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Co-Editors
Amy Karagiannakis
Mariana Seda (MA ’21 Theatre)
Designer
Natalie Fiol (BA ’10 LAS)
Copy Editor
Anne Jackson
Director of Communications
Andy Blacker
Associate Dean for Advancement
Jon Salvani (MS ’21 GIES)
Dean Jake Pinholster
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ON
THE
COVER: The Art of Rest
BY MARIANA SEDA
Can a museum be a place of rest? More specifically, can an art museum be a space for exploring and experimenting with individual ideas about rest in response to community needs?
Krannert Art Museum education coordinators Ishita Dharap and Kamila Glowacki have proven the answer is a resounding “yes!” with their multiyear, ever-evolving project: Rest Lab.
Rest Lab is a pop-up space that invites you to explore rest with intention while in a gallery that is “resting” between exhibitions. Rest Lab offers a variety of comfortable seating and creative interactions that frame the act of resting. Whether participants make collages, take a nap to the sounds of lapping water, or curl up with a book, the purpose is to encourage visitors to take up space, pause, reflect, and play. It’s one of the many ways that KAM, a public yet carefully curated place of art, is creating space for more community voices.
Architecture
Art & Design
Dance
Japan House
Krannert Art Museum
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Landscape Architecture
Music
Sustainable Design
Theatre
Urban & Regional Planning
Each iteration of Rest Lab is different. One manifested in a display on the windows of Green Street, reflecting graduate students’ desires for rest through written requests and creative response collages. Another existed in the depths of the museum’s lower level, using the tools of reflective writing and paper shredders as a means of cathartic release. During a Rest Lab program in spring 2023, KAM invited the community to an immersive show led by local artists Matt Harsh and Twoleggedzoo with live dancers from the Urbana Dance Company, a curated soundscape, and projected light designs you could almost touch, in hopes of inspiring introspection and relaxation (cover image). The fall 2024 Rest Lab features curated artwork from KAM’s collection and restful interactions, including a bed in the galleries on the museum’s main floor. The installation opened November 1. In the following pages of Dimension, we offer more examples of how our students, faculty, and alumni are reshaping our world by carving out their place – both literally and speculatively – through artistic practice, research, community placemaking and engagement, giving, and more.
Cover Image: Installation by Matt Harsh for Rest Lab at Krannert Art Museum, spring 2023. Photo by Fred Zwicky.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FAA alumni have collectively won the coveted ‘EGOT’ 4
Remembering Rick Jarrard – a music industry icon 8
A music alum who found a second calling in entrepreneurship 9
New Storefront Studio connects Illinois dancers with the community 11
(Re)Imagining graduate education in the spirit of radical inclusion 12
A new theatre program prepares students for emerging roles in entertainment technology 14
Alumni and donors play a critical role in FAA’s growth and success 18
Congratulations to our 2024 Legacy Award recipients 19
Q&A with School of Art and Design’s new Director Brooke White 22
Undergrads forge a path through local hunger using sustainable design 23
Can art bridge the partisan divide this election season? 27
Playfully designed sukkah huts inspire cultural dialogue in Chicago
Meet FAA’s
Krannert Center’s Top 10 favorite performances
Japan House gardens serve as an ever-evolving living classroom
A traveling Chilean memorial that transcends time and borders
is transforming underutilized urban spaces into thriving ecosystems
KAM reimagines its use of gallery space to amplify the voices of Andean artists
Alum Chris Carl
Alumna Jeanne Gang delivers inspiring commencement address to Class of ’24
new Dean Jake Pinholster
FAA SWEEPS the EGOT!
BY MARIANA SEDA
To win an ‘EGOT’ is widely considered the pinnacle of achievement in the entertainment industry. An EGOT – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award – demands talents that go beyond a single creative field and into multiple realms of entertainment. Winners run the likes of television, film, and theatre legends like Richard Rogers, Rita Moreno, and Viola Davis, as well as newer stars like Jennifer Hudson.
The College of Fine and Applied Arts is an ‘EGOT’ winner too. Several times over, in fact. Well, maybe we didn’t win these awards, but we have fabulous alumni who have, and collectively, they bring the prestigious ‘EGOT’ to FAA!
We’d like to take a moment to spotlight some of our award-winning alumni who have recently returned to campus to inspire the next generation of talent. A more comprehensive list of FAA awardees can be found at go.illinois.edu/EGOT
EMMY
Nick Offerman (BFA ’93 Acting)
Nick Offerman won an Emmy Award in 2023 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in the HBO series The Last of Us. The actor, author, and woodworker, best known for his role as Ron Swanson in NBC’s Parks and Recreation, studied acting in the Department of Theatre. Upon graduation, he moved to Chicago and worked as an actor and set carpenter before moving to Los Angeles. He has continued to support and advocate for the U of I Japan House through personal contributions and fundraising efforts and has continued his longtime friendship with teacher and mentor Professor Emeritus Shozo Sato. Offerman served as the 2017 Illinois Commencement speaker and most recently returned in 2023 on his comedy tour to help raise money for the Ogura/Sato Japan House annex. Image: Japan House Director Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud joins Offerman at the Japan House in 2023. Photo by Fred Zwicky.
GRAMMY
Donald Nally (DMA ’95 Choral Music)
Donald Nally has won three Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance as conductor of the choral ensemble
The Crossing. Out of nine consecutive nominations from 2017–2024, their wins include Born (2023), Zealot Canticles (2019), and The Fifth Century (2018). As conductor, Nally not only selects the group’s repertoire but also collaborates with artists, orchestras, and art museums to create new works that address social and environmental issues, continuously challenging the notions of how a choir should sound. Together, Nally and The Crossing have commissioned over 180 works, produced 34 recordings, and traveled to stages all over the world from National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk to Carnegie Hall. Rising w/ The Crossing, a series they created as a response to the 2020 pandemic, has been archived by The Library of Congress as a cultural artifact. In 2021, Nally joined the School of Music on their sonorities podcast to discuss his process when approaching new work and the feats they overcame to make collective music during a pandemic. Image: Nally conducts his ensemble The Crossing in 2017. Photo by Jill Steinberg.
OSCAR
Ang Lee (BFA ’80 Acting)
Ang Lee has won several Academy Awards including Best Director for Brokeback Mountain (2005); Best Director for Life of Pi (2012); and Best Foreign Language Film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Born and raised in Taiwan, Lee traveled to the United States to study acting with the Department of Theatre. After graduation, Lee pivoted to filmmaking and directing and pursued a master’s in film production at New York University. He spent years writing and submitting screenplays before finally getting his first break with several foreign-language films that landed him Oscar recognition and opened a pathway for him to begin directing English-language films. Lee graced the university with his (onscreen) presence at the 2020 Illinois Virtual Commencement Celebration, and just the year before, sent a birthday message to Krannert Center for its 50th anniversary, stating “those years [at Krannert Center] gave me the foundation for what I know and what I do.” Image: Lee speaks to students and guests in a room at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts during his visit to campus in 1997. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.
TONY
Kevin Stites (BMUS ’78, MMUS ’82)
Also related…
The School of Music has three faculty who are active members of the Recording Academy, voting to select Grammy Award nominees and recipients. Professors Rochelle Sennet , Casey Robards, and Lamont Holden all have an impact on who wins Grammy Awards!
EGOT + B(ESSIE)
Kevin Stites’ career as a music director and conductor spans 13 Broadway productions including Nine, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival in 2003; Sunset Boulevard (Best Musical, 1995); and Titanic (Best Musical, 1997); along with many regional credits and tours of iconic shows like Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. He has musically directed concerts for headliners like Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Lea Salonga, and served as the conductor for The Radio City Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular for six years. Remarkably, he has also conducted the orchestra for several TV broadcasts of The Tony Awards, as well as the orchestra tracks for the film REEFER MADNESS . Stites most recently conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia and has guest conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Grant Park Symphony Orchestras. Stites earned two degrees from the School of Music and has returned to campus to give workshops and masterclasses – most recently leading a workshop for Take Flight with Lyric Theatre in 2018. Image: Stites serves as music director and leads a workshop of Take Flight with Lyric Theatre in 2018. Photo by Darrell Hoemann.
