A Brown County Experience

Experience the Arts in Brown County takes place 20 June through 1 July. It includes art and music classes, lectures, workshops, tours, special events and performances. (Registration for the more than 75 classes offered is available online.)

Students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of mediums, including clay, jewelry, painting, drawing, mixed media, fiber arts, writing, woodworking, folk arts, movement and dance, music, culinary arts and healing arts.

There is also a special series of classes "Just for Kids," with offerings ranging from weaving, papermaking and watercolor to ballet, acting, singing, magic and http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifyogahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif.

Lodging properties and area businesses will offer discounts to participating students, with special tours, exhibits and events planned at various locations, including the T.C. Steele State Historic Site, Brown County Art Gallery, Whispering Alpaca Farm and For Bare Feet Sock Factory.

(Photo courtesy of Experience the Arts in Brown County)

Indy "500" Gets a Postage Stamp

Ray Harroun, winner of the first Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, began racing his Marmon “Wasp” through the nation’s mail stream Friday in the form of 50 million First-Class Mail "Forever" stamps to celebrate 100 years of racing at the iconic brickyard.

Tagliani Takes the Pole at IMS

Simona De Silvestro, who suffered burns to her hands in a crash 48 hours earlier, is in. So are three rookies, led by JR Hildebrand, and 49-year-old Davey Hamilton, reports the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

All four KV Racing Technology-Lotus cars are in, while four of the five Andretti Autosport cars are temporarily out. Helio Castroneves, who started from the pole the past two years and had the quickest time on "Fast Friday," will start 16th -- his lowest in 11 starts.

And to cap a wild Pole Day for the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500, Alex Tagliani earned the Pole in a winner-take-all "Fast Nine" segment -- in which seven different IZOD IndyCar Series teams were represented.

Twenty-four starting positions were filled on the first day of qualifications, and the remaining nine will be determined on Bump Day, says the IMS.

Pedals, Pipes and Pops

Organist Martin Ellis will present a broad spectrum of music, from classical works by Bach to Broadway musical theater favorites during the Pedals, Pipes and Pops Series concert at 2:30 p.m. 5 June in the Hilbert Circle Theatre, 45 Monument Circle, Indianapolis.

This third and final organ concert of the 2010-2011 season will feature Ellis performing familiar tunes such as Dave Dreyer and Al Jolson’s There’s a Rainbow ‘Round My Finger, George Gershwin’s Love is Here to Stay, a medley of favorites from the hit Broadway musical, Wicked, “The Raider’s March” from the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, Irving Berlin’s What’ll I do? and Mama Mia.

The program also will feature familiar works such as Bach’s Gigue Fugue and Denis Bédard’s Andantino, among others, to showcase the versatility of the organ in both classical and pops genres.

Joining Ellis for five selections – Charles Widor’s Six Duos for Piano and Organ, Bédard’s Duet Suite, Louis Gottschalk’s Grand Tarantelle, Richard Purvis’ Suite for Piano and Organ, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue – will be pianist Randall Frieling.

The Pedals, Pipes and Pops series features noted organists playing on the 1931 Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ. Tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for students.

Chinese Culture Summer Camp

Chinese language and calligraphy are two of the topics for the Summer Camp sponsored by the Confucius Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Open to children 5 to 13 years old, it will be held on the IUPUI campus 5 July through 5 August from 8:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. Both before and after-school care are available.

Indy 8th Grader in National Spelling Bee

Eighth-grader Regina Solomito of Indianapolis will represent Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., 1-2 June, reports the IUPUI news bureau.. A total of 275 youth, including 13 from Indiana, are scheduled to compete for the national title.

Solomito, who is homeschooled, won the Marion County Regional Spelling Bee 28 February at IUPUI. In the competition with 40 other students from Marion County, Solomito correctly spelled the word “uitlander” to win the regional bee.

Courtney Glait from Sycamore School took second place and Shayla Cabalan from St. Jude Catholic School took third place in the regional competition.

The City's Sponsoring a Prayer Rally?

Mayor Greg Ballard is sponsoring an official Indianapolis prayer rally at the Indiana War Memorial on Thursday afternoon.

What's different this time is he's putting the muscle on locals with recent foreign heritage to turn up, wave their (former)country's flag (literally) and offer a public prayer in their native language.

Is this just a re-election media gambit on Ballard's part, or some sort of misguided early Memorial Day celebration?

This Indianapolis Observer is mystified.