(anticipatory music) >> Olga: I would love to see more and more of that type of work that focuses on everything that is, like, connecting us.

Because I think it's easy to overlook those things and take them for granted or even forget about them, us, our place in this world as humans, and our seamless connection to nature.

(anticipatory music continues) >> Meghan: Something magical about this, like, tiny little pin dot of a seed that can be nurtured and grow into this beautiful blossom.

And then you can spread that joy by simply gifting it to someone else.

There's something magical about flowers.

>> Alex: I fell in love with art probably about 10 years ago, and for the last two years I've been kind of pursuing it full-time and just dedicating my life to it.

But I guess I've loved it my whole, entire life.

And yeah, so just a journey of continuing that love.

>> Dave: My great-grandfather established a business in 1887, it was a hardware and a tin shop.

His name was Paul Henry Mueller.

You don't last for 130 years without making some significant change.

And that happened every single generation and the way I looked at it, it's my turn.

(anticipatory music continues) (triumphant music) >> Doing as much as you can as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short.

And the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(upbeat music) >> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I'll remember the feeling of being here, the feeling that I was a part of a family (upbeat music continues) >> Announcer: Support for programming and Lakeshore PBS comes in part from a generous bequest of the estate of Marjorie A.

Mills, whose remarkable contribution will help us keep viewers like you informed, inspired, and entertained for years to come.

(cheerful music) >> Announcer 2: "Eye on the Arts" is made possible in part by South Shore Arts, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Additional support for Lakeshore PBS and "Eye on the Arts" is provided by viewers like you, thank you.

(cheerful music continues) (slow, thoughtful music) >> My artist statement, the first line reads, "Art is a tool for understanding life."

I also feel that art is a great connector.

It has the potential to bring people, ideas, all things together to be examined.

I would love to see more and more of that type of work that focuses on everything that is, like, connecting us, because I think it's easy to overlook those things and take them for granted or even forget about them.

Us, our place in this world as humans, and our seamless connection to nature.

(thoughtful music continues) I'm of the belief that it's within you, so it's a recognition of something.

I also think, through creating work, sometimes you're surprised that, where do these inspirations come from?

I believe in this connection to the earth and being a good listener to everything that is around; and, in essence, channeling what you see.

So that's where I feel like nature is a great teacher to teach us how to sorta slow down, to be in the moment, to pay attention, and to see ourselves within it.

Because ultimately, I am of the belief that we are nature.

(thoughtful music) So this piece specifically is addressing a recurring theme within my work.

I think about the body as landscape.

So with this piece, there is what looks like a reclining female figure that's either emerging out of the ground or merging with it.

Her face is showing a cross-section of the earth, using patterned river-rock stones to kind of replicate what we would see underneath us.

And so, I'm drawing continually, within all my work, a connection between humans, the human body, to nature, and natural processes, and systems within nature.

The process of nature, it's cyclical.

There's life, there's death.

I find beauty in all of it.

I don't feel fear towards it.

To me, nature is a beautiful lesson in balance.

(thoughtful music continues) To feel, like, unique, I feel that's great.

I feel that often, by being an artist and what I do; by having this unique experience that most often, a female isn't making, like, large-scale, huge pieces outdoors.

But then, I also believe in the collective.

(reflective music) (speaks in Polish) means she in Polish.

I'm using the tree branches to create her wind-swept hair look.

She's placed in this quite beautiful tucked-away area where she's on a open field overlooking a lake.

And just like a beautiful view, you'll see that her eyes are mirrored.

And so, she's reflecting back everything that is around her within herself.

(bright evocative music) I am in the process of creating five new large-scale outdoor sculptures for the arboretum.

With some, I'm using natural materials from the ground.

So I'm taking a part of the arboretum and transforming it into to my sculptures 'cause the exhibition is called "Of the Earth" (speaks Polish) means "Of the earth".

So (speaks Polish) is the planet Earth in Polish.

So my last name is of the earth.

(reflective violin music) I don't often get to hear messages like the one that I'm trying to say.

It's very, very simple and very, very basic, and I think universally understood.

I think this could get translated to every language and immediately everybody would know what I'm trying to say in like, a very simple sentence.

It's at our basic core to know it.

It's just, right now (laughing) we're sort of pushing it away.

