ANNOUNCEMENT: Artwork to Support Local Efforts for Clean Water Resources

(Champaign-Urbana, IL–October 29, 2013) Murphy Gallery of the University Y will open a unique exhibition featuring local Urbana artist Kim Curtis on November 14, on view until January 19, 2014. This exhibition is a unique collaboration between the artist, the University Y, and Prairie Rivers Network to benefit efforts to keep water resources clean, healthy, and diverse for the people and wildlife of Illinois.

Original paintings by Kim Curtis will be available for purchase throughout the life of the showing at the Y. A portion of any proceeds will benefit Prairie Rivers Network’s advocacy for clean, healthy rivers lakes and safe drinking water on behalf of the people and wildlife of Illinois. As a hub for environmental initiatives on campus and in our communities, the University Y sees this collaboration as a creative way to connect more people to local efforts for clean water sources in Illinois. To learn more about how to get involved, the Y encourages people to come to the exhibit opening reception on Thursday, November 14 at 7pm at the University YMCA. At 7:30pm, there will be a discussion between the artist and Glynnis Collins, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers Network. 

When: Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 7pm.  Discussion at 7:30pm.

Where: University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St, Champaign

The show features nearly 20 works from the artist’s series, Thirtyseven, which documents the fascinating wetland area along the San Francisco Bay area’s highway 37. This rambling, two-lane thoroughfare winds at water level through a maze of wetland waterways, tall grasses, scrubby bushes and all sorts of human-made constructions that reflect its various uses over time. In Thirtyseven, the artist suggests elements of landscape--abstract forms, when viewed at different angles ,suggest something familiar to us: waterways, tall grasses, a fisher’s dock. In the words of the artist, captures a “sense of immediacy,” something that is both “familiar and unintelligible” to us. Courtesy of Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery.

About Kim Curtis: Kim Curtis moved to Illinois following from a career in costume design, a second degree in painting, and a landscape of ocean and mountains. A transplant from California, Kim now paints full-time in her studio in rural Urbana, where her work reflects the effect of this very different place on a Painter exploring the switch from figure to landscape, vertical to horizontal and urban to agricultural.

About Prairie Rivers Network: Prairie Rivers Network is the independent, Illinois affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. Drawing upon sound science and working cooperatively with others, they advocate public policies and cultural values that sustain the ecological health and biological diversity of water resources and aquatic ecosystems. 

About Murphy Gallery: Some of the most profound insight, critique, and creative thinking around the issues which comprise the mission of the Y happen in and around the arts. Murphy Gallery of the University Y is a space that engages students and community members to reflect and act together in issues of social justice, international understanding, environmental activism, faith and cultural understanding through quality arts programming. Murphy Gallery, located at the University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL.

This exhibit is sponsored by Prairie Rivers Network, and University Y student groups Students for Environmental Concerns and Red Bison Prairie Restoration.  Art @ the Y is an initiative of the University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820. All Art @ the Y events are free and open to the public.

October is Immigrant Justice Month. Join us!

In an effort to foster greater dialogue about immigration within our congregations, the Allies of Faith of the CU Immigration Forum have launched the second annual Immigrant Justice Month for this October. Events are planned throughout the community, in congregations and public forums, to raise awareness of issues surrounding immigration and the immigrant experience. The calendar below offers the community opportunity to join in conversations approaching the immigration debate from a perspective of faith and justice.

Join us all month long as we bear witness to the strength, power, and conviction of the immigrant community.

5:00 pm Sunday, October 6 at UniPlace Christian Church, 403 S. Wright St., Champaign.

Beginning of 8-week seminar on Understanding Strife in the Congo. This class will meet weekly on Sundays and will increase understanding of Congolese immigration to our community. Open to the public. Go to uniplace.org for more information.

6:30 pm Monday, October 7 Harvest of Empire:  film screening/discussion at Channing Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, U.  This new feature-length documentary, "Harvest of Empire," examines the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today.

