Giertz Gallery at Parkland College

05/07/2026

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Application deadline is this Monday, May 4th!

Via 40 North
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40 North and the Urbana Park District are thrilled to announce the 8th Annual Crystal Lake Park Art Fair! Now a two-day event!

On August 1 & 2, 2026 from 10am-4pm, Crystal Lake Park will be transformed with local and regional art vendors that will set up along the park road next to the large pavilion and the Lake House in Crystal Lake Park (206 W. Park) and feature paintings, textiles, ceramics, photography, jewelry, glass, mixed media and much more! Shop from over 40 regional and local artists!

If you are an artist and would like to apply, go to
Crystal Lake Park Art Fair:
https://40north.org/our_programs/crystal-lake-park-art-fair

Link to form:
https://form.jotform.com/93237019703152

05/06/2026

This is the last week to see the 58th Annual Juried Student Art and Design Exhibition! The work will be on view in the Gallery until Saturday, May 9th. Today, we are proud to continue celebrating the student scholarship and award winners whose work is on view in the exhibition. Featured today are some of the award winners at our reception on Thursday, April 16.

Amira Johnson, Melissa Gift/Comrades in Art Award for Remembrance
Carolyn Kodes, Merit Award for Juxtaposition
Fae Allen, Purchase Award for Inevitable
Elise McClanahan, Parkland College President's Award of Excellence for Comfort From Destruction
Emma Lang, Art + Design Faculty Award for God Games
Kevin Mikulich, Melissa's Gift/Comrades in Art Award for Sitting Down
Annaliesa Merritt, Merit Award for Red Pot
Patricia Plaut, Merit Award for Tranquility Still Life I

For a full list of students with art in the juried exhibition, visit x and sign up for our emails at parkland.edu/gallerymail. Gallery hours are Monday – Wednesday, 10 am – 5 pm; Thursday, 10 am – 7 pm; and Saturday, 12 – 3 pm.

05/06/2026

The 58th Annual Juried Student Art and Design Exhibition is currently on display in the gallery! Today, we are proud to celebrate the student scholarship and award winners whose work is on view in the exhibition. Featured today are some of the award winners at our reception on Thursday, April 16.

Tracy Earl, Merit Award for Cloud Surprise
Barbara Curtis, Merit Award for Studio Arborvitae
Mimi Ormerod, Merit Award for Conversation I
Rashmi Kapoor, Merit Award for Dancing Fish
Mackenzie Tavenner, Merit Award for Jumping Through Time
Carter Nauman, Merit Award for 1:PM Clothing Logo Project
Kristin Darling, Arts, Media, & Social Sciences Department Chair Award for This Is Not About Eggs: Unmaking
Rae Ward, the Metals Award of Distinction for Rays of Reinvented Recyclables

For a full list of award winners, visit https://conta.cc/41MjGgh and sign up for our emails at https://conta.cc/3QKgNua. The Student exhibition is open until Saturday, May 9th from 12 to 3 PM.

05/05/2026

Please join us this Wednesday, May 6, from 4 to 6 pm to honor Professor Peg Shaw and part-time instructor Melinda McIntosh for their service to Parkland College! For this drop-in retirement event, we will gather in the Gallery Lounge for cake and punch. We also invite you to visit the Gallery to view their students’ work in the 58th Annual Juried Art and Design Student Exhibition. There will be no formal program or speeches, but we encourage attendees to share tributes, memories, or words of appreciation for Peg and Melinda during the celebration. Your stories will make this event meaningful for the honorees and our community!

For more information, sign up for our emails at conta.cc/42PgrFa or parkland.edu/gallerymail

05/05/2026

Giertz Gallery Art Expedition: Frank Lloyd Wright Pappas House and Central Library, St. Louis, MO

We have only a few seats left! Please join us for a special architectural tour of St. Louis, visiting the Theodore and Bette Pappas house in suburban St. Louis and the Saint Louis Central Library in downtown St. Louis. Our first stop is a private tour of the Central Library, a historic landmark known for its Beaux-Arts and Neo-Classical architecture. Designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1912 with funding from Andrew Carnegie, the library occupies an entire city block. Our tour includes areas usually closed to the public. Inside, see replicas from the Pantheon, the Vatican, and Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library, reflecting Italian Renaissance influences. Our afternoon includes a visit to the suburbs to see the Theodore and Bette Pappas House, one of seven Usonian Automatic homes by Frank Lloyd Wright. Recently opened to the public, it offers a rare chance to observe Wright’s later work.

This tour highlights two remarkable and different examples of St. Louis architecture yet each is philosophically similar in their commitment to democratizing high-quality design for public and residential use, using monumental materials to create accessible spaces and integrating natural lighting with a strong sense of place. Both structures serve as significant examples of creating a "living" environment, whether public or private, deeply rooted in its local context, while providing an elevating experience for its occupants.

Scheduled for May 15, from 7 am to 7 pm, the event costs $199, with proceeds benefiting the Giertz Gallery. To register, please call Parkland College Community Education at 217-351-2235

04/28/2026

The 58th Annual Juried Student Art and Design Exhibition is on display in the gallery through May 9! Today, we are proud to celebrate the student scholarship and award winners whose work is on view in the exhibition. Featured today are some of the award winners at our reception on Thursday, April 16.

Tracy Earl, Merit Award for Cloud Surprise
Barbara Curtis, Merit Award for Studio Arborvitae
Mimi Ormerod, Merit Award for Conversation I
Rashmi Kapoor, Merit Award for Dancing Fish
Mackenzie Tavenner, Merit Award for Jumping Through Time
Carter Nauman, Merit Award for 1:PM Clothing Logo Project
Kristin Darling, Arts, Media, & Social Sciences Department Chair Award for This Is Not About Eggs: Unmaking
Rae Ward, the Metals Award of Distinction for Rays of Reinvented Recyclables

For a full list of award winners, visit x and sign up for our emails at parkland.edu/gallerymail. The Student exhibition is open until Saturday, May 9th.

How to join the Art Gallery mailing list.

04/22/2026

Illinois Arts Council shared our Call for Entry for the Illinois All-State Show at Giertz Gallery at Parkland College in collaboration with 40 North 88 West. The deadline has been extended to Sunday, April 26 at 11:59 PM! We hope to have artists from North, South, East, West, and Central Illinois participate!

04/21/2026

Giertz Gallery invites you to submit to the call for entries for our upcoming exhibition! The Illinois All-State Juried Art Exhibition will feature work by contemporary Illinois artists in the Gallery this summer. Misa Jeffereies, Associate Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, will serve as the show juror. Due to Parkland's website being down, the deadline to apply has been extended to this Sunday, April 26! To send in your application, visit parkland.edu/ILart. Submissions are accepted through the online platform Submittable.

For more information, sign up for our emails at https://conta.cc/4twcqRY or at parkland.edu/gallerymail