CHAMPAIGN, Ill. University of Illinois students will exhibit new works in the annual Master of Fine Arts Exhibition at the UI's Krannert Art Museum March 9-April 7.
Always lively and provocative, the annual exhibition provides graduate-student artists in the UI School of Art and Design the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the campus community just before they exit academia. This year's exhibition features art by 14 students working in a variety of media.
The shows opening reception, from 6-8 p.m. March 9, is free and open to the public.
During the show's run, student artists will talk about their work as part of the museums Midweek ArtSpeak program, a Wednesday noontime lecture series. Dates and speakers:
March 13, John Cichon, sculpture;
March 20, Feng Feng, industrial design;
March 27, Meredith Cantor, photography;
April 3, Nicholas Schanz, sculpture.
Also opening at the museum in March are two other new exhibitions:
"Meditation and Transformation: Devotional Arts of Tibet," March 26 through May 5. In collaboration with the UIs Ford Foundation program "Arts of the Sacred," Tibetan monk-artist Venerable Tenzin Jamyang will visit the museum March 26 through April 7 to create an intricate mandala sand painting. Museum-goers may view the work in progress or the finished work along with other devotional Buddhist art through May 5.
"Featured Works VIII: Confronting Mortality, March 15 through May 12. With examples dating from ancient Egypt to modern America, this exhibition explores ways and means by which different cultures have remembered and commemorated their dead.
Scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition is a lecture and roundtable discussion, "Confronting Mortality: Remembering the Dead," at 7 p.m. April 10 in the museum auditorium. Kerry Morgan, the museums curator of collections, will moderate the discussion. Other participants will include Vera Duncanson, chaplain, Provena Covenant Medical Center; Faith Roberts, Community Parish Nurse Program coordinator, Carle Foundation Hospital; and photography collector Brian K. Simpson. The event is supported by the Lorado Taft Lectureship on Art Fund and the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
The Krannert Art Museum is located on the UI campus at 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign, one block east of Memorial Stadium. The museum is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; until 8 p.m. on Wednesday; and from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. A donation of $3 is suggested.