Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

The Indiana State Museum’s program Create!, which takes place from 1-3 p.m. Jan. 30, is an annual event meant to give participants the chance to shake off the winter blues and enjoy all things creative.

“We celebrate music, the visual arts, and just try to have a little fun in a gloomy January,” said Marcy Dodson, adult engagement and program manager for the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.

In a normal year, that means an in-person event with hands-on demonstrations, performances by local arts groups, musicians, theater troupes and craft makers, all designed so that visitors can interact with the artists.

This, of course, is not a normal year. So rather than the in-person demonstrations, performances and workshops, the third annual Create! will be on Zoom. Register here.

Participation is free.

The schedule looks like this

• 1-1:30 p.m.: Live performances by electric violinist and executive director of Arts With a Purpose Cathy Morris and a Lakota flute player.
• 1:30-2: Prerecorded performances by other groups from Arts With a Purpose.
• 2-2:30: Break.
• 2:30-3: Painter Kate Oberreich will give a live, virtual tour of her studio at the Harrison Center, show her artwork and demonstrate some techniques.

Hosting a virtual event has its advantages, the main one being that we’ll get to go inside not only Oberreich’s studio, but we’ll get to see arts groups in their own spaces.

“We won’t ever be able to do that again, so it’s a nice way to do something unique and special that can only happen now,” Dodson said.

In future years, Create! will likely return to being a daylong, in-person celebration.

But for now, “we want to support our local artists,” Dodson said. “We want to give them opportunities to be on-site to perform. And we hope we can do that again once it’s safe to do so.”