And I hope that we're slowly coming back around, because we need to.

(reflective music swells) Human creation, human thought, I feel like it's all just a process of nature and we're all here to reflect ourselves back to each other.

And I'm not just saying one we, I'm including nature and every animal, rock, tree, cloud that is passing by.

We're reflecting, you know, ourselves to each other and understanding, hopefully, ourselves better and finding our place and purpose in the world by closely paying attention to each other and listening.

(reflective music continues) (birds chirping) (reflective guitar music) >> I left the corporate world as a visual-design artist.

I did window displays, mannequin installations.

And there was always something, to me, about the beauty behind that.

I've always been drawn to floral print, the color.

My grandma grew peonies, and I've always been drawn to that specific flower.

And I actually have some heirloom peonies from her yard that I keep here, very safe, close to heart.

I don't know why flowers.

I just, I really love the beauty.

It's something magical about this, like, tiny little pin dot of a seed that can be nurtured and grow into this beautiful blossom.

And then, you can spread that joy by simply gifting it to someone else.

There's something magical about flowers.

(reflective music continues) When I started Crescere, it was growing in the field, and I hadn't fully understood, you know, the bouquet recipe or how to put things together.

And I did some dried swags in the fall and I did some wreaths in the winter.

And I just really didn't find that, like, stimulating.

And then I started seeing, like, all these live terrariums of people doing, like, different, like, plants you know, under a glass, and kind of how that atmosphere works.

And I thought, like, "Well, what if I could do that with dried things?"

You know, a lot of times after market, maybe you don't sell out or you have flowers in the garden that are blooming, 'cause nature is just gonna continue to give you until you take it down.

But maybe there's not the demand, you know?

So I have a lot of extra stems a lot of times, and it became kind of a trial and error for me.

I started working with a company that makes glass domes.

I use similar elements to building a bouquet, but I do them down to scale to fit under glass.

I would like to be, you know, an out-of-the-box thinking florist.

I don't wanna be the same thing that you could find, maybe, at the supermarket or at all the farmer's markets.

I wanna be known to be a little darker, a little different, a little more moody.

(bright thoughtful music) A lot of feedback that I get is like, "Wow, that's so unique," or wow, That has a scent."

I really like to grow basil or mint, or add a little extra element of sensory so it's more than just a sight, it's a smell, it's a touch.

I think when you build different layers in a bouquet it kind of appeals to all the senses.

So I'd really like customers to experience the beauty of a bouquet that not only looks great, but it smells great.

And scent can be a very strong trigger to something.

And I get a lot of customers that come through and it's a smell for them that ties them back to something, maybe, from their past.

(light cheerful music) I think many of us are instilled that your career has to be fast-paced, that you have to climb that corporate ladder super fast, that you always have to be the best at everything.

And there's something in nature that kind of just makes you say, "It's okay to take it slow."

And I think that's kinda the beauty of flowers, is they're slow growing.

It's not an instant gratification, I don't plant a seed and get a flower tomorrow.

It's gonna take months, you know, three months, sometimes, in order to get that bloom.

So you just have to enjoy it every step of the way.

And I think that's something that I had to learn.

You know, there was a patient element that had to come with starting this business, 'cause it didn't happen overnight.

And there was a lot of mistakes that I made in the beginning, and I'm still making mistakes.

I'm still pretty young at, you know, five years in growing flowers.

There's still a lot to learn.

But that's also kinda the exciting thing about it, is I love to learn.

I love to read, I love to educate myself with other florists, with other growers, with, you know books, or YouTube channels, or different websites and people that can also kind of share that passion with me.

I think that this's kind of opened my eyes to a whole new industry, and it's okay that it's a slow one.

It doesn't have to be a rush every single day.

And there's something that's really rewarding about that at the end.

(upbeat music) (mellow guitar music) >> I fell in love with art probably about 10 years ago and for the last two years I've been kind of pursuing it full-time, and just dedicating my life to it.

But I guess I've loved it my whole, entire life.

And yeah, so it's just a journey of continuing that love.

(mellow guitar music) I just got into spray paint last summer.

I primarily use oil paints for my portraits.

But now that I'm diving into murals, I'm falling in love with the vibrant colors that you can get from a can.

All the different tips you can use, all the, you know, different styles kinda seems endless, so... One thing I wanna always keep in the back of my mind is to never be held down to one style.

