Evelyne asks two Illinois Art + Design BFA candidates about the messages and media behind the work they've selected for the student exhibition at Krannert Art Museum.

May 2021 in the C-U arts scene means celebrating graduating visual and performing arts students, and beginning to explore ways, even in-person, to learn and explore the arts yourself. 

For the second year in a row, graduates of Illinois Theatre’s Acting program are filming their work for casting directors in the hopes of smoothly transitioning into the professional theatre industry.

For Tom Zhang, a second-year MFA student in stage management at Illinois Theatre, COVID restrictions have been frustrating, but they also inspired technological innovations that may live on past the pandemic. 

For LGBTQ+ artists, both the social risks and emotional benefits of sharing aspects of their identities in their work are particularly high.

"The Midwesterners [in] Far From Mars are regular people who took chances, followed their passions, and pursued meaningful hobbies," says author Sal Nudo.

According to Matt Wiley, "One of the benefits of a simple illustration style is how significantly facial expressions and framing can have on the feeling of a scene."

MFA candidate and teaching assisstant Kayt MacMaster says "teaching through a pandemic has illuminated what may be the most crucial skill set developed through the performance process: Collaboration."

Tyehimba Jess' advice to young poets is "Don't give up and revise, revise, revise, and have a decent understanding of American history or of the history of the country you're living in and the country that your people came from."

Melinda McIntosh shares that en plein air painting teaches us “if we’re not quick to capture something it may not be around a week later.”

Nearly a decade ago, a project local to Brooklyn began a pilot campus program at the University of Illinois that would prove to be successful beyond its creators’ wildest dreams.

April 2021 arts events are springing up in person and online. Debra shares five things you won't want to miss.