CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Two shows – a solo exhibition of drawings and paintings by emerging artist Maria Lux and a collection of lifestyle products designed by University of Illinois art students as a study in community-based entrepreneurship – will open Dec. 10 at Figure One, the School of Art + Design’s exhibition space in downtown Champaign.
Lux’s exhibition is part of the “10 to Watch” series, which is introducing the public to intriguing student work throughout Figure One’s inaugural year. Students selected for the series confer with a curator throughout the year to develop work for the solo exhibitions.
Lux utilizes representational drawing and painting to investigate a variety of issues that stem from her interests in science, animal cognition, language and representation itself. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the Memorial Union gallery at Iowa State University, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio art and graphic design in 2006. While a student at Iowa State, Lux received a FOCUS grant, an award made to student artists to help them complete projects that demonstrate creativity, discipline and imagination. Lux’s work also garnered a grant from the Iowa Arts Council. She is a second-year painting and drawing student in the master of fine arts program at Illinois.
The second exhibition, Figure One/Editions, comprises a line of products designed by students in the ceramics, foundations, graphic design, metals and photography programs at Illinois as case studies in product development.
Students participating in the project worked with local vendors to produce a collection of limited edition lifestyle products and undertook the breadth of activity required to bring the products to market, from concept to production and promotion.
The inaugural group of student artists – which also includes most of the artists and designers featured in the “10 to Watch” series – worked with Weiskamp Screen Printing to produce screen-printed T-shirts, The Pottery Place to create ceramic cups and Soybean Press to produce letter-press printed posters and note cards. Each of the businesses and organizations donated varying amounts of materials, labor and facilities in support of the students’ efforts to design their collections.
“We have been overwhelmed by how much support there is in this community for our students’ creative efforts,” said Jimmy Luu, a professor of graphic design and the coordinator of Figure One. “The projects are really fun for the students and give them the opportunity to fulfill one of the missions of the exhibition space, which is collaborative work with members of the community.”
The product lines reflect Figure One’s theme for its inaugural year of exhibitions, “You + I.” The student designers were encouraged to interpret the theme – and explore related concepts such as collaboration, pairing or combining divergent things – in accordance with their personal interests as artists or designers.
Steve Kostell, an instructor in the Foundations Program, is overseeing the line of paper goods; Luu is overseeing the T-shirt line; and Tammie Rubin, a professor in the Ceramics Program, is overseeing the dinnerware collection.
Prices range from $20 for the T-shirts to $50 for a 30 by 44 in. letterpress printed poster. During the month of December, the collections will be available for sale at Figure One, and the proceeds will support its programming.
The School of Art + Design, which is a unit in the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the U. of I., established Figure One this fall as a learning laboratory to help students transition from the safety of the classroom to the rigors of the professional world.
Figure One is funded in part by a gift from alumnus James Avery as a tribute to former art and design faculty member James Ross Shipley, also known as “Coach,” who influenced Avery’s life and career.
Located at 116 N. Walnut St., Figure One is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and Fridays 4-9 p.m. The week of Dec. 12-18, sales hours will be extended, depending upon staff availability; exact hours are yet to be determined, Luu said.
The exhibitions will run through Jan. 15.
More information is available on the gallery's Facebook page.