Art and jazz bring community, IUK together

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With a relaxed, coffee house vibe, Yoke Social Table's Art & Jazz night Wednesday evening filled the parking lot at the restaurant's South Washington Street location with vehicles, and filled the inside with tunes, artists, and the feeling of community.

The brainchild of local artist J.C. Barnett III, and Yoke Social owner Elvin Gutierrez, Art & Jazz Night was meant as a way to bring together the IU Kokomo community with other city residents for a night of sharing local artist's work in music and painting.

According to Barnett, between 80-100 students and community residents came in and out during the three-hour event. The musicians D.J. Justin Pugh, Darnell Smith, and Gary Rhum performed while local artists Ramona "Mona" Daniels, Barnett, and Brenda Rodriguez painted work in oils, marker, and tempura.

D.J. Pugh spun tunes for the first hour and a half, with jazz mixes from musical artists such as Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire. During the second 90 minutes, musicians Gary Rhum and Darnell Smith performed free-form guitar and congas.

Barnett summed up the event, "I know the there is a hunger and desire for social events like this. I was happy to connect college to community because our young people need to feel their presence. In so many ways there is a disconnect, and it was beautiful to see everyone under the same roof; to see people engaging one another without devices. The stimulation from the food, the music, and art was enough for them, and that was a sweet thing to see."