UIS Visual Arts Gallery announces Allyson Packer as its summer Enos Park artist-in-residence

Allyson Packer (Photo: Lincoln Draper)

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery has once again partnered with the Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists to award a funded summer residency and solo exhibition. After a successful inaugural partnership last summer, which yielded active community engagement through contemporary art, the organizations are working together again to offer this opportunity. After the review of a competitive applicant pool that represented national and international applicants, Albuquerque-based artist Allyson Packer has been awarded the opportunity.

Allyson Packer, who has recently shown work at Nahmad Projects in London and the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, will be in residence at the Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists from July 1 through July 28. Her exhibit at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery, “Interior Space,” will open with a reception on Thursday, July 26, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The exhibit will run from Thursday, July 26 through Saturday, August 11. The UIS Visual Arts Gallery is open for the duration of the exhibit on Saturday afternoons from 12 to 4 p.m. or throughout the week by appointment.

Community engagement is a core consideration for the summer resident. Allyson, who holds a master of fine arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a bachelor of fine arts from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, will work with Springfield residents directly to realize her project.

In her proposal, Packer wrote, “My exhibition, called ‘Interior Space,’ will draw on my interest in brining visibility to the unseen. I will ask people in Springfield to participate in the exhibition by loaning me one item from their attic (or garage or closet)—something that they find valuable enough to hold on to, but also do not keep on public display. These objects will then form the basis for a gallery installation.”

In addition to welcoming Allyson Packer, the Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists will welcome two additional summer residents. Artist Nick Wylie will use his time in Springfield to research Elmer Ellsworth, a close and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln who was the first Union officer killed in the Civil War while he was removing a Confederate flag. Wylie is an accomplished artist who holds a master of fine arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a founder of the ACRE (Artist Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions). Enos Park will also welcome Zack Buckley, an artist, composer and student at Illinois State University. While in residence, he plans to record various types of audio from Enos Park to create a multi-channel installation. The UIS Visual Arts Gallery plans to support these projects and look for ways to present this work to the public.

For more information on becoming involved with these summer projects, or to learn about exhibition programming at UIS, please visit the UIS Visual Arts Gallery website at www.uis.edu/visualarts/gallery, or email alach3@uis.edu.