Bluegrass, Counterpoint, and Other Stylistic Standpoints

Gabriel Jenks has a new album out. It’s called Lonesome, and it’s a collection of songs in folk and bluegrass traditions. It’s a bit of a departure. Jenks is an associate professor of music composition at the Jacobs School of Music, and the project he did before Lonesome involved writing counterpoint to understand 16th century polyphony while also deconstructing music theory writing from various points in the past few centuries. Not a bluegrass album.Alex Chambers invited him to come in and tell me about how he got from one to the other. They talked about the social context of music theory in the Enlightenment and early twentieth century Europe, being maybe the biggest music nerd at a music conservatory, and what working in a cow barn has to do with becoming a harpist.Make Art, Make CommunityHeather Farmer and Maureen Langley are Besties. And Maureen now hosts Zine Club at Heather's art supply store, Bloomington Fine Art Supply. Thursday evenings are dedicated to Art in Common sessions, which are free art-making gatherings in their spacious studio.Bloomington Fine Art Supply is much more than an art supply shop. They host regular workshops with skilled artisans in the community teaching book binding, drawing, painting and so much more. They also host Art in Commons on Thursday evenings—free drop-in programs such as Zine Club, Collage Collective and meetings of the Indiana Gourd Society. Kayte spoke with BFA Supply owner Heather Farmer and Zine Club founder Maureen Langley.The Grunwald Gallery MFA show invites you in The 2026 MFA exhibit for students at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design fills the Grunwald Gallery with the work of a next generation of artists.In the studio art department at Indiana University, 13 graduate students are preparing for their thesis shows at the Grunwald Gallery of Art. They have worked for 3 years exploring and mastering their crafts. This show is a cumulation of the effort and time they have put into their degree. Each artist has a concentration in a specific medium – ceramics, painting, sculpture, digital art, graphic design, metal, and photography. During the last few weeks of their preparation for their show, each artist sat down with Olivia Trevino for an interview to talk about their show.