Prairie Center of the Arts

FIERCE - WOMEN IN IRON OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, November 1, 2019, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

ALUMNI EXHIBITION
TONIGHT
5-8 PM
INFORMAL ARTIST TALKS THROUGHOUT THE EVENING
1506 SW WASHINGTON STREET, PEORIA IL 61602

As a graphic designer, Peter Bushell works to use the key elements of display type, text, images, and other graphics in the service of clear communication and readability. Through his practice of creating artist books and letterpress printmaking, he seeks to present the ubiquitous design elements of type and typography to the viewer in new and innovative ways. In his new body of work, Peter concentrates on different ways of cropping during the printing process to abstract the familiar letterforms, so they become unique and varied graphic elements in dynamic compositions. Peter’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens this Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

As a naturalist and printmaker, Peggy West seeks to find beauty in the mundane, spirit in the woods, and lessons in the whisper of the leaves. With special emphasis on native species of Illinois, her work brings a visual voice to the struggle, growth, unique nature, and resilience of our prairies and woodlands. Utilizing vintage text, scientific illustration, and historic printmaking techniques, these works strive to underscore each species' message for humankind. Peggy studied intaglio printmaking at Western Illinois University, earned her MA in museum studies, and holds a certificate in botanical art and illustration from the Morton Arboretum. Peggy’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

In her studio practice, artist Jennifer Printz gravitates towards meditative processes, and her most recent work focuses on mixed media with a gentle and deliberate mark-making that creates an intrinsic presence. Her art has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad, and also featured in publications such as Tricycle and The Carolina Quarterly. Jennifer received an MFA from the University of Georgia, and currently teaches drawing at Florida International University in Miami. Jennifer’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

Alexander Martin is an artist living and working out of Peoria. Using mixed media and found objects, they make work dealing with the intersection of their q***r and black identities. Alexander’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

Amy MacLennan is an associate professor at McKendree University and director of the McKendree University Gallery of Art in Lebanon, Illinois. She completed her MFA in painting and drawing at Indiana State University, and has been awarded residencies at Jentel in Wyoming and the Montana Artists Refuge and Eye-Land Coordination, both in Montana. The works on paper shown here are from Amy’s latest Hubris series, which explores contemporary themes and our tendency to repeat the mistakes of the past. Amy’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

Elizabeth Mead has exhibited her sculpture and drawings nationally and in Australia, England, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Portugal, and Taiwan—and she has been a resident and visiting artist at institutions including London’s Slade School of Fine Art; Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo; and Burren College of Art in County Clare, Ireland. A recipient of a Japan/US NEA Creative Artist Fellowship, Elizabeth spent six months living and working in Japan—and has been awarded work-stay residencies as well in Skagaströnd, Iceland and Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. Elizabeth has designed theatrical productions with theater companies across the United States, and she serves as a professor of art at the College of William and Mary. Elizabeth’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13. (artist photo credit: Tabitha Timm)

Currently an associate professor of art at Whitman College in Washington, M Acuff received their BA in art from Augustana College and their MA and MFA in sculpture and intermedia from the University of Iowa. Their artistic practice ranges from object-making to installation to video and performance, and addresses the tangled web of relations—aesthetic, ecologic, and material—that defines the period in human/geologic history now known as the Anthropocene. M has exhibited work in group and solo exhibitions across the country at venues such as Carnation Contemporary, 3S Artspace, the Jundt Museum, and the Attleboro Museum of Art—and held residencies at Signal Fire, Djerassi, the Arctic Circle, Jentel, Ragdale, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts’ Moulin Au Nef program in Auvillar, France. M’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

A professor of art at West Virginia University, Joseph Lupo has had work featured in over 80 different solo and group exhibitions, with venues including the International Print Center (New York), the Contemporary Art Workshop (Chicago), the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Indianapolis Art Center, and the Contemporary Art Center (Atlanta). His work is also included in the permanent collections of Duke University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Texas Tech University, and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Joseph has held board leadership positions at SGC International, and received multiple awards and grants for his work. He received his BFA from Bradley University and his MFA from the University of Georgia. Joseph’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

