Emerging Illinois Artists Reception

The McLean County Arts Center presents Emerging Illinois Artists in the Brandt Gallery April 29 – June 11, 2016. The Artists Reception will be on Friday, May 6 from 5 - 7 pm when the Juror’s Choice Award will be announced followed by an art performance– all during Downtown Bloomington’s First Friday.

Emerging Illinois Artists is a triennial juried exhibition featuring artwork by MFA students currently enrolled or recently graduated from an Illinois university. This year 34 pieces from 20 artists were selected by the juror Kelly Shindler, Associate Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Reflecting on and wrestling with contemporary ideas in art making, the painting, sculpture, video, and installation will challenge and expand expectations of a gallery experience.

The selected artists are: Rocio Azarloza – SAIC, Joshua Backus - University of Chicago, Mariko Brown - Illinois State University, Benjamin Cook - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Alexandria Douziech – SAIC, Cathy Hsiao – SAIC, Frances Lightbound – SAIC, April Martin – SAIC, Jaclyn Mednicov – SAIC, Laura Newman - Illinois State University, Ben Nicholson - University of Chicago, Alex Peyton-Levine – SAIC, Kaveri Raina – SAIC, Miguel Sbastida – SAIC, Jenn Smith – SAIC, Stuart Snoddy - Northern Illinois University, Marcy Thomas - Northern Illinois University, Orkideh Torabi – SAIC, Christina Warzecha - Northern Illinois University, Dylan Welch - Illinois State University.

The McLean County Arts Center offers, with its central location, accessibility to those all over the state to visit the exhibition and see the work of the fine artists being educated at Illinois universities.  As ultimate peers, MFA students steer through the rite of passage that is graduate school.  Using the wide range of media offered to them, experimenting with scale and presentation, and probing the intellectual and emotional fabric of their lives, their journey will be evidenced and celebrated in this exhibition. The McLean County Arts Center has been hosting the triennial Emerging Illinois Artists exhibition since 2004.

Emerging Illinois Artists juror Kelly Shindler has worked in the field of contemporary art exhibition and programming for over ten years. She joined the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) in 2011. She holds Master’s degrees in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism and Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as a B.A. in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

McLean County Arts Center is located at 601 N. East Street in downtown Bloomington.  MCAC hours are Tuesday, 10am – 7pm; Wednesday – Friday, 10am – 5pm, and Saturday, Noon – 4pm.  For more information, please call 309/829-0011.  The McLean County Arts Center is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Exhibition Partnership available