00:00:00:01 - 00:00:15:25 Sean Ashcraft Support for Pop of Culture comes from Stallings Wealth Management, Daniel Stallings financial advisor, securities and advisory services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC, a broker/dealer and registered investment advisor. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity. 00:00:15:28 - 00:00:41:27 Michelle Kinsey This week on Pop of Culture, we dig into the pop archives. We'll celebrate Arbor Day with our favorite tree huggers in Muncie. We'll get excited for this year's Three Trails Music series, and we'll talk to a furniture artist in this week's What Are you working on? That's all coming up in this encore edition of Pop Culture. 00:00:41:29 - 00:01:13:15 Luke Jones Support for Pop of Culture comes from Stallings Wealth Management and from you. You might have seen a federal judge's recent ruling against an executive order to defund public media. This does not live also loss of federal funding. So you are the reason local programing is still on IPR. Give today at Indiana Public Radio dot org. 00:01:13:18 - 00:01:17:09 Kara DuQuette From IPR. This is Pop of Culture. I'm Kara DuQuette 00:01:17:09 - 00:01:40:20 Michelle Kinsey and I'm Michelle Kinsey. This week, we dig into the archives to unearth some cool interviews from previous pop seasons, and later, we'll hear our interview with a local artist who makes the Indy 500 wreath. But first, Arbor Day is April 24th this year, and Minnetrista Museum and Gardens is hosting its annual celebration the next day on April 25th. 00:01:40:26 - 00:01:50:29 Kara DuQuette Our producer, Luke spoke to James Edwards from miniaturist, as well as Erica Oliver from Ball State's doctor Joe and Alice Rinard Orchid Greenhouse in season one. 00:01:51:02 - 00:01:55:20 Luke Jones So let's talk about what are we doing with trees or what are you doing with trees? 00:01:55:23 - 00:02:17:27 James Edwards It's really a celebration of urban forestry, and I'm lucky enough to sit on the urban forestry Committee. Like committee board chair. I don't know what you would call it. It's the Urban Forestry Committee. And so I sit on that with that group, and we really just celebrating, urban forestry. And so that day, we offer saplings to giveaway. 00:02:17:28 - 00:02:37:04 James Edwards We offer, planting demonstrations that day, we'll have a mobile exhibit out in the parking lot called Woods on Wheels. It should be a cram packed day full of excitement. Last year, we saw over 750 people. And I expect more this year. It was a wonderful day to celebrate trees and urban forestry. 00:02:37:07 - 00:02:41:04 Luke Jones Is it hard to grow a tree? 00:02:41:06 - 00:03:03:08 James Edwards I wouldn't say it's hard to grow. I think it's most urban trees are not slated for a long life. There's a lot of, you know, concrete, a lot of root disturbance. There's, you know, cars and, heat island effect. So urban trees have a shorter lifespan than a native forest. And so we have to replace them quite frequently. 00:03:03:10 - 00:03:20:09 James Edwards Unfortunately, we also have dealt with the, emerald ash borer. And so they took out a lot of our street trees that were ash. And so we are constantly needing to plant, more and more trees. And so it's just a way to celebrate that. And so if you get a if you come to the Arbor Day, you'll get a sapling to take with you. 00:03:20:11 - 00:03:35:16 James Edwards You will get, a little care information about how to plant it. You can watch a demonstration how to plant it. My favorite thing is when I see people bringing pictures of their trees they planted three years ago. And then every year I get to see a new picture of this tree that they took from an Arbor Day event. 00:03:35:16 - 00:04:00:24 James Edwards And so it's I would not say it's difficult. You just want to be, you know, be strategic about it. You want to plant the tree in the right place for the right plant. So if it's going to be out in the open, it needs to be able to handle full sun. If it's going to be a super tall tree, then you have to be careful about overhead power lines or keeping them far enough from your house so that when they do mature, they're not touching your house or, you know, disturbing your foundation, those kind of things. 00:04:00:24 - 00:04:16:22 James Edwards So it's all about that first initial, planting all the plans going there, and then you have to maintain it so a tree can take several, several years to a to establish. I would say, what do you plant a tree and you get it five years, into the ground, then you're pretty much well off to the races. 00:04:16:22 - 00:04:33:18 James Edwards But there could be, you know, dry spells in between there and so and that first year, you're going to water much more frequently. The second year you're going to still keep an eye on it. Third year the same thing. And then fourth and fifth year, you're kind of getting off to the races and starting to establish, and then you're going to start thinking about pruning and making sure you have a good structure in that tree. 00:04:33:21 - 00:04:43:20 Luke Jones I it's interesting that you would say, like once you plan to tree, it's not like a, oh, like it's done like you. It is a commitment of time. 00:04:43:20 - 00:05:01:11 James Edwards Yes, it is a commitment of time. And, it's it's not like you have a full time job or anything, but it's just checking in with the, the tree, just making sure that it's got a good growth pattern, making sure that during dry spells, it's getting supplemental watering to get those roots out there. It's just establishment, really. 00:05:01:11 - 00:05:14:23 James Edwards And it's just. I think a lot of people think you do. You put a tree in the ground and it's established for one year. Well that's great. Who knows what's going to happen or what's happened over the next summer or how how whatever winter it was or how dry of a summer it was. 00:05:14:26 - 00:05:36:24 Luke Jones Other, because this is the part that I struggle with keeping plants inside alive is checking in on them, seeing what they need, other resources that people can use to help them. Like say, they're planting a tree for the first time. They go to Iowa Day. They get those sapling other resources that they can use to, I guess, check in on the tree. 00:05:36:26 - 00:05:54:27 James Edwards I think there probably are resources out there. You'll learn a lot at the Arbor Day itself. But then you have the Purdue extension services that are available. We we often get, calls our cell from an A Trista. But then also a local arborist is going to be your friend for your trees. You know, they are your your tree specialists. 