Fine Art and Design

Professor James H. Yang, a visiting scholar from Taiwan and University of Illinois alum, is a digital painter whose art is being featured in an exhibit at the Anita Purves Nature Center from July 20 …

Douglas C. Johnson’s Beneath a Midwest Sky exhibition is showing at Parkland’s Giertz Gallery through July 31st. It’s definitely worth a trip out to the Giertz Gallery to experience the Midwest in landscapes more beautiful …

T’is the season for checking out Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ events calendar so you can pop online and get tickets in August as some events go on sale as early as August 14th. …

Champaign’s Immaterial Books seeks photographers to submit work for a new exhibition and a future catalog. They are looking for work that critically engages with our local landscape. Questions to think about include: how does …

Jen Everett’s Could You Dim the Lights? is a mixed-media installation that truly lives up to the name. The exhibit opened in February 2024 at the Krannert Art Museum (KAM) on the University of Illinois …

Three words: Illinois. Shakespeare. Festival. It’s July so pack up those picnic baskets, grab a bottle of wine, and head to the lawn at Ewing Manor in Normal for Shakespeare under the stars. Sure, there …

Rohn Koester’s new work at Urbana-Champaign’s Independent Media Center explodes with dimension and color. When we last heard from him here at Smile Politely, it was in the context of his policy and advocacy work …

Sometimes, we have to remind ourselves not to touch the art. Recently, on a warm afternoon, I attended the opening reception of the Textures exhibition, currently showing at the Art Coop gallery. The work at …

Eastern Illinois University’s Tarble Arts Center has issued a call for local professional artists to submit work for an engaging upcoming exhibition. If you’ve got art that displays well flat and you want it to …