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(INDIANAPOLIS) Today, the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) announced it has awarded $60,000 to 30 creative entrepreneurs to fund arts projects around the state through the agency’s On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator program.
On-Ramp is a three-day accelerator course for Indiana-based creative entrepreneurs to foster their business skills, followed by the opportunity to apply for a $2,000 fellowship to put the learning into action. Each funded project will support the pursuit of a clearly defined business goal that also supports the entrepreneur’s community.
“The On-Ramp 2024 cohort demonstrates the talent, skill, and entrepreneurial spirit that is on display in every corner of the Hoosier state,” said Jordan Adams, Artist Services Program Manager with the Indiana Arts Commission, “We are proud to support the growth of these entrepreneurs who are working to build a more vibrant Indiana.” Marion Country resident Brandon Meeks, a bass player, will utilize fellowship funds to support and grow the “3rd Sunday Jazz Concerts Series”, which provides free, high-quality jazz performances that engage the community and inspire the next generation of jazz enthusiasts. Through this work, the artist will grow his professional network and broaden his portfolio.
Christina Hollering, a visual artist from Boone County, will employ fellowship funds in the creation of a community mural focused on native Indiana herpetofauna. This project will enhance community engagement, foster collaboration with local experts, and promote the appreciation of local ecosystems. The project will help the artist reach her creative career goals by expanding her mural portfolio and honing her skills to attract new clients.
The On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur will pause for program evaluation in 2025, allowing the program to grow to better meet the needs of Indiana, as informed by the 2023-2024 Artist Needs Assessment. The Indiana Arts Commission has evaluated the results of the Artist Needs Assessment and is now ready to share findings and outline future programming and services for Indiana artists that is directly informed by the feedback. Join the IAC staff on Thursday, October 17th at 5PM ET for a presentation on the learnings and programmatic responses. Register to attend.
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30 Hoosier artists strengthen careers, communities through fellowships from the Indiana Arts Commission
Steve Bridges ’89, M’95 named 2024 Distinguished Accountant Award recipient
Steven J. Bridges ’89 M’95, USI Interim President, has been named the recipient of the 2024 University of Southern Indiana Romain College of Business Distinguished Accountant Award. The award was announced by Dr. Brian McGuire, Associate Dean of the Romain College of Business and Professor of Accounting.
Bridges began as USI’s Interim President in July 2024. He is a longtime USI employee, two-time USI alumnus and is the first alum to serve in this leadership position. Since April 2015, he has served as the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the University’s chief business and fiscal officer.
“The selection criteria for the Distinguished Accountant Award includes demonstrating substantial leadership, noteworthy stature in the accounting profession and significant involvement with USI and in the community,” said McGuire. “Mr. Bridges certainly exhibits all of these characteristics, and he is very deserving of this award.”
Bridges leads USI’s President’s Council and Cabinet, has served on USI’s Athletic Council and has chaired USI’s Data Standards and Banner Operations Committees. He serves on the WNIN Board of Directors, the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership Board, the Ohio Valley Conference Board of Presidents and as Chair of the Holy Name Church Parrish Council and member of the Church’s Finance Committee. He has also served as Treasurer and Board member of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana, Chair of the Central Association of College and University Business Officers Audit Committee, President of the Ark Crisis Nursery Board and President of the Indiana Association of College and University Business Officers. In addition, he has been the recipient of numerous professional and community awards.
Receiving his bachelor’s degree in accounting from USI Fall 1988, he began working for the University the following spring as a Staff Accountant. He continued to progress in his career to Bursar, Chief Accountant, Controller and Assistant Business Office Director, Assistant and Associate Vice President and an interim appointment for Operations and Assistant Treasurer and was named Vice President for Finance and Administration in 2015. He earned his Master of Business Administration degree from USI in 1995.
The Distinguished Accountant Award has been given annually since 2004 by the USI Romain College of Business in conjunction with the USI Accounting Circle and recognizes professional achievement, service to the region and/or University and service to the accounting profession.
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Aces swimming battles one of the nation’s top teams
Aces swimming battles one of the nation’s top teams
UE drops close matches to McKendree
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Facing one of the top teams in the nation at the Division II level, the University of Evansville swimming teams put up solid battles on Saturday at Deaconess Aquatic Center.
