After being closed a little over a year ago due to COVID-19, The Tarble Arts Center is opening its doors again.  

Last year, the Tarble Arts Center tried to find ways to still provide the Eastern community with virtual events and an outdoor, self-guided exhibition called “Press Play.”  

This year, they will be having new in-person programs and exhibitions, making the transition back to the way things were run before COVID-19 hit.  

The Tarble’s fall exhibition grand opening will be happening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 24.  

The grand opening is free and open to the public, but those interested in attending have to register for entry.  

As it states on the Tarble Arts Center website, the Tarble’s reopening will feature “newly renovated galleries with a reception for the fall exhibition cycle.”  

Attendees will be able to view artwork throughout the Tarble’s galleries, and even contribute to “the acclaimed interactive art installation: Yoko Ono: Mend Piece in the Studio Gallery.” 

The installation presents a white room with shattered cups and saucers on a dining table. Participants will have to “bind the fragments together using common household items: twine, glue, scissors and tape.”   

Those who want to contribute to Yoko Ono: Mend Piece must reserve a time slot prior to attending the grand opening.  

This art installation will be part of the Tarble’s exhibition for the fall cycle, which ends on Dec. 4, 2021.  

The grand opening will also include a live performance from musicians Brad Decker and Will Porter and an augmented reality game, which will be available for activation outside.  

Along with the Yoko Ono interactive art installation, the exhibition will include Force Majeure, an exhibition that “traces the history of video and technology as media for the voices of feminist discourse from second- to third- and fourth-wave aesthetics and strategies.”  

Though Brad Decker and Will Porter will only perform live during the grand opening, the recorded music will continue to play for the remainder of the fall exhibition cycle.  

The music explores the cycles of destruction and creation “using electronic music, trombone, movement, and a graphic score.”  

The website also states that revenue from the live performance will remain on view throughout the exhibition cycle.  

Though the Tarble’s grand opening is not until Sept. 24, the art museum will be hosting a series of crystal bowl sound baths with the first one happening from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 20.  

This event will also be free and open to the public, with registration required prior to entry. Because a limited number of spots will be available, it will be run on a first-come, first-served basis.  

The crystal bowl sound bath will be led by Tyna Loafman and “scheduled to coincide with the cycles of the moon and support stillness, gratitude, and reflection.”  

The Tarble will be hosting more crystal bowl sound baths throughout the school year, so those who cannot attend the first one will have many opportunities to partake in this event.  

The Tarble Arts Center will be hosting many other events throughout the fall exhibition cycle.

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez can be contacted 581-2812 or at knmoralesrodriguez@eiu.edu.