Bloomington

This not-for-profit arts organization is dedicated to the furthering of new original plays and theatre. The fair is almost exclusively original work and often by local writers. BPP is also home to several playwriting contests and youth theatre workshops. This is a great place to both see theatre and get involved as a volunteer. Partially Accessible.

Just a 20 minute drive from downtown Bloomington and nestled in the heart of Brown County, the Playhouse serves up light summer fare including musicals and contemporary classics. The theatre is in historic Nashville, a 19th century artist colony made famous for its fall foliage. Have dinner, see a show, and check out Nashville's 350+ shops and galleries.

Cardinal Stage Company is Bloomington's only dedicated professional regional theatre company, producing both classical and contemporary works, along with shows for young audiences, musicals, and new works still in development. The company also offers extensive outreach programs in an effort to cultivate a lifelong passion for the arts in audiences of diverse ages, cultures and economic backgrounds.

Be sure to see what's playing at this 3,200-seat theatre, home to a wide range of events including touring Broadways productions, often free lectures, student events, conferences, church services, university ceremonies, and popular music concerts. While you're there, check out the The Hall of Murals, home to the priceless and newly-restored Thomas Hart Benton murals, also a regal setting for wedding ceremonies and intimate receptions. Accessible.

Since 1887 there has been a vibrant and active theatre community at Indiana University, and the present day Department of Theatre and Drama continues that tradition by performing two musicals and six "straight plays" each year at the newly constructed Lee Norvelle Theatre & Drama Center in the heart of the campus arts corridor. Enjoy the plush seating and traditional proscenium of the Ruth N. Halls Theatre or find edgier fair in the black box at the Wells-Metz. All productions feature our graduate MFA students and their work in addition to a large pool of talented faculty and undergraduates. Coming soon in 2011, the newly renovated University Theatre will feature more student-work in actors' studios and a brand new cinema.

The Musical Arts Center, known as the MAC, is Indiana University and the Jacob's School of Music's premier performance facility. It features acoustical design and technical capabilities that are among the best in the nation. The backstage area occupies more than half of the building and provides state-of-the-art technical space for producing eight fully staged operas a year. The MAC is also home to the School of Music Department of Ballet. The main stage, which is often compared to that of the Metropolitan Opera, has European-style seating for 1,460. Opera and concert goers at the MAC enjoy intermissions in the Hoagy Carmichael Foyer, named for the Indiana native who enjoyed an illustrious career as a composer/songwriter. Concerts are also held in the lobby area.

No matter what your perspective, you can experience art from all angles at the Indiana University Art Museum. From world-renowned architect I.M. Pei's soaring triangular atrium, to galleries filled with extraordinary works of art from all corners of the globe, the IU Art Museum will engage, stimulate, and satisfy your curiosity about the worlds of art. Since its establishment in 1941, the IU Art Museum has grown from a small university teaching collection into one of the foremost university art museums in the country. Today, the IU Art Museum's internationally acclaimed collections, ranging from ancient gold jewelry and African masks to paintings by Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, include over 40,000 objects representing nearly every art-producing culture throughout history. Partially Accessible.

The Mathers Museum's collections consist of over 20,000 objects and 10,000 photographs representing cultures from each of the world's inhabited continents. These materials have been collected and curated to serve the Museum's primary mission as a teaching museum within a university setting. The Museum's collections strengths include traditional musical instruments, photographs of Native Americans and the Bloomington community, Inupiaq and Yupik Eskimo materials, and Pawnee material culture, among others.

This internationally known rare book library contains more than 400,000 books, more than seven million manuscripts and 100,000 pieces of sheet music. Exhibits vary throughout the year. On permanent exhibit is the Gutenberg Bible printed before 1456 and John James Audubon's Birds of America prints. Public tours are available every Friday at 2PM or by appointment.

The Hoosier National Forest, in the hills of south central Indiana, is a property managed by the United States Forest Service. It has a total area of 201,047 acres and provides a wide mix of opportunities and resources for people to enjoy. Rolling hills, back-country trails, and rural crossroad communities make this small but beautiful forest a favorite.