URBANA — This month, a group of veterans is coming together to showcase their artwork at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
If All The Sky Were Art is running through the end of November. The art show is inspired by If All the Sky Were Paper, a play being produced by Phil Strang that also opens this month.
Strang came up with idea alongside Sam Smith, the director of civic engagement and social practice at Krannert.
Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield sat down with the two men to learn more.
KIMBERLY SCHOFIELD: Can you tell me a little bit about where the idea for If All The Sky Were Art came from?
PHIL STRANG: Actually, it was Sam’s idea. I was telling him about the show that we’re doing, and he said, ‘what if you get a bunch of artists who are veterans, and we have the space, right?’
SAM SMITH: Imagine that. I’ll take some of that credit. A couple years ago, Phil and I installed a show at Krannert Center in this area, this space, we call The Spot, the former gift shop there, and we installed a show called [Resilience: The Heart of Ukraine]. I’ve known Phil a long time, and I love his love of theater and the arts.
STRANG: Only 40 years.
SMITH: That’s how we met. That’s not such a long time.
SCHOFIELD: No. And Phil, did you say you’re a veteran?
STRANG: No, I am not.
SCHOFIELD: You’re an artist.
STRANG: My dad was a veteran of World War II, and I am an artist, you know? So we decided, well, I’ll try to find veteran artists, and I knew at least one or two. And then I just asked around various people and various groups. So I got a couple through The Vault in Tuscola and others, just friends of friends.
SCHOFIELD: What’s it like, working at Krannert, having people who are outside of Krannert assist with something like this?
SMITH: It’s really hopeful and beautiful. I’m thinking about when we put up the Ukraine photography exhibit. The people that were involved, there were students that were involved in doing work on campus. There were people in the community that had been around for a long time and that were doing different kinds of work around the, you know, the war in Ukraine. So it was like a really lovely group of people. It is nice to get outside of the bubble of wherever you are and sort of listen to other minds and how they think. There’s a little risk involved. It is very beautiful, very important to bring in other perspectives. And I think, I think that is, in fact, part of the core mission of the Krannert Center … is to create spaces where that kind of mixing and mashing of ideas and interest and artistry happens. We focus primarily on music, dance, theater and production. But I think opportunities like this, too. I mean, Phil’s been in this community for a long time, and has been promoting theater for a very long time, and is very important part of that landscape.
STRANG: To work with other people is always what’s great, and it reaches new people and and the Ukraine exhibit was fun because I could see how that went out and touched a lot of people. And, you know, that’s one of the things about theater. I mean, it reaches people, and we do get involved with a lot of theater that has a meaning in the current life that we’re living. It’s just great to be out and involved.
SCHOFIELD: Sam, is there anything that you hope the public gets from attending this event at Krannert, being it surrounding Veteran’s Day and surrounding a show about veterans?
SMITH: There’s been a lot of public discourse around veterans and wars and where we are as a nation, and I’m very excited about the play. I’m very excited for us to sort of consider who we have been, and who these people have been, and the kinds of great sacrifices they have made for us. And … I think this, this is maybe a little lofty, right? But we often think about the arts in terms of, like, ‘can you make a living?’ And I think about an artist like Michael Sherfield, who is a photographer, is a painter, is a dancer, and Michael’s presence in this community and the kind of life that he has made post his service … and I just think it’s like a really beautiful, you know, it’s a really beautiful testimony to, sort of, the value of the arts and the importance of the arts in individual lives, but also in the lives of our community. We live in, like, an arts and culture-rich community. The opportunity to do these kinds of things, and, you know, to be at a place like Krannert Center, where all of these different kinds of experiences are available to people. So I hope people come and say, you know, ‘hey, this is really lovely. I’d like to meet these people. I’d like to do an exhibit someplace as well,’ or they might be inspired to do their own work, you know? I mean, I hope folks come and think about what this moment calls for from all of us, and maybe, maybe think about, you know, ‘what can we do in this moment?’
The opening reception for If All The Sky Were Art is Monday, November 3rd, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at The Spot in Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is an underwriter of Illinois Public Media.