Monday, November 23, 2009 East Central Illinois
The Answer Book 2005
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Culture aplenty: Arts scene a rich blend of styles BY MELISSA MERLI © 2009 THE NEWS-GAZETTE If you've recently arrived from a larger city and fear a lack of art and culture here, your fears are unwarranted. Many, but not all, of the opportunities come as a result of the University of Illinois, which provides, in the form of faculty and faculty spouses, artists who keep things interesting and the twin cities' cultural crown jewels: the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the Krannert Art Museum. With four indoor theaters and an amphitheater outside, the Krannert Center in Urbana presents more than 300 events a year. It's said to provide the best acoustics between the two coasts and books the world's top artists.
The Krannert Center also is home to many excellent productions by the UI School of Music among them a first-rate Summer Jazz Festival each June with guest artists such as trumpeter Jon Faddis and the departments of dance and theater. The other crown jewel, Krannert Art Museum, under the aegis of the UI College of Fine and Applied Arts, boasts a permanent collection with depth, everything from pre-Colombian to contemporary art, and is said to be the best and biggest general-art museum in Illinois outside of Chicago. The museum in Champaign hosts a number of interesting and provocative exhibitions year-round and sponsors, at other arts venues, free monthly critiques for amateur and professional artists. The major fall exhibition, opening Oct. 21, will be "Balance and Power: Performance and Surveillance in Video Art" curated by Michael Rush and organized by museum director Kathleen Harleman, who is particularly interested in contemporary art. The museum describes "Balance and Power" as a timely exhibition for a world preoccupied with security and fearful of international terrorism. It examines both the early days of video art and current practices to understand the relationship between voluntary acting for the camera and involuntary taping by a camera. Other fall shows will showcase the work of UI art faculty members and the art glass collection of a Champaign couple. Off-campus, the visual arts scene encompasses several art galleries and studios, the primary ones being the Verde Gallery in downtown Champaign and the Cinema Gallery in downtown Urbana. There's also a nontraditional space called Open Source in downtown Champaign, and other nontraditional, albeit temporary, galleries spring up from time to time. The annual Boneyard Arts Festival in April started as a gallery walk and continues, seeming to expand in size and scope each year. The twin cities are home to several classical music orchestras and ensembles, among them Sinfonia da Camera, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, The Prairie Ensemble and the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana. There's even an award-winning East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra, open by audition to youths in C-U and surrounding towns, and a variety of music teachers to study with. In recent years, Sinfonia da Camera, a chamber orchestra, has collaborated with the CU Ballet to stage the holiday staple "The Nutcracker" at the Krannert Center. The ballet company also produces other shows each year, and there are a number of other dance studios and companies in town. Even absent the university, lovers of theater would have plenty from which to choose. Community theater abounds, with nearly every small town outside Champaign-Urbana having a community theater company. In the twin cities, the Celebration Company at the Station Theatre in Urbana offers provocative, contemporary theater, including original works. In August the company will reprise "Welcome to Tolono," a dark comedy by Mark Roberts, a former Tolono and Urbana resident who now writes for the hit TV series, "Two and a Half Men." The CU Theatre Company stages Broadway-style musicals and the Parkland College Theatre offers a good mix, from classic to contemporary. Another theater group, Prairie Players, stages a large Renaissance Faire on Labor Day weekend at the Champaign County Fairgrounds. Other theater groups pop up frequently, often presenting challenging fare for theatergoers. So whether you're a spectator or participant, you'll find many opportunities here to feed your hunger for art and culture. |
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