In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening

The composer, pianist, singer Hoagy Carmichael was born here in Bloomington in 1899. He is best known for his songs, "Stardust," "Georgia on My Mind," and "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," for which he won an Oscar in 1952 for Best Song. He attended Indiana University here in Bloomington where he received a bachelor's degree and a law degree. The first band he led was here at IU.

This life size bronze statue of Carmichael sits on the northeast side of IU's auditorium, just opposite the entrance to the recently opened IU Cinema. The sculptor of this amazing statue was Michael McAuley. The statue is quite detailed, right down to the musical notes that are engraved on the paper sitting on the full-size piano. As you can see in the photo, people often like to place flowers in Hoagy's hands. It's also popular to sit next to him on his piano bench and pose for photographs.

I took this picture this evening right before Mark and I entered the cinema to see a film. I desaturated some of the color a bit to give it a more antiqued look.