On the men’s side, the Purple Aces fell to the second-ranked team in the country by a 195-95 final while the women fell short by a 156-91 score.
Evelyn Chin was victorious in the 100-fly, posting a time of 57.72. She edged the competition by 0.21. In the 200-IM, it was Sveva Brugnoli coming home with the win. Her 2:10.85 was close to two seconds ahead of the runner-up.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Mari Mueller and Rafaela Makariewicz took second and third. Mueller was less than a half second behind the winning time. Hannah Krings picked up a pair of second-place efforts. In the 1000-free, she swam an 11:10.69 while her time in the 500-free was a 5:27.37. Ane Garate registered a 1:00.54 in the 100-backstroke to take second.
Daniel Santos Lopez had the top time in the 50-free. In a finish that came down to the wire, his 21.27 edged the #2 finisher by 0.04. Patrik Vilbergsson continued a nice start to the season in the 200-back. With a 1:52.17, he earned the top finish by just over a second.
Carlos Souto came in second place in the 100-breaststroke. With a 57.50, he completed the race less than a second off the winning pace. Souto picked up another 2nd place finish in the 200, finishing in 2:12.12. Joao Pereira finished just behind him to take third.
Both squads return to the pool on Friday for a 4 p.m. meet against USI. Action will take place on campus at Wyttenbach Pool.
-www.GoPurpleAces.com-
Volleyball puts up fierce battle at Drake
Volleyball puts up fierce battle at Drake
Aces take Bulldogs to the wire in each set
DES MOINES, Iowa – Strong performances in each set saw the University of Evansville volleyball team give Drake all it could handle, but late rallies by the Bulldogs saw them finish with a 3-0 win on Saturday at the Knapp Center.
Giulia Cardona led all players with 23 kills while adding 12 digs. Angelica Gonzalez finished with eight kills while Chloe Cline added five. Ainoah Cruz led the way with 15 digs while Kora Ruff recorded 29 assists. Megan Witte paced the bulldogs with 13 kills.
Set 1 – Drake 25, UE 20
After Drake took an early 6-2 lead, the Purple Aces rallied back. Kills by Giulia Cardona and Chloe Cline saw UE tie the score at 9-9. Evansville was unable to take the lead as the Bulldogs answered each time the Aces tied it up.
Holding a 16-15 lead, Drake scored three in a row to go back up by four. Evansville cut the deficit in half to get within a pair before DU fended off the challenge to take the set.
Set 2 – Drake 25, UE 21
Evansville scored the opening three points with Blakeley Freeman recording an ace. The Bulldogs came back to tie the score at 5-5, but with the score knotted at 7-7, UE scored eight of the next 10 points to go up 15-9. Angelica Gonzalez and Cardona picked up kills during the rally.
Another kill by Cardona set the Aces up with a 19-13 edge. That is when the Bulldogs staged a furious rally. Completing the game on a 12-2 run, Drake took a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3 – Drake 25, UE 19
UE put forth another solid effort in the third set as a solo block by Josdarilee Caraballo gave her team a 2-1 lead. After Drake wrestled away an 11-9 edge, the Aces countered with a 6-0 rally with Freeman picking up two more aces.
Things continued to look good for Evansville as a Cardona kill solidified a 17-14 edge. Unfortunately, Drake stormed back with five in a row and a longer match-ending 11-2 run. The Aces return home next weekend to face Bradley and Illinois State.
VU ends regular season with sweep on Sophomore Recognition Day
VU ends regular season with sweep on Sophomore Recognition Day
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University volleyball team celebrated the careers of VU’s seven sophomores in Saturday afternoon’s 2024 regular season finale against Region 24 opponent Kaskaskia College.
The Blazers continued the celebration on the court during the match as VU closed out the regular season with a strong 25-11, 25-15, 25-18 sweep over the Blue Angels.
Vincennes got off to a fast start over Kaskaskia, breaking away with the help of a 7-0 scoring run in set one to take an early 11-5 lead.
VU would carry this momentum throughout the opening set of the match, closing out the set by outscoring the Blue Angels 10-1 to take set one 25-11 and gain the early 1-0 match lead.
The Trailblazers continued to roll into set two, opening up a quick 7-2 advantage before the Blue Angels answered back to even the score at 7-7.
The score would remain close before the Trailblazers broke the set open again with a 7-0 scoring run to take a 21-11 lead and go on to finish out the set 25-15 and take a 2-0 match lead.
