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Celebrate ‘The Hidden Sun’ through poetry and music on Wednesday
Greencastle is one of four Indiana cities on the path of totality for the April 8 solar eclipse selected for inclusion in a special project lead by Indiana’s first poet laureate, Joyce Brinkman. With support primarily from Indiana Humanities, the four cities — Greencastle, Martinsville, New Harmony and Vincennes — were invited to memorialize the upcoming eclipse in a poetic way unique to their community.
For Greencastle, ideas took form in two parts. The first part is the creation and installation of a new set of banners for Courthouse Square displaying NASA photos of solar events, along with a corresponding haiku poem about each photo. Part two will be a reading of the poems accompanied by live music on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Green Center’s Thompson Recital Hall on the DePauw University campus.
The creation of the new suite of poems has provided a rich opportunity for collaboration with 15 Hoosier poets, coordinated by Brinkman, founder of Brick Street Poetry in Indianapolis. This select group includes four well-loved local authors Joseph Heithaus, Eugene Gloria, Alexander Komives and Alejandro Puga, in addition to two former residents, DePauw alumni Thomas Kneeland and Kevin McKelvey.
This week, Greencastle will be honored to host 12 of the 15 Indiana poets at Wednesday’s reading, which also includes an opening prelude by pianist Iona Wagner, followed by a program of live music by well-known local musical collaborators, cellist Eric Edberg, violinist Teagan Faran and flutists Micah Layne and Leo Sussman.
What makes this program especially exhilarating is that it will be largely improvised in real time in response to readings of the individual poems.
To sound out initial interest from the Greencastle area, Brinkman’s first point of contact was a natural choice — Joe Heithaus, one of the Indiana “Air” poets with whom she had worked and published previously (as of last week, in addition to the Indianapolis International Airport, both also have work on the moon!).
Heithaus then reached out to the Greencastle Arts Council regarding a possible collaboration, which it quickly adopted.
“It’s been an extraordinary evolution, involving many aspects of the community. Bringing all of component parts together within the allotted budget and time frame, from talented individual artists to city and university administrators, involved a lot of what I think of as the ‘fine art of allowing,’” Suzanne Hassler, president of the Greencastle Arts Council, said. “It’s a reassuring demonstration of what’s possible when good ideas and good will come together.”
“In addition to thanking Joyce and all 22 of the contributing writers and musicians, I would like to give a big shout out to the sometimes unsung heroes who work behind the scenes helping make good things happen,” Hassler continued. “In particular to Green Center Director of Production Joe Novak for coordinating an array of technical aspects in support of the live performance, along with a special thanks to Arts Council board member Fred Vallowe for his work with both the current and prior administrations at City Hall. Mayor Lynda Dunbar and former mayor William Dory both have been very supportive of the banner project, which will be on display through April, National Poetry Month.”
In addition to obtaining city approval for the project, Vallowe also is helping coordinate a complicated installation with Andrew Rogers of the city’s street works department. Once complete, it will display the 15 banners in three phases representing the waning, totality and waxing of the solar eclipse, following the sun from east to west around the Courthouse Square.
Co-created in collaboration with Brick Street Poetry in Indianapolis, DePauw University Creative School, Greencastle Arts Council and the Greencastle Summer Music Festival, the project has support in particular from Indiana Humanities and the Indiana Center for Rural Development. Funding for the new banners was matched by the Putnam County Convention & Visitors Bureau, allowing the number of banners on display to be further extended down Indiana, Washington and Vine streets.
Next time you are downtown, take a walk around the Courthouse Square to explore the artistic side of the first total eclipse of the sun to cross the state of Indiana since 1869 — through the poetry and photos on the new banners and then at the live reading.
Admission to the March 13 performance is free, but tickets are recommended and can be obtained online at dpugreencenter.eventbrite.com, or in person at the Green Center box office, beginning 60 minutes prior to the performance.