Midwest Chapter

Developing Spaces/Places

Embassy Suites by Hilton East Peoria Riverfront Hotel & Conference Center - East Peoria, IL   |   October 12 - October 15, 2017

We are excited to host this year's Midwest SPE Chapter Conference! Located in the geographic center of our SPE region, we look forward to seeing members from every state in the Midwest come out in full force to Peoria, Illinois. The bulk of the programming will take place at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria. Exhibitions and receptions will take place across Peoria including at the Bradley University Galleries, Riverfront Museum, Contemporary Art Center, Prairie Center for the Arts, and Peoria Library Downtown. Hands-on workshops will be given throughout the weekend at Bradley University's Heuser Art Center. Featured speakers and exhibitions at Developing Spaces/Places include Guggenheim-award winners Penelope Umbrico, David Taylor, Wendel White, William Fox, and esteemed 2017 Midwest Regional Honored Educator Judy Natal.

Schedule of Speakers

Check out our schedule of amazing presentations -- invited speakers, imagemakers, lectures, and workshops -- at conference details.

Bridge SPE Membership

Are you a recent photo grad? Register for the conference through the new Bridge SPE membership level to help individuals who have graduated from a degree program within the last two years and/or currently seek employment opportunities to stay professionally engaged.

Free Workshops

Are you looking for a new process to bring back to your school? We're incredibly excited that our free alternative process workshops are quickly filling up! Slots for these workshops are limited and pre-registration is required. Check out:

• Gum Bichromate Workshop
• Mordancage Workshop
• Van Dyke Brown Workshop
• Wet Plate Collodion Photogram Workshop
• DASS Sauce Inkjet Transparency Transfer Workshop

Portfolio Reviews

Share your work through one-on-one professional and student portfolio reviews. Slots for reviews are limited and pre-registration is required.

Annual Juried Members Exhibition

This juried show will highlight the unique environmental and cultural character of the Midwest in its diverse expression, cultural insight, and experimental practice. The exhibition will take place at the Contemporary Art Center (CAC) in Peoria, Illinois. The CAC is a non-profit, 14,000-square-foot facility on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a renovated warehouse located in Peoria's Riverfront district. Jurors: Marivi Ortiz and Marico Fayre.

CALL FOR WORK
Juried Student Members Exhibition - Deadline: 09/01/17

Call for student artwork: The Midwest Society for Photographic Education (SPE) and Prairie Rivers Network request submissions for the exhibition Water, to be held at the Peoria Public Library and Project 1612 in Peoria, IL. The exhibition, part of the 2017 Midwest SPE conference and the PRN Wild and Scenic Film Festival, is a collaboration geared to draw attention to contemporary water issues. Artists whose photographic-based or video works address issues of water including, but not limited to, water quality, conservation, pollution, climate change, spatial justice, and ecology, are encouraged to apply. SPE and PRN will award over $500 in prizes and one student will be awarded a solo exhibition at Peoria-based artist-run project space, Project 1612. Project 1612, founded in 2015, brings artists to Peoria for short-term artist residencies. More information about Project 1612 can be found at www.project1612.com. Jurors: Carol Hayes, executive director of Prairie Rivers Network, and artist Alexander Martin. More info:

https://www.spenational.org/resources/calls-for-entry/spe-midwest-chapter-student-members-exhibition

Special thanks to:

Bradley University, Illinois State University School of Art, Jacob and Lorrie Bunn, Peoria Riverfront Museum, Contemporary Art Center, Peoria Public Library, Illinois Community College, Prairie Center of the Arts, Bradley University Parent's Association, Bradley University Intellectual and Cultural Activities Committee, Bradley University Instructional Technology and Media Services, and Bostick and Sullivan.

view conference details