Springfield dreams, Visions of 2021 and beyond

A pandemic, a civil rights uprising, economic turmoil, an historic election – this year has brought many hardships. It has made the inequalities and divisions in our society more clear. It's also been a time for reflection and change.

Social service providers and community activists, already making due with a lack of resources, have been forced to find new solutions for increasingly complex problems. Illinois Times and NPR Illinois asked various community leaders about lessons learned and hopes for the future.

Allison Lacher heads exhibitions for the University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery. An artist herself, she's a co-founder of the DEMO project. It was an alternative art space on the Springfield Art Association campus, in an old house that was demolished in 2018.

The social component of art has been largely lost, though creativity abounds with virtual art tours and auctions, and socially distant exhibitions. Springfield has a robust arts scene, though groups often work in silos. "I keep wondering about what would happen if the visual artists in Springfield organized en masse," said Lacher.

"It's not always the artists who are carving out the structures and opportunities that we work within, or the objectives of those structures and opportunities. So what do we all need, as an arts community in Springfield? What do we prioritize? And how do we advocate for that together?" Looking ahead, Lacher envisions organization among the arts community to start answering those questions collectively.

This article appeared in the Illinois Times on December 17, 2020..

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A good year to give art

Being home for the holidays has typically had a festive and nostalgic association, and along with that, time spent gift shopping. This year may be different given health concerns and staying at home without the usual company of friends and family or trips to shop.

But all is not lost for a season of gifting and personal touches. Area arts organizations, which have struggled in a year devoid of live music, theater and art exhibitions, have put a creative spin on pandemic presents.

Another option for visual art purchases is through the University of Illinois Springfield’s Visual Arts Gallery Silent Auction and Benefit, which launched November 16 and runs until December 3. The auction features original works donated by local and regional artists. Proceeds from the annual auction support gallery programming and exhibitions.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on November 18, 2020.

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"Hindsight 20/20"

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery is proud to present “Hindsight 20/20,” a virtual exhibition showcasing the creativity and skill sets of senior visual arts majors at UIS.

As a result of the public health concerns regarding COVID-19, and in keeping with UIS policies in place to protect our students, faculty, staff and patrons, this special exhibition will take place online.

"Hindsight 20/20” features works by UIS Visual Arts graduating seniors that, together, explore how visual language can more clearly express those experiences that are difficult to communicate through words alone.

Exhibiting artists include Logan Baskett, Kelsey Cleary, Kailee Harris, Rachel Lewis, Dominic Miraldi and Merrick Wilderman.

This exhibition will feature animation, digital media, painting, screen printing and sculpture. Each of the student artists have created works that collectively strive to transport the viewer, inviting individuals to immerse themselves and recognize not only how our surroundings affect our emotions, but also how individuals impact the environment and the world around them.

These works are especially poignant in light of recent develops and the hardships many now face as a result of the global pandemic. “Hindsight 20/20” serves as a reflection and testament to the hard work of these students in the midst of these challenging times.

This article appeared in The Illinois Times on May 1, 2020.

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UIS debuts "Value Added" art exhibit

The "Value Added" Exhibition opened Thursday at the University of Illinois Springfield's Visual Art Gallery.

The exhibition features mixed media sculptures by Patrick Collier. The event also opened with a reception and talk by Collier.

"Value Added" is a term used in agriculture and other industries to describe a marketing and production strategy."

"This is the one time you can come out to the exhibition and see and meet the artist and talk to them about their work," Director of the UIS Visual Arts Gallery Jeff Robinson said.

The exhibition will run until October 17th.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on September 26, 2019.

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Interiority gets exteriorized at UIS Gallery

A smiley-face pin balanced on a wall-mounted thermostat; an infant’s onesie reflected in an antique mirror; an office lamp propping open a window shade.

The experience of walking through “Interior Space” – an installation which opened July 26 at University of Illinois Springfield’s Visual Arts Gallery – is something like wandering into a stranger’s sparse attic or onto the set of a dream sequence in a 1960s Italian film.

The work, by Allyson Packer, is spread throughout the entire gallery (occasionally even beyond its physical boundaries).

Packer, who is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a summer resident in the Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists program. Although at first glance it might seem like there is little or nothing on display, a little hunting gradually reveals a bounty of unlikely objects, including the ones described above, many of them displayed in even less likely ways.

