This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, June 5th, 2025.

In today’s newscast – June is Black Music Month, a time to honor the legacy and global impact of Black musicians across all genres. This month, Bloomington also celebrates the annual Granfalloon festival, presented by the IU Arts and Humanities Council and featuring legendary artist Mavis Staples this Saturday.

Also coming up in the next half hour, WFHB Youth Radio Correspondent Jiin Hur reports on South African labor industries, speaking with Indiana University Professor of History and American Studies Alex Lichtenstein. But first, your local headlines:

Queer Hoosier Art Exhibit Opens in Brown County

June is Pride Month and a local gallery is launching an exhibit of queer Hoosier art inspired by a visit to Bloomington’s world-famous Kinsey Institute.

Second Story Studio in Brown County is showcasing new work from 20 regional artists amplifying LGBTQ+ voices. Participating artists toured the Kinsey Institute and learned about Kinsey’s pivotal role in human sexuality research. Gallery owner Kurt Eagleman says the artists then created works inspired from their visit for this collaborative showcase.

“We actually wanted to bring these artists into the Special Collections Library so they could see some of these artifacts, documents, artwork, photography,” said Eagleman. “And then the idea was that they would leave inspired and then go create new artwork.”

Besides the new art, the exhibit also features priceless works on loan from the Kinsey Institute, by a queer Cuban-American artist from the 1930s. Emilio Sanchez lived at a time when he could not express his true identity in his public work.

“His outward facing artwork was one thing, and then behind closed doors, his artwork kind of revealed a little bit more about his personal life. These are personal drawings that he did, and it revealed nightlife, what he did with his friends. It was it’s very like free form, free love. They weren’t shown to anybody,” said Eagleman.

The exhibit is called “Brilliant Hues and Intimate Forms” and it opens to the public tomorrow with a kickoff reception at 6pm at Second Story Studio in downtown Nashville Indiana. It runs through July 7th. More information is online at secondstorystudio.art.

Feature Reports:

June is Black Music Month, a time to honor the legacy and global impact of Black musicians across all genres. This month, Bloomington also celebrates the annual Granfalloon festival, presented by the IU Arts and Humanities Council and featuring legendary artist Mavis Staples this Saturday. In today’s feature, we bring you an excerpt from WFHB’s Black public affairs program Bring It On, where hosts Clarence Boone and Liz Mitchell speak with Natalia Almanza, Dr. Olivia Ekeh, and Dr. Gloria Howell about Black Music Month and the Granfalloon. To hear the full conversation, visit wfhb.org. The interview begins with host Clarence Boone asking Natalia Almanza of the Indiana University Arts and Humanities Council, about the history of Granfalloon.

In today’s feature report, WFHB News Youth Radio Correspondent Jiin Hur reports on South African labor industries. Hur speaks with Indiana University Professor of History and American Studies Alex Lichtenstein. For more, we turn to Jiin Hur.

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