In the world of dance, the Bessie Awards are known as a top honor. The New York Dance and Performance Awards recognize pioneering work in choreography, performance, music composition, visual design, legacy, and service to the field of dance. Established in 1984, the awards are known as “The Bessie” in honor of esteemed dance teacher Bessie Schönberg. The Department of Dance boasts many Bessie winners including alumni Oluwadamilare Ayorinde (MFA ’24), Michelle Boule (BFA ’99), Leslie Cuyjet (BFA ’03), and Angie Pittman (MFA ’15), as well as 2020 Bessie honoree Tess Dworman (BFA ’07). Photos in order listed from left to right.
In the heart of Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, a unique event unfolds each year, drawing on ancient traditions to foster contemporary community engagement. The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival, now entering its third edition, has become a vibrant celebration of art, architecture, and cultural exchange, rooted in the Jewish tradition of building sukkahs during the holiday of Sukkot.
A sukkah is a temporary hut constructed to commemorate the fall harvest and the Jewish story of liberation from slavery in Egypt. Traditionally, it is a three-sided outdoor room built in backyards. This practice symbolizes the temporary dwellings used by the Israelites during their 40-year journey through the desert out of Egypt.
Joseph Altshuler, a Jewish architectural designer and assistant professor in the Illinois School of Architecture, has found a personal and professional intersection in the sukkah tradition. “The sukkah, as an architectural custom and cultural tradition, represents an intersectional confluence of my personal, professional, and academic identities. I’ve always been interested in how that custom can be amplified into a broader platform for community building,” said Altshuler.
Sukkah
The festival pairs architectural designers with local organizations to reinterpret sukkahs in ways that serve community needs. These collaborations result in public celebrations and permanent installations at the organizations’ facilities. The festival enhances intergenerational, interracial, and cross-cultural dialogue and counters negative media narratives about Chicago’s West Side.
Key partners include the Stone Temple Baptist Church, originally a synagogue, highlighting historical ties between Jewish and Black communities, and the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot, a community museum in a shipping container. The 2023 festival was a special contributor to the Chicago Architecture Biennial, bringing international audiences to North Lawndale and allowing Could Be Design, led by Altshuler, to contribute a sukkah to their exhibition. Their 2023 collaboration with the Chicago Tool Library created a sukkah that serves as a tool demonstration kiosk and instructional video backdrop, now a permanent feature at the library’s headquarters.
The festival collaborates with University of Illinois faculty and students. Assistant professors Nekita Thomas and Akima Brackeen contribute to the festival’s exhibition identity, landscape design, and architectural dialogue. The 2024 edition featured work from students and alumni, cocreating a sukkah to serve as a community hub for street vendors on 16th Street in North Lawndale.
Altshuler’s practice, Could Be Design, cofounded with Zack Morrison, focuses on creating “seriously playful” spaces that foster community interaction. Their work spans conventional architecture, exhibition design, and public art installations, challenging traditional distinctions between art and architecture.
The 2024 festival, which took place October 6–26, reimagined 16th street, improving community development along the corridor. Altshuler hopes to connect the festival’s activities with broader community development efforts in North Lawndale.
The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival exemplifies how cultural traditions can inspire contemporary community engagement and cultural dialogue. By reimagining the sukkah as a platform for art, design, and social interaction, the festival not only honors Jewish heritage but also builds bridges across diverse communities in North Lawndale and beyond. James Stone Freedom Square, the outdoor venue for the festival, was established in 2023 as a new public plaza that can now be enjoyed by community members year-round. As the festival continues to evolve, it stands as a testament to the power of architecture and design in fostering inclusive, participatory, and vibrant urban spaces.
Gang began by acknowledging the unique struggles our 2024 graduates faced, especially those who started their academic journey during the COVID-19 pandemic. She recognized the resilience and adaptability they demonstrated in the face of unprecedented social isolation and global upheaval. “Undergrads, you dealt with the worst of a pandemic in your very first year... Nevertheless, you found ways to build relationships and grow your knowledge even in such an uncertain time,” she said. Drawing from her experience in architecture, Gang emphasized the importance of passion and alignment between one’s work and personal interests. She highlighted the dedication of Architecture students, who are known for their tireless work ethic. “Anyone who knows Architecture majors, knows that the lights at the Architecture Building are always on... We are working in studio, creating projects, and envisioning future cities,” she shared, underscoring the idea that true engagement with one’s work makes the effort feel less like labor and more like a fulfilling pursuit
Jeanne Gang
BY AMY KARAGIANNAKIS
Internationally renowned architect and College of Fine and Applied Arts alumna Jeanne Gang (BSAS ’86) delivered an inspiring commencement address to over 7,000 graduates at the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium on May 11, 2024. Addressing the challenges faced by the class of 2024, Gang’s speech resonated deeply, reflecting her own journey and philosophy in architecture and beyond.
A key theme of Gang’s speech was the power of imagination. She cited the influential thinker bell hooks, stating, “Imagination is essential to my job as an architect... It is about seeing a possible future that doesn’t yet exist.” Gang encouraged graduates to harness their imagination to envision and create a better world. She referred to this concept as “actionable idealism” which combines visionary thinking with practical steps to effect change. “We have to imagine the future we want before we can make it a reality,” she asserted, highlighting the role of empathy and understanding in this process.
change. “[Imagination] is about taking the time to visualize something that you want to see in the world... and through this visualization, you have taken the first steps to actually making it happen,” she said. This vision aligns with her professional work, where she integrates environmental sustainability and community connection into her architectural designs.
The architect’s speech concluded with a powerful reminder of the graduates’ potential to impact the world positively. “It may seem like imagination is no match for the system and the problems that we seem trapped in... But I want to guarantee you that in life you will need your imagination... Our collective future flourishing will come from you knowing what you love to do and boldly following that path,” she encouraged.
Jeanne Gang’s commencement address was not only a celebration of the graduates’ achievements but also a call to action. She urged them to embrace their creativity, pursue their passions, and contribute to building a more equitable and sustainable world. Her words were a fitting tribute to the resilience and potential of the class of 2024, inspiring them to envision and realize their own futures with courage and imagination.
In addition to being the founding partner of Studio Gang and her many architectural achievements, Gang is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a recipient of numerous accolades, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and TIME magazine’s recognition as one of the most influential people in the world. Architecture Alumna
Gang’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility was evident throughout her address. She spoke about the need to imagine and strive for sustainable futures and social
Jeanne Gang was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts before giving her commencement address to graduates and their families. The following day, on May 12, she received the Illinois Medal in Architecture from the School of Architecture. This medal is awarded to distinguished alumni of the School of Architecture to recognize a lifetime of professional dedication and excellence in the practice of architecture.
Photo by Michelle Hassel.
Rick Jarrard: A Music Industry Icon
BY AMY KARAGIANNAKIS
In the realm of music production, few names resonate with as much depth and diversity as Rick Jarrard. With a career spanning several decades, Jarrard has left an indelible mark on the industry, showcasing his versatility, innovation, and an unyielding passion for creating timeless melodies.
Jarrard’s journey into the world of music began in Illinois. His early exposure to a wide range of genres laid the foundation for his eclectic taste, a trait that would later become a hallmark of his production style. Jarrard formed a vocal group in college called The Lincolns that covered artists like Harry Belafonte and The Kingston Trio. They played gigs locally and worked summers at a resort in Estes Park, Colorado. While at Illinois, Jarrard was a drum major in the Marching Illini and a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, Men’s Glee Club, and the First Regimental Band. Jarrard graduated from the School of Music in 1961 with a Bachelor of Music Education. The Lincolns moved to the West Coast, landed a recording contract with Kapp Records, and sang on a soundtrack for Walt Disney Presents. After parting ways with the group, Jarrard embarked on a career trajectory that would see him collaborate with some of the most iconic names in the business.
Rick Jarrard played backup in a band for Robert Goulet and joined a folk group in LA called The Greenwood County Singers, which included renowned singer-songwriter Van Dyke Parks. Jarrard’s foray into the industry gained momentum in the mid-1960s when he joined RCA Records as a staff producer. It was here that he started making a name for himself, working on projects ranging from rock and pop to folk. His keen ear for emerging sounds and trends quickly positioned him as a sought-after producer.
