The current exhibit at the consistently innovative UIS Visual Arts Gallery is not your grandmother’s ceramics display. A series of evocative, colorful and otherworldly shapes, the elegant “Oblique Frontiers” offers hints of an alternate reality of tactile beauty and mysterious utility. Artist Tyler Lotz is a professor of ceramics at the Illinois State University College […]
Scott Faingold
Scott Faingold is a journalist, educator and musician. He has been director of student media at University of Illinois Springfield, founding editor of Activator magazine, a staff reporter for Illinois Times and co-host of Old School Bleep, a music-centered podcast.
Posted inNews
Young poets society
Poetry is at once the most marginalized and the most accessible of art forms. Pretty much anyone with both a thought and the desire to express it can jot down a few words and head to the local coffee shop to declaim in front of whoever will listen. But the practice remains relatively rare. A […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Yoga in the Land of Lincoln
Over the past several years, the practice of yoga – derived from a broad range of ancient Indian mental, physical and spiritual practices – has been on the rise as a form of exercise throughout the West. Several dedicated studios and gyms in Springfield offer a variety of yoga options, ranging from introductory programs to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A touching display
DEMO Project may be the best-kept secret in the Springfield art scene, even after four years of presenting thoughtfully programmed monthly exhibitions by innovative artists from a variety of locations. The small house located on the Springfield Art Association campus was formerly living quarters for caretakers of the historic Edwards Place and is slated for […]
Posted inMusic
An orchestra in transition
With Saturday’s concert, “American Voices,” the Illinois Symphony Orchestra will complete phase one of this season’s vetting of candidates for the position of new music director for the ISO, with the fourth and final candidate, Boston native Aram Demirjian, taking his place in the conductor’s position. The search process began in July of 2015, when […]
Posted inNews
Criminal justice reform report lands on Rauner’s desk
The final report by the Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform includes measures that could achieve Gov. Bruce Rauner’s goal of reducing the prison population by 25 percent over the next 10 years, according to commission chairman and public safety director Rodger Heaton. The report added 13 new recommendations to the ones presented to […]
Posted inNews
Nonprofit helps area artists succeed
Adam Nicholson has been involved in the Springfield arts scene for years. Now, as founder of Sala Creative Association, a newly minted 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, he is developing a forum for local artists, working across all formats, to use as a resource for everything from professional development to networking. During the earliest iteration of […]
Posted inNews
SAA’s film series brings drama, variety
Each winter for the past 25 years, the Springfield Art Association has offered an antidote to the common blockbuster with the Molly Schlich Independent and International Film Series. Over the course of several weeks (Sunday matinees and Tuesday evenings) at AMC’s Parkway 8, 3025 Lindbergh Blvd., the series offers local movie buffs the opportunity to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A softer side of a larger-than-life player
When Denny Polk passed away of acute myeloid leukemia this past spring, he left behind a 30-year legacy in area real estate as well as an indelible impression on those who encountered him. By all accounts, Denny’s larger-than-life personality dominated any room he was in and his bold entrepreneurial spirit, sometimes described as bordering on […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Springfield’s Superbowl champ
Herbert Louis McMath, Sr., a 1972 Springfield Southeast High School graduate and 1976 Super Bowl champion, was born in Coahoma, Mississippi, and lived most of his life in Springfield. While attending Southeast, Herb played football and basketball as well as shot put for the track and field team. After graduating, he attended Morningside College in Sioux City, […]
Posted inNews
“The Studio Show” winds down from ambitious season
Eight months ago, Springfield-based web series “The Studio Show” – which takes a quirky and humorous look at area arts and community – was featured on the cover of IT (“Making Springfield look cool,” April 28, 2016). In the brief time since then, the series has grown into something of a fixture on the city’s […]
Posted inNews
Demonstrators support Illinois electors, decry Trump
To nobody’s great surprise, all 20 of Illinois’ electoral votes were cast for Hillary Clinton when the state’s electors convened at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 19. What may have been unexpected for some was the presence of anti-Donald Trump demonstrators in the lower level of the Capitol building that morning. Chants such as “Stand […]
