Each week, our Datebook series shares arts features and fun things to do around the Twin Cities. The pulse of any community beats through its culture—and 2024 was one for the books.
I’m still thinking about Perennial Optimism 2.0, artist David Dow’s February exhibition in the tiny Joe McCauley Gallery at Heartland Community College that left a big impact. On these dark, cold winter days, it felt necessary to visit it again.
Dow and his partner Jim Neeley also sponsored a show called West of Center at McLean County Arts Center — a first for the 136-year-old institution featuring artists entirely from Bloomington’s west side. It’s no accident that Shay Tolise was one of them; she was one of five women whose stories inspired Perennial Optimism. West of Center is a launch pad for Tolise’s future goal of opening a gallery.
Comings and goings
Two influential figures died this year: McLean County’s biggest restaurant fan Larry Carius and John Ficca, a beloved theater educator who logged more than five decades at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Two others retired: John Stark stepped away from both Illinois State University and Illinois Shakespeare Festival, marking his final season with a cameo appearance onstage—beside a Survivor contestant, no less.
Jean Miller left her mark on Illinois State, too, teeing up the long-delayed start of a capital project that will maybe, eventually get done. Perhaps Miller’s greatest accomplishment is securing an enduring gift from Wonsook Kim and Thomas Clement, undergirding the university’s expanding arts programs.
Illinois Art Station stepped up to fill a widening live music gap, made bigger by Nightshop’s closure at the end of this week. The Illinois Symphony filled a gap of its own, hiring Taichi Fukumura as the next maestro who kicked off what’s turning out to be a great season in October.
In the roadhouses, Bloomington-Normal hosted some of music’s most influential players nearing the tail end of their careers. Others are experiencing glorious second winds, like Marlon Wayans, Lee Brice, Martin Barre and Craig Ferguson.
REO Speedwagon played its final Central Illinois show here in November. And the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band capped its storied 50-year run with a stop at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts—which logged its best month ever after years on the struggle bus.
The people behind the art
My favorite stories to tell are the ones that reveal something about the people behind the art. Like Maria Rodriguez finding her way in a new town, toting the music of her native country, Venezuela, with her every place she goes. Like Alanna Veitch and Kirsten Heteji, two visual artists whose Mending and Flow at Jan Brandt Gallery helped them process a year spent foster parenting a family member. And like Cathy Gilbert, whose new poetry collection shares the beauty and the mess of mothering as “the squeeze” found her simultaneously caring for newborn twins and her own ailing mother. Or Jason Vales, who saw himself in the characters putting their lives back together while building sandwiches at Clyde’s.
These are just a handful of the brilliant things we witnessed throughout 2024.