His collaboration with Jefferson Airplane catapulted Jarrard into the limelight. As the producer for their groundbreaking album Surrealistic Pillow, he captured the essence of the counterculture movement. The album’s popular singles “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love,” as well as the critical acclaim that followed its release in 1967, solidified Jarrard’s reputation as a producer capable of navigating the ever-evolving landscape of musical expression. Later that same year, Jarrard produced Harry Nilsson’s Aerial Ballet, which included a cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’.” The song was featured in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy and reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, later being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 1970, while recording a holiday album with Feliciano, Jarrard encouraged the artist to write a new Christmas song, leading to the creation of “Feliz Navidad.” This song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010 and recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played Christmas songs worldwide, consistently appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 in recent years.
Jarrard helped to assemble the TCB band for Elvis Presley’s 1969 comeback tour in Las Vegas and remained close friends with Elvis until his death in 1977. He is also noted for discovering Michael McDonald in 1970, signing him with RCA, and facilitating his path to becoming a member of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers.
Jarrard eventually left RCA and launched his own production company. The subsequent decades saw his career take on international dimensions, working with artists in Europe and Asia. His global influence contributed to the evolution of music production techniques, and his dedication to nurturing emerging talent solidified his legacy as a producer and mentor. Over his career, songs produced by Jarrard have been featured in over 230 movies, television shows, and commercials, earning him over 40 gold and platinum albums.
Rick Jarrard served on the Board of Governors for the Recording Academy, was a charter member of The Latin Grammys, and owned several music companies. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Ovation School for the Performing Arts, reflecting his commitment to music education and nurturing emerging talent.
Carrying on Rick Jarrard’s legacy, his brother Roger Armstrong established the Rick Jarrard Memorial Music Fund to support commercial music projects at the University of Illinois School of Music. Armstrong spoke fondly of his late brother, “Rick knew how to adapt and respond to an artist’s strengths and abilities.” Roger Armstrong and his partner Arna Leavitt hope that the Rick Jarrard Memorial Music Fund will provide the support necessary to propel future music industry leaders to notoriety.
Reflecting on Rick Jarrard’s life and career, it is evident that his journey has been one of constant reinvention and artistic exploration. His ability to traverse genres and pursue excellence has left an indelible mark on music production, showcasing the transformative power of music and the enduring legacy of a true master of production in the industry.
A young up-and-coming Puerto Rican artist José Feliciano signed with RCA in 1967, allowing Rick Jarrard to further diversify his portfolio. His collaboration with Feliciano on the album Feliciano! earned the two a Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year. That same year, Feliciano won Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance for “Light My Fire” and Best New Artist of The Year (1968).
Rick Jarrard and Jose Feliciano in the recording studio.
Photo credit: Helen Murphy and Frank Licari.
Thanks to a generous donation from ACES alumna Joan Clement (BS ’77 Home Economics), all School of Music students received a tube of ChopSaver lip balm in the fall of 2023 (pictured on top right of page).
From Symphonic Notes to Entrepreneurial Success
BY AMY KARAGIANNAKIS
In a world where melodies and entrepreneurship rarely compose the same score, Illinois School of Music alumnus Dan Gosling’s story stands out, harmo nizing his music career with the innovative creation of ChopSaver, a lip care product that has resonated with musicians and non-musicians alike.
Gosling’s musical journey began with extensive training and participation in various ensembles at the University of Illinois. “One of the great things about Illinois was that there were so many opportunities to play. I was playing in just about everything that was available to me: the Orchestra, the Symphonic Wind ensemble, the Jazz Band, Brass Quintet, the British Brass Band,” recalled Gosling (BM ’84).
Following graduation, Gosling played with the Indianapolis Symphony and helped found the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. He also taught at Ball State and Butler University. After nearly two decades with the Indianapolis Symphony, Gosling lost his position to Thomas Hooten, now Principal Trumpet for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He didn’t realize at the time that what seemed like a setback would lead to a new opportunity. The inception of ChopSaver came about two weeks later when Gosling was hanging out with a musician and former student of his who mentioned that arnica, a natural anti-inflammatory, had healed his bruised lip within a couple days. This story and Dan’s discovery of arnica sparked an idea that would address a common issue among brass and woodwind players: lip fatigue and swelling. Motivated by both a personal and widespread need, Gosling embarked on a quest to create a lip balm that would soothe, heal, and support musicians’ performance needs.
ChopSaver was born from Gosling’s kitchen experiments and relentless pursuit of the perfect formula. Despite initial skepticism, his dedication led to early successes and endorsements from renowned musicians like Sir James Galway, Thomas Hooten, and David Hickman. Dan Gosling’s story is a testament to the transformative potential of what an education in the arts can lead to – paving the way for diverse and innovative professional journeys.
“ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT ILLINOIS WAS THAT THERE WERE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO PLAY.”
Photo by Michelle Hassel.
This fall, the College of Fine and Applied Arts welcomed a new dean, Jake Pinholster, to campus. Pinholster comes from Arizona State University where he served as executive dean for enterprise design in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and founding director of the ASU Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in downtown Mesa. He was also previously the director of the ASU School of Film, Dance and Theatre. As an educator and administrator, Pinholster has engaged in several long-term initiatives that fuse technology, interdisciplinarity, and curricular innovation. As a designer, his efforts have centered on projection and media design and technology for performance. His professional media/projection design credits include the Pee Wee Herman Show on Broadway and HBO, Carrie Fisher: Wishful Drinking on HBO, Current Nobody, Hoover, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Heddatron, and many other productions at off-Broadway, regional, and academic venues.
BY ANDY BLACKER
As you start your term as dean of FAA, what most excites you about leading the college?
There is such a rich selection of things to be excited about! I think the element of FAA that excites me the most is the vibrant community. Everyone I’ve met, talked to, and even heard about has been welcoming, warm, and deeply invested in the wellbeing of each and every member of the college.
While you are learning more about FAA, do you see a specific opportunity or challenge that you are looking forward to exploring?
There are two primary areas that I believe FAA is well-primed to explore more deeply in the immediate future: greater interdisciplinary connection both within and outside the college and deeper integration with the communities of Champaign and Urbana. Our world today calls for an end to the perception that artists and designers are somehow apart from the world. We must be deeply embedded and radically engaged in the world as it is in order to help the future be what we need it to be. And to do that, we have to be less of a black box and more of a front porch.
You have a background in theatre production and design so you have a deep knowledge of the performing arts. Is there a discipline in FAA that you are most interested in learning more about?
My background is primarily in theatre, but my career has led me down all sorts of roads in dance, architecture, graphic design, and a variety of visual arts forms. I have a deep curiosity about all the disciplines FAA represents, but, perhaps weirdly, the one I am least fluent in is music. I have no musical ability whatsoever, and frankly, I’ve always been amazed by the masters of its forms.
You were the founding director of an arts facility in downtown Mesa. How do you hope to bring more of FAA into our communities?
Yes, absolutely. ChampaignUrbana’s microurban context is, I believe, a source of rich opportunity for engagement between a community and a university. I would like to see more presence of architecture, design, and the arts out in the twin cities, particularly in the form of deeper, longer-term relationships. More broadly, I believe FAA can have an important presence throughout Central Illinois, especially given
some of the great work being done in our units currently around small and rural communities.
As a designer working in media and projection for theatre, is there a project that you are most proud of and why?
There are several projects in my portfolio that instill pride in me, usually due to the social issues they address. The most recent of these is The Most Beautiful Home… Maybe, which is an immersive, interactive cabaret performance about the U.S. housing crisis that I both coproduced and designed. But, perhaps for me, the project I am most proud of is the one I am currently working on: Upstream, an immersive work about climate change that is being cocreated with youth ages 11 to 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota. It premieres next spring and will then be followed by a national tour.
Moving to Central Illinois from Arizona, is there something in the area that you are particularly enjoying, and/or is there something that you are missing from Arizona?
