Thursday, January 29, 2015

KAM opening, January 29

Check out what Artdaily.com has to say about the exhibitions opening at Krannert Art Museum tonight. Want to learn more? See our full calendar of events and current exhibitions or view our gallery map.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Sousa Archives Opens 2015 with the Sights and Sounds of its Newly Restored Deagan 4728 Marimba-Xylophone

Images taken of the original condition of the Sousa Archives' 1914 Deagan 4728 marimba-xylophone on February 20, 2014 (lower left) through the restoration process and performance on the newly restored instrument by Chris Simon and Andres Bautista on October 22, 2014 (upper right).
Images taken of the original condition of the Sousa Archives' Deagan 4728 marimba-xylophone on February 20, 2014 (lower left) through the restoration process and performance on the newly restored instrument by Chris Simon and Andres Bautista on October 22, 2014 (upper right).
 
The University of Illinois Sousa Archives and Center for American Music's c. 1914 Deagan marimba-xylophone was restored in 2014 by Andres Bautista and Gilberto Serna (not pictured) of Century Mallet which is housed in the J. C. Deagan factory building located in Chicago. While there is little information on the provenance of this instrument prior to its donation to the University of Illinois Bands sometime during the 1980s, it has remained integral part of the Sousa Archives' collections. The restoration of this unusual five-octave instrument was made possible through the generous support of the University Library's Conservation Department, and the initial planning, implementation, and completion of this work occurred between February and October 2014. The images in this collage briefly highlight the nine-month restoration journey of our Deagan 4728 beginning with the documentation of its poorly deteriorated condition (the original nickel-plated resonators, rack, and rails had been painted a dark navy blue by someone during the 1980s) [pictured lower left] through the cleaning and repair of the resonators by Andres Bautista [pictured lower right] and the restoration of the original rosewood keys by Gilberto Serna, master tuner for the Deagan company and whose Deagan company teacher was the one who originally cut and tuned the keys to our instrument. The fully restored instrument returned to the Sousa Archives in late September and was re-assembled by Bautista and one of his assistants in October [pictured upper left] in preparation for a special lecture on the history of the Deagan company and its creation of the Deagan 4728 instrument line. At the end of his presentation Bautista was joined by Chicago percussionist, Scott Simon, in a short performance of several musical selections to highlight the hundredth anniversary of the Sousa Archives' newly restored Deagan marimba-xylophone. Listen to the lovely sounds of George Hamilton Green's Arabian Minute Dance performed by Scott Simon and Andres Bautista on October 22, 2014.  For more about the Sousa Archives visit sousaarchives.org.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Presently Absent: Paintings by Tom Berenz

Presently Absent: Paintings by Tom Berenz
Monday, February 9 – Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Reception: Thursday, February 12, 6–8 p.m.; Gallery Talk at 7 p.m. by Tom Berenz
Music by The Parkland Guitar Ensemble
Additional Artist Lecture: Thursday, February 12 at 1:15pm in the gallery.
“Presently Absent” solo art exhibit opens Feb. 9

CHAMPAIGN – Starting Feb. 9, Giertz Gallery at Parkland College will host a solo exhibition of paintings by Tom Berenz

An artist reception takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9 with a gallery talk by Berenz at 7 p.m. and music by the Parkland Guitar Ensemble. The artist will provide an additional lecture in The Giertz Gallery at Parkland College on Thursday, February 12 at 1:15pm.

Tom Berenz is an Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Berenz has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA from Northern Illinois University, and a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Berenz blurs the lines between realism and abstraction, beauty and horror, devastation and the sublime. He uses the disaster motif as a metaphor to create conversations about personal, sociopolitical, environmental and ideological issues. The choice of images is always changing, but always returns to a pile. His paintings depict the still after a disaster, the quiet resulting from devastation.

Giertz Gallery’s spring hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. and Saturday, noon–2 p.m. The gallery will be closed February 26 for Professional Development Day, March 23-28 for 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.