Boots Riley is the writer and director of one TV show and two movies. The latest is I Love Boosters. It’s in theatres now. Before he was a director, Boots started the hip-hop group The Coup. He was the lead singer and wrote the vocals. He’s also been a labor organizer and, since he was a teenager, an activist. The IU Cinema invited Boots to visit for a screening of I Love Boosters, and he sat down with Nice Work host Alex Chambers. They talked about making movies versus making tv, and about how one might go about creating a show that gets people to join a political organization. We also got an impressive capsule history of the American left in the twentieth century.
Pillars of the Community
When you go to the mall, you expect to see chains like Hot Topic, Foot Locker, Old Navy. You expect a food court with pizza slices, soft pretzels, and chicken sandwiches. You expect kiosks with cell phone covers or framed pictures of athletes and Taylor Swift.
But here in Bloomington, if you walk through Target into College Mall, and then turn left, you'll see a place that sells local art. It's big: 6 galleries. It's called Pillar Arts, and it's an outgrowth of the Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington. They run this shop in the mall, and they also recently took over By Hand Gallery, the long-running shop in Fountain Square, downtown, when its founders decided it was time to move on. Carol Rhodes, the president of Pillar Arts, and vice-president Henry Leck give us a tour of the space and tell us about how it’s going in the mall.
‘Nerd out’ at the Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
The Bloomington Amateur Radio Club is a place for makers and people interested in STEM fields to push themselves to make something great. Whether it’s talking to someone across the globe, contacting the astronauts in the International Space Station, or bouncing a radio signal off the moon, Ham Radio can help people develop their skills and have fun while doing it. The club meets monthly and more information can be found on their website.
How Art Builds Community, and How Community Builds Art
Erin Tobey has always been finding any outlet she can express her creativity. She moved to Bloomington in 2003, after playing in bands since she was sixteen. Nowadays, Erin works as a visual artist painting murals, illustrations, and graphic design all over town. She also plays in a few bands including Full Sun and Brenda’s Friends. As a muralist, she’s painted for clients such as Wonderlab, Bloomingfoods, and the City of Bloomington. Art and community have found so many ways to intertwine themselves into her life. She couldn’t imagine doing art without community.