Heartland

              I l l i n o i s A r t s C o u n c i l
H E ART LAND, a q uar t e rl y pu bl ica t ion of the Illinoi s A rts Cou n c il , a n ag e n c y o f t h e s t ate of Il l inoi s Vo lu me 8, Number 4 F a ll 2 0 0 3 ILLINOIS MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY PROJECT A HUGE SUCCESS
his summer, the Illinois Arts Council
(IAC) conducted residencies, work-shops,
and public programs as part of
the second year of the Illinois Mississippi
River Valley Project (IMRVP). Schools,
parks, community centers, and arts organi-zations
along the river valley in East St.
Louis, Cairo, Rock Island, Carbondale,
Marion, Moline, Belleville, and Macomb
explored the importance of the river to
their communities and ways of life.
During the weekend of August 15-17, an
Illinois Mississippi River Valley Festival
Weekend for Teachers and Artists was held
on the Spirit of Dubuque riverboat, at the
Spring Street Gallery and at the DeSoto
Hotel in Galena, Illinois.Over 30 artists and
teachers participated in professional devel-opment
workshops on marketing, fund-raising,
developing school residencies,
ceramics, playwriting, storytelling, and
song-writing while cruising along the
Mighty Mississippi.
Saturday evening, an audience of
over 200 enjoyed Mississippi River
music, songs, and stories performed
by artists who had been identified
by IMRVP fieldworker, community
scholar, and singer/songwriter, Chris
Vallillo, who served as master of
ceremonies. Performers included
poet and storyteller Shellie Moore
Guy (Rock Island); Bluegrass musi-cians,
The Lodge Brothers
(Jerseyville); storyteller, Marilyn
Kinsella (Fairview Heights); folk
musicians, Carter and Connelley
(Carbondale); poet and historian
John Knoepfle (Auburn);
and the Franz Jackson
Trio (Chicago by way of
Rock Island) who ended
the night with jazz and
blues hits.
Shirley R. Madigan,
IAC Chairman, enthusi-astically
greeted the
crowd.“The IMRVP has
awakened the recogni-tion
of the Mississippi
River arts and artists that
are so much a part of the
culture and heritage of
this historically rich part
of Illinois.We are proud
to have spearheaded this
program and look forward
to reaping the rewards of our work in the
years to come,” she declared. The evening
events were attended by Illinois House
Speaker Michael Madigan, Chicago,
Representative Jim Sacia, Freeport, and
Galena Alderman Tom Brusch. Former
State Representatives Dan Pierce and Ron
Lawfer also attended the performances
along the scenic riverboat cruise.
Performances by Quad Cities Poet and
historian,Nate Lawrence,Quad Cities Ballet
Folklorico, and Warren Brown as Mark Twain
rounded-out the weekend.
This project is partially supported by
funds from the Challenge America program
Franz Jackson Trio of the National Endowment for the Arts.
COME TO THE ARTISTS SHOWCASE
LEARN ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES TO BRING ARTISTS TO YOUR COMMUNITY
I
WTTW11 PRESENTS ARTS ACROSS ILLINOIS: CENTERSTAGE
A SPECIAL ONE-HOUR BROADCAST FROM WTTW11’S GRAINGER STUDIO
TTW11, the television home of
Network Chicago, celebrated its
third season of Arts Across Illinois
with CenterStage, an exciting one-hour
entertainment special that showcased a
wide variety of talented musicians, dancers
and storytellers from throughout Illinois.
Bob Sirott, host of WTTW11’s nightly
flagship program Chicago Tonight, returned
to host this year’s Arts Across Illinois:
CenterStage special. Arts Across Illinois, a
series of programs made possible by the
Illinois Arts Council (IAC) through the
support of Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
and the Illinois General Assembly, features
the work of individual artists, arts organiza-tions
and community groups that receive
support from the IAC.
This year’s Arts Across Illinois CenterStage
performers included:
bohola, a four-member Irish-American
ensemble based in Orland Park that uses the
accordion, fiddle and dordan to weave a
musical path back to their Irish roots.
Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago,
exemplified the high energy, playfully sexy,
and sometimes acrobatic nature of jazz dance.
Linda Gorham, a captivating and ener-getic
African-American storyteller from
Aurora whose original stories convey
lessons about compassion, empowerment
and inner-peace.
Jazz vocalist, Margaret Carlson of
Batavia, who recently received a Grammy
nomination for her second CD, This
Christmas…my favorite things.
The LeVeck String Quartet, whose
members are from Mattoon, Charleston and
Champaign, has circled the globe to inter-national
acclaim, playing haunting melodies
and enchanting tunes with technical
precision and artistic passion.
Liam Teague and Robert
Chappell of DeKalb, garner inspira-tion
from a wide range of music and
compose original pieces intended to
heighten knowledge of the steelpan-a
steeldrum formed from a 55-gallon
oil drum. Together, they demonstrate their
mastery of the steelpan—Teague’s trade-mark—
and the piano, marimba and Indian
tabla—Chappell’s specialities.
Chicago flutist and composer Nicole
Mitchell was joined by her jazz band,
Black Earth Ensemble, interlacing swing,
blues, avante garde jazz, bebop, Eastern
melodies, Western classical harmonies and
African rhythms.
In addition to the broadcast in Chicago,
this program will be carried throughout
Illinois on public television stations in
Champaign/Urbana, Carbondale, Peoria,
Springfield and others. Arts Across Illinois
CenterStage will also be offered to city cable
systems to encourage Illinois residents to
explore and enjoy the wide array of visual
and performing arts opportunities made
available with the help of the Illinois Arts
Council.
Information about Arts Across Illinois
is available at
www.networkchicago.com/centerstage.
W
IAC Chairman Shirley R. Madigan and Spring St. Gallery Owner David Young
T
Margaret Carlson and Bob Sirott
llinois Arts Council, in cooperation with
the Hinsdale Center for the Arts, will be
hosting an Artist Showcase on
Monday, November 10, 2003 at the Holiday Inn
Select Convention Center in Tinley Park.
Participants will have the opportunity to meet
professional artists from the IAC Arts-in-
Education (AIE) and Artstour rosters, view
samples of the artists’ work and hear them
describe what they do in the classroom and
community.
AIE and Artstour programs provide financial
support to not-for-profit organizations through-out
the state for artist residencies and perform-ances.
This event will be especially beneficial for
anyone interested in increasing arts activities in
their community: K-12 educators, parents,
volunteers, community college faculty, staff
representatives from libraries, schools, churches,
civic, service, community and arts organizations.
Organizations more than 150 miles from the
Showcase site may be eligible for a travel stipend.
Teachers participating in the full event will be
eligible for CPDU credit. Registration before
Oct. 31st is $25, after Nov. 1 $30. For more
information on the Artist Showcase, please visit
the IAC website at www.state.il.us/agency/iac
or contact IAC staff at 312/814-6780.
ILLINOIS ARTS TOUR ROSTER NOW AVAILABLE ON LINE AT www.state.il.us/agency/iac