An inaugural event in Chesterton immerses attendees in the way some people learned during the 1880s-1920s.
Chautauqua in the Dunes takes place from Aug. 16-19 at Indiana Dunes State Park.
“The vision for this really started probably five years ago when I was introduced to the Chautauqua Institution in New York,” said Becky Jascoviak, organizer of Chautauqua in the Dunes.
“Every summer they bring in top headline performers, arts organizations, speakers, lecturers and all kinds of things and people to learn different skills and crafts. We’re all so conditioned to school being the way you learn or you’ve got to go to college or whatever, but that’s not always the way it was.
“I was really inspired by that. As our country has seemingly become much more divided, I feel like our world would be so much better if we just talked to each other and heard the backstory to things and if we saw the world from someone else’s point of view.”
Jascoviak, who is also president of Northwest Indiana Excellence in Theatre Foundation, said the arts are essential to learning.
“I feel very strongly that the more we drop arts out of our world, the less we are able to think creatively and see things from another perspective. I wanted to make sure art was involved,” she said.
Free performances include the Park Plays presentation of Hammond Community Theatre’s “Camping with Henry and Tom,” musical selections and a revisiting of “This Is My Brave — The Show” (Chicagoland) including Kristin Duncan of Lafayette.
Funding assistance came partly from the Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites grant program managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Indiana Arts Commission.
“There are different tracks very much like a conference or convention in some ways, where you could come and focus all on your mind or all on your body or all on your soul or all on your spirit,” said Jascoviak, who leads several sessions including a folded book art workshop ($15 supply fee).
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“I tried hard to design it so if someone could only do a single workshop that they still feel part of the overall Chautauqua and that it would still be a very valuable experience. People are welcome to come to just one event, one lecture, one workshop, one day or the whole thing.”
Other offerings with a $15 supply fee include workshops on dreamcatchers by artist and life coach Michelle Pendergrass, mandalas, writing one’s story, and poetry by Jared Riddle, a professor at Ivy Tech Community College’s Lake County (Gary/East Chicago) campus.
There are also several free offerings including lectures on “Photography for the Smartphone Generation,” “Putting Health Back in Mental Health” and “Women in Leadership” and yoga on the beach by aerialist and yoga instructor Trish Sabocik of Portage.
“I really wanted it to be accessible to all. I feel like that’s part of our issue. If only those with the most money get the most education or have the most opportunity, we’re just creating more dichotomy so I felt it was very important to make sure that it was really accessible to all,” said Jascoviak, of Valparaiso.
“Indiana Dunes State Park itself is a living example of how diversity can exist and exist strongly and well.”
Chautauqua in the Dunes
When: opens at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 16; 8 a.m. Aug. 17-18; 7 a.m. Aug 19
Where: Indiana Dunes State Park, 1600 N. 25 East, Chesterton
Admission: $7 vehicle entry and $25 event per day; $45 event four-day pass (does not include state park gate fee)
Information: 219-926-1952; www.duneschautauqua.com