Exhibitions & Collections
Illinois Art Station boasts a premier gallery space for the exhibition of artworks created by IAS young artists and guest artists whose work inspires children, youth, & their families. Exhibits rotate roughly every 6 weeks. See below for more information on our current and past exhibitions!
Interested in being a GUEST@IAS artist, apply HERE
Current Exhibition
Narrative Threads: A Community Quilt Exhibit
March 8 – April 12, 2025
In May 2019, Illinois Art Station embarked on a community quilt project to celebrate and commemorate the threads of resistance and persistence that are ever present in the fabric of our McLean County communities. This Narrative Threads project was made possible through partnership with the McLean County Museum of History, Prairie Pride Coalition, and other partners who hosted workshops and encouraged diverse participation and representation in the collaborative artmaking process.
Five years later, in 2024, the words resilience and persistence had taken on new meanings for members of our local communities. It was time that Illinois Art Station and its partners revisited the Narrative Threads project to preserve more stories through the textile arts and to stitch up a momentous block of our communities’ shared histories. From May to November 2024, five additional workshops were held inviting sewists, knitters, crocheters, and artists of all ages to contribute their stitches and squares.
Now another year later, Narrative Threads: A Community Quilt Project is complete. Though the stories and identities that this quilt represents are ever evolving, this communal art piece will always serve as a reminder of how tightly woven together we all are.
“Narrative quilting is such a beautiful and loving way to share a message with those around you, and I love having the opportunity to be a part of this conversation with artists of all ages.” – Joey Hatch, Illinois Art Station
IAS Education Coordinator Joey Hatch saw Narrative Threads through since in genesis in 2019 and quilted this resulting community art piece that is six years in the making. Joey is passionate about sharing her love of learning, color, and art in all its forms with young artists at IAS. As an art teacher, she’s not allowed to choose a favorite art form, but instead dabbles in a little bit of everything as time and inspiration strike.
Past Exhibitions
GUEST@IAS: Rural Perspectives on Design by Sierra Mack-Erb
February 1 – March 1, 2025
“Rural Perspectives on Design” is a multimedia exhibit by Illinois State University anthropology graduate fellow and artist Sierra Mack-Erb (she/they) that combines art, research, and visual storytelling.
“Rural Perspectives on Design” shares interview excerpts, photography, and program materials collected during Sierra’s time working with the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD), a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Housing Assistance Council. CIRD’s goal is to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality of rural America through planning, design, and creative placemaking. As an Applied Community and Economic Development graduate fellow, Sierra spent 7 months supporting this national design program.
As part of her graduate studies, Sierra conducted research study to document rural participants’ experience in the CIRD program and their perspectives on design in rural community development contexts. The intent of this exhibit (in part inspired by a previous GUEST@IAS exhibit, “We Are the Latinos en BloNo: Our Stories in Words & Photographs,” by Yolanda Alonso and visual artifacts collected during her research study with rural participants of CIRD’s Design Learning Cohort and Workshop program) is to democratize access to design research and to uplift the voices of rural community members, who this study would not have been possible without.
On Saturday, February 1, Sierra Mack-Erb presented a brief presentation of their capstone findings. Click the video below to watch.
GUEST@IAS Select Works: Vandana Bajikar & Miya Oliver
December 7, 2024 – January 25, 2025
Vandana Bajikar is a Bloomington-based photographer known for her vivid and adventurous landscapes. Vandana says, “I’m not perfect, as Mother Nature is not perfect. But her imperfection is my inspiration and feeds my soul with joy and happiness.”
Miya is a self-taught illustrator from Matteson, Illinois, who engages in traditional and digital drawing. Miya says, “I have some deficiencies, but it does not stop me from doing what I want and love. I have a big Imagination and Artistic Vision. That’s what my dad said. For me, my Inspiration comes from games, anime, music, and comics.”
