A new exhibit opened Tuesday at the Schingoethe Center Museum at Aurora University that features the work of more than 30 Illinois artists.
“Here, There: New Perspectives from the Illinois State Museum Collection” is a traveling exhibit that will be on display at the museum through Dec. 11, officials said.
The exhibition features artists including Eldzier Cortor, Theaster Gates, Miyoko Ito, Marion Perkins, Jin Lee and Joseph Yoakum, among many others, according to a press release from the university.
Spanning different time periods and artistic movements, the works return to shared themes of struggle, exploration, perseverance and empathy while reflecting the diversity of life and experience in Illinois, the release said.
“All of our exhibitions are based on what artists and curators we network with and the partnerships we have. This one stems from a long-term partnership we’ve had with the Illinois State Museum,” Zachary Bishop, registrar and museum manager, said. “We’ve worked with them for many years including in 2020 and we’ve borrowed pieces from them. This exhibit is unique for us as it’s not one we curated in-house – it’s a traveling exhibit that premiered at the Illinois State Museum at two locations and this is now the third.”
The Aurora museum’s exhibitions generally attract anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 visitors, officials said.
Bishop said the theme of the new fall show is “really about looking at underrepresented histories and stories throughout history.”
He said providing the community with exposure to art is important.
“It really comes down to helping people hear and learn about other people’s stories through artwork and really just kind of learn about people who have backgrounds or histories or stories that are different from yourself,” he said. “This helps us learn about other people and build empathy for them and just kind of learn what it means to be a person, and humanity, and especially our community.”
Aurora University student Conner Braun, of Elgin, dropped by the opening of the exhibit on Tuesday.
“I am interested in art,” he said. “I’m not an art major but I love to look at other peoples’ art occasionally and I will do my own art for recreation.”
Julie Hipp, associate professor of English at the university, said the museum’s exhibitions are very educational.
“The exhibits here are incredibly well done and the museum does a great job of – from a professor’s perspective – I take my students here every semester to tour the exhibit and the staff always does a great job of picking out pieces that reflect the themes of the courses I teach,” she said. “I’ll tell them what we’re studying and they’ll pick out certain elements that reflect it.”
Artist Jason Reblando has two photographs on display at the exhibition at the museum.
“These prints include a traditional Philippine formal shirt made from pineapple fiber and a handkerchief also made of the same fiber,” he said. “This was something I did to remember 34 journalists who were slaughtered in the Philippines that were covering an election. It was a way of remembering those victims.”
Alejandro Cuevas, 18, a freshman at Aurora University, said the exhibit “does bring awareness to how big issues can be.”
“I agree this is about empathy,” he said of the exhibition. “I love the world and I love sharing my thoughts with people even if I don’t know anything about them. I don’t’ care about ethnicity or gender and I feel art helps you build that.”
The exhibition is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Dec. 11 at the Schingoethe Center located within the Hill Welcome Center at Aurora University at 1315 Prairie St. in Aurora. Admission is free and the exhibition is open to the public.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.