Kaskaskia looked determined early in set three to avoid the sweep, holding an early 9-6 lead before VU came storming back with five straight points to regain the lead at 11-9.
The two teams would trade points with Kaskaskia cutting the lead down to one at 17-16 but were unable to completely erase the deficit as VU pulled away late to take set three and the match 25-18.
“We have been reenergized this past week, we were going to learn from the past setbacks but put them in the past,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “I just think that if we follow the game plan to a tee, we will win. I like our response today in the third set when Kaskaskia made a run and how we refocused and got back out there and finished the set and the match. Not sure if we could have done that a couple of weeks ago.”
The VU offense was led by sophomore Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) who finished her sophomore day with 12 kills and six digs.
Sophomore Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) added seven kills, six blocks, four digs and one set assist.
Freshman Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) had another big game for the Blazers, finishing with six kills, six digs and one block, while sophomore Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) filled up the stats sheet in her final home regular season game with five kills, four aces, four blocks, three digs and one set assist.
Sophomore Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) finished out her final regular season home game with three kills, four blocks and one dig.
Freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) rounded out the VU offensive stats on the day with one kill.
Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) ran the VU offense to the tune of 21 set assists, five digs and four aces.
Fellow sophomore setter Dylan DeCoursey (Montgomery, Ind.) also chipped in with 12 set assists and one dig on the day.
Sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) controlled the VU back row defense all game with a team-high 18 digs and five set assists.
Freshman Julianna Rettig (Antioch, Ill.) closed out the Vincennes box score on the day with 13 digs and one set assist.
“Allison, Isadora, Elisa and Laura took over the front row with good numbers for kills and blocks,” Sien added. “Libby and Elisa had big serving runs. Grace covered her half of the court to lead us in digs, while Dylan and Libby ran a very good offense today, especially in the middle. They played some inspired volleyball out there.”
“What an awesome group of players, who are better as people,” Sien said about his sophomore class. “Great students disciplined and goal oriented. We are privileged to have a small part in helping them grow in all these areas of their lives.”
The Vincennes University volleyball team will now head into postseason action next week, beginning with the 2024 NJCAA Division I Region 24 tournament.
The Trailblazers have earned the No. 2 seed in next week’s tournament and will host a Quarterfinal match Wednesday, Oct. 30 inside the Physical Education Complex against the winner of the No. 7 seed and No. 10 seed, who will play on Monday, Oct. 28.
VU will then hope to advance to the Semi-final round Saturday, Nov. 2 which will be held at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill, with the tournament finals scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 3 also at John A. Logan College.
“We just have to be on task when the ball is on our side of the net,” Sien said. “We know what to do with it and to control it to run the offense.”
“We need to trust each other unconditionally when we are out there,” Sien added. “I thought I saw a lot of it this week. How fantastic to see this despite all the tough circumstances they have gone through this year.”
BOX SCORE
Kaskaskia – 11 15 18 x x
VUVB (27-12, 15-3) – 25 25 25 x x
VINCENNES STATS
Grace Flexter – 18 digs, 5 set assists
Paulina Fister – 6.5 points, 6 kills, 1 block assist, 6 digs
Dylan DeCoursey – 1 dig, 12 set assists
Julianna Rettig – 13 digs, 1 set assist
Laura Tavares – 10 points, 7 kills, 6 block assists, 4 digs, 1 set assists
Isadora Dias – 12 points, 12 kills, 6 digs
Allison Czyzewski – 5 points, 3 kills, 4 block assists, 1 dig
Martyna Sadowska – 1 point, 1 kill
Elisa Dalla Pozza – 11.5 points, 4 aces, 5 kills, 1 solo block, 3 block assists, 3 digs, 1 set assist
Libby Mehringer – 4 points, 4 aces, 5 digs, 21 set assists
HOT JOBS
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Trailblazers win over Region rival ahead of regular season finale
ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University volleyball hit the road for the final time in the 2024 regular season Friday night as the Blazers made the short trip up to Robinson to face off against Region 24 rival Lincoln Trail College.
VU needed four sets but were able to come out on top of the host Statesmen 25-22, 25-12, 23-25, 25-17.
The Blazers got off to a quick start Friday night, building an early 10-5 advantage in set one.
