our season every year is we're going to announce our 2027 season.

Okay, okay.

That's important.

Yes.

And so a season tickets are going to kick off all those that have season tickets.

You better renew.

And then you're going to once you hear the season.

I I'm so excited.

I love.

I know you don't know it.

Yeah.

So I'm excited to hear the new season.

No.

Everybody stands backstage like listening to credits.

Curtain speech.

Like what's the season?

What's the season like?

That's what you got to come.

I mean.

A and then a season.

Exhibit B yeah.

Okay.

Now as far as rehearsals, what's been something maybe that you about the process.

Oh.

There's so much material and so much to the story that you really have to feel those emotions.

Something that keeps telling us is, think about your nun's story.

Like, where have you been?

Where are you trying to go?

What are you trying to pour in?

There's one who doesn't even know she should be a nun or not.

Like we have Sister Mary Robert.

So she's trying to figure it out.

But it's really about that storytelling.

Owning it and living in the scene.

And that's something that you always want to do in a production.

But in this one in particular, it really makes it stand out as each of them sprinkles into each dialog and each song and has their that character to carry through and really take the audience on a ride.

I love that.

I love it, and I know Brittney always has a fabulous job to do.

I can't wait to see my boots.

Y'all don't even know how many pieces there are.

Two a habit.

Okay, like how many are there?

There's a lot.

And I'm not even wearing all of them because I'm the one who just crashed the party, so I don't even have on the the headgear, the wimple, the guest, the wimple.

Did you know?

Yeah.

No, I didn't know that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it's almost says table runner, and that's clearly not what it is.

But we've got this under gown.

We've got the rope that's tied underneath.

It's here.

And I bet you more pieces to put on the head guard to add some quick changes in there.

So it's pretty pretty about the set up.

It's going to be a massive church.

And what's really cool is we call it a unit set.

So there's a big giant piece sometimes with some of our premier shows there's lots of little moving pieces.

But this one, when you're at church, there's a big giant.

It's Gothic cathedral.

And so we've got a huge choir loft.

We've got a lot of that dark wood.

We've got huge stone pillars.

But then anytime we're not there, we we have to use a stage very creatively because the church takes up so much space.

And so we have little vignettes of different spots that we're at.

We go to a nightclub, we go to a park, we go in a back alley where some fantasy dancers break out of dumpsters and, you know, take us into dreamland.

Wow.

Philadelphia, baby.

We're going to be that do that giant love sign.

As part of the set up and of course, the stained glass window that likes to change colors behind us.

So the magical.

It's a very magical.

How can people get their tickets?

Well, of course, go to the theater box office, call or visit or premiere.

You can get them online.

All right.

Opening night next weekend.

All weekend long.

You guys got to come out and get your tickets for that.

And, we'll see you then.

Fantastic.

Better.

Hey, better.

See you there.

Well, today we're down in Plymouth at the Heartland Arts Center, and it might look a little bit different than what you're used to, but the 38th annual exhibition is here, and this is a wonderful thing that you guys have been doing for many years.

But this year looks a little bit different in a different space here, right?

Yes.

It's our first year in Plymouth's historic firehouse.

We're so excited to be here.

And this is a really great space.

And we're up on the second level right now.

You guys have two levels full of art.

We do.

We've got part of the show is up here and part of the show is downstairs.

I love it.

Now, Maggie, this is your first time doing this, right?

Yes.

This will be my first year chairing the show.

To this.

No, I've been working with heartland for a couple of years, and I'm an artist myself.

But this is my first time chairing the show.

And it's been it's been great.

It's been really fun meeting new artists, meeting people who've done this show for 38 years.

Meeting people who have done the show for the first time ever.

It's been really incredible.

We have a lot of talent in the region now.

How many artists submitted artwork this time?

So we had 62 artists submit over 100 pieces of art.

Oh, wow.

And does everybody get in or how does that process work?

So we will put out a call.

Towards the end of the summer.

Okay.

For the show, usually it's on our website, it's on Facebook, stuff like that.

And artists will submit their work either online or they'll take it here to the center.

And then we have a jury that looks over all of the work and decides, you know, who's who's in and who will need to reapply next year.

Okay.

And then we've got a couple of judges who judge the work.

I love that.

Now have you judged before?

I have not judge.

Okay.

So that's enough for you.

I am Switzerland, I love all the work.

It's not up to me.

Yeah, I'm just here to facilitate.

Okay, but you're an artist yourself too.

I am, yeah, I primarily do performance, but I was drawn to heartland because of the, the amazing artist community that we have here.

Okay, so now there's a lot of art in different forms here, right?

So many.

We've got sculptures, we've got paintings, we've got all kinds.

Here is our best in show, actually.

Oh, well, I can see why.

Yes.

And this is a multimedia piece.

This is Mary Amador.

What they take, what I carry.

She's an artist out of Goshen.

It's just like.

Yes, I don't want I can't, I know, but, like, it looks like texture.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Yeah.

You can see it.

You can feel it.

Yes.

It's got paint.

It's got.

You'll look there's a lot of, there's some like fabric elements to it, some of its reflective, some of its beaded, some of its rhinestone.

But you know, her, her, her prowess as a painter is, is also extremely striking in this piece.

It's just I could look at it for hours.

And she's been in the show before.

She has.

She actually also has another really incredible piece downstairs as well.

Yeah, well, mixed media is always something that's really interesting to me because it's almost, you know, finding something off of wherever.

Yes.

And in finding a new purpose for it.

Yes.

