Editor’s note: this article has been corrected.

“These happen over years of gathering these shows, conversations with the artists and studio visits with the artists,” said Kaen Henry, the assistant director of public engagement at the Tarble Arts Center. 

Eastern’s Tarble Arts Center opened their first Fall Exhibition of the semester on Sept. 22 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The exhibit titled “Who speaks for the Oceans?” included artwork through many mediums, such as videos, projections, paintings, tapestry, music and more. 

The exhibit is open to the public during gallery hours, until Jan. 27, 2024.

Tarble’s Program Guide states the exhibit’s mission is to “analyze what we think we know about life in the ocean through the charismatic ‘whale song.’”

A crew of seven undergraduate student workers and three graduate assistants, alongside the four senior staff members, work together to make these exhibits possible. 

Emilee-Renee Tosh, a senior majoring in mass communication, is one of the seven student workers that got to experience the exhibition coming to life. 

Tosh became a student worker at Tarble at the start of the semester, after having a life-long love for art, that she wanted to explore. 

“I am very excited to see how all these events run because this is my first event I’ve worked and I like seeing how everything like all the work that went into building all of it,” Tosh said. 

Jennifer E Seas, the director and chief curator of Tarble is essential for the preparation of exhibitions.

Seas has many roles and responsibilities at Tarble. 

“I run the museum, oversee a staff of 4 full-time employees and 10 part-time student employees, plan robust educational arts programming, teach college courses, manage a permanent art collection and engage with various groups to serve campus and regional communities,” Seas said.

She also prepares a curator of artists that are displayed at the exhibitions. Their Fall Exhibit displays artists from New York.

“Our main show was a show that already existed in the Michigan Gallery in New York,” Henry said. “So, [Seas] saw this gallery, really liked it, and then started a conversation with the curators there about bringing it here and then adding to it.” 

Eastern’s Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Technology, Bradley Decker, was also featured in the exhibition.

Gisela Alvarez, the exhibitions and collection manager has devoted a significant portion of her time to planning the exhibit, hanging art, painting and reviewing the logistics.

“We’ve been working really hard for about a month to get this whole thing up,” Alvarez said.

She is also responsible for “working on the collection and putting together or revamping our accession policy and our deaccessioning policies, and taking a look at our collection and seeing what ways can be organized, what ways it can be utilized, better or differently.”

Tarble dedicates their spring semester to showcasing local artists and students.

Their Winter Exhibition, titled “Art From Here” opens on Feb. 9, 2024, and is available until March 15, 2024. The exhibit features young artists in East Central Illinois and is set to “celebrate over four decades of collaboration with regional art teachers.”

Tarble will also be holding an art exhibition for Eastern’s undergraduate art students, as well as an exhibition for students completing their Master of Arts in Studio Art. Both of these exhibitions will be open from April 6, 2024, to May 3, 2024.

Audra Gullquist can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].