Past Times Viewmaster photo
Past Times Viewmaster photo
A momentous event – such as the 150th anniversary of the founding of Illinois’ first public university – encourages current employees, students and friends to look back at the institution’s history. Two artists have taken that look back in a unique and interesting way in “PAST TIMES: Remembering, Remapping, Recovering,” opening Aug. 21 and running through Sept. 16 at the University Galleries in the Center for the Visual Arts (CVA).
Amber Ginsburg, a master’s degree graduate of Illinois State and current graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and fellow artist Katie Hargrave explore previous uses of the south-campus site that is now home to the Center for the Visual Arts and the Centennial East and West building. Their exhibition illuminates the historic connection between the development of the University and the Bloomington-Normal community. The exhibition spotlights the former trolley line that ran through the site, plus the archery, tennis and football fields that used to exist there.
Weekdays between Aug. 21 and Sept. 16, free walking tours will be offered at noon, led by a variety of guides including actors in period costumes, historians and artists. Tour participants will use View-Master viewers along the tour to see digitally altered photographs fusing historic and contemporary scenes. On Wednesdays, Professor Emeritus John Freed will share a “sneak peak” of his research for his upcoming sesquicentennial history book on ISU. On Fridays, actors portraying two 1890s sisters who attended ISNU will lead the tours. Group tours can be arranged by calling (309) 438-5487.
In addition to the walking tours, the University Galleries will host “Providence, Commemoration and Sediment,” installations which provide visual evidence of the past of Illinois State University. “Providence” invokes the names and home counties of the University’s first students in 1857; “Commemoration” features 80 images plus audio of past events on the south campus site; and “Sediment” creates a contact zone between all past iterations of the south quad, including a gallery floor covered with moist clay, evoking the old tennis courts. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Aug. 21.
According to Ginsburg and Hargrave, the south campus location has been used in numerous ways. From the 1880s-1936 a trolley line ran directly through where the gallery space is now located, along the side of the quad and down School Street to downtown Normal. Among the other uses of the location were a women’s sports complex that was used for archery, field hockey, lacrosse and other outdoor sports; clay tennis courts and a practice football field for the Redbirds.
In 1957, for the centennial celebration of Illinois State University, the president of the University decided to build the Centennial Arts Complex at the south end of the quad. Ground breaking occurred in that year, and the building opened in 1959. It currently houses the School of Music and School of Theatre. The School of Art and University Galleries are located in the CVA next door, which opened in 1973.
