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http://www.nwitimes.com/niche/shore/entert...be118c25fa.html

Julie Dean Kessler
If you go

Oct. 3, 5-8 p.m.

Oktoberfest

Tastings from Michigan City’s Burn ’Em Brewery.

Exhibits: Invasive Species, Transformation, and Aquatic Kaleidoscopes

Free

Nov. 7, 5-8 p.m. (CST)

Comics … Comix

Opening reception & Artisan Market

Free

Nov. 15, 2014 - Jan. 3, 2015

Holiday Artisan market

Finely crafted items for holiday gifts.

Shop early for best selection.

Funds benefit LCA’s Education Outreach.

Dec. 5, 5-8 p.m.

Holiday music performed

Enjoy shopping, exhibits while live music plays

Free

Things are lively at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, where new opportunities for enjoyment of art in its many forms are popping up all the time. And while the gallery exists for the sake of art, the Lubeznik Center for the Arts (LCA) recognizes that it exists for the sake of the community.

Its imprint is even evident on downtown streets, where sculptures enliven the cityscape. LCA Marketing Director Amy Davis Navardauskas includes the surrounding community in almost everything she says when describing the center. Which makes perfect sense, because the community loves the center right back.

In 1978 John G. Blank bought Michigan City’s former library and donated it to the existing arts center. Twenty-three years later Lubeznik underwent a dramatic change ---including its name---when Jack and Shirley Lubeznik donated their office building at the north end of the city to the arts center. After extensive renovation, the non-profit LCA now boasts six galleries, classroom and studio spaces, a Gallery Shop, and a lobby with a reception area—and there are plans for more.

These days the calendar is full, with the annual huge Lakefront Arts Festival over for the year and First Fridays in full swing, events will continue well into winter. First Fridays are varied: Visitors can get their groove on at live performances by musicians; wander from one micro-brewed beer sampling to the next at Oktoberfest Oct. 3; shop for artist-crafted items from Nov. 15 through Jan. 3; and browse the exhibits by artists well-known both locally and globally.

“We feel we are a cultural anchor within Michigan City,” says Davis Navardauskas. “We have some pretty heavy influence in bringing arts to the community through a nationwide program to provide work spaces for artists; we will need an economic generator for that. Right now, one of the programs we’re bringing to the community is sculpture fusion, which brings public arts to the community by placing sculptures downtown.” Twelve pieces were brought in this year for Michigan City streets, each selected through a juried process. The selection begins again next year for new sculptures.

“The sculptures help to express the message that all are welcome; it’s nice for everyone who goes to the downtown area.”

For anyone yearning to paint a better landscape, chances are a class will be available among the many offered. “There are classes pretty much year round, for example if you want to learn to take better photos, or if a teenager wants to do better drawings.” Davis Navardauskas adds, “There’s also an extensive outreach program for teaching children and adults that have limited access to the arts. Those programs are mostly for Michigan City schoolchildren and organizations like Michiana Resources.”

Davis Navardauskas, who has been marketing director for six years, has a personal perspective on the arts. She is an artists herself, she explains, though “on sabbatical. I paint, and I love all the wonderful pieces in all different media here at the Lubeznik.”

Art Bash is the mid-summer, annual benefit that enables LCA to deliver art, music, and dance every week for 800-plus children and adults, mount its contemporary art exhibits—in 2015 there will be nine exhibits—and get ready to lead local economic development projects. Plans for next year’s Art Bash are already gearing up.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of entertainment and lots of new experiences in colors, sounds and shapes as LCA heads into fall. For a full listing of events and exhibits, visit lubeznikcenter.org.