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thePeorian.com
The Present
Those efforts are growing with
the number of studios in Peoria.
While the Peoria Art Guild has
struggled financially in recent
years, it has been able to host
frequent art shows. The Contem-
porary Art Center has as well,
with a new show opening on a
regularly basis. And the Murray
Center has shows, too, along with
many private studios.
All those are located within
a few blocks of each other, but
that isn’t always the case. There
are many other studios now, but
more spread out.
Where are they? The best way
to learn that is CIAO; that’s the
Central Illinois Artists Organiza-
tion that was formed in February
2011 by eight local artists whose
sole purpose was to promote art-
ists and arts organizations in the
region.
Membership in CIAO now
numbers more than 40 artists
and the group’s signature event,
First Fridays Studio Tour —
whereby member studios open
to the public on the first Friday of
every month — has done much to
increase the public’s awareness of
the local visual arts community.
On the tour people can see a
large variety of arts media, from
paint to sculture to ceramics to
glassblowing to woodworking
and pretty much everything in
between.
In October CIAO will get a nice
boost when some of its members’
works will be displayed when the
new Peoria Riverfront Museum
opens. It’s a joint project between
CIAO and the museum. Submis-
sions have been made for consid-
eration but the choices have not
yet been announced.
A list of CIAO members and
the studios, including a map of
where the Studio Tour can take
you, is on the organization’s web-
Could more be done? Abso-
lutely, believe people like Bibo-
Russell and William Butler, an
artist and the executive director
of the Contemporary Art Center.
“I think there is room for
improvement in communicating
what we have. But it’s difficult to
promote it as individuals because
as artists we’re pretty strapped
and most of us have to have day
jobs,” Butler said. He suggested
a collaboration with community
organizations such as the Peoria
Area Convention and Visitors Bu-
reau to promote the local arts to
the tourism industry would help.
“We have to treat it like a
business if we’re going to make it
worthwhile,” he said.