Jan 19, 2011 9:00 am134 views
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In March 1950, Look magazine published a two-page photo spread about the University of Illinois' third annual contemporary arts festival. The headline read "Corn Country Campus Puts on Biggest U.S.A. Arts Festival," and the caption under pictures of abstract paintings explained that this artwork would spark "heated back-country discussion." Despite the cultural jabs, the article went on to describe the event as "the biggest, most ambitious program of its kind on any U.S. campus." In addition to the photos of paintings, one image showed the student orchestra rehearsing under the baton of famed composer Igor Stravinsky. Other guest artists included composer John Cage, choreographers Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham and writer Dylan Thomas.