Big Art, Little Artists: The Exhibit
October 12 – November 23, 2024
Big Art, Little Artists the exhibition and event showcases the transformative power of early arts exposure and exploration by bringing together local artists whose works are larger than life and young artists whose creative capacities are just as big!
Art After 3PM (AA3) artists ages 6-12 explored sculpture in the style of Tom & Addison Kirk, creating a garden of mixed-media flower sculptures.
Art Elements artists worked up an appetite for glass art in the style of John Miller.
Itsy Arts artists saw the world anew through the vantage point of Harold Gregor’s vibrant landscapes (vibrascapes).
Big Art, Little Artists is presented by: Linda Garbe & The Shirk Family Foundation, with additional support from Kenneth & Laura Berk in honor of Drs. Jeanne & Charles Morris, Blooming Tree Wealth Management, Bloomington-Normal Achievement Foundation, Shari Buckellew, Fox & Hounds, Ltd., John & Marilyn Freese, Johnston Financial Services, Darlene & Marc Miller, Dr. Kirk Noraian, Drs. Chang Su-Russell & Luke Russell, Specs Around Town, & WGLT
Three’s A Party: Celebrating 3 Years at 101 E. Vernon
September 7 -28, 2024
Illinois art station opened its doors at 101 E. Vernon Avenue to the community in September 2021 and countless pieces of art have been made inside ever since!
IAS programming happens both inside this building and out in communities. Since 2021, IAS has shared tens of thousands of artmaking moments with young artists, families, and community members. In 2023, Illinois Art Station facilitated 9,500 individual artmaking experiences and 50 percent of those happened within these walls! IAS looks forward to another year of transformative artmaking with young artists from all neighborhoods and backgrounds thanks to supporters and visitors like you!
GUEST@IAS: Intersections/Interconnections by Alexander Martin & Krystopher Dudley Brown of the Peoria Guild of Black Artists
June 15 – August 10, 2024
People exist in many different intersections of identity, culture, place, and community. During Pride Month, we gather to celebrate the lives, history, culture, and community of LGBTQIA+ people. When celebrating members of a community or thinking about culture within community, it’s important to look at these intersections. KRYSTOPHER DUDLEY BROWN (he/him) and ALEXANDER MARTIN (she/her) are artists that exist in and at these intersections. As Black and Trans individuals, they navigate between interconnected communities, spaces, and places. This exhibition acts as a celebration of these intersections — highlighting these voices and honoring their intersectional perspectives.
“My practice takes the largely oral and embodied traditions of my communities (Black, Trans, Queer, Appalachian) and brings them into public, academic, and art spaces via mixed media work, performance, dance, and education, in an effort to shift the dominant canon,” says Alexander.
“I create most of my work from recycled items or ’trash’ to promote recycling and because I’m also generally without funds for my artmaking,” says Krystopher. “I want to teach kids and adults everywhere that creating doesn’t have to depend on
money and expensive materials to be great.”
money and expensive materials to be great.”
Krystopher and Alexander are members of the Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA), which acts as a group to highlight and celebrate Black creatives, as well as share resources and opportunities. Discover more about PGOBA and its mission and manifesto at peoriagoba.com
Gender Envy is a Central Illinois coalition creating space for underrepresented genders in the music industry.
This exhibition is made possible by sponsors and partners of Gender Envy Pride (Saturday, June 15) 2024:
Illinois Art Station, Gender Envy, Peoria Guild of Black Artists (PGOBA), Central Illinois FRIENDS, Prairie Pride Coalition, WEFT 90.1FM, Palace Events, COVID Safe CU, Butter Twice & Again, The Coffeehouse, Hip Cat Music School, The Bistro, WGLT 89.1FM, Normal Public Library, Children’s Discovery Museum, & Bloomington Public Library.