00:05:54:27 - 00:06:10:18 James Edwards And so, if you have a nice wooded lot, you probably should have had a conversation with an arborist at some point in time just to make sure that your trees are healthy and off to the races, but also, you know, keeping up with some of those other pests. So if you heard about emerald ash borer, then you. 00:06:10:21 - 00:06:30:08 James Edwards Well, that's kind of passe. Now that kind of it's already happened. So if you were having a bunch of ash trees, you know, because they're dead now. And so if you would have got ahead of that and stayed up to date with what's possible, you could have been treating them and they would have been still thriving. So it's it's it's kind of, it's not a big project to have a tree in your yard by any means, but you just have to check in on them. 00:06:30:08 - 00:06:46:25 James Edwards And if you're seeing something odd, take pictures, use the use the internet, find resources. You know anytime you want to find a resource on the internet and you want to be scientific base type text at the end of it, and it's going to be an extension, article probably. And that's going to be the best way to get the scientific approach to it. 00:06:46:25 - 00:06:54:04 Luke Jones Gotcha. I don't want to bring the end of you down, but other current threats stick trees or plants that we should know about. 00:06:54:04 - 00:06:58:05 James Edwards Yes. So current threats could be sudden oak wilt disease. 00:06:58:07 - 00:06:59:21 Luke Jones You say sudden oak wilt the. 00:06:59:22 - 00:07:03:02 James Edwards Sudden death is what it's called. Oh, so sudden oak death. 00:07:03:02 - 00:07:04:28 Luke Jones And so I did this to myself. 00:07:05:00 - 00:07:32:15 James Edwards Yeah. So there's always pest. There's, you know, we are a global economy. So pests are coming and going from shipping containers from people, from plant material up south. And so there are always going to be new pests. And you just have to kind of stay updated a little bit on that. And, just so you can be ahead of it and, if you have a pest and that takes out a plant, then you just want to be smart about replacing that plant so that that pest doesn't affect the new cultivar or the new species that you're going to put in that space. 00:07:32:21 - 00:07:54:13 Luke Jones Gotcha. James Edwards is the associate director of horticulture at Minnetrista Museum and Gardens. We also spoke to Erica Oliver, the environmental education and greenhouse coordinator at Ball State University. One of our questions was, where is the greenhouse? 00:07:54:20 - 00:08:12:07 Erica Oliver So the Dr, Joe and Alice Rinard Greenhouse is part of a bigger unit. We are the Ball State Field Station and Environmental Education Center, and we call ourselves FSEEC for short. And we actually manage over 425 acres for conservation, education and research. 00:08:12:10 - 00:08:21:11 Erica Oliver Only 17 of those acres are on campus. And that is Christy Woods. And the greenhouses and the Environmental Education Center are part of that parcel of 17 acres. 00:08:21:13 - 00:08:22:15 Erica Oliver We are kind of hidden away. 00:08:22:16 - 00:08:41:22 Erica Oliver We're on the edge of campus, at university and Tillotson, we're right across the street from the hospital. You just pull in between the soccer fields, and we've got visitor parking right outside the greenhouse. So visitors can come on in. We're completely free, and they can take a walk or stroll through the greenhouse. They can walk their dog or do anything outdoor oriented in the woods. 00:08:41:24 - 00:08:46:27 Erica Oliver And they can come into the classroom to see our animals and our beehive and learn more about the things that we do here. 00:08:46:29 - 00:08:48:18 Luke Jones You have a beehive? 00:08:48:20 - 00:09:08:05 Erica Oliver We do. So, the Environmental Education Center is, my favorite place. We opened it, almost two years ago. We nicknamed it the Nature Lab because that just sounded more fun for kiddos. That is my primary audience. Last year was our first year being open, 2022 to 2023, and we had over 10,000 visitors, which was amazing. 00:09:08:05 - 00:09:23:29 Erica Oliver And over half of those were families and kiddos. So this room is meant to be flexible and accessible for all ages. It's kind of our focal place now for organizing events. It's where our plant sale and our other things take place, and it's where we base our school groups to field trips before we spread out into the nature spaces. 00:09:24:01 - 00:09:39:27 Erica Oliver And inside the classroom, we have an indoor observation beehive. It's a glass hive with a tube that connects through the wall. So the bees can leave the building and come back whenever they want. We also have five frogs and two toads native to Indiana. We have two eastern tiger salamanders who are brand new. We just had them two weeks ago. 00:09:39:29 - 00:09:48:09 Erica Oliver And we have Beaker, our box turtle. Who maybe more popular than anything else in the room. He's a very friendly little guy. 00:09:48:12 - 00:09:56:22 Luke Jones Later in our conversation with Erica. She gave us more details about the Greenhouse's Annual Plant Sale and why they do it. 00:09:56:26 - 00:10:11:05 Erica Oliver And April 27th, also from 10 to 3, is our annual Plant Sale and Fundraiser. So, all proceeds go back towards our Environmental Education Programming so that we don't have to charge for the things that we do. And we'll have orchids and house plants and succulents and a lot of other cool stuff for sale. 00:10:11:05 - 00:10:18:03 Luke Jones And things that have. I guess what I would say started in the greenhouse, and then you kind of uproot them? 00:10:18:10 - 00:10:19:22 Erica Oliver Most of them, yes. 00:10:19:22 - 00:10:23:07 Erica Oliver Lot of them all the house plants and succulents we take cuttings of and we propagate. 