I’m enjoying having more than two seasons! Deeply looking forward to the fall – festivals, brisk mornings, and a Halloween where it isn’t likely to be 100 degrees. I’m
also really enjoying ChampaignUrbana’s unique combination of the benefits of a bigger city (great restaurants, arts, and culture options) with the feeling of a small town. Thus far, I only know about twenty people in town, but I swear I’ve already run into half of them in the wild at either Friday Night Live or Harvest Market. As to things I will miss about Arizona, ask me again in February.
Serving as dean is a demanding role, but work-life balance is important. What hobbies, interests, and/or activities do you enjoy pursuing in your free time?
When I can force myself to truly relax, I enjoy reading great science fiction and fantasy books, spending time with our dogs, and learning to cook new cuisines. When I can’t force myself out of “go mode,” I also really enjoy getting engaged in local activism/social causes and working on collaborative projects that combine the arts with permaculture, conservation, and environmental awareness.
STOREFRONT STUDIO: Dance on Display
BY MARIANA SEDA
In the bustling center of coffee shops, restaurants, and residential apartments on South Gregory Street in Urbana, passersby will now see “DANCE” splashed along two windows in vibrant photo block letters. Known as the Storefront Studio, this new space will flex from classroom to rehearsal to office and performance space for faculty, students, guest artists, and community collaborators. The Department of Dance opened this location as a response to both the department’s need for more space to teach and create and the call to connect more deeply with their communities.
“When I started as head, part of my charge was to make the dance department more visible and to connect more meaningfully with the community,” said Sara Hook, head of the department. “This is part of doing that. We hope to open to registered student organizations and local community groups who beg me for dance space regularly.”
Dance launched the studio with a soft opening celebration in early June. Supporters of Dance and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts alike gathered to inaugurate the space with food, drink, and dance. The first-ever Midwest Umfundalai Intensive, led by Dr. C. Kemal Nance, professor of Dance and African American Studies, and guest artist Monique Newton Walker, brought in over 20 students to perform work they had developed just that week. The performance ended, or rather, continued, with the dancers inviting attendees to join them in joyous movement.
Dance, In Context
BY BETSY BRANDT AND MARIANA SEDA
Those of us who enjoy dance performance know: we don’t need someone to tell us why a moment delights or saddens, gives us hope, or brings us to tears. But oftentimes the urge to understand a choreographer’s intention and whether we “got it” leads us to scour the program, re-reading titles and notes, looking deeper into the music to find justification for our interpretations. Thankfully, the work of a dramaturg can often help guide not only the audience towards understanding and appreciation, but also the creation of a piece from the very beginning. We asked dance professor and dramaturg Betsy Brandt for more insight into the question:
“What
does a dance dramaturg do?”
BETSY BRANDT
“I get this question all the time, and there is no simple answer. I help choreographers create new dances. Sometimes, I research a topic related to a specific project. Often, I do some writing, perhaps a grant application or a program note that contextualizes the dance for the audience. I might offer suggestions or ask questions during rehearsals, or I might just be a “friend” of the process, someone to talk to and help work through ideas. Elliot Reza Emadian, choreographer of Frame of Reference (2024), put it this way, “Betsy, thank you for the many hats you don and doff with aplomb.” I’m not sure about the aplomb, but the job indeed requires a lot of hats, and it takes a lot of active listening to figure out when to wear each one.
After a decade of working as a dramaturg (including collaborating with some of the amazing choreographers on the dance faculty at U of I before I joined them in 2022), I also think that there is something deeper going on. It’s about allyship, about using my time and labor to platform someone else’s voice without (hopefully) inserting too much of my own. At the end of the day, this is their dance, not mine. As an educator, I see strong parallels between this dramaturgical approach and broader conversations around student-led learning. What does dramaturgical teaching look like? It means starting from the students’ interests and centering conversations around their experiences. It means talking to them eagerly and often about their emergent artistic voice – in the spirit of allyship not critique. It means fostering the trust needed to take risks, because students know we’re in their corner. It means being interested and staying interested, because that’s the gig.” Image: Frame of Reference (2024) choreographed by Elliot Reza Emadian.
Photo by Natalie Fiol.
“I took a walk with Dean Hamilton and showed him the space from the outside, and I said, ‘WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF WE WERE DANCING HERE?’”
—Anna Sapozhnikov, assistant head of program administration and engagement
BUILDING OUR PLACE:
(Re)Imagining Graduate Education
BY MARIANA SEDA
A few years ago, the Humanities Research Institute (HRI) received a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to support interdisciplinary education at the University of Illinois. With this funding, HRI launched the Interseminars Initiative in 2022, with a first-of-its-kind cohort of nine graduate fellows and three faculty conveners (with overwhelming representation from our college) tasked with reimagining graduate research and education. Their theme, “Imagining Otherwise: Speculation in the Americas,” encouraged the group to critically investigate the world through speculative theory and practice in art and activism in order to inspire scholarly and creative inquiry about crises like climate change and systemic racism.
Under the guidance of faculty conveners
Patrick Earl Hammie and Jorge Lucero (both professors of Art and Design) and Josue David Cisneros (professor of Communication), the fellows embarked on an 18-month journey of exploration and discovery alongside play and creation. The first course, “Interdisciplinary Methods,” set the tone by establishing a collaborative and non-hierarchical venture that sprouted student-driven curricular innovation and projects blending the arts and humanities into a rich interrogation of ideas.
“Oftentimes, there is a lack of agency where graduate students feel like they are just moving through a curriculum or professionalization program,” said Cisneros when interviewed on the Critical Futures podcast . “This curriculum is more reciprocal. We are sharing how we navigate these systems in higher ed, and students
are sharing experiences that help enrich these conversations.”
To best support this work, the project provided full funding for the fellows and released the faculty from heavy course loads for the 18-month period, allowing plenty of space for participants to focus on the work without the strains of teaching or serving as research assistants elsewhere.
“At the root of the project was also an effort to prioritize knowledge and participants coming from underrepresented backgrounds,” explained Hammie. “It was a call to cocurate and develop a space that would center and celebrate scholars, writers, and experiences that are too few in graduate education.”
The project also aims to challenge how graduate programs often firmly situate students in their disciplines. By centering interdisciplinarity, participants could think through fresh ways to explore ideas and research questions while also challenging the traditional confines of a graduate education. In the spirit of radical inclusion, the fellows were given the opportunity to design, build, and steward their own education.
“Part of this process was getting a feel for all of the resources and then asking ourselves what we want to do with this,” said Lucero. “What could a graduate education be if you had this amount of time and resources, this small of a cohort, and the permission to focus on this? A lot of the time the first thing you need is permission.”
Now, two years later, the project is in its third and final cohort with a new theme. But the lasting vestiges of the inaugural group persist
Interseminars cohort at the 2022 summer intensive.
in the futures of all participating members and their journeys through and beyond higher education.
The group’s culminating project led to a two-day Interseminars Symposium packed with research presented as art installations, film screenings, and live performances, and also a published book . Somewhat of a palimpsest of past, present, and future thought, this text shares a glimpse into the participant’s speculations on how scholarly work can and will continue to be brought forth by voices underrepresented in academia.
“They are a really dynamic and robust group of fellows early in their coursework,” said Hammie. “The rich potential of where they could go was so wide open. The kinds of discourse that we engaged in became the root of so many of their ideas for their theses and dissertations. We hope that these mentoring opportunities with us, their graduate peers, and guest speakers we’ve connected with will continue to grow these scholars in the coming years.”
The inaugural cohort’s graduate fellows were Kofi Bazzell-Smith (Art & Design), D. Nicole Campbell (Communication), Daniela Morales Fredes (Urban & Regional Planning), Adanya Gilmore (Dance), Beatriz Jiménez (Spanish and Portuguese), Ramón “Ray” Martinez (Spanish and Portuguese), Emerson Parker Pehl (English), María B. SerranoAbreu (Educational Psychology), and Toyosi Tejumade-Morgan (Theatre). Visit go.illinois.edu/ FAA-Reimagining for links to browse the cohort’s book and listen to the full Critical Futures podcast episode with host Amber Johnson.
Photos by Darrell Hoemann.
“OFTENTIMES, THERE IS A LACK OF AGENCY WHERE GRADUATE STUDENTS FEEL LIKE THEY ARE JUST MOVING THROUGH A CURRICULUM OR PROFESSIONALIZATION PROGRAM.”
