Digital cameras that are affordable and easy-to-use, including those cameras and image-sharing apps in our smartphones, have sparked a photo craze. Who could have predicted that so many Americans woul]]> The Springfield Art Association is offering two exciting opportunities for the community to explore ceramics and pottery-making over the summer months. A kickoff event, ROASTED:%u2008Hot Pots or Pork,]]> Finding Fogel It is an event Seymour Fogel himself most likely would have shunned. In fact, the artist would probably be better known today were it not for his intense independence and passionatel]]> When a guy from Stratford-upon-Avon, England, began writing plays in London, stages were little more than raised platforms with no “sets” of decorative art convey]]> In 1966, Bob Waldmire and I were enrolled at Springfield Junior College, and already he was known as an artist whose star was on the rise. And though many artists are destined to follow their s]]> After a 24-year dream of opening his own gallery, Norman Calmese is now the owner of Springfield’s newest treasure of the art world. He is also a musician, playwright, artist and teacher.Minor&r]]> The Springfield Art Association has an interesting new exhibit planned to open Friday, Jan. 4, that includes images and stories of local people. The Stories Behind the Faces, features a combination of]]> Paris, Florence, Berlin, Rome, New York, Athens – when famed art-related cities of the world come up in conversation, Springfield, Ill., is not generally on the list. That’s not likely to ]]> Midway through the filming of Jump In, director Kimberly Conner of Springfield faced a day of personal reckoning.“We were on day five of a 10-day shoot,” she recalls. “My emotions we]]> “It used to be scary down this way.”Barry Friedman, owner of the Alamo, 115 N. Fifth St., is reminiscing about conditions in downtown Springfield prior to the 2005 opening of the Abraham L]]> Beginning Feb. 22, people from across the nation will head to St. Louis for a chance to see a backgammon board. The gilded board, from Beijing’s Palace Museum, ]]> “The ladies of Springfield gave a grand Tableaux last week for the benefit of the Soldiers Aid Society,” Mercy Conkling wrote to her son in 1862. “It was a brilliant affair.  Mr]]> Why would someone voluntarily undergo several hours of a needle stabbing them several thousand times per minute? The simple answer is for the sake of art, but the long answer is a bit more complicated]]> Reading Scope, the 16th annual literary magazine of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, uncovered a more human side to the health care system than that to which I have become accustomed. ]]> Last month Bob Waldmire made public what he has known for some time – that he has colon cancer and he probably won’t live much longer. Last Sunday, Nov. 22, “Bob’s Last Art Sho]]> Seen through a camera lens is a world of extremes.Extreme poverty, disease and death. And then there’s the love, hope and courage it takes to remedy them.These are displayed through the images o]]> Nearly 400 photographs were submitted by 117 Illinois amateur photographers to the first Prairie Art Alliance Images of Illinois Amateur Photography Contest, sponsored by Illinois Times. The images sp]]> “We want this to be a nice opening like you’d find in New York or up in Chicago,” enthuses local artist Andrew Woolbright, describing the debut exhibit this Friday (11.11.11) of The ]]> Danville native Grace Eckert didn't take art classes in high school, even though she knew she was going to be an artist. Her father, a math professor at Illinois State University and the Univer]]> Springfield artist and mural painter Mike Mayosky is always working on and promoting something. Our colorful local artist has something very big that he is promoting right now. He has entered the ArtP]]>