00:10:23:07 - 00:10:25:24 Erica Oliver Them. A lot of our native plants, some we. 00:10:25:24 - 00:10:43:01 Erica Oliver Purchased, but we've been taking care of, others were, donated from our volunteers yards. They grew out of the garden beds, so they potted them up for us. And they've been overwintering, at a volunteer's house. And then we do purchase of the orchids that we sell, because the orchids are most of our collection would not do well in a normal home. 00:10:43:01 - 00:10:55:21 Erica Oliver Unless you want to live in the tropics inside your nice house. So we do purchase hybrid orchids to sell, that are have been, human grown to do better in the conditions that we like to live in. 00:10:55:24 - 00:10:58:16 Luke Jones In the east central Indiana weather is what you're saying. 00:10:58:18 - 00:10:59:14 Erica Oliver Exactly. 00:10:59:17 - 00:11:06:19 Luke Jones Yes. 00:11:06:21 - 00:11:45:04 Michelle Kinsey It's Arbor Day and the Pop team is out hugging trees. Celebrate Arbor Day at Minnetrista and Museum and Gardens on Saturday, April 25th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. And don't forget the Ball State Greenhouse Plant Sale on Saturday, April 25th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. This is Pop of Culture. I'm Kara DuQuette 00:11:45:07 - 00:12:13:16 Michelle Kinsey and I'm Michele Kinsey. We're counting down to race day for the 110th Indianapolis 500 this upcoming Memorial Day. And for over 30 years, one local artist has made the flower wreath given to the winning driver. Kara DuQuette We spoke to Julie Harman Vance in season one, episode 17. 00:12:13:17 - 00:12:16:19 Michelle Kinsey Julie, first tell me about, your history in all things plants and flowers. Tell me a little bit about your your business. 00:12:16:22 - 00:12:27:04 Julie Harman Vance Well, I started my business in 2007, but prior to that, I worked from 1988 on down in the Indianapolis area. Flower shops. 00:12:27:06 - 00:12:31:28 Michelle Kinsey What was the interest? Why? Why flowers? Why flowers and plants and? 00:12:32:00 - 00:12:53:01 Julie Harman Vance You know, I fell into flowers. I was an artist from birth. I mean, the creative mind, the Crayola kid, the art classes in high school. You know, I did all kinds. Anything artistic. My main goal was to move broad ripple for, you know, excitement. And I did start, college for art in Indianapolis right after high school. 00:12:53:03 - 00:13:12:01 Julie Harman Vance But I found a job in a floral department at Kroger Castleton, and I loved it. And then I had a couple older people kind of take me under their wing and teach me the business. I worked there shortly, and then I moved on to full fledged flower shops. But after that it was my medium. 00:13:12:03 - 00:13:21:29 Michelle Kinsey Were you surprised that you could do so much with your desire to be creative within the realm of of flower arranging? 00:13:22:02 - 00:13:43:18 Julie Harman Vance Yeah. I did not know the floral industry, and a lot of people don't understand what goes on in a flower shop, what what they do. You know, it's a big misconception that it's all beautiful and good smells, but it's extremely hard work and it's all last minute. And you have to be a fast designer to be a successful designer. 00:13:43:20 - 00:13:54:07 Julie Harman Vance Most flower shops consider funeral work their bread and butter, but I've fallen into a lot of larger events and flowers for business. 00:13:54:09 - 00:14:11:19 Michelle Kinsey One of those events is a really, really big event, Julie. I mean, probably the biggest this state has, especially in the summer, in May, of course, I'm talking about the Indy 500. Talk about your involvement with the big race. 00:14:11:21 - 00:14:26:03 Julie Harman Vance Well, I am the designer for the last 33 years. That creates the winter treats for the winner. And the wreath that I create is the most photographed flower arrangement in the world. 00:14:26:05 - 00:14:38:25 Michelle Kinsey That's awesome. Just to hear you say that sentence. Does that freak you out? I mean to say, I mean to like, let that sink in for a second. The most photographed flower arrangement in the world? 00:14:38:27 - 00:14:41:19 Julie Harman Vance Yes, I would say so. Can you think of another? 00:14:41:21 - 00:14:42:03 Michelle Kinsey I cannot. 00:14:42:03 - 00:14:49:01 Julie Harman Vance I mean, there's the Kentucky Derby blanket and. Yeah, the wreath for the Unknown Soldier, but. 00:14:49:03 - 00:15:01:28 Michelle Kinsey Oh, it's been. Yeah. Wow. Well, tell me how this arrangement came to be. Did you kind of. Did they have some sort of, application to do the wreath was there. 00:15:02:00 - 00:15:21:27 Julie Harman Vance No, I got, I got lucky, but I also felt feel like it was destiny in a sense. I was 22 years old and working at a flower shop at Keystone at the Crossing. I, we had a great business there. I worked for man and wife that are dear to me still that are were like my parents away from home when I moved. 00:15:22:00 - 00:15:46:16 Julie Harman Vance They owned the shop. So they went to church with a man that was working for Borg Warner. He was a litigator. And that year, Bill Cronin, that created the wreath for 32 years prior to me, the only other person that did, he passed away. And so BorgWarner was seeking a good florist. And, you know, he said, hey, I know a great florist. 00:15:46:19 - 00:16:09:09 Julie Harman Vance So that's how we acquired the order. And I was the designer there. So the three of us, the three amigos here, we came up with how it looks now. And Dan actually handcrafted the letters for several years in the beginning. I do have them professionally cut out now, but when we put 33 orchids around the wreath, we thought that was so cool. 00:16:09:09 - 00:16:30:10 Julie Harman Vance And we mentioned it to Borg Warner and they thought, well, let's let's keep that. So before I made it, it did vary in the way that it looked. And I'm sure that Bill was trying to figure out what the best way to go with it. Yeah. So I at least had all his years behind me when I started. I love it, I love it exactly how it is. 00:16:30:10 - 00:16:33:08 Julie Harman Vance Yes, I wouldn't change it. I think it's perfect. Yeah. 00:16:33:08 - 00:16:51:28 Michelle Kinsey And I and so these the letters that I'm looking at in the photo, first of all in the shop, I have to point out that as soon as you walk in this beautiful shop, you see a wall of memories of 500 memories with wreaths everywhere. And those are wood. Is that wood? 00:16:52:05 - 00:16:54:14 Julie Harman Vance Yes. What kind? You. Yeah, they're ready to go. 00:16:54:17 - 00:16:55:14 Michelle Kinsey Oh my God. 00:16:55:15 - 00:16:56:24 Julie Harman Vance The twins are ready. 