REACHING OUT:
Arts & Humanities
Presidential Initiative: Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities funded 10 projects in 2022 out of 22 proposals. Support totaled $1.54 million in the initiative’s second round.
The program promotes the transformational impact the arts and humanities have on the public good. True to the goal, projects combined expertise from disciplines across the system’s universities. We spotlight two here. Projects in 2022 received $85,000 to $175,000 each. To compare, the median National Endowment for the Arts grant is about $20,000.
Water, a binding agent for communities
“Rivers of Illinois” unites experts and community members. It showcases local culture and opens dialogue about the environment and climate change.
“This work brings people together with the mighty waters of the Prairie State,” Rachel Havrelock said.
Havrelock is a University of Illinois Chicago professor and director of The Freshwater Lab focused on environmental justice.
Engaging with the Chicago River, participants added artwork and plantings to give new life to a neglected park. Rio de Bienvenida/River of Welcome received the 2022 Friends of the Parks VIP Innovation Award.
Havrelock worked with Anne-Marie Hanson, a University of Illinois Springfield associate professor of environmental studies who is on the Discovery Partners Institute executive committee.
Participants screen printed “Freshwater Future” and the Great Lakes with the Mobile Street Art Cart led by Chicago artist William Estrada.
“The UIS Confluence Lab shared freshwater science and art activities with over 3,500 people at Lincoln Memorial Garden’s Fall Harvest Festival in Springfield,” Hanson said.
The lab encourages the UIS community to unite passion and talent to create innovative solutions for environmental challenges.
Black nurses gain spotlight of honor
“Mapping Care Project: The History of Black Nurses in Chicago” exists for many reasons. “This work brings people together with the mighty waters of the Prairie State,” Rachel Havrelock said.
Because COVID-19 showed that nurses are vital. Because society often relegates nursing as “women’s work.” Because our nation’s history all but omitted nurses of color.
“This project is in response to all those factors. It’s essential to amplify the voices of Black nurses. Our past is not disconnected from the present,” Karen Flynn said.
Nursing students during a bacteriology course at Provident Hospital in 1942.
Flynn is an associate professor of African-American, gender and women’s studies at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She joined forces on the project with Gwyneth Franck, clinical associate professor at UIC College of Nursing. Franck is also the director of Midwest Nursing History Research Center.
The traveling exhibit prompted awareness at Chicago Public Schools and a city library.
Flynn hopes the public engagement so key to the humanities also provides inspiration. “I want young people on the spectrum of Blackness and gender to hear Black nurses’ stories and say, ‘I am able to do this,’” she said.