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Arts Feed

Jenni Sears, Music Educator
Todd Helmuth, Wood-Worker
Irene Ortiz, Jewelry Maker
Caitlin Lanctot, Jewelry Maker
River Bend Film Festival

Follow @goshenartscouncil on Instagram

“Broadly speaking, my artistic medium is just he

“Broadly speaking, my artistic medium is just helping make amazing musical experiences for people. Whatever form that plays out, whether it’s through my own creative music or through helping other people make their music, whether it’s in my recording studio or in a live music experience. That’s how I see it all coming together.
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Primarily, Shiny Shiny Black is a band composed of my wife and me. My wife and I write together and get some help occasionally from people like my friend Jonathan Reuel to help the songs come to life. Then I kind of put all the finishing touches on. Our primary focus right now is really trying to grow and expand Shiny Shiny Black and make that kind of the main thing that we do. It’s a weird time to do that, but here we are!
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The fact that I’m in my mid-40s and still doing this and I’ve never quit - that’s probably the thing I am the most proud of. I feel a deep soul satisfaction that I’ve not let anybody kind of push me off of that. I decided when I was a kid this is what I wanted to do with my life, and I’ve stuck to it. That has not been easy, but I think because it hasn’t been easy, I have even more pride in, ‘That’s what I do.’
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Goshen is an absolutely integral part of my becoming and maturing and growing as an artist. Starting with The Electric Brew, doing ‘pay what you want’ concerts in the mid-’90s, when I was still too young to get into bars and that whole scene and really didn’t have money to be going to big arena shows. That created an opportunity for me to see music live and see people who were doing it at kind of a humble but sustainable level.”

👋 Name: Nate Butler
🎶 Medium: Music
💻 Website: http://www.shinyshinyblack.com/
⌨️ Facebook: Shiny Shiny Black
📹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ShinyShinyBlack
🌐 Website: https://www.nimblewit.com/

“I mostly do paintings. I use all kinds of mediu

“I mostly do paintings. I use all kinds of mediums, from oils to acrylics to watercolor to collage to pen and ink. I just sort of work with everything. I think I have a style, because people tell me - no matter what it is - ‘I can tell that’s a Kathy Stiffney.’ But I don’t have ‘a’ style; I paint all ways and all subjects, from more abstract to more real-life. It’s a very wide variety, and it could be kind of a fault that I haven’t developed a series of something that sort of defines me. I just haven’t done that yet. I like to experiment. I like the challenge of trying something different.
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Part of my art is working with space and creating space in buildings and homes and at retreat centers. I’ve done a lot of that. The art of space is really important to me, and I love how Goshen is developing its downtown in terms of the architecture, in terms of the streetscapes, all of that. I think that is art. It distinguishes Goshen a little bit.
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Obviously, there is opportunity with the painting guild, and lots of places where people have studios and that kind of thing. I appreciate that we are a town that is becoming known for our art, for our recognition of the arts, our valuing the arts. And there’s certainly good support among the people and beyond. The guild’s a great place to collaborate and be with other artists. I love my studio because I can really focus and be alone there, although I have other artists with me there, also. It’s thriving, and people care.”

👋 Name: Kathy Stiffney
🎨 Medium: Painting
💻 Facebook: Kathy Stiffney Integrated Art
⌨️ Website: https://www.kathystiffney.com/

“I am an elementary music teacher at Chamberlain

“I am an elementary music teacher at Chamberlain Elementary School. I teach kindergarten through fifth-graders how to make music. So we sing, dance, and play, and those are some of the fun things that we do.
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One of the things I love about making music is that we can all do it together. Each individual person has an important part in making music. That’s been one of the challenges with the virus with our situation because we can’t do singing right now. We can’t share instruments. Finding unique ways to still make music together as a team - bringing some of that aspect in has been challenging, but also fun. It also provides students with more opportunities to create or compose individually, since they do do their work at home after school.
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I grew up in Goshen. I went to Bethany Christian High School (Bethany Christian Schools), and then I attended Goshen College for my music ed degree. I just have really enjoyed the community that Goshen has, and part of making music is having that community. I’ve enjoyed being a part of this community and helping other young musicians grow into themselves and become an important part of our community.”
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👋 Jenni Sears
🎶 Music Educator