It’s Our Turn to Roll: an Analog Game Design exhibit by Art Elements Artists
April 13 – May 25, 2024
Inspired by humanity’s universal and intersectional love of games of all kinds, Art Elements artists spent six weeks exploring the art of analog game design before designing their own versions of some of their favorites. Analog games include anything from dice games to card games, to board games, to physical sports, like soccer or tennis, and even carnival games! Young artists had to consider how game pieces, dice, cards, themes, and mechanics influence our desire to play games with each other. Games need to be both interesting and fun to make us want to play again and again!
Art Elements artists are homeschool students ages 5 to 16 who spend their Fridays at Illinois Art Station in the Fall and Spring. Each Art Element class section (elementary and teen) lasts six weeks. The works on display here were all created from March 1 through April 5, 2024.
GUEST@IAS: Curse of the Cute by Lauren Guttschow
February 17 – March 30, 2024
Curse of the Cute by Bloomington-based artist Lauren Guttschow is Illinois Art Station’s fourth GUEST@IAS exhibition.
Guttschow’s multimedia exhibition “Curse of the Cute” references a joke the artist makes about her artwork. The artist explains, “Whenever I try to express my love of horror and terror, my love of cute always seems to seep out. The ‘scary art’ turns out to be adorable. I call it my ‘Curse of the Cute.’”
“Throughout my life, art has always been a way for me to express myself,” says Guttschow. “I was diagnosed with Dyslexia at a young age and never felt I could properly express myself with words. In school, I would often look forward to my favorite subject – art. I would spend most of my free time admiring the art I saw in mangas, cartoon shows, and animes. I had a sketchbook with me at all times so I could draw whenever I had time. Other students would try to upset me by calling me ‘weird,’ but I always took it as a compliment.”
Art Salad: A Community Exhibition Inspired by the Art of Ruth Asawa & Alison Knowles
January 13 – February 10, 2024
Salad: a mixture of ingredients of various colors & textures usually served with a dressing to enhance flavor
Art Salad: a mixture of individual artworks of various colors & textures made by and shared with a community to enhance meaning & enjoyment
Use your artistry skills to create with us & add some flavor to our collaborative exhibition. Create original works of art onsite at Illinois Art Station and install them along with the artworks of fellow young artists, families, friends, and community members. Use the materials provided to add your own special ingredient to our “Art Salad.”
Originally performed in London at the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1962, “Make a Salad” has been presented by Alison Knowles and her collaborators more than one dozen times in cities around the world. Each performance of the piece is unique, but the basic ingredients include Knowles preparing a crowd-worthy salad by chopping ingredients to live music, tossing the salad in the air, and then sharing it with a hungry audience.
Ruth Asawa lived to collaborate. “She was a scrounger. She gathered cast-off materials to use as art supplies so that she would have them on hand and could share with others.” Her home was her studio and a community space for creating together. Ruth and her family were interred in Japanese American internment camps in California during World War II. “Asawa learned from her internment at age 16 that the only security available to her … was to ‘do what one wanted to do by choice.’”
GUEST@IAS: dear dream diary…
November 11, 2023 – January 6, 2024
Illinois Art Station presents its third GUEST@IAS solo show, dear dream diary… by Central Illinois musician, animator, and illustrator RNotte (pronounced “ar-NOH-tay”). dear dream diary… explores the sometimes simple, sometimes fantastical dreams of the artist through mixed-media artworks, inspiring our young artists and families to dream big or small — either way your dreams are works of art.
RNotte is the pen name of Ricco Dubrava, a music producer, animator, and visual artist from Downs, Illinois. Their art style is playful, slightly childish, and inspired by the strange dreams they have almost every night. Some of the more common topics in RNotte’s dreams, and subsequent art, are strange creatures, imaginary people, their fish Feliciano getting into weird situations, family members not acting as they should, and mishaps at their job as a freelance animator.
GUEST@IAS: We Are The Latinos en BloNo: Nuestras historias en palabras y fotografías
September 16 – November 4, 2023
Over time, Yolanda Alonso has learned why the Latino community was often not connected or involved in the place they now live. Latinos en BloNo seeks to establish a bridge for the Latino community and become an effective tool to help overcome the culture shock of living in a place with a different language and culture.
