15-site Citywide Slow Art Day in Illinois!

As many of you get ready for Slow Art Day 2023, we wanted to share this exciting news: the Bloomington-Normal, Illinois art community currently has *15* locations signed up for their citywide Slow Art Day 2023.

Located on the historic Route 66, these Bloomington artists and galleries are banding together to make Slow Art Day a full citywide celebration of art (and they designed a great poster, as you can see below).

Poster courtesy of Santino Lamancusa

Pamala Eaton of Eaton Studio Gallery started Slow Art Day in Bloomington several years ago.

This year Pamala’s colleagues, photographer Santino Lamancusa, owner of the The Hangar Art Gallery, and Janean Baird from Art Vortex, have met regularly to encourage and include other artists and galleries to join the now 15-site citywide, including:

410 Sculpture Park
Angel Ambrose Fine Art Studio
Art Vortex Studio & Gallery
Three Square Art Studio
Mandy Roeing Fine Art
Inside Out: Accessible Art
Eaton Studio Gallery
Illinois Art Station
The Hangar Art Company
The House on Garling
Joann Goetzinger Studio Gallery
Main Gallery 404
McLean County Museum of History
McLean County Arts Center
BCAI Cultural Center

Wow!

They are so well-organized in Bloomington that they are even discussing plans to coordinate a *statewide* Slow Art Day in future years.

We can’t wait to see what they do this year *and* in the future.

Have a great Slow Art Day, everyone!

– Phyl, Johanna, Jessica Jane, Ashley, and Robin

P.S. If you want to send us advance details about your Slow Art Day 2023 plans, then please do and we may be able to feature you in a post like this.

Ready, Set, Slow… Art Weekend with the McLean

For their first Slow Art Day – Slow Art Weekend, actually – the McLean County Museum of History, along with eight other downtown Bloomington, Illinois partners, held a Ready, Set, SLOW! event.

Hosted by Hannah Johnson, Education Program Coordinator at McLean, this Slow Art Day, organized with nine participating locations, was a true citywide event.

Including the McLean County Museum of History, the other participants were: Angel Ambrose Fine Art Studio, Art Vortex Studio & Gallery, Eaton Studio Gallery, Inside-Out Accessible Art, Joann Goetzinger Studio Gallery, Main Gallery 404, The Hangar Art Co., and Threshold to Hope, Inc.

Photo credit: Hannah Johnson

Inspired by the Downtown’s First Friday theme, visitors were invited to engage in an evening of egg hunting and art viewing at the Museum. Two posters were created for the event, including prompts for the attendees to consider, and small cards for each image were handed out. Literal and figurative Easter eggs were hidden in reproduction art works from the Museum’s collection for a Slow Art and egg hunt inspired seek-and-find.

We love the playful nature of their event design.

Below you can find examples of the various poster formats they used. Educators and curators around the world should feel free to copy elements of what they have done with their event (and posters).

Photo credit: Hannah Johnson

Original works from the Museum’s collection complete with Slow Art appropriate prompts were on display the entire weekend, along with an annual installation of the Clothesline Project in partnership with YWCA McLean County Stepping Stones.

Emily Aminta Howard, Painting of Grapes and Apples, Oil on Canvas, c. 1890/1900
Rupert Kilgore, Abstract Portrait, Oil on Canvas, c. 1955/65
Takashi Ode, Mountain Scene, Watercolor, c. 1980/90

T-shirts decorated by local sexual assault survivors were also displayed as testimony to their survival and the chronic problem of violence against women in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The McLean County Museum of History traces its roots back to 1892, and is a nationally-accredited award-winning museum with five permanent exhibit galleries and two rotating galleries.

Photo credit: Hannah Johnson

We look forward to what innovative approach McLean County Museum of History comes up with for next year’s Slow Art Day.

Best,

– Robin, Ashley, Phyl, Johanna, and Jessica Jane

P.S. Find out more about the McLean County Museum of History on one of its social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, History Pin, or Flickr