“My medium is wood. My favorite style is the Art

“My medium is wood. My favorite style is the Arts and Crafts, Prairie, Mid-Century Modern - the simple, timeless looks that those styles give. I’ve always loved the look of those in houses and architecture, and then the matching furniture to go with them as well. Basically, I do anything involving wood, as far as projects. I do cabinets, all types of furniture, kitchens, bathrooms, accessories, whatever the customer wants, in all kinds of woods: purchased wood or found wood or reclaimed wood, all that stuff. It’s just interesting to find new things to build and see what people like and what they don’t like.
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I grew up in Goshen and went to high school and college there. Met my wife at Goshen College. We did actually move away for me to attend grad school. It was out in Ohio, where my wife is from. I was going for a social work degree. The intention was to live there a year and then go to grad school and get the cheaper rates. I worked in a woodshop out there. The guy hired me knowing that I had no experience in woodworking at that time. Just within the year that we lived there, I found this love of woodworking, so I scrapped that whole master’s program and we moved back to Goshen. Initially we moved back for family reasons and the cost-of-living-type things.
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Over the past 10 years, the art community has really exploded around here with music and physical art and dramas. All of that I’ve been very impressed with. Back when I was growing up, maybe I didn’t notice it, but it just didn’t seem to be as vibrant as it's been in recent years here. I love that - the college music center and the stuff that they do there, the downtown art stuff, and of course Arts on the Millrace. The first year I went there, I was just shocked at how awesome that was as far as the artists and the number of people who came through. With the downtown, the First Fridays, the places to eat and shop, it’s just recently been very awesome, I think. It’s great.”

😃 Name: Todd Helmuth
🎨 Medium: Wood
📱 Facebook: Helmuth Wood Design
💻 Website: http://helmuth.co/

“A proud moment for me was a necklace piece that

“A proud moment for me was a necklace piece that I made. I tried to do a piece at the end of my course that had almost all the techniques that I learned in it. I wanted to make something that was special for me. I actually made two of them that had all those things.
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Susan Lenart Kazmer: I’ve been a big fan of hers for a long time because she’s different. I’ve always been a unique person. I don't like everything like everybody else does and I’ve always searched for things that are different. I always try to be different with my stuff. I finally feel like I’m growing as an artist.
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I love doing the art events. We meet so many awesome people. I want to bring something different. I want to share something different. I get that a lot - ‘Oh, I’ve never seen anything like this. These are neat.’ And I love to hear that. I’ve always tried to seek unique things. I hope to bring that to the community. I love the art community. I love doing events. We’re all like little kids, like show and tell. We get to show and tell our stuff, our story. I love that. It brings everybody together.
👋 Name: Irene Ortiz
🎨 Medium: Jewelry and Metalsmithing
💻 Facebook: BellaDesiderata42
⌨️ Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/belladesiderata

“I’m a jewelry maker, and that means a lot of

“I’m a jewelry maker, and that means a lot of different things to different people. I mostly am a metal worker and an enamelist. I work with sterling silver, copper, brass, and enamel to create jewelry of all different kinds, mostly earrings and pendants but also rings and sometimes bracelets.
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I’ve had the privilege of making a lot of memorial pieces for people - commissioned pieces that help them remember a special person in their life. I’ve gotten to use things like marbles that were left over from a house fire, which were like the only objects left. The client wanted me to turn them into some pendants for her family. That was very special. I’ve also used parents’ wedding bands and melted them down and rolled them into sheet to make something completely new, but it’s still a piece of their parents that they get to wear. I created a bunch of different pieces of jewelry that end up being a symbol for somebody marking an important event in their life or a transition point or something like that.
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I grew up here. I went to college here. My husband Andrew and I lived away for just a year and then we decided to come back because there’s nothing like a small town, especially like Goshen, to network. It’s just wonderful having so many different connections to the owners of businesses downtown. Usually, if somebody has a need, you can just say, ‘Oh, talk to so and so,’ or they can connect you with somebody who can help you out. I’ve really appreciated the different efforts that have happened over the years since I’ve been making art in the community. There have been, obviously, different festivals like Arts on the Millrace. Different things like The Local and the millrace guilds that are very supportive of artists. The Pottery Tour. I know who to talk to, who to organize with if I want to create an event. It’s a great place to be an artist.”

👋 Name: Caitlin Lanctot
🎨 Medium: Jewelry
💻 Facebook: Shedreamsincolors
⌨️ Website: Etsy.com/Shop/SheDreamsInColors

“Filmmaking as an art form is so collaborative.

