Published: March 15, 2008 12:34 am      

Authors, artists to show their talents

BRISTOL, Ind. — The sixth annual Authors and Artists Day will run from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Elkhart County Historical Museum.

More than 35 local authors and artists will display their talents in the museum’s auditorium. There will be sculptures, paintings, pottery, jewelry, woodcuts and pastels exhibited.

Authors will be available to show their latest publications, including non-fiction and fiction titles and children’s books.

Most of the participants will have examples of their work available for purchase.

Joan Trindle Stiver of Middlebury is one author who will be exhibiting her latest children’s book, titled “The Door in the Floor.” The book recounts young Lizzie Blue’s experience as a member of a family that houses runaway families on the underground railroad.

The book was illustrated by Goshen artist Karen Gruntman. Both women are retired school teachers.

“I showed her my manuscript,” Stiver said, “and she believed in it, and decided to help me out.”

“The Door in the Floor” is Trindle’s first book. Gruntman has illustrated five books, including this one. She will be exhibiting her other works on Sunday, as well.

Docents will be accessible for guided tours through the museum’s 10 galleries. The Elkhart County Genealogical Society will also be open for genealogy consultation and to show its collections that are available to the public for research.

Members of the Bonneyville Millers, a baseball team that re-creates games from the 1860s, will display their equipment and vintage uniforms and talk about rulebook variations between historic and modern games.

Visitors can also catch a “behind-the-scenes” look into the museum’s upcoming exhibit, “Stitches of Devotion: Coverlets and Quilts of Elkhart County.”

Gallery restoration of new lighting, flooring and modern paint schemes will be completed, but the exhibit installation will not be finished until late April.

The exhibit will start April 18 during a gallery opening from 4 to 6 p.m.

Authors and Artists Day is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

For more information, call Museum Director Nick Hoffman at 848-4322.