Prairie Center of the Arts

09/06/2019

ALUMNI EXHIBITION
TONIGHT
5-8 PM
INFORMAL ARTIST TALKS THROUGHOUT THE EVENING
1506 SW WASHINGTON STREET, PEORIA IL 61602

09/05/2019

08/07/2019

As a graphic designer, Peter Bushell works to use the key elements of display type, text, images, and other graphics in the service of clear communication and readability. Through his practice of creating artist books and letterpress printmaking, he seeks to present the ubiquitous design elements of type and typography to the viewer in new and innovative ways. In his new body of work, Peter concentrates on different ways of cropping during the printing process to abstract the familiar letterforms, so they become unique and varied graphic elements in dynamic compositions. Peter’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens this Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

07/30/2019

As a naturalist and printmaker, Peggy West seeks to find beauty in the mundane, spirit in the woods, and lessons in the whisper of the leaves. With special emphasis on native species of Illinois, her work brings a visual voice to the struggle, growth, unique nature, and resilience of our prairies and woodlands. Utilizing vintage text, scientific illustration, and historic printmaking techniques, these works strive to underscore each species' message for humankind. Peggy studied intaglio printmaking at Western Illinois University, earned her MA in museum studies, and holds a certificate in botanical art and illustration from the Morton Arboretum. Peggy’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

07/29/2019

In her studio practice, artist Jennifer Printz gravitates towards meditative processes, and her most recent work focuses on mixed media with a gentle and deliberate mark-making that creates an intrinsic presence. Her art has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad, and also featured in publications such as Tricycle and The Carolina Quarterly. Jennifer received an MFA from the University of Georgia, and currently teaches drawing at Florida International University in Miami. Jennifer’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

07/27/2019

Alexander Martin is an artist living and working out of Peoria. Using mixed media and found objects, they make work dealing with the intersection of their q***r and black identities. Alexander’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

07/17/2019

Amy MacLennan is an associate professor at McKendree University and director of the McKendree University Gallery of Art in Lebanon, Illinois. She completed her MFA in painting and drawing at Indiana State University, and has been awarded residencies at Jentel in Wyoming and the Montana Artists Refuge and Eye-Land Coordination, both in Montana. The works on paper shown here are from Amy’s latest Hubris series, which explores contemporary themes and our tendency to repeat the mistakes of the past. Amy’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.

07/16/2019

Elizabeth Mead has exhibited her sculpture and drawings nationally and in Australia, England, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Portugal, and Taiwan—and she has been a resident and visiting artist at institutions including London’s Slade School of Fine Art; Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo; and Burren College of Art in County Clare, Ireland. A recipient of a Japan/US NEA Creative Artist Fellowship, Elizabeth spent six months living and working in Japan—and has been awarded work-stay residencies as well in Skagaströnd, Iceland and Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. Elizabeth has designed theatrical productions with theater companies across the United States, and she serves as a professor of art at the College of William and Mary. Elizabeth’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13. (artist photo credit: Tabitha Timm)

07/15/2019

Currently an associate professor of art at Whitman College in Washington, M Acuff received their BA in art from Augustana College and their MA and MFA in sculpture and intermedia from the University of Iowa. Their artistic practice ranges from object-making to installation to video and performance, and addresses the tangled web of relations—aesthetic, ecologic, and material—that defines the period in human/geologic history now known as the Anthropocene. M has exhibited work in group and solo exhibitions across the country at venues such as Carnation Contemporary, 3S Artspace, the Jundt Museum, and the Attleboro Museum of Art—and held residencies at Signal Fire, Djerassi, the Arctic Circle, Jentel, Ragdale, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts’ Moulin Au Nef program in Auvillar, France. M’s work will be included in the 2019 Prairie Center of the Arts Alumni Show, which opens Saturday, August 10, 6-9pm and runs through September 13.