—Josue David Cisernos
College of Education PhD student María B. Serrano-Abreu rearranges elements of a syllabus the students and faculty cocreated for the two Interseminar courses taught during 2022–23 school year.
Graduate fellows D. Nicole Campbell and Toyosi Tejumade-Morgan.
Graduate fellow María B. Serrano-Abreu.
With the emergence of interactive and immersive art experiences like Meow Wolf, Immersive Van Gogh, and even Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the need for people with the technical and creative skills to build these forms of storytelling experiences is growing. Even Broadway has embraced this movement with a recent revival of Cabaret where a new prologue was added, inviting audience members to walk through a recreated 1930s club and interact with actors prior to the start of the classic musical (nod to alumnus Will Ervin Jr., MFA Dance ’20, in the prologue cast). And we’d be remiss not to mention the 2011 opening of Sleep No More in New York, a fully immersive dance theatre production that tells the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth with a film noir twist – a feat many in the industry attribute to the contemporary renaissance of immersive, theatrical experiences.
Enter: the young BFA in Arts & Entertainment Technology (AET) program in the Department of Theatre. With only five years under its belt and a few graduates out in the world, this program is paving the way for a new crop of professionals with widely varied skills to take on not-yet-imagined projects in the entertainment sphere.
Eben Alguire, professor and chair of AET, describes the program as a place of unlearning, versatility, and experimentation – essentials for promoting skill growth in technicians.
“Theatre production has become incredibly specialized because of the complexity of the tools that are now available to us and expanding organizational charts,”
said Alguire. “We’ve created this situation where we have a lot of specialists but not a lot of people with the skills to fill in the more interdisciplinary gaps.”
The AET program aims to fill that gap by training students to work in an emerging technical field within live performance that encompasses new technology application alongside traditional theatre practice. They gain a solid understanding of how to construct sets, build costumes, and hang and wire lighting, while also studying elements of computer science and design-thinking, rendering them capable of solving unique design challenges.
In a recent Lyric Theatre production, Alguire worked closely with both a costume designer and lighting designer to figure out how to embed lighting features into costumes to create eerie and stunning special effects. The process required collective brainstorming, exploration of available technologies, and plenty of trial and error. The AET program is bringing this kind of problem-solving acumen into classroom and studio training by centering a hands-on, experimental approach.
“We’re building students who have flexibility and adaptability, which is hugely valuable. Companies need specialized skills from their people, but they also need people who can think creatively and give them an edge on how to solve unique challenges.”
Students are also gaining valuable experience in interactive design outside of the proscenium. Amber Dewey Schultz, professor
of Theatre and Game Studies and Design, and the assistant director of academic programs for the Siebel Center for Design, introduces students to design-thinking for theatrical and playable experiences both within and outside traditional theatre spaces. Schultz teaches popular courses around escape rooms and tabletop role-playing games where students learn how to develop narrative and environmental design.
“We are exposing our students to real challenges of the entertainment industry,” explained Schultz. “There are opportunities in theatre and beyond to incorporate agency in storytelling. It isn’t new, but we are exploring it with fresh eyes and with increasingly accessible and advanced technologies.”
With Schultz as concept developer and director, Illinois Theatre produced The Heist: A Theatrical Escape Room in 2021, an interactive experience where the audience became live-action role players in an escape room scenario with embedded COVID-19 safety protocols at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The team collaborated with the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab to build the physical puzzles and materials needed for the game. In spring 2024, Schultz teamed up with local company CU Adventures in Space and Time to produce another Illinois Theatre escape room called I Wish which was an interactive adaptation inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods .
“There is so much play testing involved in the development process,” said Schultz. “So the actors and designers involved learn how the choices players make could fail the narrative design. So, we iterate and come back. There’s not just one way to do things, and students are learning that through this process.”
That ability to iterate and problem solve creatively and collaboratively – thinking beyond any rigid understandings of theatrical design and experience – is precisely what Alguire hopes each student walks away with when they complete their degree.
“We are excited to be exploring these areas and giving students the experiences, methodologies, and tools to be able to do this work in the professional world whether they are specifically going into the theatre industry or other fields,” said Alguire.
Schultz agreed, adding that in recent years the Theatre department has recommitted to new works including more experimental productions. “This area is just going to grow. So we are going to need more people who can get into those interesting spaces at the intersections of design, research, and implementation. These students – the next generation – will determine where it all goes.”
Image, top left: Lyric Theatre’s Black Square (2024) in the Tryon Festival Theatre at Krannert Center for Performing Arts.
Image in column, top: Illinois Theatre’s I Wish: An Escape Room Image in column, bottom: Illinois Theatre’s I Wish: An Escape Room behind the scenes.
Photos by Darrell Hoemann.
YOUR TOP 10
KRANNERT CENTER PERFORMANCES
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has served as a unique and vibrant home for impactful and thought-provoking performing arts events for over five decades. We asked Krannert Center patrons, “What were your favorite performances?” We are incredibly grateful and inspired by the tremendous response we received from our patrons and friends. And so, without further ado, here are your top 10 favorite Krannert Center performances.
Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter
9 Oh! What a lovely War
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Kronos Quartet
Patron comments
INCONCEIVABLE! With *thousands* of performances over the past 50+ years. How to compare the haunting Kronos Quartet performing “Black Angels” with the Theatre department’s production of Oh! What a Lovely War ? Bobby McFarrin to the intimate Venice Baroque Orchestra? Shozo Sato’s Kabuki Madea to Rodrigo y Gabriella twice at the ELLNORA Guitar Festival? Compare the Kodo Drummers of Japan to anyone? At best this question needs narrower scope! Then the task would be reduced to only hopeless.
—Allan Tuchman
“
We took our son out of his wheelchair, and he sat in a regular seat. That was important because when those Kodo drums started up he could feel the vibrations in the seat, and the vibrations in the walls, and he just CAME ALIVE & WAS ENTHRALLED for the entire performance. We didn’t stop to get any merchandise that night, but we decided our son needed the cassette tape that had been offered. The next day was a snowstorm, but my husband walked from our house to Krannert in the snow to buy the tape, and we still play it.”
—Kay Grabow
“ THE
ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY surrounding ELLNORA and the performances is unmatched.
—David Hamilton
“
I had 4th-row seats to see Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott , and it was amazing not only to hear them but also to SEE YO-YO MA’S EXPRESSIONS when playing. I love coming to Krannert because it’s such a convenient and affordable place for students to interact with the performing arts. Many of the artists I get to see at Krannert, I wouldn’t able to afford to see where they might normally perform.
—Anonymous
“
Dr. Davis and her assistants did an awesome job of performing and MIXING BOTH SPIRITUAL
and old school R&B each year but this year was the best!!! My husband even complimented and raved about how much he enjoyed the performance – he usually just says, “It was good!”
—Michele Cooper
“
The staging and production for Oh! What a Lovely War was so creative. It was in the black box theater and the audience moved with the actors as stories were told. It was SO INTIMATE AND MOVING.
Great visuals and music too. It made the pain of and scope of WWI come alive.
—Christina Whippo
Honorable Mentions
ELLNORA
ELLNORA, Krannert Center’s biennial guitar festival, will be celebrating 20 years of iconic guitar performances when it launches its 11th festival next year. Named for Ellnora Krannert, ELLNORA continues to bring guitar lovers together in an inviting and welcoming space to enjoy live music and community. With over 30 votes for ELLNORA performances overall and two that made our top 10, the festival is clearly a patron favorite.
THE BLACK CHORUS
The University of Illinois Black Chorus conducted by Dr. Ollie Watts Davis was another top favorite among voting patrons. Founded in 1968 by four students, and later under the direction of School of Music faculty, the Black Chorus has sustained a high level of excellence in performance, collaborating with writers, jazz and gospel musicians, chamber orchestra, and dancers. In concert dress or choir robes, the members of the Black Chorus perform the music of Black Americans, ranging from the Negro spiritual anthems, and formal music to traditional and contemporary gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues. In keeping with its mission to promote African American musical expression, the Black Chorus has hosted the Black Sacred Music Symposium on the Urbana-Champaign campus and has presented prominent artists, including Take 6, Bobby Jones, the Winans, V. Michael McKay, A. Jeffrey LaValley, and Gary Hines, founder and director of the award-winning Sounds of Blackness
CU Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Yo-Yo Ma
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF THE ARTS
The Isserman Fellowship:
A Chance to Make a Difference
Named fellowships provide essential financial support to graduate students pursuing advanced research and creative projects at the College of Fine and Applied Arts. In 2011, alumna Dr. Ellen Jacobsen-Isserman (MUP ’74) established the Andrew Mark Isserman Fellowship in honor of her late husband who was a professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Illinois from 1973–1981 and 1998–2010. Fellowships like this are critical in attracting highly talented and motivated students from around the world.
