The beat goes on as Mixed Media presents an edition with a percussion theme. First, Rick Mattingly previews the 2003 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), held in Louisville with Rick as local host. PASIC is five days of drum, tap, and other percussive performances; panel discussions; research presentations; clinics; and concerts. One convention highlight for ’03: a workshop led by master teacher Arthur Hull, the father of the community drum circle movement.

In-studio examples of percussion performance are provided by the Morehead State University Percussion Ensemble, a nationally recognized group that was chosen to perform at PASIC. Director Frank Oddis, an associate professor of music at Morehead, has led the ensemble to three Percussive Arts Society national championships in marching percussion.

Getting away from the drums for a bit, our cameras take you inside the Photographic Archives at the University of Louisville’s Ekstrom Library. With more than 1.2 million photographs and associated documents, the collection is one of the world’s largest. Holdings include the collection of Roy Stryker, who directed the Farm Security Administration’s photographic documentation efforts from 1935 to 1943; more than 500,000 photos documenting local history; and fine art photographs by such masters as Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, and Edward Weston.