00:16:56:25 - 00:17:04:13 Michelle Kinsey That's awesome. So these are going to be the actual. Yes, wood letters that are on the wreath this year. Yes. Very cool. Very. 00:17:04:14 - 00:17:12:02 Julie Harman Vance I don't know for sure, but it might be the last time because, BorgWarner has changed their logo recently, so. Oh, something we're going to talk about after the race. 00:17:12:02 - 00:17:14:10 Michelle Kinsey So it's kind of may look a little different. So it's. 00:17:14:10 - 00:17:15:19 Julie Harman Vance Possible. 00:17:15:21 - 00:17:25:04 Michelle Kinsey So how do you take this on every year and what is your inspiration. When do you start thinking about it. And how does this this unfold for the race? Each year? 00:17:25:06 - 00:17:46:21 Julie Harman Vance Well, I'm constantly thinking about it, and it's been a constant challenge to keep the exact same materials in stock because a lot of things they've discontinued. So if I catch one of it, I'll buy a whole oh, wow. Yeah. I'll figure, you know, I can make this many up until I'm 89. I'm good about it. Yeah, right. So I do like the the polyurethane wreath. 00:17:46:24 - 00:17:57:21 Julie Harman Vance Oh, yeah. I have case after case. This year, the ribbon was discontinued. Wow. So I did find it, like the ribbon company sold it off, and I found it. And I bought as much as I could. 00:17:57:21 - 00:17:59:23 Michelle Kinsey So the black and white checkered ribbon. 00:17:59:23 - 00:18:01:05 Julie Harman Vance No the red, white and blue. 00:18:01:05 - 00:18:01:26 Michelle Kinsey Oh red white and blue one. 00:18:01:29 - 00:18:06:14 Julie Harman Vance And it's like a French wired ribbon. And you start searching online. There's just nothing like it. So. 00:18:06:18 - 00:18:09:15 Michelle Kinsey Oh, wow. And it's go. 00:18:09:15 - 00:18:23:14 Julie Harman Vance Ahead. As far as the flowers go. Yes. My wholesalers are on board. They know, but we start talking a month or two ahead. And then the flowers came today. So they usually come about Tuesday right there. Oh, and they're fabulous. 00:18:23:15 - 00:18:25:02 Michelle Kinsey Those are gorgeous. 00:18:25:02 - 00:18:45:02 Julie Harman Vance This year from the Netherlands. Oh wow. And I was researching. It's a family owned company so I'm excited to reach out, send them a picture. Even if they knew, you know, because they did go to a flower market first before like so. They may not know where the orchids went. So hopefully that'll be special to them. 00:18:45:08 - 00:18:47:20 Michelle Kinsey So how are you tracking them down? How do you. 00:18:47:21 - 00:19:12:01 Julie Harman Vance Well, the box had a lot of information. Yeah. And I you know, and it's not in English but I, I googled this word and I found out this is a great big floral market interchange. And you can see like train loads of flowers where buyers sit and buy. So they probably don't know that's where they're headed. So I would think as an orchid grower, that's a huge privilege, right. 00:19:12:02 - 00:19:21:20 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. And so these are just a beautiful white with like really bright pops of of yellow. And would you say that like a fuchsia, burgundy. Yes. 00:19:21:26 - 00:19:34:18 Julie Harman Vance That's what I'm shooting for always. Sometimes that's not the case. Yeah I'm very happy with those. I you'll see that one over there had like a pink middle. Oh yeah. But I mentioned earlier he had a pink car and a pink suit and it looked really nice. 00:19:34:19 - 00:19:35:24 Michelle Kinsey Oh, yeah. That is nice. 00:19:35:24 - 00:19:37:07 Julie Harman Vance It was a coincidence. 00:19:37:08 - 00:19:46:21 Michelle Kinsey Absolutely. So what? Do you know the name of this particular orchid? Like what? This variety is the other than beautiful. Yeah. 00:19:46:28 - 00:19:48:25 Julie Harman Vance The variety name is Virginia. 00:19:48:27 - 00:19:55:16 Michelle Kinsey Oh, Virginia. Okay. And so what made you decide on the Virginia orchid like that for? 00:19:55:16 - 00:20:09:05 Julie Harman Vance Well, as I mentioned, for years, I did the Fort Knox Angel flight, and that company disappeared on me. They were five inches across the stark white, and they had a nice Burgundy center. So I'm constantly trying to find one that looks like that. 00:20:09:05 - 00:20:10:10 Michelle Kinsey That's similar, right. 00:20:10:13 - 00:20:20:09 Julie Harman Vance It always depends on the growers and what they have available in their crop. And so it's kind of a battle of the countries right now who gets my order. So this year. 00:20:20:15 - 00:20:21:09 Michelle Kinsey Have you all had. 00:20:21:09 - 00:20:21:23 Julie Harman Vance Orchids? 00:20:21:24 - 00:20:28:29 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. Have you ever had a year or season where it looked like, ooh, that orchid is not going to be available. And then when it. 00:20:29:01 - 00:20:40:08 Julie Harman Vance This right here. So that was the year I had three different country orchids in here. But there was a lot of bad. And my wholesalers were able to Fedex some from New Zealand. And I got them on like Thursday. 00:20:40:11 - 00:20:41:09 Michelle Kinsey No, Thursday. 00:20:41:09 - 00:20:44:17 Julie Harman Vance Oh, I was dressed fresh so yeah. 00:20:44:19 - 00:20:48:02 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. And what year was that. Because it said that tradition almost had to change this. 00:20:48:02 - 00:20:49:00 Julie Harman Vance 2021. 00:20:49:00 - 00:20:55:00 Michelle Kinsey When you were see. Oh my goodness. But it always comes through at mean just to come through on their gorgeous weather. 00:20:55:00 - 00:20:55:15 Julie Harman Vance On race. 00:20:55:15 - 00:21:04:22 Michelle Kinsey Day. That's right. So when you are how long does it take to put this together. Start to finish. When, when do you what day will you. 00:21:04:24 - 00:21:19:23 Julie Harman Vance Well, I'm going to start prepping today okay. I will fully make one Thursday and definitely make one Friday because I have some documentation going on Friday from the museum at the Motor Speedway of the wreath being made. 00:21:19:25 - 00:21:24:11 Michelle Kinsey Oh, wow. Yeah. And tell me about that. Why? Why does the documentation happen. 00:21:24:11 - 00:21:35:25 Julie Harman Vance Well, the museum's under a remodel, and when they open in 2025, they'll have a really nice display of all the contributions that Borg Warner has given to the race. And it includes the wreath. 