Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A Full Week of Events

It’s going to be a busy week for us, starting with tonight’s public hearing on restoring normal traffic patterns in Downtown New Albany. I’ll be speaking in favor of bringing back the two-way traffic most of you grew up with. It should help in the rejuvenation of our downtown business district AND create a calmer traffic flow (slow down, speeders!) conducive to walkable neighborhoods. If you have ideas or just want to see what might happen, the city will take your comments at the Calumet Club at 7 p.m. That’s just west of Vincennes St. on Spring St.

Then on Wednesday, the Carnegie Center for Art and History will be one of several galleries, including the brand-new Gallery on Pearl, that will be hosting about 1.500 ceramic arts educators throughout the day. I’ll be pulling a shift to help the Carnegie staff meet and greet these visitors, in the region for their national convention.

Thursday night is even bigger, as the second show of the Carnegie year kicks off with Ohio Valley Clay: Form and Function. These opening night previews are wonderful opportunities to see first-rate art in a festive atmosphere. The eats ain’t bad, either. The premiere starts at 6 p.m. at the Carnegie, Spring and Bank streets.

Friday kicks off our history-book doubleheader. First up is David Longest with his new photo-filled history of the Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana, the follow-up to his very successful 2006 book on the southern half of the state. Dave will discuss his research and autograph copies of his book at 5:30 on Friday.

Then on Saturday at 4 p.m., we’re pleased to host Leslie Townsend and her new history of Indiana’s Ohio River Scenic Byway. Most of us have enjoyed day-trips along this path, and Leslie will share with us the history of this important riverside treasure.

As promised, we’re making the marquee books content for the second week of March available inside our posts whenever we replace them. Herewith:
Fangland (A Harker relative investigates a 21st-Century Dracula)
Jesus: A Meditation on His Stories and His Relationships With Women (Andrew Greeley)
Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome (starred review in Publishers Weekly)
The God of Animals (families, horses, love, death, and class)
My French Whore: A Love Story by actor Gene Wilder
Mississippi Sissy (for the outsider in all of us)

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