Lincoln Trail would battle back to cut the VU lead down to one at 12-11 before VU opened a 15-11 lead over the Statesmen.
Lincoln Trail would again rally back in front of the home crowd, evening the score at 19-19 but were unable to capture the lead as VU grabbed the opening set of the night 25-22 to take an early 1-0 lead.
Vincennes rode this momentum into set two, using a big 6-0 scoring run to jump ahead 11-4 and later growing their lead to 18-8.
Lincoln Trail continued to battle but were unable to make a dent in the Vincennes lead as VU grabbed set two 25-12 and held a strong 2-0 match lead.
Set three was a very tightly contested set, with the largest lead for either team being just two points throughout the entire set.
Lincoln Trail was able to break away late with three straight points, which VU was unable to answer as the Statesmen avoid the sweep and take set three 25-23 and cut the Blazers match lead to 2-1.
Vincennes looked to bounce back strong in set four and got off to an excellent start by scoring the first four points of the set.
VU opened a commanding 18-10 advantage with the aid of two 3-0 scoring runs before trading points down the stretch with Lincoln Trail to take set four and the match 25-17 in four sets.
“This is always a tough place to play,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “We did execute pretty well in the first and second sets. Didn’t really execute well at all in the third set. We had a lot of hitting errors and we missed a ton of digs. We missed serves in critical situations. Unofficially we had something like 14 kills in the first set, 17 kills in the second set and I don’t even know if we got to 10 kills in the third set. It was more us not executing than them making plays against us.”
“But it was a good rebound coming back in the fourth set and really getting back to how we were playing in the first two sets,” Sien added. “We got back to executing on all part, defense, serving and offensively.”
The VU offense was led by sophomores Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) and Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy).
Dias led the Blazers Friday night with 16 kills, three blocks and four digs, with Dalla Pozza adding 14 kills, seven blocks and five digs.
Sophomore Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) had a good night at the net as well with seven kills, five blocks and two digs.
Sophomore Allison Czyzewski (Louisville, Ill.) added five kills, three blocks and one set assist, while freshman Paulina Fister (Tuszyn, Poland) came away with three kills, one ace and a team-high 18 digs.
Freshman Martyna Sadowska (Pila, Poland) rounded out the VU offensive numbers with one kill and a pair of blocks.
Sophomore setter Libby Mehringer (Jasper, Ind.) spread the ball out well all night with a team-high 24 set assists, five digs, two kills and one ace, while freshman setter Rylee Edwards (Fairfield, Ill.) added 19 set assists, six digs and one ace.
The VU back row defense was led by sophomore libero Grace Flexter (Oblong, Ill.) who added nine digs, three set assists and one ace and freshman Julianna Rettig (Antioch, Ill.) had a big night with 13 digs and one ace.
“Isadora was very efficient out there offensively,” Sien said. “Offensively we were definitely led by Isadora and Elisa. I thought we played some pretty good defense too. Paulina had an excellent back row game, leading us in digs and as a hitter had a number of very good swings as well. I thought Paulina, Julianna and Isadora played great in the back row. We had over 30 digs from the middle back position as they were in great position to receive the ball. I thought our setters ran the middle attack overall pretty well.”
“Serving wise, Rylee had some good serving runs, Paulina as well,” Sien added. “Libby had some good scoring runs, which is pretty typical. We win when we are able to get those scoring runs and it could really be any one of our players that does it. Any of our players can go out there and serve it extremely well. I’ve said before that when you miss a serve, you are only stopping yourself.”
“Blocking at times took over tonight and it really helped us win the fourth set,” Sien said. “Elisa was in on a number of blocks. Laura had several blocks tonight.”
The Trailblazers will return home to the Physical Education Complex tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 26 for the regular season finale of the 2024 fall season when VU hosts Kaskaskia College at 12 p.m. eastern.
This match will be ‘Sophomore Recognition Day’ as the Trailblazers will honor the careers of VU’s seven sophomores. The ‘Sophomore Recognition Day’ festivities will take place before tomorrow’s match begins.
“We’re playing another good team tomorrow and no momentum from tonight is going to carry over into tomorrow,” Sien said. “We are going to have to restart all over again and play as well as we did tonight overall. When we were on our execution on offense was very consistent and very good.”
Aces men’s soccer blanks Bowling Green on Senior Day
BARNABY MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT DESPITE BOLTS LOSS TO BULLS
