Studio Arts

Deke Weaver will have a smaller touring version of 2023’s big circus version of CETACEAN (The Whale). Presented by Deke Weaver (writer/performer/co-producer/co-video), Jennifer Allen (director/ choreographer/performer/co-producer), and Laura Chiaramonte (performer). Oct 25-26: Catapult; New Orleans, LA Oct 29: University of Michigan; Ann Arbor MI CETACEAN is the 6th performance from Weaver’s life-long project, The Unreliable Bestiary: a performance for each letter of the alphabet, each letter represented by an endangered animal or habitat.    

LOST AT SEA (ULYSSES) Marcel Broodthaers, Luis Camnitzer, Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Renée Green, Lonnie Holley, Betsy Packard, and Josef Strau Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum St. John’s College 60 College Ave., Annapolis, MD 21401 The museum is open Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday, 2 to 7:30 p.m.

David Gregory: 50-year Retrospective October 2 – October 30, 2025 Illini Union Art Gallery, 1401 W Green St., Champaign Reception Thursday Oct 2 from 4:30-6:00 This exhibition features forty-four paintings and etchings spanning the length of David’s career from his time as an art student at the University of Illinois to his most recent works. David has created over four thousand oil and watercolor paintings, most of which hang in private and public collections throughout the USA and abroad. He has been juried into numerous national and international exhibitions. Those who knew former U of I Art Department professor, Billy Morrow Jackson (1926-2006), will recognize the influence of the artist David considers to be his mentor and the teacher who led him on the path to being a successful artist. It was Jackson’s exhibition of landscapes in the Illini Union Art Gallery that inspired David’s decision to transfer from Architecture and pursue fine art as a career. David has found inspiration in the rural landscapes of his native Illinois and cityscapes from San Francisco to Venice, Italy.  A world traveler, he has painted in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Hawaii. He has lived in California and Hawaii but now resides in Peoria, Illinois, with his wife Renée.

Solo Exhibition at Vanderpoel Art Museum in Beverly Vanderpoel Art Museum will present a retrospective of Chicago-based artist Jennifer Cronin. Slow and Steady: Twenty Years of Art by Jennifer Cronin will feature seminal works spanning Cronin’s career. The exhibition will open Saturday, September 27th from 11am-3:30pm in conjunction with the Beverly Art Walk. The opening will feature an artist talk at 1:00pm. Jennifer Cronin is a local visual artist known for her realistic paintings that explore the mystery and complexity of everyday life. Cronin’s work has evolved many times over, delving into psychology, income inequality, and climate change. Her most recent work celebrates the mundane, infusing quotidian scenes with a sense of magic and mystery. “These paintings show that even here and now, there is beauty to relish in, joy to surrender to, and magic hiding in plain sight” - Cronin. This exhibition brings together work from Cronin’s entire career spanning twenty years for her first museum solo exhibition. The Vanderpoel Art Museum is a memorial collection of nineteenth and twentieth century works honoring the artist John H. Vanderpoel. The museum houses the third largest art collection in Chicago, with over 600 works by 400 artists. It is located at Ridge Park Fieldhouse at 9625 S. Longwood Drive in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago. More information can be found at www.vanderpoelartmuseum.org. This exhibit is part of the Beverly Art Walk, a neighborhood-wide celebration of art and music happening 11am-5pm on September 27th, organized by the Beverly Area Arts Alliance. More information can be found at www.beverlyarts.org. More information about Cronin’s art can be found at www.jennifercronin.com   The exhibition will be on view through October 19th with museum viewing hours Tuesdays & Thursdays 1-4pm, Saturdays 10am–noon, and by appointment. Additional hours during Open House Chicago: October 18th & 19th 10am-3pm. This event and the museum is free and open to the public.