In January 2023, Latinos en BloNo began a new phase of publication by sharing serial interviews in three parts to meet and recognize outstanding Latinos in the region with the slogan: We Are the Latinos en BloNo. The interviews allow us to learn from the interviewees’ migration stories and their experiences in a new country as well as everything that comes with it: language, customs, food, and different activities.
Now, thanks to the space provided by Illinois Art Station, the interviews have gone from digital to physical publication. We will continue to share amazing stories from the Latino community through the Latinos en BloNo project through words and photographs. We Are The Latinos en BloNo: Our Stories in Words & Photographs.
Explore the stories featured in the exhibit in Spanish and English HERE.
Latinos en BloNo es un blog en Instagram y Facebook. Un proyecto que nació en Abril 2022 con la idea de ser un puente para la comunidad latina de Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.
Con el paso del tiempo, Yolanda pudo conocer numerosas razones por las que la comunidad latina no logra conectar muchas de las ocasiones en el lugar que ahora vive, por lo que Latinos en BloNo busca ser un puente para la comunidad latina y una herramienta efectiva que ayude a superar el ‘shock cultural’ que supone vivir en un lugar con un idioma y cultura diferente.
En enero 2023 Latinos en BloNo inició una nueva etapa al compartir entrevistas seriadas en tres partes para conocer y reconocer a latinos destacados de la región con el slogan: “We Are The Latinos en BloNo”. Las entrevistas han permitido aprender de las historias de migración de los entrevistados y su experiencia en un país nuevo con todo lo que eso conlleva: idioma, costumbres, alimentos y actividades diferentes.
Las entrevistas ahora han pasado de la publicación digital a la física gracias al espacio que nos brindó Illinois Art Station, para seguir compartiendo con la comunidad el proyecto de Latinos en BloNo y las historias de su comunidad con la exposición: We Are the Latinos en BloNo: Our Stories in Words & Photographs. (We Are the Latinos en BloNo: Nuestras historias en palabras y fotografías).
Things Are Art, Too!
August 5 – September 9, 2023
Summer at Illinois Art Station is a beautifully busy time for all ages. As educators, we hope to teach our friends and visitors how to grow and develop through the arts. And as young artists, we hope that you learn how to navigate your world through the visual arts and make it special as only an artist can.
We spent time Summer 2023 thinking about how artists help design the things we use and utilize every day — and then reenvisioning how we create and interact with them.
ARTerrarium
June 24 – July 29, 2023
Welcome to the Illinois Art Station ARTerrarium, IAS’s newest immersive and interactive exhibit!
Have you heard of a terrarium before? Terrariums are little glass homes for small plants that are far from their natural habitats. They can be a great way to grow several small plants from the same ecosystem in a way that we can enjoy them with minimal extra care.
There are two main types of terrariums. Our ARTerrarium is an Open Terrarium that needs you and your young artists to help take care of its artastic self.
#3YearsIn3Lines: A Resiliency Collective Project
May 6 – June 17, 2023
Illinois Art Station invites you to experience its newest community-curated exhibit and program series, #3YearsIn3Lines: A Resiliency Collective Project.
Sponsored by Illinois Humanities, and produced by Illinois Association of Museums (IAM) and NAMI Illinois, the Resiliency Collective was initiated to invite the public to participate in humanities-focused dialogue about mental health topics.
Illinois Art Station (Normal), alongside Casa Michoacán (Chicago, West Chicago, Carbondale), and the West Chicago City Museum (West Chicago), welcomed you to our virtual and physical spaces throughout the month of May 2023 to process, observe, and express in a creative, supportive space.
#3YearsIn3Lines is the contribution of Illinois Art Station and its McLean County partners (including Creative Healing Art Therapy, Just Words Consulting Group, LLC, and the Department of Psychology at Illinois State University) to the Resiliency Collective.
