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thePeorian.com
Plenty to See Here
Visual art studios grow,
welcome patronage
By Paul Gordon
L
est anyone think that there
are art studios in Peoria
is a fairly recently thing,
Marianne Bibo-Russell begs to
differ. To a point, anyway.
She opened a studio nearly 50
years ago and, though it has been
closed almost two years, it wasn’t
exactly the only one in town. But
there weren’t many others and
the public perception of such stu-
dios was, well, a misperception.
“This was a corn-fed, ultra-
conservative community. People
thought fine art was only for the
rich,” she said recently. “I’m glad
people now know art takes many
forms and that it is for every-
body. But you know, people still
don’t really understand what an
artist has to do to get ahead, to
make a living.”
Bibo-Russell was one of
Peoria’s chief arts angels. She
served 18 years on the board of
the Peoria Arts Center, was the
founder of the Fine Art Fair that
is celebrating its 50th year in
September and chaired the event
for more than 10 years. She was
a founding member of the Peoria
Ballet and helped launch the
career of arguable Peoria’s best-
known artist, Preston Jackson.
Bibo-Russell founded Bibo
Galleries in 1963 and started
doing monthly art shows almost
immediately. In 1965, she said,
Jackson asked her to give him a
show; he’d been turned away by
many other places “because it
was difficult for a black artist to
get anywhere back then.”
But that wasn’t why she gave
Jackson his own art show then
and several times after. “I did it
for one simple reason; he was and
is a great artist. He’s a genius,”
she said.
She said she helped others
get started, as well, and that is
what she is most proud of. “I’ve
loved art since I was a little girl.
I’m talking all the arts. I love the
creativity that goes with it and
artists are the most fascinating
people you can meet because
they appreciate seeing the world
come alive,” she said.
“We’re very fortunate here to
have the kind of talent we do,
people who are willing to give of
themselves and of their talent and
creativity. You can live in Peoria,
Illinois and be internationally
known. I’ve been blessed person-
ally to watch how it has grown,”
Bibo-Russell said.
While the public support of the
arts has led to its growth in more
recent times, she said, there is still
room for more growth. “There
are still a lot of people who don’t
really know what is happening
here in our community. When
they do find out they love it, but
we’ve got to do an even better job
of getting the word out,” she said.
The Present