  The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery is proud to present L’Éphémère, an exhibition of recent paintings by celebrated Illinois artist Rosalyn Schwartz. The exhibition opens Aug. 25 and runs through Oct. 2, 2025. A public reception will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. In conjunction with the exhibition, the UIS Visual Arts Gallery will host a conversation featuring Schwartz in dialogue with Allison Lacher, director of the Visual Arts Gallery, and Robert Sill, director emeritus of collections and research at the Illinois State Museum. Together, they will discuss themes within L’Éphémère as well as Schwartz’s broader practice and how artistic practices can reflect and challenge the complexities of the present moment. The event will take place at 3 p.m. Sept. 19 in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery. Admission is free and the event is open to all. About the exhibit: French for “the ephemeral” or “the fleeting," L’Éphémère presents a series of paintings that hover between presence and absence. Schwartz writes that her recent work reflects “both the tumultuousness and uncertainty of world affairs, as well as the beauty and complexity of contemporary life.” She works with urgency and intuition, moving freely between subjects and embracing unpredictability in her materials and process. “The speed and immediacy of working this way is essential,” Schwartz said. “My desire is to completely accept the will of the subconscious while working expediently as a way to question the burden of art history and the existential weight of the current political climate.” Though grounded in the physicality of paint, these works offer more than a visual experience. They suggest a kind of emotional dwelling. Pattern, gesture and color converge in ways that evoke memory, interiority and the edge of recognition. Schwartz’s background, shaped by her childhood as the daughter of an interior decorator, resonates through her paintings. These influences are transformed into something more enigmatic, open-ended and responsive to change. Schwartz has been exhibiting her work for more than 40 years. She has received numerous grants, fellowships and awards, including a NEA Fellowship, a Bush Foundation Fellowship and a McKnight Foundation Fellowship. She has an extensive exhibition record and has shown her work across the United States and abroad. Her work is in a number of both public and private collections, including the Illinois State Museum, the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio and General Mills Corporation World Headquarters in Minneapolis. Schwartz's work has been reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, The New York Times, Bad at Sports and The Community Word, among other publications. She received her Bachelor of Arts in painting from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. She has served on the faculty of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and West Virginia University in Morgantown. Most recently, she taught at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was a professor in the painting department. In 2008, she took an early retirement to focus full-time on her studio work and exhibitions. The UIS Visual Arts Gallery acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Located in the Health and Science Building (HSB 201) on the UIS campus, the gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. For more information about this and future exhibitions, visit UIS Visual Arts Gallery website.

Congratulations to Professor Ben Grosser on being selected as a University of Illinois University Scholar for 2025-2026. The University Scholars Program was created to honor and reward outstanding faculty members at the University of Illinois System.

Louise Fishman (1939–2021) and her work were recently featured in ArtNet announcing her new exhibition. Read the article here.

Studio Art Professor, Patrick Hammie, was recently interviewed by Illinois Soul, a new station launched by Illinois Public Media, that’s all about amplifying Black voices and culture in Central Illinois. He is joined by  Nikki Keating, Oberlin Review Editor-In-Chief, Mellon May Research Fellow and  Terrence Henderson, Founder of Black Bard The Dialogue zone: Exploring Blerd culture - IPM Newsroom Also streaming on Apple, Spotify & YouTube.  

The School of Art & Design is pleased to announce William Hohe 2025 BFA, Photography and Charlotte Watson 2025 BFA, Graphic Design received Outstanding for their oral presentation for their project The Interstates Project: The American Mirage, Our Nation's Mother Road, and the Death of the American Highway at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research.

The School of Art and Design Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition will show the work of nearly 100 students in all disciplines of the school — art education, art history, graphic design, industrial design and studio art, which includes fashion, new media, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. The exhibition opens May 10, with a reception at 4 p.m., and runs through May 17. To read more about our artists read the article in the Illinois News Bureau: Seniors in art and design to show their work at Krannert Art Museum.  

On May 14, professor Cristóbal Bianchi and his collective Casagrande will perform the Bombing of Poems over Rotterdam, dropping 100,000 poem bookmarks from a helicopter to mark the 85th anniversary of the city's WWII bombing. This symbolic act, part of a global series honoring cities affected by aerial warfare, reclaims the sky through poetry as a space for memory, healing, and cross-cultural connection.