The items, distributed throughout the space with deceptive precision and wit, were all borrowed from Springfield residents by Packer for the purpose of the exhibition.

Also at the UIS gallery on July 26 was a one-night-only multichannel audio installation by Normal, Illinois-based artist and composer ZW Buckley, entitled “faith comes by hearing.”

Buckley described the work as “exploring the themes of transience and permanence within Springfield’s Enos Park neighborhood.”

This article appeared in the Illinois Times on August 1, 2018.

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Enos Park artists-in-residence

Albuquerque-based artist Allyson Packer, Nick Wylie of Seattle and Illinois State University student Zack Buckley have been chosen as this summer’s artists-in-residence by the Enos Park Residency program, a partnership between the Springfield Art Association, the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association and the City of Springfield.

The program offers four-week to 12-month residency awards to visual artists. Wylie will use his time in Springfield to research Elmer Ellsworth, a close and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and the first Union officer killed in the Civil War while he was removing a Confederate flag.

Buckley, an artist and composer, plans to record various types of audio from Enos Park to create a multi-channel installation.

Packer, who has recently shown work at Nahmad Projects in London and the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, will present a solo exhibit entitled “Interior Space,” at the University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery.

This story appeared in The Illinois Times on May 24, 2018.

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Subdued hues and strange shadows at University of Illinois at Springfield

Newspaper is often the first ephemera we come to understand.

It’s an impermanent medium that we try to make permanent over and over again, whether it’s a yellowing comic strip on someone’s fridge or a historical front page tucked away in the closet.

In that sense, newspaper is also typically our first lesson in the power of print and how our stories become tangled up and tactile through ink and paper.

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery digs into this dynamic with “of strange shadows,” its current show from Texas-based collaborators Leslie Mutchler and Jason Urban.

Pulling at the threads among color, print and collective memory, Mutchler and Urban pair hues of low saturation with images of protest and violence that examine the 1960s and ’70s — moments of political unrest “too familiar and yet distant” to our own time.

This story appeared in The Chicago Tribune on October 30, 2017.

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"of strange shadows" Opening Reception

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery is pleased to present "of strange shadows" from Texas-based collaborators Leslie Mutchler and Jason Urban.

The exhibit will open on Thursday, October 26, and run through Thursday, November 16. An artist reception will take place on Thursday, October 26, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

The exhibit, "of strange shadows," is an investigation of color, print and collective memory. Contrasting a subdued primary palette with gray images of residual protest and violence, artist-collaborators Mutchler and Urban look back to the 1960's and 1970's as captured in printed matter from the same era.

Both teach in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin where Mutchler is associate chair and director of the AAH Core Program and Urban is head of the studio division's print area.

This article appeared in the Illinois Times on October 26, 2017.

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Modernism and residency: The SAA kicks off a summer of unique programming

The Springfield Art Association is currently in high gear with a unique exhibit featuring nearly 300 specimens of modernist furniture and décor.

The SAA is also now hosting the first two visiting artists to participate in the recently established Enos Park residency program for visual artists.

James Pepper Kelly of Chicago and German-born Astrid Kaemmerling are both in the midst of six-week stays, during which they are creating new work relating to the Enos Park neighborhood or Springfield as a whole. The work will be presented later this summer in a special exhibit at the University of Illinois Springfield’s Visual Arts Gallery.

 Kaemmerling, who has shown work in Germany, Italy, Korea and the United States and has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, is currently based in San Francisco. The concentration for her current Springfield-based project is in the field of “walking art,” in aid of which free tickets are currently available for her “Enos Park Community Walking Laboratory.”

According to Kaemmerling’s online event page, “while meandering the streets of Enos Park for one hour you and I will engage in a conversation about the past, present and future of the neighborhood while monitoring our thoughts and passageways.” The conversations will be recorded and later presented as part of the exhibit, along with maps of the paths taken in each walk.

Kaemmerling’s enthusiasm for the residency is palpable. “It’s a fantastic way for me to put some of the research I have done into action and really field test it,” she said. “The support here so far has been incredible. And welcoming! Wherever I go, even on the street, people are super friendly; they greet you and engage in conversation. It’s been really nice.”

This story appeared in the Illinois Times on June 22, 2017.

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