About
Founded in 1973, University Galleries of Illinois State University is one of the premier exhibition spaces for contemporary art in the Midwest.
University Galleries is open seven days a week year-round, with free one-hour parking available directly above our facility. Admission to all exhibitions and events is free to the public. Free tours, led by the director or curators, are available during all exhibitions. Please call 309.438.5487 or send an email gallery@ilstu.edu to schedule.
Mission
Our mission is to foster a greater understanding of contemporary art in our university and community, while providing support for artists at pivotal points in their careers.
Exhibitions
University Galleries produces exhibitions and interpretive programming that reflect the shifting dynamics of contemporary artistic practice. Consistent with our university heritage, we cultivate a laboratory of expression that embraces various approaches to creating and experiencing art. We bring socially engaged art, performance, and experimental process to our region, while furthering the careers of artists through residencies, exhibitions, publications, and funding for new projects.
University Galleries’ exhibitions feature both emerging and more established artists, particularly those whose work has not been previously showcased in a museum context. We have organized the first large-scale surveys of works by: David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong, Jen Bervin, Bethany Collins, Dianna Frid, Walter Robinson, Carrie Schneider, Jeanne Dunning, Juan Angel Chávez, Melanie Schiff, Irena (Knezevic) Haiduk, Allan Sekula, Jason Lazarus, Nadia Hotait, Jim Lutes, Siebren Versteeg, Michelle Grabner, Tony Tasset, Jane Dickson, Stephanie Brooks, and many others. Since 1988 we have traveled 32 exhibitions to 79 other museums and galleries.
Publications
University Galleries has produced 60 books that are distributed internationally, including definitive monographs for many of the artists listed above and group exhibition catalogues such as post-hypnotic, The House of the Seven Gables, The UFO Show, and Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy.
Permanent Collection
University Galleries’ permanent collection includes work by Gertrude Abercrombie, Ansel Adams, Terry Adkins, Jennifer Bartlett, Robert Colescott, Jeanne Dunning, Minnie Evans, Michelle Grabner, George Grosz, Jasper Johns, Jason Lazarus, Danny Lyon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Gladys Nilsson, Dennis Oppenheim, August Sander, Kiki Smith, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz, Joseph Yoakum, and hundreds of others.
Move To Uptown Normal
In October 2014, through a partnership between Illinois State University and the Town of Normal, we moved off campus into a recently revitalized neighborhood that includes a scenic traffic roundabout/park, the Children’s Discovery Museum, and the Marriott and Hyatt hotels. Our 7,500 square-foot space in Normal’s Uptown Station, designed by Eckenhoff Saunders of Chicago, features 20-foot ceilings, state-of-the-art lighting, and expansive storefront windows offering 24-hour visibility of featured exhibitions.
Staff
Kendra Paitz, Director and Chief Curator
Lisa Lofgren, Registrar and Office Coordinator