Upcoming events at Monmouth College

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/11/2018) —

Chicago artist Christine Rojek to present sculpture workshop at Monmouth College

Chicago-based artist Christine Rojek will present a free sculpture workshop at Monmouth College on Sept. 13.

Open to the public, the three-hour workshop will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Room 110 of the College's McMichael Academic Hall, which is one building east of Wallace Hall.

She will especially be working with our students enrolled in 'Construction and Foundry,'" said Monmouth art professor Stacy Lotz. "This will be a hands-on work day for the students as they continue to plan and create a piece based on an assignment that Ms. Rojek provided to them earlier this semester."

While in Monmouth, Rojek will also serve as the juror for the 64 Arts Exhibition at the Buchanan Center for the Arts.

Rojek specializes in public sculpture and uses the tenets of fine design to create interactive environments that appeal to a wide audience. Her installations, which can be provocative, theatrical or whimsical, have become destination pieces in more than two dozen locations throughout the United States.

After completing a bachelor of fine arts degree at the University of Illinois, Rojek continued her studies internationally, attending the American School of Art in Fontainebleau, France. There, she focused on both performance and installation art.

Rojek has received widespread recognition for her achievements, including several fellowship grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and an AT&T Technology in Art Grant. She is currently producing a wind-activated sculpture for "Sculpture on the Grounds," a national competition sponsored by the Evanston (Ill.) Art Center.

When she is not creating sculpture, Rojek teaches at Columbia College in Chicago and is the co-founder of SculpTours, an exhibition and touring company that promotes the appreciation and advancement of sculpture in Chicago.

Monmouth College to host 24th annual Cultural Festival Sept. 15

Monmouth College will host its 24th annual Cultural Festival on Sept. 15.

The event, which will be held 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on The Quad behind the Stockdale Center, will showcase the countries that are represented by Monmouth's current international students. The rain site is the Stockdale Center.

Free and open to the public, the festival will include food sampling from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and cultural entertainment, some of it provided by Monmouth student organizations.

"This is an excellent opportunity for the campus and local community to come out and enjoy the diversity of our community," said Director of International Student Services Erika Buckley.

Cuisine from around the world will include Ghanaian dishes of jollof rice, kele wele and platanos fritos. There will also be Japanese chicken teriyaki, French madeline and Belgian gentse waterzool. Those with a taste for dishes closer to home can sample a pair of soul food staples - fried chicken and macaroni and cheese - as well as two American classics - hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies. Other countries represented with food items will be Australia, China, Nepal and Syria.

The audience will be treated to traditional Bollywood/Indian dance by the ensemble Payal, as well as steel drum music by Potts & Pans. Scheduled performers also include two Monmouth groups - Umoja and Colorful Voice of Praise - as well as the Teranga Dance & Drum Circle, the Najwa Dance Corps and Tradicion, a Latin dance team from Western Illinois University.

Western Illinois Archaeological Research Center featured at Monmouth talk

An authority on the archaeology of western Illinois will present the first Archaeology Lecture of the 2018-19 academic year at Monmouth College.

Lawrence Conrad will discuss "The Western Illinois Archaeological Research Center Collection and How It Came to Be," at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Pattee Auditorium, located on the lower level of the Center for Science and Business.

Located in Macomb, the Western Illinois Archaeological Research Center Collection is maintained by the Upper Mississippi Valley Archaeological Research Foundation. It includes a wide-ranging collection of prehistoric artifacts from the region. Conrad serves as curator of the collection.

In his talk, Conrad will discuss the center's history, trace the chronology of artifacts in the collection, and provide information on their provenance. A gallery talk will follow the lecture.

Free and open to the public, the Archaeology Lecture series is sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America Western Illinois Society and Monmouth College's Department of Classics.

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