Monday, October 14 Fast Day Called: The Allies of Faith of the Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum have called for religious leaders and others in the community to join in a day of fasting as we pray for successful Comprehensive Immigration Reform for the sake of justice in our community.

7:00 pm Monday, October 14   abUSed: The Postville Raid:  film screening/discussion at Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, 309 W. Birch, Urbana. This film weaves together the personal stories of those directly affected by the largest, most brutal and expensive Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in the history of the United States.  This event took place in Postville, Iowa, in 2008. The documentary presents the human face of immigration, the socioeconomic forces that fuel it, and serves as a cautionary tale against government abuses.

Saturday, October 19 at First Mennonite Church, 902 W. Springfield, Urbana 61801. Food Security Forum:  Food for Today, Food for Tomorrow, Food for All. Program is free and includes an evening meal.  Interactive shopping and cooking on a Food Stamp Budget begins at 10 am.  Information and discussion sessions run from 1:00 – 7:30 pm.   Details and meal registration at www.fmc-cu.org.    

7:00 pm Monday, October 21 at Channing Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, U.

Justice in Motion:  Responding to Changing Needs with Nicaragua’s Poor Presentation and Craft Display.  Craft items will be available for sale.

12:30 pm Sunday, October 27 Food will be served from 12:30-2:00 pm at our Immigration Justice Fair held at University Place Christian Church, 403 S. Wright, Champaign. Faith groups and civic organizations will highlight ways they welcome the stranger and show hospitality to immigrants in Champaign-Urbana. A great networking event.

2:00 pm Sunday, October 27 Interfaith Worship Service at University Place Christian Church, 403 S. Wright, Champaign led by faith leaders from many distinct congregations. It will be a moving conclusion to a month-long effort to lift up the needs of our immigrant neighbors today even as we celebrate the immigrant history of our past.

6:00 pm Wednesday, October 30  University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright, Champaign. Dia de los Muertos celebration with live music and light refreshments. A festive celebratory event lifting up immigrant contributions to our community.

7:00 pm Thursday, October 31 “Our View From the Border,” an interactive presentation at

Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, 309 W. Birch, Urbana. Desert aid workers Kate Morgan-Olsen and Ricky Cheney from No More Deaths will offer firsthand accounts of trends in migration; human rights abuse documentation in Nogales, Sonora; migrant support in the Sonoran desert; and allied movement building in communities throughout Arizona with emphasis on a model for organizing that can be replicated in Champaign-Urbana.  No More Deaths is a ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson.

[Y Stories] Willard Broom: "Keeping My Mind Open"

In this edition of Y Stories, Willard Broom recounts how he started out at the Y as a "drive-by participant," going to Friday Forum lectures and drinking coffee in the K Rooms.  Willard remembers how the Y's Freshman Camp changed his ideas about learning, and found the Y to be a safe haven for students and community members to dialogue and take action together. Willard is still very much involved in the Y today.

[Y Stories] is a part of the YMCA's celebration of 140 years of engaging people in service, reflection, and action.  Since 1873, the University YMCA has sponsored programs, organizations, and activities dedicated to building a better world, better human relations, and better care for the Earth.  

As part of this celebration, we would like to acknowledge stories of University YMCA alumni and friends in order to commemorate our lasting legacy. We would love to hear your Y story, because we believe that the power of storytelling is when people say "me too."  

Watch other videos from our friends and Y alumni:

• Diane Marlin: "The Battle to Save the Park"
• Ellen Dahlke: "A Place Where I Could"
• Miss V: "Home Away From Home"
• Mara Eisenstein & Cassie Carroll: "Greening Green Street"
• Lauren Haynes: "Never Stop Serving"
• Tom Seals: "For A Better Tradition"
• Anthony Santarelli: "A Place of Service, Reflection, & Action"
• Dick Thies and Bob Lauchner: "Difference Makers"
• Hari Rao: "My Kind of Place"