Artist Yeowoon Kim lives and works in Incheon, South Korea, where her current aesthetic focus is mobile art. While her earlier work explored human relationships in modern society, Yeowoon now examines the initial point of human perception on objects. Her goal is to present images that are unrestrained from conventional and artificial control, while also suggesting a pixel, the most minimal unit of an image. Yeowoon studied fine art at Seoul National University. Yeowoon’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

One of the Prairie Center’s earliest residents, Fisher Stolz is a sculptor who exhibits on a national level. His work is created primarily in stainless steel, cast metals, and stone—and ranges in scale from interior pedestal pieces to large outdoor works. A member of the International Sculpture Center board of trustees and Chicago Sculpture International, he serves as head of the sculpture department at Bradley University. Fisher received his MFA from the University of Georgia and he has also studied and taught sculpture abroad in Cortona, Italy. Fisher’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

French artist Marion Bénard spent her childhood in Paris and its suburbs, where she received her first sewing machine at age seven and her first box of tools at age eight. She graduated from Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts, with further studies at the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada. Marion has had her work featured in numerous group exhibitions and several solo exhibitions at the Graphem Gallery in Paris. She lives and works just outside Paris, where she creates watercolor drawings and mixed-technique sculptures. Marion’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

Save the date – Saturday, August 10 from 6-9pm – for the opening of the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Invitational Exhibition! We’re celebrating PCA’s sixteenth year as an artist residency program with a show featuring work by more than 70 national and international artists who have spent time creating art in the Prairie Center’s center in downtown Peoria. In the coming weeks, we’ll share some of the artists featured in this exciting show. Stay tuned …

Meet resident Dana Baldwin. Before becoming a fiber artist she interned at the Mayo Clinic as a clinical dietitian! Dana is currently working on a project in which filmstrips are turned into beautiful dresses. Her work has been heavily influenced by the colors, textures and patterns of Spain, Portugal and northern Africa and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She was also recognized with a special Mayoral Proclamation, both for her impressive artistic achievements and for her contributions to promoting small businesses along Peoria's Main Street corridor, where she runs a studio and popular shop called The Sheared Edge. Check out her beautiful work at www.shearededge.com

Today is the day. Stop by Prairie Center of the Arts at 3pm for an artist talk and demonstration with resident Tessa Lee Martinez. Free and open to the public. We hope to see you soon!

Join us at the Prairie Center on Saturday, June 1st at 3pm for an artist talk with resident Tessa Lee Martinez. Tessa received her MFA in ceramics. Her work is influenced by her family, her interest in math, and her hometown of Laredo, Texas. She will discuss the development of her ideas and give a brief handbuilding demonstration. This is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Join us at the Prairie Center on Saturday, June 1st at 3pm for an artist talk with resident Tessa Lee Martinez. Tessa received her MFA in ceramics. Her work is influenced by her family, her interest in math, and her hometown of Laredo, Texas. She will discuss the development of her ideas and give a brief handbuilding demonstration. This is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Resident Jake Guzan will be having his artist talk tomorrow at the Prairie Center at 7pm. Come check out some of his amazing work. This is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Tessa Lee Martinez is one of our current residents. She got her master's in ceramics and is now experimenting with mixed media. Her work is influenced by her hometown Laredo, TX.

Come join us at the Prairie Center next Thursday, May 16 at 7pm. Resident Jake Guzan will present and talk about work he made in graduate school at West Virginia University and the direction his work took while in residence at Prairie Center of the Arts. His artistic practice has come full-circle and now connects his childhood with his current work through a focus on the beauty of natural landscape. This is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

In recent weeks, Bradley University students have been hard at work in the Prairie Center letterpress shop, designing and printing an array of wonderful broadside posters and cards. Using the Center’s extensive collection of metal and wood type, the students have learned a number of different letterpress techniques; created photo-polymer plates, linoleum cuts, and collagraph work; and had the chance to use traditional letterpress equipment, including two of the Center's Vandercook presses. Thank you, Robert Rowe and the BU Artist Book and Bookmaking class … we love having you here.