This year’s Isserman Fellowship recipient was Urban and Regional Planning doctoral student Ouafa Benkraouda. Her research focuses on the convergence of technology, transportation, and informality in urban environments. Benkraouda examines areas predominantly occupied by lower-income groups and migrant worker communities in the United Arab Emirates.
Ouafa Benkraouda had the opportunity to meet Dr. Ellen Jacobsen-Isserman in Urbana last November to extend her gratitude and talk about how the fellowship will advance her research. JacobsenIsserman described what it was like to meet an Isserman Fellow and see her gift in action, “When Andy died so unexpectedly in 2010, he was in the middle of an exciting semester of teaching. The establishment of an Isserman Fellowship had been included in our estate plans, so our family decided to partially fund the fellowship in 2011 while people in the department still knew Andy. It was also our wish to meet the recipients as time went on to continue to foster Andy’s great commitment to students and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Having dinner with Ouafa was an informative and lovely experience – it’s rewarding to support students and to see the outcomes of Andy’s legacy as a teacher and researcher.”
Professor Andrew Isserman was a pioneer in fostering early international collaboration in urban and regional planning. He organized multiple international planning conferences across Asia and Eastern Europe. The Isserman Fellowship ensures that the legacy of Professor Andrew Isserman and his work will continue to make a lasting impact in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
Graphic designed by Hallie Thomas (BFA ’25 Graphic Design).
Barbara Hill Moore MS ’69 Music Education
Distinguished Legacy Award
Kenneth Carls
BFA ’72 Graphic Design Illinois Arts Legacy Award
Ernest
F. Cirangle
BS ’71
Architectural Studies
Distinguished Legacy Award
Omar Lamar Francis BFA ’94 Photography Illinois Arts Legacy Award
Taekyeom Lee MFA ’14 Graphic Design Emerging Legacy Award
Jenette Jurczyk
MBA ’13, BFA ’96 Studio Acting
Distinguished Legacy Award
To read more about our Legacy Award recipients, visit go.illinois.edu/legacies
Warren I. Smith
BME ’57 Music Education
Distinguished Legacy Award
I ❤ the Arts
The College of Fine and Applied Arts (FAA) launched its inaugural student week of giving this year allowing students from across the college and university to give back and show their love for the arts at Illinois. The I ❤ the Arts crowdfunding campaign took place April 21–27 and raised a total of 46 gifts and $10,308 in student support of FAA and its units.
Students were given the option to donate to FAA or one of its seven academic or three engagement units. While each unit is unique, they all share a love of the arts. Donations contributed to scholarships, facilities, programs, experiential learning opportunities, and resources that will benefit current and future FAA
students. Through their giving, students directly supported initiatives that enhance the quality of their education and overall student experience.
The FAA Office of Advancement and the college’s newly founded Student Philanthropy Board initiated various engagement efforts around campus leading up to the week of giving to raise awareness and talk with students about the importance of philanthropy. They also emphasized that giving back does not have to be primarily monetary, as there are so many opportunities across the college to be generous with one’s time and talents.
Through philanthropy efforts like I ❤ the Arts, students learn the value of identifying a common goal or shared cause, like the arts. They see how even the smallest contribution can make a difference in the lives of their peers and future students. This experience will help them become better advocates for supporting arts, design, and cultural institutions in the future. I ❤ the Arts will be back this spring as the college continues to foster a culture of giving that helps sustain FAA and our schools and departments for future generations of students.
To learn more about FAA’s student philanthropy efforts, visit go.illinois.edu/heart-the-arts .
Learning in a Living Classroom
BY DIANA LIAO
The Japan House gardens are an ever-evolving space and living laboratory for students and visitors to be immersed in Japanese aesthetics. The concept of “ma ” translates to empty space – it is not simply nothingness but an intentional absence that inspires the imagination. Within Japanese aesthetics, ma can be found in the silent pauses of the tea ceremony, the deliberate space between flowers within an arrangement, or simply what isn’t there in a Japanese garden.
The gardens were designed and created by James Bier (MS ’57 Geography) from nothing. His vision and dedication created a flourishing tea garden (chaniwa) and dry rock garden (karesansui ) which continue to grow and inspire visitors. The gardens continued to expand with the addition of key features such as the Sen Cherry Allée, Nick Offerman Azumaya, and Kimiko Gunji Dedication Bridge. Japan House offers garden tours and workshops to students and the community as a means of cultivating deeper engagement with the space. As a living classroom, the gardens offer an insight to the seasonal beauty found within Japanese aesthetics. When simply viewing the gardens, visitors are encouraged to quietly walk through and be immersed in the full sensory experience.
“Bringing students to Japan House has become a highlight of my courses.
Touring the gardens and learning about their history allows students to experience a planned natural environment and understand how human culture and non-human nature intersect. Often this initial visit results in a long-term fascination with the space, inspiring further study of Japanese culture and the environmental humanities,”
says Professor Clara Bosak-Schroeder, Department of Classics.
The gardens are a community space maintained by volunteers ranging from experienced gardeners, hobbyists, and students such as Japan House interns and Alpha Phi Omega members. From picking up sticks to sweeping leaves, the meticulous attention given to the smallest details enhances one’s connection to nature and the community formed from caring for the gardens. Gardener Susan Kapacinskas who works with students and volunteers says,
“This is my ninth summer working in the Japan House Gardens. It’s one of the most interesting gardens I’ve ever worked in – from learning about the dry garden (karesansui ) to the tea gardens, and the meticulous pruning and maintenance we do so that visitors reach a state of tranquility. There’s always something new I’m learning and doing here.”
In recent years, Japan House has offered intensive gardening classes under the guidance of John Powell, Japanese garden expert and consultant. “Working with John Powell has brought a new understanding to Japanese gardening for me. He has showed us the deeper meaning of elements in our tea garden giving me a new sense of awareness of them. It’s also taught me to slow down and truly experience the gardens’ peace,” says Gardener Lois Sjoken. Japan House plans to cultivate the next generation of stewards to grow alongside the gardens and ensure they will continue to prosper for future generations to enjoy. As quickly as seasons come and go, the gardens teach visitors of the ephemeral nature of life and to simply enjoy being present in the moment.
If you are interested in a garden tour, volunteering in the gardens, or supporting the gardens, contact japanhouse@illinois.edu
The dry rock garden evokes seasonality through the raked patterns such as this checkered patterned executed for Tsukimi to resemble rice paddies.
Japan House interns working in the gardens.
John Powell gives a guided tour on Japanese gardens and their design for Professor David Hays’ students in LA 387/587: Landscape between Nature and You.
MEET ART & DESIGN’S NEW DIRECTOR
Brooke White
Brooke White started as the new director of the School of Art and Design in August 2024. Brooke comes to Illinois from Oxford, Mississippi, where she served as professor of art, associate chair, and head of Imaging Arts at the University of Mississippi. Her artistic practice is characterized by a cross-disciplinary approach to image-making, incorporating both analog and digital photographic techniques, experimental processes, digital video, and bookmaking. For over two decades, her work has explored themes such as the landscape, nature, and human connection to place. We sat down with Brooke to talk about her new role as director.
BY AMY KARAGIANNAKIS
Your career as a higher education administrative leader and professor of art spans two decades with the University of Mississippi. What about the School of Art and Design at Illinois drew you to the Midwest?