Yeah.

That's what I kind of love about this piece.

And I, I have so many questions because it feels like.

Did you repurpose.

Yeah.

Did you?

Yes.

It's just so many incredible elements to this piece.

I, I, I'm excited to see her at the closing reception because I would definitely love to chat with her.

Now what did you guys open this exhibition and when does it like how long can people see it?

So we opened on September 29th okay.

And it will go through October 30th.

The public is welcome to join us at our closing reception on October 30th.

Yeah, it's from 6 to 8 with awards at seven.

So our closing receptions are always so fun.

We've got snacks, music, obviously art, and it's a great time to meet the artists, which I love.

Yeah.

And chat with them about, you know, their work, their process, all that kind of fun stuff.

Let's go check out some more work.

Maybe downstairs.

Yeah, let's do it.

And no, we can't take the fire.

Pull down.

Yeah.

Sadly, yeah.

But this is another one of Mary's pieces here, which is very interesting and very eye catching.

And I always love whenever I come to a different art exhibition, you know, just walking into this space and seeing what catches your eye first, because it's different to every person.

And interpretation is very different as well.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think the show has a lot of it's going to it's going to appeal to people to many different tastes, many different tastes.

Yeah.

I love a lot of the pieces have so much texture.

Like I said, there's a lot of multimedia stuff here, but there's also still a lot of just classic, techniques painting, watercolor, all that kind of stuff.

I saw some photography too.

That was.

Yes.

Pastels.

Yeah.

So it's, it's it's fabulous.

It's definitely got something for everybody.

All right, let's keep walking over here, because I know this is another one that catches your eye.

Yes.

Just a very interesting piece.

Absolutely.

This is, this piece actually won second place.

This is by Heidi Bailey.

She's out of Warsaw.

Okay.

It's called alley.

Alley and free.

I've seen some of her stuff before.

To like she.

Yes, she definitely had.

She had some stuff in our show last year that also won an award.

And it is the more you look at it, the more you see there's crystals, there's beads, there's a skateboard, there's wheels, there's grenades, there's hearts.

Yes, there's a slinky.

Yeah.

The zip ties that look like they've been airbrushed.

It is.

It's it's a really, really, The piece is rich.

You can really look at it and find something new every time.

Yeah.

And I love that some of the artists are going to be here for that reception.

Yeah.

So people can talk to them and kind of get their interpretation of, yeah.

What were you thinking when you created it?

And how did that change?

Because our changes, as you are in the process of creating as well, 100%, and it's great for artists to be at the reception as well, because then they can learn how people are interpreting it.

What they originally wanted to convey may not be at all what what someone might see when they look at it.

So it's it's always good for some great conversation.

So how many pieces do you have altogether?

101.

101 piece.

62 artists.

Yes.

Incredible, incredible.

And talk about how that's grown over the years, because this is the 38th annual for you guys.

Yes, I mean, we I mean, heartland has been around for 40 years.

So this particular show has been in many venues.

And, it's it's just continued to grow from more of a local show to now this year we have artists from Michigan.

We have artists from Illinois, obviously, all over, all over northern Indiana.

Okay.

Yeah.

We regional here we are.

Definitely.

Yeah, we we have a lot of talent in the region and I love it.

I'm gonna head over here because this is some of the other pieces that are catching your eye.

And I know you and I were kind of talking off camera too, but even just the framing of it is part of the art.

Yes, in times of frame is really going to set it off.

I yeah, I am always impressed when people can choose just the perfect frame.

It's not as easy as you think.

We're painting around the edges and never know what to do with the edges.

Yep.

Okay.

What are you doing?

I'll just frame it.

There you go.

And this is a really unique piece too.

Yes.

Another multimedia piece.

This is by Brian Burn out of Elkhart, and this is our third place winner.

Okay.

And this is another where I saw it once and I thought, oh, that's eye catching.

And then the more I look at it, I notice all the details.

I notice where he put the pops of color and texture.

And I love this piece because I feel like it really tells a story.

Okay, can I ask what the story says to you?

Right.

And then we'll have to ask Brian what I mean.

It's the entomologist dream part one and two.

Okay.

And I feel like this is the entomologist because it's a guy.

He's got a bug on him.

Okay.

And then the dream, I, I don't know, there's so many.

There's nuts, there's bolts, there's this beautiful woman, there's bugs.

It's just.

Yeah, yeah.

What's.

There's this.

This looks like a needle to me.

You can spend a lot of time here just looking at all the art, and I encourage you to do so.

When are you guys open for people to stop in so people can come check out the show Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m., or on Saturdays from 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m.

and you guys are in this temporary space right now.

Talk a little bit real quick about what you guys are working on.

We're in this space now because we are currently undergoing a major renovation to our usual home in the Montgomery Ward building.

That's right over on Michigan Street.

We're doing a huge renovation to create all new galleries, all new, event spaces, class spaces, office spaces.

Yeah, we're very excited.

Well, I'm excited for you.

So hopefully we'll see.

We'll be back again next year for that too.

Yeah, absolutely.

Okay.

We'll do that.

All right.

Well thank you so much for sharing about what you guys are doing here.

Hope you guys are able to come down here to Plymouth and check out the heartland Art center and and see what you think of the art.

Well, thank you so much for joining us today.

I'm going to see if I can take this piece home.

And hopefully you get a chance to come on through all of the art that we have here in Michiana and so much more to do.

If you have something you want us to check out, just tag us on social media.

We'd love to see it and explore and share it with you.

Have a good one!

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