Arts Week 2014 Makes a Canvas out of Campus
REID HARMAN | THE HARBINGER
EAST PEORIA — On theweekofApril21st- April 25th the ICC Arts and Communication Department hosted Arts Week, its annual week- long showcasing of art demonstrations, exhibits and performances. All over the inside and outside of ICC, the events were nearly impossible to miss if on campus. This year featured over 30 events spanning from Monday to Friday, all of which were free and open to the public.
Things kicked off Monday, April 21st at 9:00 a.m. with a guest demonstration by Central Illinois Fiber Artists. The Central Illinois Woodturners and student portrait artists also hosted demonstrations. Amy Uthus, a credible North Dakota artist and educator, hosted a reception and meet- and-greet in the 336B gallery, and ICC art educator Ana Samoylova gave a photography lecture. Previously ICC- featured artist Megan Foster-Campbell gave a timely-ish lecture on the monument men of World War II, covering what was featured in the February blockbuster Monuments Men. The night was completed by ICC Chamber Singers, who hosted their spring concert in the 127F lecture hall.
As most of the events were lectures and demonstrations, Arts Week was given a slow start. In fact, the outside demonstrations of the Fiber Artists and Woodturners were cut short due to the afternoon rain. While the excitement of a special week at school came into the air, the day was full of uncertainty.
The week was picked up by some of Tuesday’s hands-on demonstrations. Carmen Sanchez-Lorente’s Egg Tempera lecture gave students an opportunity to make paint with egg yolk and drew multiple crowds of over 30 to do so. The theatre students’ make- up demonstration in the student lounge drew large crowds as well, many of which volunteered to have their faces painted.
Photo Courtesy Illinois Central College
There were plenty of ongoing demonstrations on this day in the atrium that students found themselves observing, showing Ken Tiessen’s paintings, Jennifer Costa’s stained glass and creations of the American Institute of Architecture Students.
Tuesday also kicked off Humpty Dumpty, the ICC Theatre Program’s final production of the school year, in the Performing Arts Center. Read the exclusive review of the play in Adam Baker’s Humpty Dumpty Review on page 4.
Wednesday was an easy day for students to be a part of Arts Week, with over half of the events lasting more than three hours and located all around the school. The “gallery crawl” from 12:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. is notable. On this crawl students visited all four art galleries on campus, all of which included new submissions for Arts Week.
Wednesday was also the day of the Student Film Fest, a free event showcasing a variety of films created by students at ICC.
“Truly insane that some of these guys can make films this well” said visiting film educator Matthew Heflin. “My expectations are more than met.”
Wednesday was the day everybody seemed to get used to Arts Week since its inception on campus.
On Thursday, The ICC SpeechTeamshowcased their talents in the student lounge while five demonstrations persisted inside. Raku firing and charcoal drawing demonstrations outside were very fun and very crowded. With ten events, Thursday was the biggest day of Arts Week. ICC Vocal Jazz performed in the lecture hall at 7:30 to close it out.
Friday hosted only three events, two of which took place during the day. John Selburg gave a tie- dye t-shirt demonstration in the courtyard while Shannon Alig gave an encaustics demonstration in the atrium. Humpty Dumpty gave its penultimate performance at the regular time of 7:30 p.m.
A success for artists and spectators alike, Arts Week served not only as a fun outlet for the end of the school year, but an important opportunity for artists and educators. Many things were learned, experienced, and shared in the fun five-day span.