I have been aware of the strengths of the School of Art and Design for many years. This is not only because of the school’s strong national reputation, but also due to mentors, alumni, and colleagues I have known that have direct connections here and have always spoken highly of it. The school’s reputation as a center of inquiry and creativity is well-known nationally. This, coupled with the amazing faculty and students, along with untapped growth opportunities, especially around interdisciplinary research and teaching, are just a few of the reasons that attracted me here. I am very enthusiastic about the school’s future and am eager to lead it into the next chapter.
The School of Art and Design consists of 12 degree programs ranging from Studio Art and Sculpture to Art Education and Fashion. How do you plan to nurture the unique qualities of each creative discipline while also fostering a community of diversity and inclusion across the school?
The humanities encompass the full range of human experiences. I firmly believe that our strength lies in our ability to engage in meaningful discussions that integrate educational models combining art, design, culture, and society. Through this approach, we can foster a culture that embraces art, design, and culture as vehicles for addressing pressing issues such as climate change, social justice, equity, and accessibility, and we can develop innovative solutions and sustainable strategies for these programs. When we embrace the interconnectedness of each unique program within the School of Art and Design, we have the potential to provide a sustainable and engaged practice throughout the arts and society.
The School of Art and Design has nearly 10,000 alumni living across the U.S. and throughout the world. What do you feel is the most important lesson an arts student should leave college with to be successful after graduation?
This question is excellent because it explores the significance of the arts as an essential part of community. Community plays a critical role in our collective success as we rely on each other for feedback, ideas, collaborations, support, opportunities, and more. Therefore, it is vital for us to establish a strong sense of community. As the director, I will focus on fostering this community spirit among our alumni by continuing to support opportunities to gather. Some ideas I have include on-campus symposia, exhibitions, internships, and visiting our alumni so that we can create spaces for the community to come together.
As an artist specializing in lens-based photography who has been exhibited nationally and internationally, what from your experience as a practicing artist do you hope to bring to your role as director?
As a photography-based artist, observation and time are crucial to shaping my artistic process, and I rely on keen observation skills to translate my ideas into a visual language that resonates with viewers.
As director, I prioritize where to focus my energy to ensure dedication to initiatives that reflect our shared passions and vision. Throughout my artistic career, I have created art in response to landscapes and places, often addressing issues related to climate change and our impact on the environment. My work has consistently explored the interconnectedness of local and global influences. This focus also shapes how I lead, as I always consider our connection to both the local and the global and how each influences the other.
Photo by Andy Blacker.
Cultivating Sustainable Solutions for Food Waste
BY MARIANA SEDA
A team of students is closing the loop on food waste by developing a process to cultivate mushroom growth in used coffee grounds. Their goal? To create a product that allows people to grow fresh, nutritious, and accessible produce in their own homes by reusing the vast amounts of coffee ground waste generated by local businesses.
Jasper Nord, Margot O’Malley, and Thomas George, all students in the Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design program, first met in an online design group chat in fall 2023. O’Malley was seeking collaborators to enter the Reimagine our Future Undergraduate Sustainability Competition, a competition that encourages students to develop projects to address the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) including issues like climate change and food insecurity.
“Coffee grounds are a prominent waste product produced every day and very consistently in urban areas. Our idea addressed an existing problem with a feasible solution, and it fit our group’s interest in providing community food and access to fresh produce.”
—JASPER NORD
“I really admire how interdisciplinary the sustainable design program is. We have our core classes in architecture, planning, and design, but everyone has such varying interests, and it’s really cool to see how people take sustainable design in different directions.”
—MARGOT O’MALLEY
Their resulting project Sporecycle emerged from an idea Nord had after successfully growing oyster mushrooms in used coffee grounds in his own home. Together, the students developed a program to partner with local coffee shops to collect used grounds regularly. They would then add spores to the sterilized grounds, allowing mushroom growth to take root. Ultimately, they planned to create refillable “grow kits” that locals could take home with them to continue growing and using the fresh mushrooms in their home food making.
To their surprise, Sporecycle won the competition, opening them up to a wide-ranging network of support beyond the cash prize that included advisors and professional connections to help them progress their winning idea into a product and business model, starting with a new collaboration with local business BrewLab Coffee for regular coffee grounds collection.
Newly graduated, George and O’Malley will continue to work on Sporecycle as they also start jobs and internships related to their sustainable design interests. Nord, now a senior, will advance the project with continued research and development in the lab. They plan to build more partnerships with local coffee shops, pursue business licensure, and have a viable and distributable product by the end of the year.
Read the full article at go.illinois.edu/Sporecycle .
The students attribute their success to the many mentors and teachers they have worked with over the past year including Karin Hodgin Jones, the director of the Sustainable Design Program, who helped the students navigate this young degree program and pursue ideas at the intersections of many different interests.
The Sporecycle team repurposed used coffee cups as mini mushroom growing kits and handed them out at a student event during spring 2024.
Sporecycle logo designed by sustainable design graduate Thomas George.
Transforming Underutilized Urban Spaces into Thriving Ecosystems
BY AMY KARAGIANNAKIS
As cities and urban centers around the world continue to grow in population, the drive to design or redesign spaces to be more sustainable and multifunctional has become critical. Utilizing elements of green infrastructure such as rain gardens and natural water filtration systems not only preserves and repurposes water, reducing potential for flooding elsewhere, but can also provide beautiful and environmentally friendly spaces that benefit the community, as well as urban plants and wildlife.
Chris Carl (MLA ’14) is the founder and director of Studio Land Arts, a landscape design and construction practice that collaborates with pertinent experts and community members throughout the development process, from project conception to implementation and completion. The teams formed under the Studio Land Arts umbrella vary with each project and may comprise artists, designers, ecologists, gardeners, craftspeople, plant specialists, and site construction specialists along with volunteers engaging in a wide variety of tasks. Together, they implement infrastructures such as rain gardens and native plant installations to create distinctive green open spaces within complex urban environments.
Studio Land Arts is part of the Granite City Art and Design District (G-CADD) in Granite City, IL. G-CADD is an artist-run consortium that provides creative practitioners with the opportunity to implement and exhibit their projects in alternative spaces while making a positive impact in the communities they serve. As an artist, designer, and builder, Carl is deeply involved in every facet of his work. He advocates for a holistic approach, blending art, design, and craftsmanship to foster more resilient and meaningful relationships with and between the built and natural environments.
Studio Land Arts was recently commissioned by the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis, MO, to redevelop a grassy plot opposite its premises into a welcoming space for community use, accommodating both flora and fauna. Named Park-Like, this project combines
elements of archaeology, land art, and rain garden techniques to manage stormwater runoff and lessen the burden on the city’s drainage and sewage systems. Launched in September 2019, this sustainably designed space not only serves educational purposes but also enriches the local community as a vibrant public venue with winding paths and places to gather. Carl explains, “We have so many of these same kinds of situations where you have empty lots or parking lots that don’t get used anymore. And they’re really there to serve one function. And so, if we can look at these kinds of spaces to be multifunctional, so it’s not just for people but starting to look out into the broader ecological context, we can create something that’s doing more than just one thing.”
Using found building materials, Carl and his team created retaining structures and water filtration systems to bring more water into the site and essentially change the dynamics of the ecosystem. The half-acre garden that resulted from this project consists of over 100 varieties of native and non-native plants, as well as unique seating areas for the local community to enjoy the space.
“WE’VE TAKEN THE ELEMENTS OF NATIVE PLANTS AND WATER AND INTRODUCED THEM INTO THE SITE SO THAT WE HAVE THIS MULTIFUNCTIONAL SPACE THAT’S ABOUT PEOPLE, BUT IT’S ALSO ABOUT CREATURES, AND PLANT MATERIAL, AND STORMWATER.”
-Chris Carl (MLA ’14)
Chris Carl returned to the University of Illinois campus in March 2024 to lead participants in a guided site exploration along and around the Boneyard Creek in Urbana. The event was made possible with support from the Visiting Practitioner Fund in the Department of Landscape Architecture.
Photography by Virginia Harold (c) Pulitzer Arts Foundation.
A Traveling
Memorial Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Chilean Coup d’etat
BY DANIELA MORALES FREDES
As a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Professor Magdalena Novoa and the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees from Mulchén (Agrupación) on designing a memorial in the Malleco National Reserve. Our work with Fundación Aldea included architects Claudia Candia, Cesar Vergara, Christian Matzner, and anthropologist Alexis Muñoz. We inaugurated the memorial in September 2023.
