Prairie Center of the Arts

New Program Director arrives end of January - Ron Ray joins the staff at Prairie Center Of The Arts in 2012 as the new Program Director.  Ron comes to Peoria from Paris , France , where he has been living and working on staff at an artist residency in the French countryside.  He has been a working artist for over 20 years and will continue his art while at  Prairie Centers .  His studio will be open for visits by residents as well as the public.  Ron has an extensive background as a curator and has worked in the gallery side of art as well.  He has lived and worked in The United States, Italy , France , Spain and China and attended artist residencies in several countries, bringing a world view of art with him. We welcome him and look forward to a great new year at Prairie Center Of The Arts filled with a celebration of art, exploration and wonder. ********************************************************************************************** Looki...

Sunday, Oct 30 - 2:00 – 5:00 pm - Warehouse Gallery One 2011 Peoria Area Artist’s in Residence Reception and Poetry Reading (3:00 pm) and Book Signing (2:00-5:00 pm)  2011 Peoria Area Artists in Residence Reception : Kelly Krainak , painter, and Lisa Nelson Raabe , fiber artist and installation Kelly and Lisa's Exhibition opens Oct. 17 – Nov 17 Warehouse Gallery One hours - M-F 10:00 am – 4:00 pm; others by appointment Poetry Readings from Bluffs and Five Bridges: Poems From Peoria - A new collection of poems from the Grandview Hotel Poets: Barbara Clevenger, Michelle Cusack, Jannett Highfill, Mark Liebenow, Janeil Page, Thomas Palakeel , Burt Raabe, and Elizabeth Klise von Zerneck.  

Program Manager Nine Month to One Year Residency:   Gain management skills as you perform the day to day duties of Program Manager under the supervision of the President during a nine month to one year residency.   Day to day duties include coordination of applications, residents, gallery, studios, digital lab, scheduling the resident household and marketing.   Position starts as soon as possible and runs nine months to a year as agreed to by both parties.   Benefits include monthly stipend, health insurance for individual only, 401K opportunity, room, and studio.   Our facilities are completely non-smoking. There is no application fee and all materials should be submitted on line.   No phone calls accepted.   Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.   Requirements and the application for the Program Manager Residency are on our Application Page on our website.   Scroll down to the bottom of the page.   Peoria Area Ar...

Erin, our Program Director, is now the interim director of galleries at Bradley University.  This is an amazing opportunity for a very talented artist.  Thank you, Erin, for the great job you did for Prairie Center during your year with us.  We wish you the best of everything! Joe & Michele Richey

  Happy New Year from Prairie Center of the Arts! Launch of New Website/blog Thank you to both Annie Richey, who resides in Guatemala, and Erin Zellefrow, our new Program Director, for taking on leadership roles in developing and launching a new  website/blog for Prairie Center .  You can also see us on Flickr & Facebook thanks to Erin. 2010 in review 2010 was a whirlwind year for Prairie Center.  A new Program Director was hired, additional studio spaces were developed, a B/W photography studio was installed, and we began acquiring letter presses, type and etching presses to begin a print shop.  We served artists by providing residencies, gallery exhibitions, studio space and lectures.  Artists came to Peoria from Illinois, Texas, Rhode Island, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, California, Kentucky, Washington, Indiana, and New York. On the average artists in residence stayed 41 days and 61% of the artists served were from I...