Savage Wonderground Gallery is delighted to announce the vernissage of their inaugural exhibition Radical Fun at the Savage Wonder Arts Center Opening: Saturday, May 10, 2025 Location: 139 Main Street, Beacon, New York On View: May 10 – July 6, 2025 Hours: 10 AM – 8 PM Featuring Works By: Kris Battles, Peter Caine, Chris “Daze” Ellis*, Rory Gevis, Jane Hammond**, Gina Herrera, Brent Owens, Judy Pfaff, David Reisman, Angelo T. Robinson, Gret Sterrett Smith, Charles Spurrier, Chuck Webster, and Auguster D.Williams Jr.. Beacon, NY – March 10, 2025 – Savage Wonderground, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art gallery dedicated to showcasing the works of military veteran artists, is thrilled to announce the launch of its inaugural exhibition, Radical Fun. This groundbreaking show will feature a diverse collection of immersive and multimedia artwork designed to push creative boundaries and captivate audiences. Savage Wonderground’s mission is to highlight visual artists and their immediate families who have served in the military, first responders, and the Department of Defense. By providing a platform for these under-represented artists, the gallery aims to mentor, nurture, and elevate their careers while offering audiences unique artistic perspectives shaped by lives of service. Radical Fun: A Fearless Fusion of Creativity and Rebellion The Radical Fun exhibition is inspired by the four pillars of the Savage Wonder Arts Center: offering experiences that are absurd, whimsical, jarring, and intimate —often all at once. Designed to be bold, humorous, and thought-provoking, Radical Fun throws traditional gallery conventions aside, creating an immersive environment of extravagance and excess. The 14 participating artists, all veterans or closely connected family members, bring distinctive thematic, material, and conceptual approaches to their work. What unites them is their fearless exploration of intuition, personal consciousness, and the boundaries of their lived experiences. Radical Fun is a celebration of artistic freedom, blending high-energy expression with deeply felt narratives. Special Opening Event This exclusive opening coincides with the Dia Beacon Spring Gala, and Savage Wonderground will offer extended hours, allowing visitors to experience Radical Fun before or after the gala. The exhibition promises to attract a dynamic new audience to the region, further establishing Beacon as a hub for groundbreaking contemporary art. * Chris “Daze” Ellis is presented courtesy of P.P.O.W Gallery, with sincere thanks for their collaboration. ** Jane Hammond is presented courtesy of ULAE, with sincere thanks for their collaboration.

Twelve MFA students in the Studio Arts program installed an exhibition at the Krannert Art Museum this month. The exhibit runs from April 12 thru April 26.

Melissa Pokorny, professor of painting and sculpture, was selected to participate in the highly competitive Arctic Circle Residency taking place in July 2025.

Samantha Jenae Jones, a graduate student in Design for Responsible Innovation, is part of the 2024–25 "Collisions Across Color Lines" Interseminars project funded by the Mellon Foundation, and was recently interviewed by the Humanities Research Institute (HRI).

Students in the Arts 321 Sustainable Fashion class, led by Clinical Assistant Professor Chiara Vincenzi, took on the Nextile: Soy in Textile Design Challenge this semester 🌱, designing eco-friendly textiles using soybean-based materials like yarn and bio-leather made from production waste. We’re excited to share that two groups were awarded winner and runner-up in the Nextile School Level Challenge! They’ll receive scholarships and advance to the National Competition! Here’s a sneak peek at their inspiring work and textile samples! Winning Team Names: Jadie Geleerd, Priscilla Gonzalez, Chloe Wendel, Isabella Fisher, Ava Heinz and Bio-vera™ leather textile with Soy Cashmere appliqué Runner-Up Team Names: Lindsay Marion, Sophie Ducette, Jessica He, Viana Nguyen and Batik dyed green dress with global motif Congratulation and good luck for the National Competition!

An exhibition of alumna Betsy Packard's (BFA 1976 Painting) work will be on view at Tephra ICA @ Signature Gallery, 11850 Freedom Drive, Reston, Virginia. Curated by Hannah Barco, "Ways of Thinking About Your Life" begins November 1st, 2024 thru February 9, 2025. More information here.

