Monmouth News

I participated in a conference call for arts advocates on behalf of the ITA on October 22, 2009. It was set up by Arts Alliance Illinois and featured input from legislators, lobbyists, and Mr. Terry Scrogum, Executive Director of the Illinois Arts Council. Mostly it was bad news. State arts funding has declined by an average of 49% this year and next year may be even grimmer. At a total of 7.8 million dollars this is the lowest state dollar amount investment in the arts since 1988. That works out to an Illinois per capita investment in the arts of 66 cents.

Our state legislators have now left Springfield until after the February primary elections effectively putting off dealing with any of the state’s many budget problems (including the arts) for another three months. This is not good, but it does mean that your state representatives may be more accessible in and around their home districts. If you will go to the web site below and enter your zip code, you can get contact information for your specific state legislators. I would ask you phone their office or send a letter to them. Tell them that you are a constituent and mention any local arts affiliations you have (e.g. The Buchanan Center for the Arts). Ask them to support some restoration of funding for the Arts Council and to support coherent tax reform for the state of Illinois. http://capwiz.com/artsusa/il/state/main/?state=IL

Are you looking to volunteer for the arts or to find a volunteer project for your arts group to participate in? Try this site and plug in your state, area, city, or zip code. Wow! You may even stumble on something that pays. http://www.allforgood.org/search#q=arts&num=10&start=1&vol_loc=Illinois&timeperiod=everything&cache=1

There is at least some good news on the national arts scene. The U.S. Congress Approved 12.5 million dollars in budget Increases for the Arts and Humanities Endowments on October 29th. The final budget was decided in conference week and passed by a vote of 247–178 in the House and 72–28 in the Senate. To find out if your congressman supported the bill and to send an e-mail either congratulating or chastising go to: http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=14261276

OFTA Features Prairie Plant Watercolorist George Olson

Join OFTA(Old Friends Talk Arts) on Wednesday, November 11th at 10:00 AM at the Buchanan Center for the Arts in downtown Monmouth for a presentation on “Drawing the Plants of the Prairie” by George Olson, a well known watercolorist.

Professor Olson was on the faculty of the College of Wooster in Ohio, where he taught art from 1963 to 2000. His prairie plant studies have been exhibited widely in the U.S. and England, including more than thirty one-person exhibitions at such venues as the British Museum of Natural History, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Royal Horticultural Society. He and his wife Pat now live outside of Woodhull, IL

In his 2005 book with essayist John Madson, The Elemental Prairie: Sixty Tallgrass Plants, Olson revealed his love for the mid-western prairie and his devotion to the rendering of its astoundingly diverse plant life. One reviewer, Robert McCracken Peck of the Academy of Natural Sciences, commented “George Olson and John Madson are the artist laureate and poet laureate of the prairie. They capture its beauty, complexity, and magic in ways that allow us to really see and feel and understand this uniquely American habitat and all that it represents. The Elemental Prairie’s compelling mix of illustration and text make it one of the best natural history publications I have seen in a very long time.”

OFTA programs are available to every member of the community free of charge and come with complimentary coffee and cookies. If you have an arts related topic you would like addressed or have an arts related program you would like to present in 2010, please contact Jim De Young, the OFTA coordinator, at 734-5529 or jdeyoung@maplecity.com

STONE GLEANINGS: Mr. Lewis moved from the W. M. James house into Mrs. Frank Johnson's house in the east part of town.

Bruce Morath has been named chief deputy of the Warren County Sheriff's Department, effective, Oct.

Old Sleepy Eye stoneware pieces, made by Weirs Pottery Company located in Monmouth, Ill., were given away as premiums in flour sacks by the Sleepy Eye Milling Company from around 1883 through 1921.

Former Momouth College English Professor and now painter extraordinarie, Gary Willhardt, will be featured as the speaker at the October Old Friends Talk Art meeting at the Buchanan Center for the Arts in Monmouth on Wed. October 14th at 10:00 AM. Willhardt will be talking with us about his life and his art. His paintings and those of his classmate’s, Fred Wackerle, are currently on display at the Buchanan Center. Having known Gary for well over 30 years, I think I can promise delightful hour of insight blended with a goodly dollop of humor. OFTA meets the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Buchanan Center in downtown Monmouth, IL.

Who: St. Norbert College at No. 12 Monmouth College Where: Zorn Memorial Stadium, Monmouth, Ill.

Paul Peterson shudders to think what would have happened if Bob Dickason had not seen his son Brandon pinned underneath a tractor in Cameron earlier this month.

Monmouth-Roseville Superintendent Paul Woehlke unveiled the district's new Web site at Tuesday night's school board meeting.

Jenna Link, Warren County Health Department administrator, reported to the Warren County Board meeting on Sept.

