“Making Our History: Artists Render Lincoln’s Legacies,” an innovative physical and digital art exhibit funded by the University of Illinois Presidential Initiative: Expanding the Impact of the Arts and Humanities. Presented in conjunction with the UIS Center for Lincoln Studies, the UIS Visual Arts Gallery, the Springfield Art Association and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, “Making Our History” is the culmination of a yearlong virtual residency project.
A reception to open the exhibit will happen simultaneously at all three exhibit sites on Thursday, August 11 from 4:30pm-7pm.: The ALPLM Lincoln Atrium; The UIS Visual Arts Gallery; and, The Springfield Art Association’s M.G. Nelson Family Gallery. Reservations are not required for the reception and is free and open to the public.
Over the past year, twenty Illinois artists have been in a virtual residency with the UIS Center for Lincoln Studies to create twenty original artworks on Lincoln’s legacies under the guidance of Professors Graham Peck and Brytton Bjorngaard. The art will be exhibited at UIS Visual Arts Gallery, the Springfield Art Association and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library from Thursday, Aug. 11 through Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. Accompanying the art will be twenty professionally produced short videos documenting the artistic process and the artists’ interpretations of Lincoln’s legacies.
Artists participating in the exhibit are William Blake, Julie Cowan, Keenan Dailey, David Hinds, Danny Houk, Larsen Husby, Jordan Fein, Lori Fuller, Industry of the Ordinary (Adam Brooks & Mathew Wilson), Lindsay Johnson, Kelly Kristin Jones, Judith Joseph, Judith Mayer, Alexander Martin, Mark Nelson, Nathan Peck, Don Pollack, Krista Shelton, Corey Smith and Billie Theide.
To culminate the exhibit, Adam I.P. Smith, the Edward Orsborn Professor of U.S. Politics and Political History at the University of Oxford, will speak on Lincoln’s legacy Sept. 15 in a free public lecture at UIS.
The three venues especially welcome visits by K-12 teachers and their students. After the close of the physical exhibit, age-appropriate curriculum projects that address state standards will be built into a digital “Making Our History” exhibit to provide teachers throughout the state with engaging and accessible curriculum about Lincoln’s legacies.
The UIS Visual Arts Gallery is centrally located on the UIS campus in the Health and Science Building, room 201 (HSB 201). Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The Springfield Art Association’s M.G. Nelson Family Gallery is located at 700 North 4th Street in Springfield. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is located at 112 N. Sixth St. in Springfield. It is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information, visit the UIS Center for Lincoln Studies website at uis.edu/cfls/our-projects or the Visual Arts Gallery website at uis.edu/visual-arts/visual-arts-galleries. Questions may be directed to the Center for Lincoln Studies at 217-206-8663 or asutt4@uis.edu, or to the UIS Visual Arts Gallery at 217-206-6506 or alach3@uis.edu.