00:21:35:26 - 00:21:41:28 Michelle Kinsey Oh, wow. That's awesome. So, do you have any idea what else is going to be included from your. 00:21:41:28 - 00:21:51:17 Julie Harman Vance Well, of course the trophy will be centered. And then I know, the ring is involved in the milk and of course, the artist who creates the silver faces on the trophy. 00:21:51:20 - 00:22:02:25 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. You're right up there with the things that people think of when you think of the other than the cars. But when you think about the iconic images, yes, the wreath is always involved. 00:22:02:25 - 00:22:13:02 Julie Harman Vance And I love that. I love that image of him drinking that milk. And it's bringing everywhere. Yeah, that moment while it's perfect before it's smashed. Yeah, yeah. 00:22:13:05 - 00:22:22:20 Michelle Kinsey So what happens to the wreath after like we're looking at a photo right now of a driver who has the wreath after they won. What happens to the wreath after that. 00:22:22:20 - 00:22:32:00 Julie Harman Vance And I think the drivers really love that wreath. I usually get a call right after the race asking how well we can preserve it. Oh, and. 00:22:32:03 - 00:22:32:09 Michelle Kinsey Oh my gosh. 00:22:32:09 - 00:22:38:11 Julie Harman Vance Penske wins, we have a little routine where I ship them silk orchids and they replace it in their dried greenery. 00:22:38:13 - 00:22:39:25 Michelle Kinsey I love that idea. 00:22:39:26 - 00:22:50:25 Julie Harman Vance So yeah, it's that one is special. I've heard, you know, they don't want a duplicator here. It's got to be that one. Wow. And I have made silk versions for winning teams before. 00:22:50:26 - 00:22:51:08 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. 00:22:51:13 - 00:22:56:07 Julie Harman Vance But there again you know and then the nostalgia of that one is very important I've heard. 00:22:56:07 - 00:22:57:15 Michelle Kinsey Oh I mean. 00:22:57:15 - 00:23:03:26 Julie Harman Vance And I do know that the milk does a number on those letters. 00:23:00:06 - 00:23:03:26 Michelle Kinsey Letters. 00:23:03:29 - 00:23:07:18 Michelle Kinsey So your advice would be maybe try not to get milk in the letters. Yeah. Yeah. 00:23:07:24 - 00:23:09:14 Julie Harman Vance They should let me in there, please. 00:23:09:16 - 00:23:18:22 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. We might just cover that up. Yeah. Right. Yeah. What is the best part about doing what you do. 00:23:18:25 - 00:23:23:13 Julie Harman Vance Julie, as far as a florist or as far as the winter trees? 00:23:23:15 - 00:23:26:24 Michelle Kinsey Oh, let's start with as a florist, and then we'll talk about the, 00:23:26:27 - 00:23:48:07 Julie Harman Vance The best thing I do as a florist is I really help a lot of people when they're trying to express yourself at important times, which a lot of times means my funeral work. I do a tremendous amount of casket sprays and stuff for family, and a lot of them are really specialized to what, you know, that person loved during their lifetime. 00:23:48:07 - 00:24:03:21 Julie Harman Vance And many times it's been a racing thing. I do get a lot of call outs for people out of state that'll drive in and get a winner's wreath for a funeral, because that person loved the Indy 500 so much. Or a casket spray that has race flags in it and things like that. 00:24:03:21 - 00:24:11:28 Michelle Kinsey Yeah, and then tell me the best part about being involved in the race in this way. 00:24:12:00 - 00:24:26:00 Julie Harman Vance You know, anymore, I feel such an attachment to the race track. It just feels like it's part of me now. And I just have such a sense of pride and such a sense of, Indiana pride, you know? 00:24:26:03 - 00:24:27:21 Michelle Kinsey Do you go to the race every year? 00:24:27:23 - 00:24:33:21 Julie Harman Vance Yes, I do, thanks to Borg Warner. Wonderful tickets. Nice parking. Oh, my. 00:24:33:21 - 00:24:42:27 Kara DuQuette Oh, my. Oh. I fancy that. That's awesome. How long do you see yourself doing the the wreath? 00:24:43:00 - 00:24:52:22 Julie Harman Vance Well, honestly, you know, I figure by 75, 78 years old, the old hands may be stiff, but. And I might be an old has been by then. 00:24:52:23 - 00:25:00:05 Michelle Kinsey Oh, wow. Yeah, I hope so. Yeah. We I think we. Yeah. Several several decades left of. 00:25:00:05 - 00:25:04:09 Julie Harman Vance Doing that I hope so, yes. And since the style never changes, I'm good. 00:25:04:12 - 00:25:09:09 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. 00:25:09:11 - 00:25:32:06 Michelle Kinsey You can see Julie's work this Memorial Day weekend being worn by the winner of this year's Indy 500. 00:25:32:08 - 00:25:36:11 Kara DuQuette If you're taking a pit stop on IPR for Pop of Culture, you can race through all of our previous seasons on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and Indiana Public Radio dot org. 00:25:36:13 - 00:26:04:22 Kara DuQuette While it's only April, we yearn for summertime. And summertime means the Muncie Three Trails concert series. We've spoken with many of the musicians on stage, but let's jump to season one, episode 28 and our conversation with Chris Barnes of the Sensational Barnes Brothers. 00:26:04:22 - 00:26:12:10 Michelle Kinsey They were so amazing they had to bring them back. The sensational Barnes brothers are returning as part of the Muncie Three Trails Music series. Do you remember when you were here in 21? I know you've probably played a lot of dates, but it was a phenomenal show. 00:26:12:12 - 00:26:33:15 Chris Barnes Absolutely. Do it was one of our first dates after Covid. Yes. Or post Covid. So yes, it's a very memorable, show. The setting was everything. It was beautiful outside. Yes. I love the stage that we, performed on, and we actually, I got to bring my sister along, so that was very memorable. 00:26:33:21 - 00:27:01:09 Michelle Kinsey Yeah, it was a great show. Which leads me to my next question. Before we kind of get into the history of the group, we have got to cover the fact that I believe the Sensational Barnes Brothers covers just about every genre that exists. Does that, does that? Is that solely based on kind of like, these are the things that I have loved growing up, and you just kind of throw it all, out there. 