The Monroe County Fair, running from July 28 to August 5, features a wide variety of fun for all ages and interests – from livestock shows (rabbits, goats, cows, pigs, horses, and more) and auctions to flower exhibits, motorcycle and kart racing, craft shows and live music. Food and drinks will be available from numerous vendors, and a carnival will be held in the evenings on July 31 and afterwards. Visit the fair website for more detailed information about the many different exhibits and activities.

The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market is located at 401 N. Morton St. next to City Hall – Showers Building. Locally grown produce, annual and perennial plants, and a variety of prepared foods are available. Purchase your food directly from farmers and ask them questions about their products. Local entertainment adds to the shopping as well as socializing experience. Tantalizing scents and the inviting atmosphere may cause you to make the Market a weekend tradition.

The Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center features a new exhibit for the month of July: the works of Claire Swallow, Dale Gardner, Sarah Wain, Jessica Lucas and Alex Straiker. British painter Claire Swallow is inspired by everything from childhood trips to the seashore to small household appliances. Photographer Dale Gardner saves turn-of-the-previous-century portraits and gives them new lives in new settings. Art teacher and baker Sarah Wain whips up candy for the eyes that may create cravings in the stomach. IU researchers Alex Straiker and Jessica Lucas present color-enhanced stills and videos taken of digital microscopy. Who knew mouse tissue could be this beautiful?

The exhibit, running until July 28, is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 7 pm. Closed Sundays.

Are you or a loved one a teddy bear or figurine collector? Or just love the Christmas spirit with music, baked goods and the sights and smells of the holiday season?

If so, join the Monroe County Chapter of the American Red Cross on July 28th from 9am- 4pm for the “Christmas in July” Bears & Buddies Sale, located at Bloomington High School North Cafeteria.

This free admission sale will feature a very special collection of bears and figurines including Robert Raikes Bears, Annette Funicello Bears, Boyds Plush Bears and Boyds Bearly Built Villages that are sure to warm the heart of your loved one or delight the cute, cuddly child within.

All proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross serving Monroe and Owen Counties. American Red Cross is a United Way member agency. For more information, visit www.monroe-redcross.org or e-mail Sue Gulley at [email protected].

Lift it! Move it! Explore the science of pulleys and levers as you effortlessly pull yourself high off the ground in a pulley chair, lift a heavy block of stone with the strength of your little finger, design a catapult to lay siege to a castle, build a model of an amusement park ride and more! This exhibit on simple machines will remain at WonderLab from June 05 until September 23.

WonderLab’s hours are 9:30 am to 5 pm Tue-Sat, 1 pm – 5 pm Sunday. Open extended evening hours until 8:30 pm the first Friday of the month.

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 Farmer House Museum will be featuring the work of Jane Briley, a contemporary painter on porcelain. Ms. Briley began painting on china in 1972. On moving to Bloomington, Ms. Briley became active in teaching and promoting china painting, particularly through the activities of the Blooms of Bloomington china painting club. Ms. Briley’s work is traditional in style, timeless in its grace and charm. Her work is also currently on display at The Venue, Fine Art and Gifts. Exhibit runs until September 2.

The Farmer House is located at 529 N. College Ave. in downtown Bloomington, right across College Ave. from the Waffle House. The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday 10 am-1 pm, with additional hours until 4 pm on Saturday. Admission is free. The telephone number is 812-336-5597.

The Inaugural Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Competition will bring forty of the finest fingerstyle guitar players in the United States to the Brown County Playhouse who will be competing for the grand prize—a hand made $4500 OC Bear Guitar, the opportunity to play in the evening concert, and bragging rights of being the winner of the First Annual Competition.

Sara is a signature member of the Bloomington Watercolor Society and the Watercolor Society of Indiana. A graduate of the Indiana University Printmaking Department of the School of Fine Arts, and a Monroe County Middle School Art teacher for almost 30 years, Ms. McQueen enjoys working in collage and printing as well as being a plein air painter. For this exhibit, she shows some leaf stamps in her compositions and abstract explorations with hand made and international papers.

Exhibit runs until July 29. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 am – 5:30 pm (8 pm on First Fridays.)

Bloomington Fading, an online community led by Derek and Jen Richey and dedicated to preserving information about Bloomington’s past, shows our rich architectural heritage by overlaying images of current infrastructure on historic photographs. Exhibit runs until October 27.

Visit website for more information.