#3YearsIn3Lines is a continuation of the regional collecting efforts of the McLean County Museum of History and its community partners to capture and curate the pandemic experiences of McLean County residents. #3YearsIn3Lines asked statewide participants to reflect on their pandemic experiences, create works of art (both visual and written) inspired by those experiences, and contribute those visual and written works to this collecting and exhibiting project. Select submissions from McLean County residents are archived in perpetuity by the McLean County Museum of History as part of its COVID-19: The McLean County Experience collection.
Spread Love, Not Germs: An Exhibit of Love for Essential People
March 25 – April 22, 2023
Essential Workers are people who do critically important jobs that help other people live their lives. These workers are Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Caregivers, Farmers, Grocery Store Staff, Delivery Drivers, and others we rely on to feed and take care of us. Countless Essential Workers work hard every day to help keep us healthy and safe as they risk their own health and safety to do their jobs.
Though we can never thank these people enough for the work they do, one small token of appreciation was a worldwide art installation that brought everyone together at a time when we needed to stay apart and showed our Essential Workers how thankful we were for everything that they did and still do for us.
The Hearts in the Window movement began in March 2020 in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada when a woman named Bailey Grose started a community-wide scavenger hunt. She first asked a few families to participate, but within three days she received photos from more than 700 families eager to show love for their neighbors and Essential Workers everywhere. Bailey’s Hearts in the Window idea went “viral” and spread all over the world as a way to share messages of hope, gratitude, and love during unprecedented times.
GUEST@IAS: A Home For Monstars by Starlight-Jaxsun formerly of Monster Girl Brigade
February 18 – March 11, 2023
Be our GUEST!
Illinois Art Station welcomes artist Starlight-Jaxsun (they/them) of Monster Girl Brigade as our first GUEST artist of 2023! A Home For Monstars is a show about identity and self expression through loving oneself. It’s about magic, monsters, love, and a home each of us carries in our hearts.
“I’ve always viewed my art as a diary,” says Starlight-Jaxsun. “I create pieces that are colorful, eye catching, monstrous. Pieces that will draw in as many people as possible through the use of color, subject matter, and humor lots of time. I use bold, neon, vivid colors to combat social injustices, personal trauma, and as a bridge. I want my work to help at least one other person out there that’s feeling similar or how I did in my past. I want it to be a bridge back to their own self for that person. A bridge of realization that they aren’t alone in their feelings.”
Follow Starlight-Jaxsun on IG @ruminationsofthewild
Itsy Arts On Location: The Exhibit
January 7 – February 11, 2023
Itsy Arts On Location (formerly Itsy Studio: In the Community) is Illinois Art Station’s longest running program. This early learning, outreach series has traveled to libraries and schools around Bloomington-Normal since 2018 – as long as IAS has been offering community education – to provide transformative, hands-on experiences in the visual arts to our youngest artists and families.
From Fall 2019 through Spring 2022, Itsy Arts On Location was offered in partnership with PNC Grow Up Great® and supported by funds granted by the PNC Foundation.*
In that time, IAS educators and researchers visited Brigham Early Learning Center (Unit 5), Sarah Raymond School of Early Education (District 87), and Heartland Head Start to facilitate art making lessons focused on the exploration of six major emotions: Happy, Sad, Mad, Excited, Surprised, & Calm. Between the three sites of early learning, IAS art educators engaged weekly with more than 400 three- to four-year-olds in 2019-21 (excepting peak COVID in 2020-21) and almost 200 four-year-olds in 2021-22.
Itsy Arts On Location: The Exhibit was displayed at Normal Public Library from December 16 – 31, 2022.
String Theory
November 19 – December 31, 2022
String theory isn’t only for physicists. Here at Illinois Art Station, we have a theory too. Art is at its best when people feel connected to it. One way to feel connected to art is to look at it. Another way to feel connected to art is to make it. In this collaborative installation exhibit, you get to do both! Will you help us create an interwoven artwork that connects us all?!