00:27:01:09 - 00:27:07:24 Michelle Kinsey Tell me why it's important for you to, to touch so many genres, in one of your concerts. 00:27:07:27 - 00:27:27:03 Chris Barnes So the type of festivals and, concerts that we put on, we love all different types of music. And when we can relate to any crowd that's in front of us, that's definitely a plus. Plus, we love to have fun. Kind of recreating songs, making them our own. So, that's that's the fun. 00:27:27:03 - 00:27:31:22 Chris Barnes That's kind of what keeps us going, keeps us in love with music itself. 00:27:31:25 - 00:27:45:12 Michelle Kinsey And so we're talking about the Sensational Barnes Brothers. And you do this with your brother Courtney. But you definitely come from a musical family. Talk a little bit about how music became such a big part of your life, Chris. 00:27:45:15 - 00:28:05:15 Chris Barnes So, just again, being born into a musical by my mom and dad, they sang together all the time. They always took us to, like, they performed at a lot of weddings. So we were there. We were in church. My mom was the youth choir director, and it wasn't, you know, people make fun of us and say we were like the Jacksons. 00:28:05:17 - 00:28:26:15 Chris Barnes Dad didn't give us spankings because we did. But, they made they was very intentional on their part to instill in us, this gift, my mom side in an early age, that we had a gift of singing and, music. So she cultivated it, along with my father, who played the piano. My mom was a pianist. 00:28:26:15 - 00:28:45:19 Chris Barnes She teaches piano and voice. So, it was almost like we had no choice. My mom was a Raylette, my dad was a recording artist as well, with Jesse Dixon. I don't know if you've heard of, the Christian artist Jesse Dixon. But, yeah, it was just all around, and we almost had no choice. Yeah, basically. 00:28:45:23 - 00:29:00:17 Michelle Kinsey But I'm assuming you enjoyed it, right? Or you wouldn't still be doing it. And when did you decide to, to do the Sensational Barnes Brothers to do just the duo with your with your brother. 00:29:00:19 - 00:29:25:17 Chris Barnes So, Courtney and I, we had done some background work for a producer named Bruce Watson, who owns a label called Fat Possum. We recorded some backgrounds on, Grammy nominated, artist Don Bryant's, his album. So Bruce Watson, he bought the High Records catalog, which owns all of Al Green's music and another, catalog called Designing Gospel Records. 00:29:25:19 - 00:29:44:17 Chris Barnes And he actually came up with the idea. He said, I think it'd be kind of funky if you guys recorded some of this music. So Gordon and I, we had already recorded with my, brother and sister as a family album, and it was really, shot in the dark, just a project we were just trying to see. 00:29:44:22 - 00:30:03:09 Chris Barnes I wasn't it? It took about a week to do this album and, and lo and behold, people started to bite on this sound. It was, sound of, from the 70s, 60s, 70s. Yeah. And kind of modernized through the way Courtney and, interpreted the music. 00:30:03:11 - 00:30:12:03 Michelle Kinsey Yep. What do you like about that particular sound and why did that stick? As far as what you and your brother do together. 00:30:12:05 - 00:30:33:25 Chris Barnes This particular sound is for me, it's just relatable. I think it's a simple sound. It's not overproduced. Yeah. You don't have. You know what I'm saying is. Yes and no, I don't know. Yes. Any any of it. And I think, well, I know, you know, the message in the music reaches the people. It's a very simple message and it's easy to digest. 00:30:34:01 - 00:30:43:02 Chris Barnes So I think I know that's what I love about it. And it takes me back, you know, to a time where life was, a bit more simple. 00:30:43:04 - 00:30:45:24 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. Does it take you back to church with the family? 00:30:45:24 - 00:30:47:06 Chris Barnes Definitely takes us to church. 00:30:47:07 - 00:30:47:20 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. 00:30:47:25 - 00:30:49:27 Chris Barnes Definitely takes us to church. 00:30:49:29 - 00:31:08:12 Michelle Kinsey And how does it feel when you are in front of a crowd like you were at Canon Commons for that amazing show in 2021? How does it feel to look out and see? I mean, that is a that is a large congregation of concertgoers, right? How does it feel to like bring everybody with you on that ride? 00:31:08:14 - 00:31:38:23 Chris Barnes So I'm always skeptical when we get up in front of, people in a crowd, large or small, because you never know how people will receive the music or the messages. And actually, I do better. And with bigger crowds, you know, somebody is going to catch it. But it was such a beautiful day then. I mean, the weather was perfect, and there was a piece of you that came over me, performing that day. 00:31:38:25 - 00:31:47:21 Chris Barnes I don't get nervous or anything, but I'm really anticipating somebody really hearing what we have to say. 00:31:47:24 - 00:31:59:08 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. And how would you kind of, in a nutshell, how would you describe that message that, that, that thing, that feeling that you want to get across to people? 00:31:59:11 - 00:32:21:10 Chris Barnes Well, the message is this is a message of a message of hope, you know? Peace. Yes, love. We talk about, you know, some, some of life circumstances, you know, that, we don't have control over, but a message that leads people and directs people towards, the love of God and how he cares for us. 00:32:21:13 - 00:32:39:15 Chris Barnes That's the message that we train. Well, we're up. And it's not only done through the gospel. The gospel music, we pull from other genres R&B, some soul. We've even included, some soft rock into our set now. So, but the message still remains. 00:32:39:18 - 00:32:50:29 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. And see that that goes back to my point earlier that you touch on so many different genres, but it's still your vibe. It's still the Sensational Barnes brother vibe. Right? Yeah. 00:32:51:01 - 00:32:51:19 Chris Barnes Correct. 00:32:51:22 - 00:32:58:25 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. So where are you at right now? Are you are you on tour? Is it taking you all over the country or where are you at right now? 00:32:58:28 - 00:33:15:02 Chris Barnes So actually I'm in Atlanta right now. I'm, vacationing a little bit, getting, you know, we just came off the road, on the East Coast about 13, 14 days. And I took a little vacation, for a few days, and we're headed you guys way Saturday. 