The Agrupación represents relatives of 18 forestry workers executed during the Chilean dictatorship, known as the Mulchén massacre, which occurred on October 5–7, 1973. Police, civilians, and military personnel killed 18 peasants and forestry workers, and their bodies were made to disappear. This case is one of thousands during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship from 1973 to 1990, with approximately 3,000 executed or disappeared, and 1,093 missing detainees.
The Agrupación has pursued justice while preserving their loved ones’ memories. They succeeded in having part of the Malleco National Reserve designated a National Historic Monument for human rights violations during the dictatorship. They approached us to collaboratively design a memorial. Their president Marina Rubilar led the project with bravery and intelligence, though we faced challenges.
Conducting the design process via Zoom was difficult, as many Agrupación members are elderly or live in rural areas with limited digital access. However, Zoom also enabled broader participation. After nearly five months of meetings, we finalized a preliminary memorial plaza design, approved by the Agrupación. The project received $73,184 from the National Endowment for Cultural Heritage of the Chilean Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage – a significant achievement for human rights organizations in Chile.
As we prepared for construction, a Mapuche community occupied the site, asserting territorial sovereignty and protesting environmental damage from logging. After months of negotiation and a site fire, Chilean authorities halted our plans for nearly a year. We then adapted the design into a “traveling memorial” that can be assembled and disassembled, allowing it to be installed wherever needed. This plan received approval from the Agrupación and national authorities, and the Museo Regional de La Araucanía agreed to host the memorial temporarily.
Construction took place between August and September 2023, ready in time for the 50th anniversary of the coup d’etat. We organized a ceremony with the Agrupación to commemorate their loved ones and celebrate life, memory, and resistance. Today, we continue collaborating with the Agrupación on various projects, maintaining a strong bond with Marina Rubilar and supporting their pursuit of justice and human rights.
Bridge over the Renaico River, Mulchén Memory Site. Photo by Daniela Morales Fredes.
Presentation of the memorial, Museo Regional de La Araucanía. Photo credit: Association of Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees from Mulchén.
Marina Rubilar, president of the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees from Mulchén. Photo by Magdalena Novoa.
Feathered Ear Spools. Chancay or Inka, central coast, Peru, 1000-1470 CE, feathers, gourd, leather, 1 5/8 x 1 7/8 in. 1967-29-180.
Material Reckonings: KAM’s Pre-Hispanic Andean
Collection
and Relationship-Building in Peru
BY ALLYSON PURPURA AND KASIA SZREMSKI
In an ambitious new project, the Krannert Art Museum (KAM) is partnering with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) as well as scholars and descendent communities across the Midwest and in Peru to completely reinstall its collection of pre-Hispanic Andean art. Acquired in 1967 thanks to a massive community fundraising campaign, and featuring compelling textiles, ceramics, and objects fashioned in gold, silver, wood, and shell, KAM’s pre-Hispanic Andean art collection was once one of its star attractions. However, in recent years the installation has languished, in part due to an outdated installation that has not been updated since 1988. Set to open in spring 2025, the new installation seeks to reinvigorate interest in the collection by completely reimagining the use of gallery space and centering the voices of Andean artists and communities.
Traditional approaches to pre-Hispanic art tend to group objects by culture or time period, effectively silencing the works by obfuscating deep connections that existed across time and space. Working with Toronto-based designer Julia de Castri, co-curators Allyson Purpura, senior curator and curator of global African art at KAM, and Kasia Szremski, associate director of CLACS, have upended that approach and brought new life to the gallery by
creating all new casework, layouts, and interpretive frameworks. Objects will now be grouped thematically in order to tell two parallel stories: the first centers Andean communities as active agents in creating their own art histories, and the second explores the fraught histories through which the objects on display were looted and transformed from burial goods into global commodities for sale on the international art market.
The installation will also feature a dynamic, interactive digital platform cocreated in partnership with municipal museums in Peru and the communities they serve. The platform will deepen object stories with multimedia applications designed to bring past and present Andean voices into conversation and provide researchers and descendant communities in Peru with sustained access to and involvement in the research and interpretation of their own cultural heritage.
The project’s digital platform also creates an extraordinary opportunity to extend these objects’ stories well beyond the physical limitations of the gallery. The exhibition space becomes global, encompassing the Andean spaces and communities where hundreds and even thousands of years ago, these artworks first came into being. In this sense, these artworks embody intersections of time and place in ways that only archeological objects can. In their own day, Andean objects were on the move, traversing boundaries between the living and the dead, and moving between coastal deserts and the central highlands through networks of trade, pilgrimage, even forced relocation. Though silent and inert when encountered on display,
these objects activate the gallery with their extraordinary life histories of mobility and power – histories in which we are all implicated by virtue of their presence in this museum.
In addition to the digital platform, KAM’s education team, led by Rachel Storm, assistant director of engagement and learning, is working on a new suite of exhibition programming which will offer a range of learning opportunities and cultural experiences for all ages, including performances with Andean musical and dance troupes, textile and ceramics workshops, and teach-ins with global Andean artists, scholars, and educators, aimed to inspire active engagement with the past, present, and future lives of Andean artistic achievement. Through these combined efforts, the new gallery will be a vibrant space that brings scholars, students, and community members from ChampaignUrbana, the broader Midwest, and Peru together in celebration of Andean Art.
Exhibition Credits:
The project has been supported by grants from the University of Illinois Presidential Initiative for the Celebration of Arts and Humanities (2019), the Institute for Museum and Library Services (Museums for America 2020), the Helen Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (2020), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (Implementation grant 2022). Additional funding provided by the Rosann Gelvin Noel Krannert Art Museum Fund.
Model of a Funeral Cortege Lambayeque, north coast, Peru 1000-1470 CE
Silvered copper, cotton, reeds, feathers 6 x 23 ¼ x 10 ¼ in. 1967-29-303.
Textile Panel Fragment Chimu North Coast, Peru 1400-1532 CE
Camelid hair and cotton 24 ¼ x 27 ¼ in. 1967-29-424.
Pair of Sculptural Vessels in form of Llamas Chancay, central coast, Peru Ceramic 8 ¼ x 5 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. 8 ¼ x 5 ¼ x 9 ¼ in. 1967-29-330/331.
Kero in Form of a Head. Colonial Inca, 1700-1800 CE, wood with lacquer paint, 8 7/16 x/6 ½ x 7 3/16 in. 1967-29-403.
Can Art Bridge the Partisan Divide?
BY AMY KARAGIANNAKIS
Krannert Art Museum (KAM) played a pivotal role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election season as part of a coalition of 10 public university art museums. This coalition, which includes museums at Michigan State, Penn State, UCLA, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, University of Nebraska, University of Oregon, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, aims to highlight the power of art in fostering civic engagement through non-partisan exhibitions and events. Their initiatives aim to promote civic participation, encourage dialogue, and build empathy across political divides.
KAM’s Director Jon Seydl emphasizes the role of art in addressing complex issues. “Artists have long confronted the thorniest and most difficult issues of their times, and works of
art do incredible work in nurturing complex conversations,” Seydl said.
The museum’s efforts will include a collaborative installation on democracy, social justice, and social movements, with contributions from local high school students and the community.
This installation will be featured on KAM’s entrance wall during the fall 2024 semester.
Additionally, KAM hosted their inaugural Arts Advocacy Summit this fall, in partnership with local and regional arts advocacy organizations. This event provided training to arts and culture communities of Champaign-Urbana, further highlighting the museum’s commitment to community engagement and civic participation.
The summit convened artists, educators, administrators, and cultural workers
to share ideas and strategies for supporting the arts and advocating for local and regional arts organizations. From funding our creative industry to supporting arts educators, advancing arts businesses to promoting pro-arts policies, the Arts Advocacy Summit offers training, skill-sharing, and workshops that position the arts as the cornerstone of a thriving community.
Through these initiatives, Krannert Art Museum and its coalition partners strive to make a meaningful impact by countering political polarization, exploring democratic values, creating educational opportunities, and driving civic engagement. Their collective efforts demonstrate the essential role that art museums can play in unifying communities and fostering an engaged society during the election season.
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