Hoffman Estates High School graduate Nirmam Vasanwala, 19, of Streamwood died early Thursday morning in a fall from the balcony of his 12th-floor apartment at Saint Louis University.

OFTA (Old Friends Talk Arts) will hold its next meeting at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, September 9th at the Buchanan Center for the Arts in downtown Monmouth. The program will be a review of the 64 Arts Exhibition. A panel of local artists will participate with Monmouth College Emeritus Professor of Art Harlow Blum serving as discussion leader. Others who will be commenting are John Vellenga, Jane Youngquist, Linda Sickmon, Susan Twomey, and John Van Kirk.

There is no question about the public success of the Arts 64 show with over 200 people attending its gala opening on August 21st. The OFTA panel will go more deeply into the content of the exhibition and some of the pieces that were selected as prize winners by Preston Jackson. the nationally known artist and teacher at Chicago’s School of the Art Institute. The panel will also talk about how a juried exhibition is organized, how it differs from an open entry show, and how it represents a step up in terms of the reputation of an art gallery. The 64 Arts show runs through September 19th.

OFTA holds regular programs on the second Wednesday of each month and all members of the public are welcome. There is no admission charge and complimentary refreshments are always available. Further information about the Buchanan Center can be found at http://bcaarts.org If you would like to do a program or would like to suggest a program topic for the 2010 OFTA year, please contact Jim De Young at jdeyoung@maplecity.com

The 2009 Prime Beef Princess Pageant will held Thursday, Sept. 3, at Monmouth College's Dahl Chapel & Auditorium, at 7 p.m. Sixteen Warren County young ladies will be vying for the title, prizes, featured in the festival parade, and the privilege of reigning during the annual Prime Beef Festival during Labor Day week.

Cancer survivors, supporters and caregivers were out in full force Friday and Saturday, Aug.

Cancer survivors, supporters and caregivers were out in full force Friday and Saturday, Aug.

Wrestling with reduced budgets is the advocacy issue of the month. Stories of arts woes seem to appear in the papers and on the web sites I monitor with increasing frequency.

The Buchanan Center for the Arts in Monmouth (on whose board I sit) joined the chorus last week as it contemplated the impact of a 46% decrease in Illinois Arts Council funding. Other agencies in your home communities are no doubt dealing with similar crises. The Illinois Theatre Association (on whose board I also sit) is an Arts Council recipient and will be looking at funding cuts too.

So I ask you again to communicate with your legislators and our governor. For background look at the Illinois Arts Alliance’s summary that deals with the impact of FY09 arts cuts. It gives you all the ammunition you need to compose a letter or e-mail. http://artsalliance.org/docs/090617/Survey%20Summary.pdf

In spite of difficulties the arts do continue to function. First Lady Michelle Obama has been traveling the country promoting arts education early and often. See the full article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/24/national/w122858D08.DTL&type=news

The Americans for the Arts remind us that October is National Arts and Humanities Month "Be one of the 10,000 communities and millions of people who celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month every October. . For more information, contact Americans for the Arts at nahm@artsusa.org."

As noted by Americans for the Arts and supported by outside research, we should continue to remember that participants in arts programs are more likely to have higher test scores than non-participants. Studies continue to show that arts programs help keep students from dropping out of school. Working in the arts encourages the development of creativity, problem solving, and teamwork. Get a checklist titled: “Ten ways for parents to help promote the arts for their children.” at: http://www.americansforthearts.org/public_awareness/get_involved/001.asp

On Wed. August 12th at 10:00 am in the gallery at the Buchanan Center in Monmouth, IL, OFTA(Old Friends Talk Arts)will join Vickie Young-Briscoe in exploring the world of aesthetics.

“What,” you may well ask, “is aesthetics?”

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of artistic experience. i.e. it asks questions like “What is beauty?” or “What kinds of principles define how or why we appreciate art?”

Vickie Young-Briscoe will address these questions by talking about the principles put forward by Francis Slattery in a book titled Hazard, Form, and Value. You might not have time to read the book, but as a bit of homework may I suggest looking at an article in today’s New York Times At Louvre, Many Stop to Snap but Few Stay to Focus. Just click on the title or copy the following URL and paste it into your internet browser. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/arts/design/03abroad.html?th&emc=th

The article focuses your attention on how folks tend to view art today (if they do at all) and leads you to think about what you are looking for when you look at art.

Free admission and free refreshments are always the order of the day at OFTA gatherings.

Summer band for Monmouth-Roseville Jr. High and Roseville Elementary beginning fifth-grade band and sixth-grade band students will begin on Monday, July 27.

By LOU WILIN STAFF WRITER Academics have been muscled up at the University of Findlay and the credit belongs to President DeBow Freed.

Pat Quinn signs a $29 billion capital bill Monday, it will be the first time in a decade the state will have funds for major infrastructure projects.