We are thrilled to announce that Prairie Center resident-volunteer Peggy West was just awarded “Best of Show” in the Peoria Art Guild’s 2019 Members Show. "Wild Peoria" is a hand-bound letterpress printed accordion book that celebrates four common species found within the Peoria urban landscape: Northern Cardinal, Common Milkweed, White Oak, and Pasture Rose. The book includes original illustrations and lift-out cards with details on each species and the wild places they can be found. Beautiful work, Peggy. Congratulations!

Join us TONIGHT at the Prairie Center from 6pm to 8pm for the 2019 Bradley University Graphic Design Senior Show. So many great things to see!

So excited for this Friday! Stop by the Prairie Center on May 3rd from 6-8pm to see Kate and Amy's BFA Show. We hope to see you there!

JOIN US! Friday May 3rd, 6:00-8:00pm
TWO SHOWS IN ONE - BRADLEY UNIVERSITY SENIOR SHOWS!
2019 Bachelor of Fine Arts Show
2019 Graphic Design Senior Show

Resident Jake Guzan is making work based on photographs he took when he was younger. His current drawing uses watercolor, gouache, micron pen, and graphite.

Last Wednesday we had members of the Emerging Artists Collective visit the Prairie Center. Huge thanks to Barbie Perry and Peggy West for providing a tour of our facility and quick lesson on the Vandercook press. Everyone who went got to try out the press and take home a card they printed.

2019 Bradley BFA Exhibition - Amy Trompeter and Kate Wehrman
Exhibition: May 1-8
Reception: Friday, May 3, 6-8pm

FIERCE - WOMEN IN IRON EXHIBITION November 1-30, 2019 organized by Jam Lovell of Black Dog Metals and Kristen Tordella-Williams of Milsaps College. Exhibition hosted at Prairie Center of the Arts gallery.

Go to our website for more information and to apply to be in the show.
https://prairiecenterofthearts.blogspot.com/2019/04/fierce-women-in-iron.html

Stop by the Prairie Center (1506 SW Washington Street) tonight at 6:30pm for a presentation and artist talk by current resident Sherri Burritt. The acrylic mixed media piece shown here is just one example of the fine work Sherri has created during her Prairie Center residency.

Final call for bookbinding at the Prairie Center! Our three-part class with book artist Robert Rowe begins this Wednesday evening, April 10. If you have always wanted to create your own hardcover book—complete with crafted Italian cloth cover, embossed title, sewn spine, and beautiful endpapers—this is the workshop for you. Don’t miss out! Visit our website prairiecenterofthearts.blogspot.com for more details.

John Hitchcock Screen Print Class: Print Blintz - great opportunity to learn new techniques!

Calling all book lovers! Please join us for “Hand Bind Your Own Hardcover Book," a 3-part workshop with Robert Rowe. Students will learn the traditional method to make a beautiful 6x9 inch hardcover book from scratch. You will explore sewing and forming the spine of the book, adding luxurious end papers and creating an attractive cover with Italian book cloth, embossing and decorative titling. There will also be demonstrations and discussions of alternative methods of binding. The $60 fee covers all materials. Class will meet on Wednesdays, April, 10, 17, and 24 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Prairie Center. Register online at prairiecenterofthearts.blogspot.com for this amazing experience! No previous experience necessary.

Currently a professor of graphic design and design history at Bradley University, Robert Rowe’s long involvement with letterpress printing and book arts has been shaped by over 35 years practicing and teaching art and design at the university level.

Would you like to learn letterpress and typesetting techniques that extend far beyond right angles and straight lines? Only a few spots remain for this letterpress workshop being held on Saturday, April 6 with guest artist Jessica Spring of Springtide Press in Washington state! The registration fee includes dinner Friday, April 5 at Bradley University with Spring and fellow workshop participants, a full-day Saturday workshop (9am-4pm), all materials, lunch and gallery tour, dinner and after-party Saturday evening, and a print exchange with other workshop artists. This event is co-sponsored by Prairie Center of the Arts and Bradley University. Don’t miss out … sign up today at prairiecenterofthearts.blogspot.com for this great opportunity!