“Filmmaking as an art form is so collaborative. You’ve got the writer, cinematographer, costumer, actors, etc. You have to bring all these talented artists together to create one work of art. And I think that’s what makes it so amazing is because it doesn’t work without all of these different aspects.
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I go through phases as far as what I most enjoy doing. I’ve done a lot of writing and story creation but I also really enjoy living and breathing a character and responding to the world from their perspective. Creative oversight and having a vision for a project is something I’ve done as well but I think that my favorite is probably acting just because you get to create this thing and live in its skin and then when the project is done filming you leave it behind.
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Although I had moved to California to pursue acting when I wrote both Sand Castles and The Shade Shepherd I really had the Goshen area in mind for a setting. Being able to imagine the scenery and the area is key when you’re writing a script and knowing that wed be supported and assisted by the awesome creative community here in Goshen was a huge plus.
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When it comes to independent filmmaking, film festivals are so important. They are really the only way that a lot of filmmakers get to tell their stories, particularly if it’s short films. I’m so glad to be a part of the River Bend Film Festival as the Programing Director because I get to lift up and highlight so many talented filmmakers and give them a platform for their stories and skills.”

-Jordon Hodges
Programming Director, RBFF
Actor, Producer, Writer, The Shade Shepherd

“It started out being sort of production oriente

“It started out being sort of production oriented, and it’s becoming more and more one of a kind as time is going along. Whereas I used to make a lot of mugs at one time, I’m slowing down a little and paying a little more attention to each piece as it goes along. I just started soda firing work about two or three years ago to actually throw me a little off center in order to start learning again. I needed something new to freshen things up. Trying a firing style I didn’t know anything about really, really helped with that. Because of that, I’m feeling like there are new forms in the wood kiln in the studio here. It was very rewarding and sometimes frustrating.
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I only expected to be here a year. I came here to Goshen in 1989 to work with Dick Lehman in the studio that I’ve now bought from him. I came up for a year, walked in, and it was about what I imagined my own studio being. There was a lot of utilitarian ware - I was interested in making that work - but also some one-of-a-kind stuff that could be sort of quote-unquote art pieces. Then Dick became a friend, and it became less and less feasible to move on. I started finding things to do in the area. Goshen at that point started reviving. It was really fun to see it go from somewhat of a dead downtown to something thriving.
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I’m located at the Old Bag Factory, 1100 N. Chicago Ave., Goshen. The hours here are 9 to 5 Monday through Friday, and 9 to 4 Saturday. Dick started this shop here in 1984 and the building has grown ever since.
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I used to take about half my studio and go up north to my home place and set up there. What’s different for this year’s Pottery Tour is I will be open here at the Old Bag Factory normal hours, 9 to 4. I think there are another five artists who are part of the tour who have some pots here you could pick up and see. I also will have a computer available if you wanted to see more of what they’re doing. The tour right now is all online. Each artist is busily putting photos up. It’s not ideal from our standpoint because we love talking with customers, but it’s what we can do this year. ”

👋 Name: Mark Goertzen
🎨 Medium: Pottery
⌨️ Website: http://goertzenpottery.com/

“My entire career has circled around objects tha

“My entire career has circled around objects that are functional but also, I hope, beautiful and can stand on their own irrespective of whether they work functionally in a kitchen. I’ve come to embrace the idea that function extends beyond the home and kitchen - bringing beauty into being is a function, and is perhaps even more needed now than ever before. The interplay between something that works well, is designed well, and will last a long time but at the same time brings beauty into being for its entire lifetime, that’s the focus of the things I make.
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I grew up in Elkhart, and when I started my first studio I joined Larion Swartzendruber, who is a woodcrafter, a woodworker. We thought that having two businesses making handmade products in one location would be a better draw for each of us. That was the precursor to The Old Bag Factory. The initial building was on North Second Street where the current county office complex is located. In 1984, we relocated from that place to the Old Bag Factory.
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For long years, I was aware of the tour in Minnesota called the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour. It’s one of grandmother/grandfathers of pottery tours in the United States. There are a couple of them, but St. Croix is perhaps the oldest and best known. Mark Goertzen and I talked for long years when I was still working at the Old Bag Factory studio about, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could create a similar kind of thing here?’ At that time, there weren’t enough local potters to make that really a viable option. But our presence here seemed to attract other potters, and over time as those numbers increased, the viability of actually having a pottery tour here grew as well. It was an idea that was active but latent in our imaginations for many years. Then at a point, Justin Rothshank and Mark and myself, and in the initial stages Todd Pletcher to a degree, gave some thought. Brandon ‘Fuzzy’ Schwartz joined the planning team after Todd left. Now the tour is in its ninth year. It’s proved to be positive in every respect. Because of COVID-19, we’re electing to do it virtually this year. ”

👋 Name: Dick Lehman
🎨 Medium: Pottery
💻Website: dicklehman.com

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Goshen Arts Council, Goshen, Indiana