Multi-media competition

The Tree City Arts Competition is Mayor Mark Kruzan's way of celebrating 21 years of Bloomington's designation as a "Tree City USA." There is no entry fee, but submissions are limited to one original piece per artist.

The contest is open to Monroe County residents of all ages. Work must be dropped off on August 11 or 12 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the City Hall Atrium at 401 N. Morton St.

All work must have trees as its central theme. Artwork can be no larger than 48-by-48 inches. Two-dimensional pieces must be ready to hang. For more details on prize information and registration, call (812) 349-3569 or see the city's Web site: ... .

Bloomington Media Arts Group

The Bloomington Media Arts group is a new student organization formed at IU last fall. Founded by John Howard, BMAG has secured an office and formed relationships with faculty and students involved with journalism, telecommunications and various media arts.

Howard has been working at creating an open-source publishing Web site that should be ready soon for posting articles, profiles and links for individuals and organizations. It is intended to be a nexxus site or central forum for artists, journalists and community organizations.

Howard has been attending and filming regional media conferences to learn about and produce a documentary on the state of independent and alternative media. BMAG plans to hold a community media conference at IU, as well as other media events. To learn more, e-mail John Howard at .

Museum of the person

A mini-workshop on oral history interviewing and videography will be held by the Bloomington Museum of the Person on Friday July 15th from noon until 3:30 p.m. in Conference Room B of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community located at 2853 E. 10th St.

The workshop is in preparation for a story tent event at the Monroe County Fair on Senior Day, July 27th. It is hoped that those participating will volunteer to assist during the "Memory of the Fair" story tent or other, future documentary sessions.

Presenters include Mary Pietch Alexander, educator and local historian, and Kevin Howley, author and professor of community media at Depauw University. The agenda features camera techniques and interviewing tips.

The event is a fledgling, local attempt to bloom as a part of a group of historians founded in Brazil, South America. The Musea de Pessoa is a company that formed in 1992 with the aim of collecting, organizing, preserving, and publishing the life stories of ordinary people.

Karen Worcman of the Musea de Pessao states, "Our concept and work method were inspired by the oral history movement of 1978 led by Paul Thompson, which considers oral history to be an instrument allowing anonymous people to become a part of history."

Originally working in text, video and CD-ROM, they created the Web site in 1997 to allow anyone to add their biographies to the net archive. The Musea de Pessoa has received more than 150 stories with images, and the site has 500 hits a day, receiving 15 new hits a week.

To reserve your lunch order or learn more, contact Phil Stafford by e-mail at or by calling 855-2163.

Eco music studio

Homegrown Studios is changing its name to Home Studio and making a few other changes on their property at 611 Empire Mill Rd. just south of Bloomington proper.

The studios were started in 1980 by Richard Fish. The facility now houses Home Studio and the Esoteric label.

In addition to converting the recording studio to run on renewable energy, projects are planned to make green use of the property such as organic community gardens.

Three acres are up for sale but are intended to remain connected to the Homegrown Community, the non-profit arm of Home Studio now being formed. Treehouses are something that may be constucted on the grounds.

For more information, contact Adam by calling (812) 369-8616 or by email, esotericmusic@aol.com.

Mylo Roze can be reached at .