One Size Misfits All

It turns out that when you design something to fit everyone, it doesn't really fit anyone. At least according to Kay Sargent. She serves as the Director of Thought Leadership, Interiors at the global design firm HOK. Maybe that seems obvious, but if you look around, you see a lot of things that seem designed without any single person in mind. The office is a great place to start. The same lighting, the same desks, the same noise levels. A lot of sameness. That is something Sargent thinks a lot about. She is here in Bloomington as part of Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture+ Design’s Design Speaker Series. She says that creating more flexibility is a big part of neuroinclusive design. but it ends up benefiting everyone.  Film for All (and Golden Tickets for Fifteen) at the IU CinemaIU Cinema, both an academic unit at IU and a public arthouse theater, has been providing “film for all” for fifteen years. Its fifteenth anniversary is in January, and leading up to that, they’re running a golden ticket contest. Fifteen people will have the opportunity to win a ticket that will allow them free entrance to anything the Cinema does for the next fifteen years. The way to win? Guess the film they’re showing on the proper fifteenth anniversary. Alicia Kozma, director of the Cinema, provides clues at the end of our conversation. We also discuss WTO/99, a documentary they’re showing in December about the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999, why they’re celebrating Professor Joan Hawkins, and what else to coming up this season.“The Prom” at IU TheatreWhen Emma, a high schooler in small-town Indiana, is banned from bringing her girlfriend to prom, a group of Broadway has-beens swoop in to help. But their motives may not be as selfless as they appear.That’s the premise of the latest musical produced at IU Theatre. We talk with co-directors DJ Gray and Ansley Valentine about how the show speaks to this moment.Hannah Red—CeramicistHannah Red doesn’t consider herself “self-taught” when it comes to ceramics, but she doesn’t have formal training in the craft, “I would say I learned through community and popular education.”That community education has come from the instructors and fellow students at Pottery House Studio. Hannah takes classes there which allows her access to pottery wheels, work and storage space plus kiln firings of her work. This model has made ceramics accessible to her without having to invest in a lot of pricey equipment. What she treasures most though is the community of people focused on making pottery, improving their craft and sharing skills and encouragement.You can keep up with Hannah's work on her instagram account.