The IUB 2030 strategic plan prioritizes development of a campuswide infrastructure to mobilize IUB’s assets for the benefit of rural community development, including capacity building, leadership development, quality of place, and arts and culture. The plan also uplifts the value of experiential and community-engaged learning for all students.
An example of such work resides in the IU Center for Rural Engagement’s efforts to collaborate with communities on generative arts and cultural events and programs connected to the April 2024 solar eclipse.
With funding support from the Simons Foundation, as part of its In the Path of Totality initiative, thirty rural organizations across Indiana have received microgrants. In addition, the CRE invited students to apply for a scholarship to investigate how rural Indiana communities use this once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event to catalyze social connection through an arts and humanities lens. These students, known as Eclipse Scholars, have spent the spring gaining first-hand experience in collaborative work with community organizations.
“The Eclipse Scholars are gaining professional experience as they work with rural Indiana communities during this once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Denny Spinner, interim executive director at the Center for Rural Engagement. “Through these partnerships, we are bolstering community capacity and creating pathways for future IU-community collaborations.”
In this edition of Into the Arts, we hear from a few of the community members and Eclipse Scholars responsible for planning the April 8 festivities.
Left: The Center for Rural Engagement kicks off their rural eclipse endeavors alongside representatives of microgrant-awarded community organizations. Top: Maleeha Mahbub, the Eclipse Scholar working with the English Civic Club, shares ideas with fellow program participants. Bottom: CRE Eclipse Liaison Hannah Jones chats with community eclipse event planners.
In Vincennes, the Knox County Association for Remarkable Citizens, a non-profit focused on improving the lives of families with disabilities, will host Community in Totality. The afternoon event has been planned to include a DJ, food vendors, games, and arts and crafts geared toward helping people with physical, developmental and cognitive disabilities participate in the eclipse. It will also feature LightSound devices, which allow people in the blind and low vision community to experience a solar eclipse with sound.
Nala Crumbaugh, Eclipse Scholar and sophomore in Social Work
There’s a lot I’ve learned about event planning and how complicated it can be. I’m really excited to see how our event goes though! We are setting up a sensory table at the eclipse for young kids that I’m really excited about. I’m also really excited to see the families at KCARC enjoying themselves. I believe that this programming with provide with a fun activity for the whole family to enjoy while watching the eclipse.
Total Eclipse 2024 at Monroe Lake is a four-day extravaganza of educational and community-building activity, including presentations on the 1869 eclipse and solar science, art making, and walks and hikes.
Jill Vance, interpretive naturalist for Monroe Lake
Everything I've read indicates that a total eclipse is the type of experience that people will remember the rest of their lives.
I've been doing a lot of historical research about people's expectations and experiences of the last total eclipse we had here and it's fascinating how little has changed since 1869. We're a lot less flowery in our language now, but not much else has changed.
I've been reading a lot about solar prominences and have they have a pink glow to them during an eclipse; I'm hoping to see that!
The eclipse will be an amazing experience in and of itself. I just hope that we can also give people a great before/after experience too!
Brooke Martoccia, Eclipse Scholar and senior in Environmental Management
Through eclipse programming, I have learned about the rarity of an eclipse like this in one location and the excitement it brings out in people. I have also learned a lot of the science behind an eclipse that I otherwise wouldn't have been aware of, and I have been excited to share this with others!
For the day of the eclipse, I am very excited to just simply watch it happen! I have never experienced one. For the event weekend, I am most excited to help with programs and give my presentation called Beyond the Eclipse, which is about different phenomena associated with the Sun. I will also be interviewing visitors before and after the eclipse about their experience and why they chose to spend this once in a lifetime event at Monroe Lake. I think this will be interesting information to learn and will help with large event planning like this in the future.
I hope that the eclipse programming will be enjoyable to people and that they leave happy that they chose to visit the park for the eclipse. I also hope that visitors who visit the park for the first time to see the eclipse in totality, decide they would like to come again!
The English Civic Club will host Left in the Dark in English, Indiana — three days of events designed to bring people together. The group has planned food, a scavenger hunt, dancing, and a display for local artisans and vintage artifacts.
Tami Redding, president of the English Civic Club
Over the course of the eclipse programming, I learned that the traditional community square dancing with “sets & squares" that I grew up with has almost disappeared from Southern Indiana. That's a shame. But there are still a few folks who square dance the old-fashioned way and they are more than willing to teach newcomers. Unfortunately, they live in a sparsely populated and economically depressed area with limited facilities, so not many people come to learn from them. When my husband and I attended one of the dances, we also learned that monthly dances include some traditional square dancing but that the band plays mostly a mixed genre of music unrelated to square dancing. I am hopeful the Civic Club’s dance will be fun, lively and renew an interest in traditional square dancing which brought so many people in the community together.
I also learned that it's very difficult to host a one-time event like an eclipse celebration in a small community, since not many people are "planning" to come to English. It is “off the radar” for the most part. This factor has made it difficult to determine how many people will come to town for the eclipse. We are doing our best to plan but a lot is still unknown as far as crowd size.
The element of April 8th I am most excited about is the actual eclipse time. It will be fun to be a part of a group experiencing such a rare event. I am hopeful we will have a good turnout. I am also really looking forward to the scavenger hunt and hearing people’s thoughts on the places they “find” in our town. IU Scholar Maleeha Mahbub worked hard to make the scavenger hunt user friendly! I think it will be a fun part of the weekend!
The eclipse programming the Civic Club has planned will hopefully benefit the community by allowing people to come together to celebrate an unusual and rare event. In addition, as English Civic Club members, we are hopeful the event will spur community engagement and bring vitality to our poor community. If we have a nice turn-out, a nice day and good cooperation between all the entities involved, we believe the event will have succeeded in bringing the community closer together.
Located east of Bloomfield and west of Solsberry near the community of Tulip, the 2,307-feet-long and 157-feet-tall railroad trestle is one the longest of this type of bridge in the world. The Tulip Trestle, locally known as the Viaduct, but officially identified as “Bridge X75-6”, was built in 1906.
Tulip Trestle Community Restoration, a nonprofit dedicated to area conservation, local history, and a place to explore the Greene County Viaduct, will host a gathering at the Tulip Trestle Observation Deck. There will be food, music, a photographer, and opportunity to learn about the historic wonder of railroad engineering.
Camila Cantu, Eclipse Scholar and junior in Human Biology and Community Health
Something that I have learned over the course of planning my eclipse event is how close the community comes for events in rural areas. I have always lived in big cities, so I had never experienced the sense of community that I experienced when I visited Solsberry to help plan the Tulip Trestle event. It was something very special to encounter because this once-in-a-lifetime event can bring people of all ages together. Another special aspect of this event is that the Trestle is expected to have many visitors from outside of Solsberry so the eclipse is able to bring residents and visitors together and it is a great opportunity to educate visitors about the history of the trestle!
The main element that I am most excited about is, as I mentioned earlier, that it is a once in a lifetime event. I think that being able to experience something that Indiana won’t experience again until 2099 is incredible to think about and it is an honor to assist a community in planning their event for this very special eclipse.
I hope that I was able to ease some pressures and stress off of the Tulip Trestle volunteers who are organizing this event. Since it is completely volunteer based, all of the events and activities had to be donation based, so it was a little tricky to find people who would be willing to do that, especially on a day like this. Luckily, through some connections of being an IU student, I was able to find an IU School of Jacobs grad student who was willing to donate his time and skill to entertain the community at their event. Music is something that can bring everyone together, so I hope that having a live performer at the event brings a new level of excitement and joy to the individuals attending the event.
