Tuesday, December 18, 2012

John Ekstrom In Retrospect: Paintings and Drawings

Monday, February 11–Tuesday, March 26
Reception: Thursday, February 14, 6–8pm; Gallery Talk by artist at 7pm
Music by: Parkland Guitar ensemble
Additional Artist Lecture: February 19 at 1:15pm

Painting exhibit celebrates retired faculty member John Ekstrom

Starting February 11, the Parkland Art Gallery will host a solo exhibition of works by retired art professor John Ekstrom.  An artist reception takes place from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, February 14 with a gallery talk by Ekstrom at 7 p.m. and music by Parkland College Guitar Ensemble.  The artist will provide an additional lecture in the gallery on Tuesday, February 19 at 1:15 p.m.

Originally from Chicago, Ekstrom received both his BFA and MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He lived in Paris for a number of years prior to joining the faculty at Parkland College, where he taught painting, drawing, and figure drawing from 1979 through 2001.  Ekstrom considers himself first and foremost a teacher and has influenced many Parkland alumni and artists in the community with his talent, energy and humor.  Since retiring, he continues his art practice and travels frequently to southern California, a source of inspiration for much of his newer work.  The retrospective will include artwork that has been produced throughout his artistic career and will feature work on paper as well as paintings.  

In addition to having taught at Parkland College, Ekstrom curated two exhibitions for the Parkland Art Gallery:  “Artists Who Teach” in 1991 and a “Drawing Invitationalin 1998.  The latter included a wide variety of work, challenging the notion of what constitutes a drawing, and showcased an unexpected range of media, from tar to torn paper.  This exemplifies Ekstrom’s interest in a wide range of artistic expression that is evident in his own practice.  Abstraction and figuration both serve as valid means of artistic exploration and he is fluent with a variety of media; mainly acrylics, gouache and colored pencil.

The Parkland College Permanent Collection is fortunate to include a work by Ekstrom titled “Downtown”.  It is an oil on canvas measuring approximately 5’ x 6’ and was modeled after downtown Champaign.  The painting is currently on display in the D Wing of the college.   Lisa Costello, Gallery Director states, “It creates a lot of discussion during my tours of artwork on campus and it is really enjoyable to have elementary school students come through and try and guess the location. His use of color, brushstroke and artistic liberty with downtown Champaign makes it very engaging and it is really part of our local history as well.”

The exhibit also honors Ekstrom’s significance as a teacher.  This is most evident if you happen to find yourself in the halls of the art department.  Paintings by former students are on display and one is a portrait of Ekstrom.  “Although Jack served his tenure before I started working at Parkland, his influence is still evident within the art department and our alumni. He continues to be a part of the Parkland community through attending our receptions and asking engaging questions after the artist lectures,” says Costello.  “We are very excited to have this opportunity to show his work.”

Parkland Art Gallery’s spring hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Saturday, noon-2 p.m. The gallery will be closed on March 22 and 23 for Parkland’s spring holiday.

To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus.  Enter through any door and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located.  The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Parkland is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/351-2505.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Shift: Contemporary Photography Exhibition


Reception: Thursday, November 15,  6-8pm  Curatorial Talk at 7pm


Curated by Peggy Shaw
Monday, November 12, 2012 – Saturday, February 2, 2013
Music by the Parkland Guitar Ensemble

Closed: 5pm November 21-25 Thanksgiving Break; December 22– January 6 for Holiday Break; and January 21 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Accomplished photographers from across the country will participate in the exhibition
Shift: Contemporary Photography Exhibition, curated by Parkland’s Art and Design faculty member Peggy Shaw.  The exhibition will run from Monday, November 12 through Saturday, February 2, 2013.  An opening reception honoring the photographers is scheduled for Thursday, November 15 from 6-8pm.

Serving as curator for this group exhibition is Peggy Shaw, an associate professor in photography/video at Parkland College writes in her essay,  Photographers have always had to integrate creativity, technology, and process - responding to light, adjusting lens, translating pixels to paper. As photography evolves photographers must also, but what’s truly revealing are the ways they respond: open to both contemporary and historical processes now considered alternative - subject and process is twisted to reveal new ideas.”

This exhibition provides viewers with the opportunity to examine the work of photographers who work with a variety of lens-based equipment and each artist has their own viewpoint on either our natural world, structured worlds, and/or the body.  Shaw continues, “Using digital cameras, webcams, video cameras, microscopes and scanners - these works are not only captured - but created. New technology and processes do not replace the old but add to the options for artists to interpret, and then express their ideas”.

Shaw received her Master of Fine Arts degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her photography has been shown nationally and has won numerous awards in both photography and video, including fellowships from both the Illinois Arts Council and Arts Midwest/NEA Regional.