I always wanna, like, try to strive for something different and new.

I have a feeling that these gradients that I'm using will just kind of evolve as I get older.

(mellow guitar music continues) So my process is kind of...

I'm learning as I go.

And I'm learning that, for me, it's easier to draw with a pencil, make my lines first.

I kinda plan it out with the shapes in my mockup.

I find shapes and then I break it down into the lines that I'm using, and then kinda just take it piece by piece.

Right now I'm using a lot of tape on my murals and I'm hoping to, with enough practice, be able to put the tape down.

But I do love a good crisp line, so...

I always make sure I'm able to prime the wall first.

Especially working with brick, it saves a lot of spray paint.

So once the the brick is primed white, I then go on top of it with pencil and then I kinda add my lines and continue.

(mellow guitar music continues) Yeah, so we're on Franklin Street, Michigan City.

This is the Uptown Arts District.

The title of this piece is, "The Gradient at the End of the Tunnel".

And I'm just going with the phrase, "The light at the end of the tunnel".

And so, this's a three-piece mural.

And as you're looking up, my gradients slowly start to kinda fade it into the background and get smaller.

So it's kind of like an illusion when you're stepping back.

I found out about this mural through Facebook this past winter.

My friends're super awesome, and they always share really cool opportunities like this one.

And so I applied, I went through the process, and then got the best email ever when it came through.

So that was awesome.

(mellow music) (mellow guitar music) It's kinda like the unknown that keeps me going, the beautiful unknown, because I don't really know exactly what the end result will be.

I have this one idea.

And to me, that's just like, pure excitement.

And it's like, that curiosity that I feel like will never end, you know, for the rest of my life.

(mellow guitar music continues) So for murals, if I'm presenting a mockup for the client, I will take a picture of the potential wall and I'll throw it into Procreate, and I will go on top of it with my design digitally.

And that way when I print it out, I'll have a nice reference.

And I'll hang that reference on the wall so I can step back and see it.

So that's a bit of my process.

(mellow music) Every day I get excited to start something new.

It's literally never boring.

Every process, every step, well, there are some boring parts but you have to go through those.

But just being able to have complete freedom as a full-time creative is just the, it's my biggest dream.

For me, it's a feeling of purpose.

Every day when I wake up, I know what I wanna do, and this is it.

And to be able to share that with other people, it's like human connection.

And yeah, I love everything about public art.

The different people I meet with each piece just kinda fills you up inside, you know?

(mellow music continues) >> My name's Dave Mueller, and we're here at Paul Henry's Art Gallery in the heart of downtown Hammond, Indiana.

(slow guitar music) Well, the building is the product of the effort of my great-grandfather, who established a business on Hohman Avenue in 1887, it was a hardware and a tin shop.

By 1902, apparently he had done well enough to be able to build this building.

It's been in the family through four generations, now.

I essentially became manager of the business in the late 1990s.

We had some pretty significant structures here on Hohman Avenue in our downtown area.

At Christmas time, you couldn't walk down the sidewalk without getting practically jostled into the street, it was so crowded.

Just a dynamo of activity and commerce.

(reflective piano music) Starting in about 1965, different factors came into play and it went downhill very fast.

By 1975, it was a shell of itself.

And by '85, they're starting to knock the buildings down.

People come today, they just shake their heads and they wonder, "Well what used to be here?"

Well, you're only looking at maybe a 10th of it.

(reflective piano music continues) You don't last for 130 years without making some significant change.

(reflective music) You just don't.

And that happened every single generation and the way I looked at it it's my turn to do something with it.

So now what do you do with a old hard, worn, building in the middle of downtown Hammond?

I mean, man, if we had just walked, it would be another parking lot right now.

No question in my mind.

I didn't wanna take the rustic-ness out of the building.

That's kind of the unique attraction that we have.

We've got this history that's ingrained through tens of thousands of days of hard work.

Why did we become an art gallery, why did I have that idea?

Well, there aren't too many businesses that you can get inventory in without having to pay for it, but art happens to be one of them!

And so when we opened up, I had managed to (laughs) talk 68 artists, when we first opened in October of 2008, to consign their work here.

Now, at this time, there's well over 150.

(inspirational music) My great-grandfather, his name was Paul Henry Mueller.

