Visual Art

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 […]

In a wonderful case of serendipity, we get to enjoy the artistry of Georges Seurat in two media: a major exhibition in Chicago and an upcoming Springfield production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Sunday in the Park with George.The exhibition and the musical are anchored by the same visual element: Seurat’s masterpiece, A Sunday on La […]

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, […]

Passersby can’t help but notice the vibrantly decorated furniture and vivid display windows. Colors of every shade and objects of every shape draw visitors to the violet building on Sixth Street that once housed a Mel-O-Cream shop. Inside, works of art cover the bright-blue walls; hundreds more fill shelves and counters. Where customers used to […]

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 […]

Hot on the heels of last weekend’s Old Capitol Art Fair comes another Springfield art show. And this one couldn’t be more different. Local artists, loosely banded together under the banner of Manifest Destiny Art Troupe, will host their second annual Extravaganza Cabaret for Starving Artists. The all-day and all-night (so they say) festival includes […]

In 1961, the now-defunct Springfield Central Area Development Association invited community organizations to help plan a one-day art fair. The rather lofty goal was to launch an event that would help turn Springfield into a “model capital city to be observed by other cities of the nation as a source of pride and emulation.” Now […]