WHY ILLINOIS? TOP 10 REASONS TO JOIN NOW
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WE CAN DANCE
Our celebrated Dance faculty perform and choreograph for artists from Mikhail Baryshnikov and Bebe Miller to Paul Taylor. Honors include: Six New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie�) Awards (equivalent to the Academy Awards for Dance), membership to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, two Doris Duke Artist Awards, two Fulbright Scholarships, and two Guggenheim Fellowships.
DANCE ALUMNI PERFORM WITH MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP, MIGUEL GUTIERREZ, SUSAN MARSHALL, BATSHEVA ENSEMBLE, DALLAS BLACK DANCE, AND THE ROCKETTES, AMONG OTHERS. THEY INCLUDE: + Artistic directors of 16 professional dance companies + Professors of dance at 27 universities + Dance department heads at 13 university programs + Three Fulbright Scholars + Dance educators at prestigious studios such as the Alvin Ailey School and the Broadway Dance Center.
Dance Professor Jennifer Monson, 2014 Doris Duke Impact Award Winner Image courtesy of Valerie Oliveiro
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WE MAKE GREAT MUSIC TOGETHER
Nathan Gunn, operatic superstar and voice professor Image courtesy of Sharkey Photography
SCHOOL OF MUSIC FACULTY PERFORM WITH HIGH-PROFILE ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS: + Metropolitan Opera, New York City + Lyric Opera of Chicago + Royal Opera + Canadian Brass + St. Louis Symphony + Chicago Symphony Orchestra + New York Philharmonic + Boston Symphony Orchestra + London Symphony Orchestra.
THE COUNTRY’S FIRST AND FOREMOST COLLEGE BAND PROGRAM, BANDS AT ILLINOIS INCLUDES THE FAMOUS MARCHING ILLINI, “THE NATION’S PREMIER COLLEGE MARCHING BAND.” The Marching Illini was the first college marching band to perform in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, and was invited to one of the country’s most prestigious parades, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, in 2015.
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WE DESIGN THE WORLD’S SKYLINES Alum César Pelli (right) is a design legend. Named one of the 10 most influential architects by the American Institute of Architects, Pelli was awarded the 1995 AIA Gold Medal for his profound impact on the field. His famous works include the Petronas Twin Towers, among the world’s tallest buildings, and the World Financial Center complex in downtown Manhattan.
OTHER FAMOUS ALUMNI: + No longer an “up and comer,” Illinois grad and MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner Jeanne Gang is the architect behind Chicago’s Aqua Tower. Her firm is designing an expansion of the American Museum of Natural History in New York as well as new landscaping and outdoor structures for Chicago’s lakefront museum campus. + Peter Walker, winner of the American Society of Landscape Architects Medal, is co-designer of the World Trade Center Memorial. + James J. Pawlikowski of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, was structural engineer for Dubai’s Burj Khalifa—the tallest building in the world— and NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
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WE STEAL THE SHOW The College of Fine + Applied Arts faculty, staff, and alums have won 5 Oscars, 46 Grammys, 72 Emmy Awards, and 7 Tony Awards.
THEATRE ALUM ANG LEE HAS RECEIVED TWO ACADEMY AWARDS IN DIRECTION: ONE FOR BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN AND ANOTHER FOR THE LIFE OF PI. IN 2014, THEATRE ALUMNI (AND BROTHERS) BRANDON AND JASON DIRDEN SIMULTANEOUSLY STARRED ON BROADWAY IN ALL THE WAY AND A RAISIN IN THE SUN. ALL THE WAY WON THE TONY AWARD FOR BEST PLAY. A RAISIN IN THE SUN WON THE 2014 TONY AWARD FOR BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY. Other Illinois Theatre alums have been coming to your living room for years: + Betsy Brandt played Annie Henry on The Michael J. Fox Show and Marie Schrader on Breaking Bad + Shanola Hampton plays Veronica on Shameless + Jon Michael Hill plays Detective Marcus Bell in Elementary + Jonathan Kite plays Oleg the cook on Two Broke Girls + Nick Offerman (left) created the iconic character, Ron Swanson, on Parks and Recreation.
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WE’RE CHANGE AGENTS Art + Design students are addressing poor air quality and inspiring change through the Deep Breath Initiative. This collaboration with the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and Moving Design in Chicago recently received the prestigious Smithsonian CooperHewitt Design Award.