♪ Broke in the bottom ♪ ♪ of the (indistinct) ♪ >> So it became Paul Henry's Art Gallery.

I don't know how he feels about me turning his nice sweatshop into a place of fine arts, but it's done now.

I had it mentioned to me that an open-mic concept was a good idea to bring people in.

Well, at that point in time, big crowd would be 15.

And it went that way for about, oh, I don't know, a month and a half.

(mellow guitar music) ♪ Sure, there's lots of problems ♪ ♪ Makes me cry 'cause I've always had a few ♪ (mellow guitar music continues) >> Dave: Something changed, what changed?

I'm not exactly sure, but we started getting people coming down from Chicago.

You know, we started getting people coming over from Valpo, and the word got out.

And so, by the end of that first year we were up to crowds of 40 to 50 people.

It grew fast.

That became a regular source of visitors and cash flow.

It really did, it saved this.

I could not have existed beyond that second year if it weren't for the Thursday night acoustic jam.

♪ I'm in the way up ♪ >> Dave: Like our crowd here.

It's all ages, and that's no lie.

On any given Thursday, you got grade school kids (upbeat fiddle music) up to 90-year-olds.

(audience applauds) You know, and they all get along great together, and they enjoy it together.

And that's the key.

I mean, that really is the key.

You don't wanna cut anybody (swingy guitar music) outta the picture.

We've all known people that take family photos and cut out cousin Johnny, or whatever.

(audience cheers) And we don't wanna do that.

We wanna include Johnny in the picture.

So that's the key, to me, is to be inclusive and invite everybody in.

(mic feedback screeches) (raucous punk music) ♪ You can't stop the change ♪ ♪ Look at me ♪ ♪ I say talked out ♪ He's been super supportive.

He makes us coffee, he gives us cookies, and we play punk in his art space, so... (patrons chattering) >> They had a gig set up in another venue and those guys got cold feet and canceled them.

And they came to me and said, "Hey, can you see fit to host this event?"

I knew nothing about it.

I'd heard the bad rumors and all this and it was great.

It was great the first time, and it's been great every single time since.

(singer vocalizing) They all have a good time.

They're very respectful of the facility, and they always have a remarkable turnout regardless of the weather or anything else.

(raucous punk music) (singer vocalizing) >> That's kinda the idea, hopefully develop a vibrant community.

However, I've gotta say, the punk crowd is not my Thursday night crowd.

♪ For auld lang syne, my dear ♪ ♪ For auld lang syne ♪ >> And the jazz crowd is not the art crowd, necessarily.

The space available for weddings, funerals and baby showers, wedding showers, all kinds of things that we do here.

We've had aerial dancing, we've had coed arm wrestling.

We've had native dancers on a given night.

(calm music) Well, you know, I'm trying my best, here.

(laughing) You know, I could use a few visitors, all of us that're here in downtown, we have to deal with that.

We have to tell our stories of what we're doing today.

I mean, I'll talk to you about the past, but please give a look at what we're doing today.

Because there are people up here that are really trying to make a change and make a go of it again.

Will that grow?

It's a hard process.

Well, all I can say is people are trying.

I've managed to last 11 years with a pie-in-the-sky dream of having an art gallery in downtown Hammond.

And I can tell you that absolutely no one, when I asked him if it's a good idea, said yes, nobody.

Tell anyone who desires to try anything new whether it's here or anywhere else.

You know, you can get advice, but nobody's gonna see it like you do.

(calm music continues) (triumphant music) >> Doing as much as you can as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short.

And the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> Almost every single professor I've had, I'm on a first name basis.

By building that relationship with faculty, I was able to get involved with research.

It's one thing to read about an idea in a book, versus physically doing it and seeing the results.

(energetic music) (calm music) >> Support for programming at Lakeshore PBS comes in part from a generous bequest of the estate of Marjorie A.

Mills, whose remarkable contribution will help us keep viewers like you informed, inspired, and entertained for years to come.

(bright cheerful music) >> Announcer 2: "Eye on the Arts" is made possible in part by South Shore Arts, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Additional support for Lakeshore PBS and "Eye on the Arts" is provided by viewers like you, thank you.

(bright, cheerful music continues) (anticipatory music) (anticipatory music continues) (bright piano music)