00:33:15:02 - 00:33:16:04 Michelle Kinsey Yeah. 00:33:16:07 - 00:33:18:21 Chris Barnes And you work? Yes. We're still touring. 00:33:18:24 - 00:33:23:25 Michelle Kinsey Wonderful, wonderful. So, what's next for the Sensational Barnes Brothers? What's next? 00:33:24:02 - 00:33:51:21 Chris Barnes Well, we're currently, finishing up an album that we hope to, drop late fall. At this point, I can't really say it being in sooner than that, but late fall, we hope for release of, either EP. I'm, I'm not sure that it'll be a full length album, but definitely, you'll get, 6 to 8 songs on this album of original music. 00:33:51:27 - 00:34:09:02 Michelle Kinsey Great. Oh, looking forward to hearing that. Looking forward to hearing that. And, one more question. I know the last time you hear, your sister joining, what is it feel like to I know a lot of people say, you know, when you get together and you're part of a band, it becomes family, but you actually perform with family. 00:34:09:02 - 00:34:14:26 Michelle Kinsey How special is it for you to get on that stage and look over and see your brother there? 00:34:14:28 - 00:34:44:15 Chris Barnes Was it's actually it's comforting, because we've been doing it so long. So the thinking part, that element, it just doesn't exist. And I have my brother on piano. Who's the M.D.? So the creativity part that happens, when we're trying to figure things out, it's much easier. The communication that way. It's challenging as well because we are our own people. 00:34:44:17 - 00:34:46:18 Chris Barnes We have, you know. 00:34:46:20 - 00:34:47:17 Michelle Kinsey Oh I know, yeah. 00:34:47:24 - 00:35:14:05 Chris Barnes So I have, you know, how it is. Oh, family. It's all love. But time away, it's good, you know? You know, but no, it's an amazing feeling. It's a blessing to be able to do this with family and, you know, close friends and, and the members of the band that aren't blood related, we've become even closer. The bond continues to grow stronger. 00:35:14:08 - 00:35:36:07 Michelle Kinsey This year's Three Trails Concert Series will be Saturday nights from July through September at Cannon Commons in downtown Muncie and the Brown Family Amphitheater on Ball State's campus. 00:35:36:09 - 00:36:05:21 Kara DuQuette I'm Michelle Kinsey. I'm Kara DuQuette. In this encore, What Are You Working On? segment, we look back at our conversation with someone who takes spring cleaning to a whole other level. Our WAYWO guest, Connie Beatty, restores the furniture you put on the curb into repurposed pieces of art. 00:36:05:23 - 00:36:27:27 Kara DuQuette We are here today with Connie Beatty, an artist, a mother, and the owner of Green Velvet Creative Company. When I saw the term, furniture art that you have on your website, and then I read your tagline where art and function meet, you absolutely had my heart because I am a big fan of beautiful things that are functional. And so I was hoping you could talk to us about Green Velvet Creative. 00:36:28:00 - 00:36:54:12 Connie Beatty So I am a furniture artist, and if you don't know, I take pieces of furniture that have been otherwise discarded, whether it's at the thrift store or just the side of the road and, turn it into something beautiful and functional again, there is a huge, amount of furniture that is goes to landfill. Each year. And I have made it a goal to minimize that just a little bit. 00:36:54:14 - 00:37:17:02 Connie Beatty So I focus on restoration, furniture, art and upholstery work. So depending on what type of furniture, I'll do my best to transform them into functional pieces again. So my, my favorite of those three aspects is, is furniture art. And just taking using furniture as the, as my canvas. 00:37:17:06 - 00:37:24:25 Kara DuQuette Well, can you walk us through a piece of the furniture art? Sure. As your canvas. Sure. That's intriguing. 00:37:24:28 - 00:37:43:25 Connie Beatty Yeah. So, I do a lot of custom work for people, as well as, you know, those vines on the side of the road. So I take them a little bit differently depending on, if somebody has a specific vision that they would like to see or if it's one that I can just do whatever I would like to do. 00:37:43:26 - 00:38:04:06 Connie Beatty Yes, those are the best. Now the process for, like, getting ready to that, that point, it's the same process that I, that I follow. I'll get a piece, clean it, and do the prep work to it. So other needs repairs. It always will get sanded down and primed prior to, prior to anything else. 00:38:04:08 - 00:38:26:05 Connie Beatty And then, if it's being painted, I guess if it's going to restore back to original finish, I won't you won't do that primer step. And so if it's a custom piece we'll go off of what the client wants. So sometimes that's just just painting a piece blue. But if we're doing a true furniture art is what, what my favorite piece. 00:38:26:07 - 00:38:56:00 Connie Beatty I let this piece speak to me. So I, I'll sometimes sit on it for a little while and think about how is this piece going to be used and what do I want the story to tell, from this piece of furniture and, shape of it come, plays a big role in that. So you take a mid-century piece of furniture is a lot different than an antiqued piece that has curved lines and carved intricate details. 00:38:56:02 - 00:39:23:09 Connie Beatty So I play a lot off of I let the piece speak to me first. And, so yeah, each piece is different and I find my inspiration behind that. And then the painting begins and I use, I use a line of paint, called Wise Owl Paint. So if it's one that I want to be a very artistic and I want to have blends and multi colors, I'm going to use that that it's chalk synthesis line. 00:39:23:12 - 00:39:38:23 Connie Beatty And it allows me to, you know, be able to manipulate and manipulate the colors. And those are my favorite to do. I love being able to blend the colors and really, truly use it like a, as a, as an art medium. 