A diverse group of percussionists and musicians will descend on the Firefighters Postal Lake Club for DrumFest, a day of drumming, entertainment and clinics that anyone can participate in for free. Ben Sesar headlines the lineup of music that begins at 2 p.m. Sesar, who has played or recorded with the likes of Dolly Parton, […]
IT Picks
Posted inArts & Culture
Pride and prejudices
Six performances are slated for UIS Theatre Program’s rendition of Rebecca Gilman’s play, Spinning Into Butter. Directed by UIS Associate Professor of Theatre Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, the play looks at racism and political correctness on a college campus. The cast consists of actors from the community and UIS, including: Roger Boyd, Tommy Caldwell, Tom Hutchison, Lindsey […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Make-up game
ComedySportz, a Chicago improv company, takes on two shows April 9 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. Set up as a sports competition, complete with referee and halftime, two teams of ComedySportz players vie for the win. You, the audience, will shout out plays from the stands (seats) and select the game winner based […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Canvassing the area
For a good cause, you can purchase one of 27 paintings depicting an Illinois landmark painted by local leaders and business people not trained in the arts, but talented just the same. Springfield Art Association hosts its lively public auction led by M.T. Vann on the evening of April 9. You can see the paintings […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Poetry and activism
April is National Poetry Month, and the Vachel Lindsay Association and Home State Historic Site sponsor the first local event of the month with well-known local husband and wife team, John and Peg Knoepfle. Once donned the Sangamon County Poet Laureate, John is perhaps the most successful living poet in the area. He is professor […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Transformed trash
A month-long free exhibition runs through Earth Day, April 22, with a reception from 5:30-8 p.m. in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery. Artists Karen Bondarchuk and Terrence Campagna, co-winners of the 2010 Sustain international juried exhibition, were selected for this two-person exhibit by author Terry Tempest Williams. The materials they used, such as old tires […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Human rights
The UIS Speaker Series continues on April 6 with one of the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States, Tim Wise. Wise has lectured and trained teachers, corporate leaders and others all over the world, appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs, including being a regular on CNN, and is the […]
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Native scribes
Grab a coffee and bun before you visit with local authors at the library this Saturday, March 26. Books cover a wide range of subject matters and genres such as fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, World War II, African-American Federal Marshalls, Vietnam, and more. Spotlighted will be: Bob Moore, Tom Jones, George Heroux, Rodney Moore, Springfield […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Upgrade 3.11
The Illinois State Museum upgraded its facilities for children and launches the space March 26 as they cut the ceremonial ribbon at 9:30 a.m. to open the new Mary Ann MacLean Play Museum. Family-oriented entertainment, games, activities and crafts highlight an entire day of fun throughout the museum. Watch magicians and jugglers, hear storytellers, worm […]
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Superlative soloist
Stanley Yates is sure to wow the audience with sound and technique at the Springfield Classical Guitar Association’s next concert March 26. Originally from Great Britain, Yates is an international concert performer, arranger, recording artist and award-winner who also directs the guitar program at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. His playing is critically acclaimed […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Buddy Holly tribute
John Mueller’s Winter Dance Party is a tribute concert from the Winter Dance Party Tour that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper were performing in before their fateful airplane crash. Endorsed by all three estates, the show includes: John Mueller as Buddy Holly, Ray Anthony as Ritchie Valens, Jay P. Richardson, Jr. as […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Slave history
Seven family-friendly performances are slated at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum for Charlayne Woodard’s play, Flight. Be transported back to a Georgia plantation in 1858 as a community of slaves tells stories of their lives, consoling themselves after the disturbing displacement as one-of-their-own is sold and sent away from her husband and young son. Based […]