Participating artists include a mix of studio artists and faculty at educational institutions across the country: Bruce Checefsky (Director of the Reinberger Galleries at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Adjunct Professor in Liberal Arts, Cleveland, OH), Dana Fritz (Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE), Richard Gray (Associate Professor of Photography and Chairperson of the Department of Art, Art History & Design at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN), Christa Kreeger Bowden (Associate Professor of Art at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA), Joyce Lopez (Studio Photographer, Chicago, IL), Michael Sherwin (Assistant Professor in Photography and Intermedia at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV), S. Gayle Stevens (Part-Time Instructor of Photography, College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL) and Sonja Thomsen (Studio Photographer, Milwaukee, WI).                 

Parkland Art Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday; and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. The gallery will be closed from 5 p.m. on November 21 through November 25 for Thanksgiving Break; December 22 through January 6 for Winter Break; and January 21 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus. Enter through any door and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.

Programs at the gallery are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Parkland College is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution; for accommodation, call 217/351-2505.

For more information on the invitational, please call the gallery office at 217/351-2485 or visit www.parkland.edu/gallery.

:end






Shift: Contemporary Photography Exhibition

Curated by Peggy Shaw
Monday, November 12, 2012 – Saturday, February 2, 2013
Reception: Thursday, November 15, 6–8pm; Curatorial Talk at 7pm
Music by the Parkland Guitar Ensemble

Closed: 5pm November 21 - 25 Thanksgiving Break; December 22– January 6 for Holiday Break; and January 21 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Accomplished photographers from across the country will participate in the exhibition
Shift: Contemporary Photography Exhibition, curated by Parkland’s Art and Design faculty member Peggy Shaw.  The exhibition will run from Monday, November 12 through Saturday, February 2, 2013.  An opening reception honoring the photographers is scheduled for Thursday, November 15 from 6-8pm.

Serving as curator for this group exhibition is Peggy Shaw, an associate professor in photography/video at Parkland College writes in her essay,  Photographers have always had to integrate creativity, technology, and process - responding to light, adjusting lens, translating pixels to paper. As photography evolves photographers must also, but what’s truly revealing are the ways they respond: open to both contemporary and historical processes now considered alternative - subject and process is twisted to reveal new ideas.”

This exhibition provides viewers with the opportunity to examine the work of photographers who work with a variety of lens-based equipment and each artist has their own viewpoint on either our natural world, structured worlds, and/or the body.  Shaw continues, “Using digital cameras, webcams, video cameras, microscopes and scanners - these works are not only captured - but created. New technology and processes do not replace the old but add to the options for artists to interpret, and then express their ideas”.

Shaw received her Master of Fine Arts degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her photography has been shown nationally and has won numerous awards in both photography and video, including fellowships from both the Illinois Arts Council and Arts Midwest/NEA Regional.

Participating artists include a mix of studio artists and faculty at educational institutions across the country: Bruce Checefsky (Director of the Reinberger Galleries at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Adjunct Professor in Liberal Arts, Cleveland, OH), Dana Fritz (Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE), Richard Gray (Associate Professor of Photography and Chairperson of the Department of Art, Art History & Design at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN), Christa Kreeger Bowden (Associate Professor of Art at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA), Joyce Lopez (Studio Photographer, Chicago, IL), Michael Sherwin (Assistant Professor in Photography and Intermedia at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV), S. Gayle Stevens (Part-Time Instructor of Photography, College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL) and Sonja Thomsen (Studio Photographer, Milwaukee, WI).                 

Parkland Art Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday; and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. The gallery will be closed from 5 p.m. on November 21 through November 25 for Thanksgiving Break; December 22 through January 6 for Winter Break; and January 21 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus. Enter through any door and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.

Programs at the gallery are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Parkland College is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution; for accommodation, call 217/351-2505.

For more information on the invitational, please call the gallery office at 217/351-2485 or visit www.parkland.edu/gallery.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

We Won!

We just found out that the Spurlock Museum has been voted Best Museum in chambanamoms.com's 2012 Reader's Choice Award. It's always wonderful to be recognized for the work we do to bring in families for programs, events, and tours. The website has an online calendar, and we know that if we submit an event, it will be read by many parents looking for fun times with their kids. Our continued thanks to chambanamoms.com and all of their readers.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

BESIDE THE POINT: AN EXPLORATION IN ARCHITECTURE AND IDENTITY PAINTINGS BY MORGAN CRAIG


Saturday, September 29–Saturday, November 3
Reception: Thursday, October 11, 6–8pm;  Gallery talk at 7pm.  Music by Parkland Guitar Ensemble
Additional artist lecture:  October 11 at 1:15pm, Parkland Art Gallery

This exhibition of paintings by Philadelphia artist Morgan Craig explores how the abandoned architectural edifices from a post-industrial era affect and influence a society. Large in scale, Morgan’s paintings depict the stark interiors of forgotten and ruinous factories, prisons, or urban structures.  Craig has exhibited throughout the U.S.A. Canada, Europe, and Australia, including OK Harris in New York City, SPACES in Cleveland, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, and the Australian National University. He has received numerous awards including a Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grants and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships. He has also participated in residencies including Atelje Stundars in Finland, the Macdowell Colony, and Bemis Center for the Contemporary Arts.

Fall gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Saturday, noon-2 p.m. To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus. Enter through any door and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.  As always, the exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Parkland is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/351-2505.