Heartland Theatre to broadcast radio play ‘The Gift of the Magi’

NORMAL – The Heartland Theater Company announced the re-broadcast of the popular audio drama ‘The Gift of the Magi’ for the holiday season.

The radio play will air Friday, December 16 at 8 p.m. on WGLT, Bloomington-Normal’s Public Media, 89.1 FM or stream on WGLT.org; WCBU, Peoria Public Radio will also air it on 89.9 FM or WCBU.org.

The play was inspired and adapted from the well-known story by O. Henry. The adaptation features more characters in the short story, which allowed many of Heartland’s actors to voice the characters.

Directed by Heartland’s Sandra Zielinski, The Gift of the Magi features 11 actors: Jessi Reid-Swiech, Wesley Skym, Dean Brown, John D. Poling, Carol Scott, Cristen Monson, Nancy Nickerson, Rich Tinaglia, Jennifer Maloy, Kyle Schiebel and Donna Anhalt.

The Heartland Theater Company has provided plays for the Central Illinois area since 1986 and is located in Normal. They are known for their 10 minute game festivals and quality productions.

Contact Gail Dobbins at 309-256-7531 or visit heartlandtheatre.org for more information.

PEORIA – The Peoria Art Guild has announced its 2022/2023 Mentor Arts Program.

MAP was started in the mid 1990’s in response to reduced funding for the arts in schools and as a way to nurture young talent in the community. The aim is to encourage growth or individual artistic talent through immersion in a collaborative and creative environment.

The program is aimed at middle and high school students. It is a 16-week and free program that brings together a small group of teenage trainees with professional, established mentor artists specializing in a variety of mediums. It focuses on practical individual and collaborative studio work. MAP exposes students to the business side of being a professional artist, from creation to promotion, as the program ends with students acting as curators of their own exhibition, which includes exhibition installation and opening reception planning.

The program’s mentors are selected on the basis of their interest and ability in working with high school students and their professional merit, which includes experience in the fine arts and knowledge of their chosen medium.

Students must submit an application, submit a teaching recommendation form to [email protected], and schedule a portfolio review to be considered for the program. Portfolios should contain four to ten pieces of the student’s best work. A variety of media is ideal, but not necessary. All work must be clean and without torn edges. Digital images can also be submitted in place of works that are too large to transport. Students should also include a sketchbook in their portfolio.

MAP applicants are evaluated on enthusiasm, creativity, flexibility, motivation, initiative and leadership qualities. The portfolios will be judged on composition/design, creativity, craftsmanship, motivation and presentation.

The application deadline for the program is December 19 at midnight. The last available date for portfolio reviews is December 17th from 9am to 1pm. Applicants will be notified by December 30th if accepted into the program.

Orientation starts on January 10th from 6pm to 8pm, the program starts on Saturday January 14th from 9am to 4pm. Students meet every other Saturday through May 20, 2023, scheduled around public holidays and school vacations.

The students’ intensive project will take place between June 5th and 9th, the installation of their exhibition will take place on June 23rd and their opening reception will take place on July 7th on the first Friday.

Contact 309-637-2787 or [email protected] for more information.

PEORIA – The Peoria Art Guild’s Crimson Door Holiday Sale is open through December 22nd.

The gallery is filled with works by 15 different local artists. Items include wearable art, ceramics, prints, jewelry, beadwork, paintings, drawings, resin art, sculpture, wooden boxes, photography and more.

This is an opportunity to find unique and collectible gifts and to support small businesses and artists in the community.

The sale is open on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 9am to 6.30pm, Tuesday to Thursday; 9am to 4pm, Friday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Artisan Shop is also open during regular hours and has restocked, quality items from local or Fine Art Fair artists in a variety of prices, mediums and uses. There are also locally made greeting cards. The shop is open all year round.

Gift cards for the Peoria Arts Guild can also be purchased.

The guild also has a “ReCreative Table” that provides a variety of creative materials donated by community members for artists to take away for free. It is a year-round second-hand table on a first-come, first-served basis. Leave no household items, only lightly used/unwanted art supplies, or take something to reuse. At the moment they have a lot of donated fabrics and yarns.

PEORIA – The Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair continued to have a significant economic impact on the community last September.

An estimated 8,500 guests visited the riverfront this weekend and 40% of them traveled over 25 miles to attend. Several visitors from other federal states were present.

According to the Peoria Conventions and Visitors Bureau, the economic impact of the 2022 Fine Art Fair was $300,420. It is estimated that there were 1,088 overnight stays in Peoria and the average community food purchases over the weekend of the show was $52,594. Average purchases were estimated at $41,835, with leisure purchases at $34,482. Estimated local taxes generated were $24,437.

The fair welcomed several new artists who have never been to Peoria, and artist feedback indicated that they found the city to be a beautiful, friendly, and accommodating community and can’t wait to visit again.

In 2021, the fair was ranked among the top 200 art fairs in the country by Sunshine Artist Magazine.

The guild will soon install Community Mural 2022 to replace Mural 2021 on Block 400 of SW. washington st

The fair will celebrate its 61st year in 2023, with the fair taking place September 23-24 at the Peoria Riverfront.

Contact di[email protected] or 309-637-2787 for more information.

The guild is also looking for applicants for the Annual Members Show in May.