BLOOMINGTON, IN — A collaborative community art event, “Brain Extravaganza!” will be launched throughout Bloomington, Indiana, on April 28 to promote appreciation awareness, and education about the human brain, sponsored by the non-profit organization Jill Bolte Taylor BRAINS, Inc.
Twenty-two enormous (5′ x 5′ x 4′) fiberglass brain sculptures will be on display as a collection from Noon-2 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, at the Bloomington South gymnasium. Immediately following, the 22 brains will be installed around Bloomington (13 brains) and on the Indiana University campus (9 brains). The brains will be on public display from April 30 through October 15.
“We’re placing 22 enormous brains decorated by wonderful artists all over Bloomington, and they are neuroanatomically correct,” said Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. “They are absolutely magnificent, and nothing thrills me more than to have a dream of having brains on street corners actually manifest with support from the city, the local university, the business community, the art community, the school system, the volunteer programs. I mean, it’s a beautiful network that we’ve created here in Bloomington, and it thrills me!”
Dr. Taylor told The Edge that she hopes kids who experience the “Brain Extravaganza” will recognize that “brains are cool!”
“That’s my motto: Brains are cool,” she said, “and that’s what I want kids to take away from it, and if kids think brains are cool then they’re going to learn more about them, they’re going to become more aware of theirs and they’re going to appreciate theirs a little more. Hopefully, that will translate into them taking better care of theirs — whatever it takes to make a small shift in humanity towards the positive.”
The citywide event in Indiana includes:
- A dedicated website at JBTBRAINS.org will be the source of information about the project for the public .
- A mobile app for smart phones will contain a brain game (requiring people to visit each brain to “color their brain”).
- On April 26, Young Frankenstein will be presented at Indiana University Auditorium; Dr. Taylor will give the pre-show public lecture and three of the brain sculptures will be on display outside the IU Auditorium.
- Bloomington’s first Friday Gallery Walk of 2012 will feature “A Night of a 100 Brains,” whereby nine Bloomington Art Galleries will have on public display 100 brains that are designs, paintings, drawings, cartoons and poems created by local school children.
- A Gala will be presented later this year by Jill Bolte Taylor BRAINS, Inc. whereby the brains will be sold at auction, with funds received for the sale of the brains to be used for future projects that serve the mission of the organization.