Tony Devroye, associate professor of viola at the NIU School of Music and violist of the famed Avalon String Quartet, has been named the new artistic director of Rush Hour Concerts. Rush Hour Concerts, a 15-year-old organization, brings high-quality classical music to the public for free in its weekly summer concert series at St. James...

Michael Barnes, professor of printmaking in the NIU School of Art and Design, is off to Serbia, where his work is being featured in the Second International Printmaking Triennial. Held in Belgrade, the exhibition of Barnes’ work is being presented at the Centre for Graphic Arts and Visual Researches AKADEMIJA, Faculty of Fine Arts, University...

“Manly Men, Girly Girls and Everybody in Between,” a group exhibition featuring work by 10 contemporary artists, is on display at the NIU Art Museum. This show will be held in the Rotunda and South Galleries of the NIU Art Museum through Saturday, Nov. 15. A public reception will be held from 4:30 to 6...

Several art education faculty members and doctoral students in the NIU School of Art and Design have been busy internationally over the past few months. Professor Richard Siegesmund has been invited by the German Ministry of Education to be one of 60 educators invited to a two-day workshop on future directions of the German national...

Registration is open for the fall semester at the NIU Community School of the Arts, sponsored by the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The community school offers year-round programming, with 80 teachers and 400 students who come from 50 towns and cities for classes, lessons and ensembles. Programs for children and adults begin in...

Rich Holly, dean of the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts, has received a $2,500 grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation for the second consecutive year. The funds from the grant will help in the partnership created with Arts Midwest to bring the Arts Midwest World Fest to DeKalb County during the upcoming school year....

Gordon Bird, professor of music and director of bands at NIU from 1960 until his retirement in 1983, died June 16 at Oak Crest DeKalb Area Retirement Center. He was 99. Bird held a bachelor’s degree from Drake University, a master of music degree from Northwestern University and a doctorate of education from Columbia University...

NIU School of Art alumna Michelle Pairitz, a principal of the Chicago office of smartdept. inc., considers herself an “aspiring Picasso.” Residents of Geneva are likely to dispute the “aspiring” part of that description, however, now that Pairitz and her husband, Eric, made a very public return to their painterly roots. Michelle Pairitz, who earned...

Liam Teague, head of steelpan studies and an associate professor in the NIU School of Music, was named the 2014 Laureate in Arts and Letters by the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards For Excellence. Here is the speech Teague gave May 10 at the Trinidad & Tobago’s National Academy of the Performing Arts. It has...

An upcoming exhibition at Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis will feature the work of photography students from the NIU School of Art. This exhibition – “The Desire For… ” – will run from Tuesday, June 3, through Saturday, June 21. A public reception will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, June 13....

Spring 2014 BFA graduates from the NIU School of Art will host an exhibition of their works through Saturday, May 10. An opening reception will take place from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Jack Olson Gallery, Gallery 214 and Gallery 215 on Fourth Street in DeKalb. A free shuttle will offer...

The NIU Community School of the Arts has announced its spring recital and concert schedule. Soloists and ensemble performances are featured in May on the stage of the Recital Hall and Concert Hall in the NIU Music Building. Most performances end with a reception. All are free and open to the public. As many as 150...