Breaking the Code, the recent award-winning documentary film on artist Vernon Fisher, will be published online by Glasstire on Wednesday, September 18th. To celebrate the film's release, Brooklyn's Franklin Furnace is hosting a special virtual event featuring a screening of the film followed by a virtual post-screening discussion. The discussion will feature former Under Secretary for Art at the Smithsonian Institution Ned Rifkin, Glasstire Publisher Brandon Zech, filmmaker Michael Flanagan and Franklin Furnace Director Harley Spiller. The event will take place via Zoom from 6:00-7:30 pm ET on Wednesday, September 18th. Breaking the Code will be available to stream online via Glasstire TV following the Franklin Furnace screening. More information can be found at this link.  

Art & Design, Studio Art Professor Ben Grosser was recently highlighted as Illinois Artist Spotlight from the Illinois Arts Council. Ben Grosser creates interactive experiences, machines, and systems that examine the cultural, social, and political effects of software. Recent exhibitions include Centre Pompidou in Paris, The Barbican Centre and Somerset House in London, Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, SXSW in Austin, and the Japan Media Arts Festival in Tokyo. His projects have been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Wired, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, El País, and Folha. The Guardian (UK) proclaimed Grosser’s film ORDER OF MAGNITUDE to be a definitive artwork of the 21st century, “a mesmerising monologue, the story of our times.” RTÉ (Ireland) dubbed him an “antipreneur,” and Slate commended his work as “creative civil disobedience in the digital age.” His artworks are regularly cited in books investigating the cultural effects of technology, including The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, The Metainterface, and Investigative Aesthetics, as well as volumes centered on computational art practices such as Electronic Literature, The New Aesthetic and Art, and Digital Art. Grosser is Professor of New Media at the University of Illinois (USA), and a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Realist Artist Jennifer Cronin’s Upcoming Solo Exhibition Takes Us on a Cosmic Journey Chicago: Elephant Room Gallery is thrilled to present artist Jennifer Cronin’s 5th solo exhibition at the gallery entitled “Star Stuff”, opening on Friday, September 20th from 6 to 9pm. The exhibition will be on view through October 26th. The gallery is located at 704 S Wabash Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop Neighborhood. More information can be found on the gallery’s website: www.elephantroomgallery.com Jennifer Cronin is known for her uncanny realism from her large scale figurative oil paintings to her meticulous pencil drawings. Over the past few years, her work has moved into a magical realm of neon colors, mysterious shapes and luminism. Her latest body of work in “Star Stuff” takes inspiration from the night sky, finding pieces of cosmic mystery in our everyday landscapes. Even though the work is dark, it is not sad or complacent. It invokes a connection to something outside of ourselves: distant galaxies, the passage of time, and the mystery of our existence. “Star Stuff” is about all of us: where we are from, where we are and where we are going. For Cronin, this work is a reflection of her growth as an artist and as a human being. Cronin pulls inspiration for her subject matter from her own surroundings on frequent walks in her neighborhood in Chicago. “…I can still find pieces of it everywhere. The dotting of artificial lights across a landscape, or the mysterious je ne sais quoi of a liminal space in the alleyway. Stories of this urban landscape are not that different from the stories of an endless night sky. I can find it right here–reasons to be, moments of cosmic mystery, connection to something outside of myself, the thrill of being alive in this very time and space.” - Cronin   Jennifer Cronin is a Chicago-based visual artist known for her realistic paintings that explore the mystery and complexity of everyday life. Cronin’s work has evolved many times over, delving into psychology, income inequality, and climate change. Her most recent work celebrates the mundane, infusing quotidian scenes with a sense of magic and mystery. In support of her forthcoming body of work, Jennifer was awarded grants by the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and Chicago DCASE. Jennifer’s work has been featured on NPR, Newcity, and Sixty Inches from Center and included in exhibitions at the Elmhurst Art Museum, Museo Internazionale Italia Arte, and the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Jennifer received her BFA in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is represented by Elephant Room Gallery in Chicago. The artwork in this series was funded by a grant from The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, and partially supported by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.