June 2nd-3rd is a free fishing weekend at Lake Monroe, meaning that no fishing license is required, only a daily vehicle fee which covers the whole group. Call for further details.

The first session of the Limestone Symposium runs from June 3 through 9. Each session consists of seven days of immersive instruction carving limestone, including design, moving stone, splitting blocks, roughing out, using hand and pneumatic tools, lettering, and much more. Different guest instructors are featured each session. For beginners an introduction to using basic tools, roughing out, and working from a maquette or drawing is given on the first day. Techniques for carving and basic principles of sculpting are covered on day two. Tools are not provided.

Included in Sessions I and II:
Up to 8 cubic feet of limestone per session (approximately 1200 pounds), compressed air, electricity, water, and forklift. Continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks. One Limestone Symposium t-shirt.

$800 per Session

Register at link provided by May 1

On June 2nd through 3rd, local artists will open their studios to guests during the Open Studios Tour. This is a great opportunity to see a variety of artists creating art, explore their studio and purchase artwork. More details and a full list of studios and locations is available at www.bloomingtonvague.com. Contact [email protected] with any questions.

The Columbus Arts Festival, presented by Time Warner Cable, takes place on June 1, 2 & 3 and involves a variety of hands-on activities. Kids and parents can have fun together making glass beads, sculpting paper, constructing adventure journals with tradition bookmaking techniques, discovering the science hidden in a rainbow of colorful inks, and more. All activities are for kids and adults.

See “Visitor Information” on website for directions, parking, and other info.

Raymond and Laura Wielgus Gallery of the Arts of Africa, the South Pacific, and the Americas, Focalpoint, third floor Locally produced cotton and indigo dyes continue to play prominent roles in West African myths, beliefs, and ritual practices, in spite of the availability of inexpensive fabric woven and printed in factories. Through this most personal means of expression, West Africans use their indigo-dyed cotton wraps to communicate a wide range of social, political, and religious messages. Visitors to this small installation will gain insight into the meanings of those messages as well as an understanding of the technologies, innovations, and marketing strategies employed by West African weavers and dyers.

Recurring daily through July 1.

Two recently acquired color photographs by contemporary performance artists/photographers Lilly McElroy and the artistic team of Dutes Miller and Stan Shellabarger explore the complications of modern human relationships: one, by playing with gender role-reversal, casual bar-scene encounters, and the use of social media in “hook ups”; and the other, by revealing the unbreakable bond—both in life and in death—of a committed gay couple.

Runs until June 3rd.

In conjunction with the exhibition Tranquil Power: The Art of Perle Fine, a painting by one of Fine’s contemporaries will be on view. Perle Fine and Charmion von Wiegand worked in similar avant-garde artistic circles in New York in the 1930s and 1940s, and both were strongly influenced by the geometric abstraction of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

Runs until June 3.

This installation presents the work of three contemporary Native American artists. It is part of the series, Contemporary Explorations, which features focused, rotating displays from the museum’s permanent collection that explore aspects of art from the 1950s to the present.

Runs until October 14

Annibale and Agostino Carracci were the leaders of the Bolognese school that overthrew Mannerist aesthetics for a style based on the observation of nature, fusing Florentine draftsmanship with Venetian color. This installation features some of their major prints.

Runs until September 16

The Mathers Museum of World Cultures presents this exhibit of diverse items. From beetle-wing necklaces to iPods, it features personal accessories and explores their practical, decorative, and social roles around the world. Exhibit can be viewed Tuesday – Friday, 9 am, – 4:30 pm; Saturday & Sunday, 1 – 4:30 pm, and will be in place until July 1.