FAA USES SMART-ENERGY TECHNOLOGY IN ITS OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS TO OPTIMIZE ENERGY USE AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ILLINOIS RESIDENTS. + Through a Smart Grid Education, Outreach, and Research Grant from the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation, the Illinois Public Housing Authority is launching an innovative pilot program in 2015-16 for smart-grid consumer education in low-income, senior, and disabled communities. + The Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), an applied research program, helps Illinois reduce its energy footprint through education and training, direct building design assistance, research, outreach, and guidance. SEDAC helps Illinois building owners and operators conserve more than $18 million in energy costs annually.
Music prof Rick Taube created the app Harmonia which brings teaching and learning music theory into the 21st century. A multimedia “textbook,� Harmonia includes audio, video, and computer analytics, giving students instant feedback on assignments. This app was the first created at the University of Illinois to appear in Apple’s iTunes store. Taube recently received a National Science Foundation grant to enhance the app and market it to a wider audience. E-NABLE is a growing group of over 1,500 members worldwide who together create and design 3D printed, assistive hand devices for those in need. Art + Design Metals alum Frankie Flood, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is working with this group (and his students) to create hand prosthetics using digital fabrication.
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WE GRADUATE LEADERS Urban Planning alum Bambang Brodionegoro is the new Vice Minister of Finance for the Republic of Indonesia. Brodjonegoro is working closely with Indonesia’s new president to boost economic growth and address income inequality in the world’s fourth most-populous nation.
Art History alum Melissa Skoog Dunagan made the 2012 Chicago Business “40 under 40” list. Melissa headed to NYC after graduation, starting her career as Anna Wintour’s assistant (yes, the inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada), before serving as editor at Marie Claire. She later co-managed a $200 million business at Banana Republic and led Prada’s U.S. public relations efforts. Now the owner of a fashion PR firm in Chicago, she manages an impressive client roster that includes Burberry, Loft by Ann Taylor, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
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WE AWE AND INSPIRE YOU
Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan leads Illinois Theatre students and faculty and professional actors in his collaborative, namesake production, The Sullivan Project, which debuts a new play on campus. The project’s inaugural production, Lost Lake, by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Auburn, was produced at Manhattan Theatre Club in NYC, where it was named one of the top off-Broadway plays of 2014.
Guggenheim Fellow Deke Weaver has one foot in Theatre and one in Art + Design as associate professor in both areas. His lifelong project, The Unreliable Bestiary, presents a performance for every letter of the alphabet, each letter representing an endangered animal. Weaver premiered Wolf on campus in 2014; Elephant was presented at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. An acclaimed storyteller, Weaver integrates music, film, and animation in his rich tales. Stephen Andrew Taylor, professor of music composition and theory and also a Guggenheim Fellow, incorporates art and science in his work. His orchestral commission, “Unapproachable Light,” was inspired by images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the New Testament, and it was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. An educator, composer, and conductor, Taylor directs the Illinois Modern Ensemble and collaborates with the Chicago Symphony, among others.
“Elephant” by Deke Weaver Image courtesy of Valerie Oliveiro
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WE HAVE THE WORLD AT OUR FEET Through a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, Professors D. Fairchild Ruggles (Landscape Architecture) and Oscar Vázquez (Art History) will present the Alhambra and Spain’s Islamic Past, a 2015 summer institute based in Granada. By exploring the importance of architecture in establishing community identity, Muslim and Christian traditions, and the history of the Alhambra, the program will focus on Spain’s diverse heritage.
ACROSS THE WORLD, ILLINOIS CENTERS FOR GLOBAL LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT ARE PREMIER STUDY-ABROAD SITES. WE HAVE A PLACE FOR EVERY STUDENT’S INTEREST, FROM AN IMMERSION PROGRAM IN ARCHITECTURE IN BARCELONA, SPAIN, TO SUMMER SESSIONS IN BRITAIN FOR ART + DESIGN STUDENTS, OR A SEMESTER IN TAIWAN STUDYING URBAN PLANNING OR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. Our faculty, too, have connections across the globe: + Urban and Regional Planning Head Rob Olshansky studies and advises on natural disasters in Haiti, Japan, and India. + Music’s Nathan Gunn brings his velvet baritone to opera houses from Sydney to NYC. + Landscape Architecture’s Amita Sinha continually works in India on heritage sites. She is presenting a design workshop for students in India in 2016.
Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona Image courtesy of Grace Soejanto
+ In Architecture, Lynne Dearborn leads a service-learning design studio for students in Haiti (right), with the ultimate goal of helping communities in need plan and rebuild. + Valleri Robinson of Illinois Theatre recently conducted research in Russia as part of a Fulbright grant and continues her projects on Russian theatre. + Associate Professor Kirstie Simson, called a “force of nature” by the The New York Times, teaches and dances in London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Taipei. + Robert G. Anderson and Lisa Gaye Dixon, associate professors in Acting, will host and create an international collaboration with renowned director, Struan Leslie. + Architecture Professor Emeritus James Warfield is working with colleagues at China’s Tongji University to develop the Warfield Archives of Vernacular Architecture. + In addition to his role on the Dance faculty as associate professor and music director, John Toenjes provides technical and artistic direction for distance performing arts, such as the Illinois-Japan Performing Arts Network (IJPAN). His innovative use of technology has brought together dancers from Tokyo and Urbana-Champaign and Dekalb, Illinois, simultaneously performing and interacting in a singular, multi-layered media event.
denise sending new photo
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WE’RE JAZZED
Music Professor Chip Stevens, noted jazz composer and performer
Professor Chip Stephens’ album was recently ranked fifth out of 100 jazz albums. Down Home received prominent international and national airplay, and Stephens’ original compositions, C Hips Blues and Sadness and Soul were aired worldwide on Sirius and National Public Radio (NPR), among others. Alumnus Greg Spero (right) at age 29 established himself as one of the hottest musicians in jazz, jazz fusion, instrumental hip-hop, and electronic music. Winner of the 2013 Chicago Music Award for Best Jazz Entertainer, Spero has performed with musicians Arturo Sandoval, Corey Wilkes, and Robert Irving III; co-produced tracks with Ski Beatz (of Jay Z) and Shock G (Digital Underground founder) for hip-hop artists Murs and Mos Def; and written musical scores for stage and screen.
WE’RE TOP RANKED
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Premier performance and rehearsal spaces, including the acoustically superb Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Ample and well-equipped studios and labs for all majors. Krannert Art Museum, the second largest general fine-arts museum in Illinois. Nationally renowned libraries with special collections in the arts. Japan House, a cultural and educational oasis and part of the University of Illinois Arboretum. Modern residence halls and convenient off-campus housing. NCAA Big-10 sports. 1,000 student clubs and organizations.
YEAR AFTER YEAR, OUR PROGRAMS APPEAR ATOP NATIONAL RANKINGS. WE’RE AMONG THE BEST IN URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING (PLANETIZEN), INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT), METALS (U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT), MUSIC (MUSICCOLLEGES.COM), AND DANCE (DANCECOLLEGES.COM). When you join the College of Fine and Applied Arts, you’re not only joining a selective college of artists, planners, performers, and designers, you’re enrolling at the top-rated University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: + Our campus is frequently cited as one of the nation’s most beautiful. + Champaign-Urbana is rated among the country’s top college towns. + A public ivy, Illinois is recognized as one of the world’s best universities and as a great value in education. + Our students are ranked among the country’s most creative. + U of I graduates are highly sought by employers and recruiters and land top jobs.
AND YET 33,000 OTHER REASONS… Our alumni, some 33,000 strong, and our current students come to FAA for reasons as varied as the individuals themselves. Though their reasons may be uniquely personal, they have one reason in common for attending FAA—because it’s the best place for them to study, learn, perform, create, and explore. “In our college, I have the best of both worlds because I can take advantage of the benefits of a big university and yet still have smaller classes.” Nora Mokate, Class of 2017, Painting, Orland Park, Illinois
“U of I is an amazing place that will be extremely challenging, but it will train you so that you can function in a very intelligent and proactive way.” Aaron White, BFA 2011, Dance, Chicago, Illinois
“The interdisciplinary nature of the University opens up so many opportunities. This special connection between artists and our STEM colleagues at Illinois has inspired me to bridge my own interests in music and science.” Noël Wan, BFA 2014, Harp Performance, San Jose, California
“I can’t put a value to my education from the University of Illinois—it was exactly what I needed to do at that time.” Anshuman Prasad, MSAS 2003, Architecture, Jamshedpur, India
WHAT WILL BE YOUR REASON?
Not sure? Contact us today at 217.333.6061 or faa-uaa@illinois.edu.
WHY ILLINOIS? TOP 10 REASONS TO JOIN NOW