Job Conger

Some social anthropologists suggest that the impressions made on the life of a young child through the age of 5 “set the table” for how the young person relates to the rest of the world for the rest of his or her life. Thanks to the Springfield Art Association and teacher Kathy Harvey, a growing […]

Springfield’s oldest retail art gallery was launched in 1970 as an afterthought to the restoration of the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices at the corner of Sixth and Adams streets. Three families had joined forces to rehabilitate the historic law offices. “When we considered what we wanted to put next door, we decided on an art gallery,” […]

Morrisonville native Thomas “Thom” Whalen saw a lot of the country before settling down almost where he started. After grad school at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Whalen lived in Kansas City, Seattle, and Phoenix. When he came to Springfield, he bought a design company, which fared well, and did some adjunct teaching in […]

Danville native Grace Eckert didn’t take art classes in high school, even though she knew she was going to be an artist. Her father, a math professor at Illinois State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, insisted on classes that would pay off for her as an adult. “He was a formidable man, […]

More than 60 artists from 12 states have registered for this weekend’s Edwards Place Fine Crafts Festival, an annual event hosted by the Springfield Art Association. The number of participants is especially impressive in light of the competition offered by other cities, says Carole Walton, one of the event’s chairwomen. When it started, the fair […]

As a tide of “getting back to our roots” sweeps the country, woodcarving is gaining in popularity. The phenomenon will be in evidence this weekend at the 14th annual Sangamon Valley Woodcarvers Show, dubbed “Go Ahead, Make My Day!” Carvers will converge to display and sell their works and teach their craft, and vendors will […]

One of the longest-lasting galleries in Springfield evolved not from dreams of framed immortality but from the desire to put down roots in a relatively small Illinois community. Art Concepts is a greater leap from owner Marc Zoschke’s past than the distance down Interstate 55 from Chicago suggests. After graduating from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with […]

Springfield artist Michael Manning says that most of his friends are liberals, and so he expects that his newest project will “drive them crazy.” Manning, who served two tours of duty with the Marines in Vietnam, has started a series of 15 posters featuring U.S. Sen. John Kerry. The posters are, to put it mildly, […]

Since moving in January from its location on North Fifth Street to the Hoogland Center for the Arts, the Prairie Art Alliance has acquired more than a vastly improved venue for its gallery and activities — it has also taken on a new executive director. Patrick Shavloske began his new role on Feb. 26. Already […]