Aniversario de Papel / Paper Anniversary
23 de septiembre – 29 de octubre de 2022
Del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre, celebramos las culturas, contribuciones y la creatividad de las comunidades latinx,* hispanas y latinas/o/e-identificativas de todo el mundo. Lo que hoy conocemos como el Mes de la Herencia Hispana-Latina se alinea con los aniversarios de independencia de varias naciones latinoamericanas. Para celebrar el aniversario de papel (1 año) de IAS y nuestra colaboración con Conexiones Latinas del Condado de McLean, ¡les presentamos esta exhibición de papel inspirada en el arte!
From September 15 to October 15, we celebrate the cultures, contributions, and creativity of Latinx,* Hispanic, and Latino/a/e-identifying communities around the world. What we know today as Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month aligns with the independence anniversaries of several Latin American nations. In celebration of IAS’s paper (1 year) anniversary and our collaboration with Conexiones Latinas de McLean County, we present to you this paper art-inspired exhibit!
*Illinois Art Station usa “Latinx” además de Hispano y Latino/a/e para representar las identidades de género no binario, no conforme, y las personas que amplían el género, así como las vidas de las personas indígenas, brasileñas y otras personas que no hablan español.
*Illinois Art Station uses “Latinx” in addition to Hispanic and Latino/a/e to represent the identities of non-binary, gender non-conforming, and gender-expansive people, as well as the lives of Indigenous, Brazilian, and other non-Spanish speaking people.
We Need a Bigger Boat
June 25 – August 13, 2022
During the week of June 13-17, 2022 local youth from the ages of 6 to 16 were invited to participate in an Empowerment Through Art Camp here at Illinois Art Station. The goal of this camp was to provide participating youth with an opportunity for self-expression through the visual arts. In that week, campers explored the art of Mark Bradford and Bethany Collins and many more practicing and past artists. We Need a Bigger Boat was inspired by Bradford’s Mithra (2008) and Collin’s practice of erasure poetry. Empowerment Through Art Camp was made possible by the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation Mirza Arts & Culture Grant.
Stuck Together!
May 4, 2022 – June 8, 2022
Stuck Together is a collaborative installation. This means more than one artist contributes to the final artwork and it is created for the space in which it is located. So, who are the artists in Stuck Together? You are!
IAS Art Educator Showcase
November 10 – December 31, 2021
Featuring artworks created by IAS art educators as part of their lesson planning process, this exhibition highlights the important work of our art education team and their artistic talents.
PAL2 Pop-Up Exhibition
October 17, 2021
Featuring artworks of Illinois State University art students, curated by IAS Graduate Art Educator Marissa Innocenzi.
Featured Exhibitions
Designing Discoveries
October 27 – December 18, 2022 at University Galleries at Illinois State University.
Designing Discoveries, celebrating 40 years of Design Streak Studio at ISU, featured the branding created by Design Streak Studio students and faculty for Illinois Art Station in 2018.
Design Streak Studio is a research based social innovation lab focused on human-centered service design. It strives to facilitate an interdisciplinary environment promoting discovery, and experimentation engaging in experiential and service learning. In collaboration with various organizations, Design Streak Studio-lab combines the process of design thinking and making — conducting ethnographic research and collecting quantitative data to create new and authentic solutions to society’s complex problems. The studio-lab is committed to producing solutions of exceptional quality, and embracing design aesthetics to find a balance between form and function. Each project is valued for providing long term sustainability with a strong emphasis on morality and social justice.
Virtual Exhibitions
Fear + Comfort
October 5 – November 21, 2021
Teen artists in IAS’s fall 2021 Arts in Action program examined their personal fears as well as those things that bring them comfort. The works of art in Fear + Comfort are a reflection on these examinations.
