IN THEIR
OWN WORDS
FACULTY THROUGHOUT U OF I SYSTEM SPOTLIGHT HOW ARTS EMPOWER OUR FUTURE
Music’s Power: Culturally competent leaders who drive innovation, progress
Music's Power: Culturally competent leaders who drive innovation, progress
By Yona Stamatis, UIS Music Program director
Leading the University of Illinois Springfield Music Program fills me with a profound sense of pride and deep excitement for the future.
For the last five years, I have had the privilege of both helping the next generation emerge as musical leaders and molding the music program into a critical component of a UIS liberal arts education.
I decided to devote my life to music as an undergraduate student at Columbia University. My years of training in classical violin performance were newly enriched by coursework in ethnomusicology, a discipline that taught me about music as a sociocultural phenomenon. I came to understand that music is far more than a pastime or a form of entertainment. Music exists at the very intersections of power, access, and justice. In my life and in my career, I was determined to engage music as a means to help make the world a better place.
To this end, UIS Music Program faculty aim to help students cultivate transferable career and life skills, enabling them to emerge as culturally competent leaders who drive innovation and progress.
Beyond the classroom, my colleagues and I have helped evolve the UIS Music Program into a hub for deep collaboration and knowledge exchange within the greater Springfield-area community, enriching everyone involved.
With an insatiable drive to build and innovate as my guide, I continue to be excited for the future of music at UIS.
“(We) aim to help students cultivate transferable career and life skills, enabling them to emerge as culturally competent leaders who drive innovation and progress.”
Beyond the classroom, my colleagues and I have helped evolve the UIS Music Program into a hub for deep collaboration and knowledge exchange within the greater Springfield-area community, enriching everyone involved.
With an insatiable drive to build and innovate as my guide, I continue to be excited for the future of music at UIS.
By Jena Marble
UIUC clinical assistant professor of graphic design
Convergence: Art and design, artificial intelligence
Many art and design students have come to fear the seemingly inevitable rise and domination of the robots.
- With artificial intelligence in the mix, will I get a job after graduation?
- Who should get credit—the artist or the algorithm?
- What are the ethics of this new landscape?
Many questions are unanswered, but the truth remains that design is a process, not just a result. Our University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Art & Design courses help students grasp the crucial significance of that process—to understand that design must be intentional and meaningful.
We are not just creating things that look nice.
After exploring and reflecting on the convergence of design and AI, I’m confident in reassuring my students. Here’s what I tell them:
“While AI can help us envision new possibilities and develop ideas, it will never replace you.
“Generative AI isn’t your competitor—it’s your creative collaborator. It’s a springboard for inspiration, a tool in your toolkit, a brainstorming partner to help you conceptualize in new and innovative ways.”
From my perspective, art and design have never been this exciting or this accessible. Despite what sometimes feels like an uncertain future, I am steadfast in my belief that human creativity, design, and the arts will continue to flourish.
Convergence: Art and design, artificial intelligence
By Jena Marble
UIUC clinical assistant professor of graphic design
Many art and design students have come to fear the seemingly inevitable rise and domination of the robots.
- With artificial intelligence in the mix, will I get a job after graduation?
- Who should get credit—the artist or the algorithm?
- What are the ethics of this new landscape?
Many questions are unanswered, but the truth remains that design is a process, not just a result. Our University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Art & Design courses help students grasp the crucial significance of that process—to understand that design must be intentional and meaningful.
We are not just creating things that look nice.
After exploring and reflecting on the convergence of design and AI, I’m confident in reassuring my students. Here’s what I tell them:
“While AI can help us envision new possibilities and develop ideas, it will never replace you.
“Generative AI isn’t your competitor—it’s your creative collaborator. It’s a springboard for inspiration, a tool in your toolkit, a brainstorming partner to help you conceptualize in new and innovative ways.”
From my perspective, art and design have never been this exciting or this accessible. Despite what sometimes feels like an uncertain future, I am steadfast in my belief that human creativity, design, and the arts will continue to flourish.
Malynnda Johnson and other UIUC graphic design students used artificial intelligence tools to design sustainable communities and create retro cookbooks.
On the stage: Opportune union of sight, sound at UIC
On the stage: Opportune union of sight, sound at UIC
The University of Illinois Chicago Theatre Department serves a special purpose on our campus. Of all the arts, theatre is the one that speaks the most to our shared humanity.
There is nothing more thrilling and emotionally engaging than to sit in a dark room and watch fellow human beings share stories that touch all of us. That’s the experience I had when I watched our production of Urinetown: The Musical this spring.
Our theatre department doesn’t have a musical theatre program, yet we decided to produce the first musical in our program’s history. Director Monty Cole was deeply passionate about this.
The production’s premise was silly, strange, and distant, but also somehow not so far off.
In recent years, its indictment of greedy capitalistic systems told with a wink and smile is all too familiar and present. Not only that, but it’s a musical that creates memorable moments from bold character and acting choices over technical dancing prowess.
This perfect ensemble piece allowed us to collaborate and express our opinions of the world. It also gave us our first meaningful collaboration with the Music Department.
I’m thrilled to say the show sold out all performances and was our biggest box office hit to date.
Some UIC students realized for the first time that we have a theatre that produces extraordinary work. It also brought many patrons from the community who raved about the production. So gratifying that the reach of our special purpose ballooned.
By Yasen Peyankov
UIC Theatre Department head