00:39:38:26 - 00:39:50:27 Kara DuQuette So you say you also do upholstery? Yeah. Where do you find that medium and how does it play with the painting in the embellishment or does it? 00:39:51:00 - 00:40:17:23 Connie Beatty So, it does. So I like, I, I've just kind of some, I've been painting furniture for over a decade. So it's a lot that's been a long process. But the upholstery is newer to me. So I've only been doing that for two, two and a half years. And I had a client that I knew pretty well, and she's like, I just I just want you to try, like, this piece is bad, and I just, I want you to try to fix it. 00:40:17:29 - 00:40:42:25 Connie Beatty And I've done, like, just, you know, your dining chair seats that, you know, pretty basic thing. That's no problem. But she had a, you know, an antique chair that was her grandmother's and she just wanted it fixed. And so I did, and I tried. And everything that I've learned from upholstery is just taking it apart and putting it back together and watching some videos here and there on how to do certain things. 00:40:42:27 - 00:41:10:05 Connie Beatty But it's, it's interesting. And each upholstery piece I learned something new on, depending on when it was made or how it was made. They use different techniques now. I for the most part just I do upholstery projects as custom projects. They take a lot of time. And they're usually big, so I don't want them just hanging out in my garage for a long time or something. 00:41:10:05 - 00:41:35:05 Connie Beatty So, but the upholstery clients, usually they want something really impressive and cool. If they're going to, they're going to put the time to, have it redone for them. So and sometimes it revolves and includes painting some if it has wood like feature arms on it or something, then you can do some painting and a mix of the two, two art forms. 00:41:35:05 - 00:41:47:01 Connie Beatty But yeah, there are some of my some of the coolest before and afters. So some of those old upholstery pieces are pretty rough looking. And then when they're, when they're done, they're, they're pretty impressive. 00:41:47:01 - 00:41:58:02 Kara DuQuette To like look completely different. Yeah. Like you feel like a massive transformation. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us about your art in your process or. 00:41:58:04 - 00:42:17:27 Connie Beatty Yeah, so I do. I would like to share. I do sell the type of paint that I use as well. Okay. It's wise owl furniture paint. And I sell it out at Caldwell Antique Mall and on the north side of Muncie, as well as on my website. We're about to. Oh, they're about to open a new store downtown Muncie called Hoosier Made. 00:42:17:29 - 00:43:04:02 Connie Beatty And I am opening a second location within there that I'll have my furniture, art and furniture paint there. So that's one way if somebody wants to try and do furniture or on their own, that's a good spot to start. And then I'm always happy to, to help in that. I really love encouraging, encouraging people just to, just to create I think that I think anybody can refinish furniture, within the last six months, I've started a, subscription box that has, decoupage paper and, furniture paint in it and as well as, some different embellishments that get sent out each month to people that, want to 00:43:04:03 - 00:43:19:00 Connie Beatty be creative and kind of work alongside with and, work on their process. And I'm happy to be able to share that with other people and then see what they're doing and encourage what they're trying to create to. 00:43:19:02 - 00:43:39:19 Kara DuQuette That's wonderful. I recycling, reusing, creating things from what has already been and giving it a new life is pretty amazing. I appreciate you being here today. And can you please tell us your, web address and maybe the address of this new store? I don't know if you know that yet, but. 00:43:39:21 - 00:44:05:28 Connie Beatty So my web address is Green Velvet Creative Co dot com. You can find, examples of my artwork and find the furniture, paint and the subscription box there. I'm super active on Facebook and Instagram. Just on keeping updates on projects that I'm working on. And then the new store, Hoosier Made is downtown. It's in the Patterson building. 00:44:06:00 - 00:44:07:11 Connie Beatty Right on Walnut Street. 00:44:07:11 - 00:44:10:14 Kara DuQuette Great. Well, thank you again for being here with us today. 00:44:10:17 - 00:44:11:25 Connie Beatty Thank you for having me. 00:44:11:27 - 00:44:26:13 Michelle Kinsey We're going to give you just a little taste of story behind the song. Take a listen to Laura Switzer from a recent Songwriter Sessions and hear their story behind the song on next week's show. 00:44:26:15 - 00:47:31:19 Laura Switzer How can I harbor all this ache? All alone in my hometown. Is this an ever present pain? We said it all, can't hash it out. I drown myself in books. You thought I moved on and I know how it looked. But I still see glimmers of you In parking lots, in July moons In places we'd meet Through grass we would smeak To haunted seas You were my secret, beneficial friend. A fantasy that had to end. Is this the zip code where you wed I'm sure she'll be blind and true. While weeping in my bed. Lie through your teeth and say I do. I drown myself in work. I'm doing fine. I see your face in a clerk. But I still see glimmers of you, In parking lots, in July moons. In places we'd meet Through grass we would sneak. To haunted seas Oh, it into you. You were my secret beneficial friend. The fantasy that had to end. I know that I'll find better Might find better. I know that I'll get better. Might get better. But God, when we were together, I was together. I've gotta get it together. Get it together. Cause I still see glimmers of you. Thank you. 00:47:31:21 - 00:47:58:24 Luke Jones Support for Pop of Culture comes from Stallings Wealth Management. And from you. You might have seen a federal judge's recent ruling against an executive order to defund public media. This does not reverse our loss of federal funding. So you are the reason local programing is still on IP on give today at indianapublicradio.org. 00:47:58:26 - 00:48:22:12 Kara DuQuette And that's our show, our digital content god is August Wilde. This week was produced by Andrew Montavon, who is probably the readiest for summer break out of all of his peers at Ball State. We had production assistance from a still wishing he was on vacation, Luke Jones. Our audio fellow is Maya Doss. Our show was hosted by me, Michelle Kinsey, and me, Kara DuQuette. 00:48:22:15 - 00:48:27:12 Kara DuQuette Pop of Culture is a production from IPR on the campus of Ball State University.