Program info & archives
Story Subject Category: Arts/Culture
Get Flash to see this video.
The mission of 40 north/88 west is to nurture artists in Champaign County by fostering collaboration, and keeping them informed about opportunities and events. Producer Virginia Steffen introduces some of the artists who are part of 40 north and the work they are creating in central Illinois.
Segment duration: 06:45
Story links:
- 40 north/88 west
- David Raila
- Adriana Smith
- Georgia Morgan
- Deborah Fell
- Kim Allison
- Hyon Joo Kim
- Christine Main
- Burcu Okay
- Athan Chilton
Producer: Virginia Steffen
Chief Camera - Segment: Julius Bolton, David Noreen, Henry Radcliff, Virginia Steffen
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Champaign • Champaign County • Urbana
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
By producer Alison Davis Wood
I first met Chad Dunn when I was producing a story on another band that he plays with called Desifinado. After talking to him, I quickly realized that Chad should be his own story for Prairie Fire. His talents include hand crafting instruments that are used by Sting and members of Paul Simon’s band, and he teaches Brazilian percussion to young and old. But Chad is also a lover of trash. He looks at old bottles and paint drums and hears music. What also is incredible is that he inspires others to do the same.
Chad’s musical mission of keeping things out of landfills led to him forming Recycled Rhythms. The band is unlike anything you’ve seen before. It is part musical group, part perfomance art, part environmental activism. But most of all the band is fun to watch. You can’t help but move to the beat and maybe even join the band on stage with a pair of “dancing hands” (empty boxes with scrap paper attached).
Chad’s vision for the future of the band is that Recycled Rhythms will do extensive workshops within communities across the country. The group would help organize a community “clean-up” with a local school. Then Chad would work with school children to turn the items collected into musical instruments. They would teach the kids how to play tradtional Brazilian rhythms on the new instruments. All the work would result in a performance between the school children and Recycled Rhythms after which the instruments would be donated to the school.
I hope this story inspires people check out a performance of Recycled Rhythms or possibly make their own instruments. Maybe you will think twice before you throw something away ... there could be music in that old cereal box or coffee can. You just have to let it out!
Segment duration: 09:19
Story links:
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
Chief Camera - Segment: Julius Bolton, Brian Paris, Virginia Steffen
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Music • Champaign
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
By Maeve Reilly
When we visited a gallery where Charlie and John Sweitzer display their hand-made Shaker-style furniture, it was interesting to see how placing the furniture in a gallery changed people’s perceptions. People were tentative about touching the pieces, but, when they did, they realized that something as “common” and functional as furniture could be a work of art. In the program, one woman talks about how the sensual the show was—getting a literal feel of the furniture was as important as the visual look.
I’ve always been interested in the simple lines and clean design of Shaker furniture, but John’s “live-edge” desk, which incorporated his concept of taking nature’s design—a piece of wood with cracks, uneven surfaces and rough edges, was truly the highlight of the filming at the Ann Lloyd Gallery. John and Charlie claim to be furniture makers, not artists. But when you see the care they use in choosing renewable wood sources and using the form that nature created to often help with the design, you can’t help but examine your own surroundings and think about how much thought you give to choosing things that you use every day.
Segment duration: 05:30
Story links:
Producer: Maeve Reilly
Editor: Tim Hartin
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Business
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
Orpheum Science Museum by Elif Basar
In college I read somewhere that the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum was looking for volunteers, and they were holding a volunteer orientation. I had never heard of this place, and I was not even aware that a children’s museum even existed in Champaign. I had done previous volunteer work with children and science, so I thought this would be a fun opportunity. I went to check out this tiny museum, which I had passed by several times in the past, and hardly noticed. I was pleased when I walked inside. Who knew at the time that what looked like an abandoned area of downtown held such a colorful and promising place? The answer is, not many people. Apparently, I was not the only one who was unaware of it.
I volunteered for some of their special events’ weekends, which drew in a modest number of people. I had such a wonderful time explaining different scientific concepts to children, and seeing them engaged and actually interested in what I was saying. Children were really enjoying themselves, not even noticing that they were learning at the same time. I have always felt that places like these are very important for our community to have. Many of the surrounding communities have had established children’s museums for some time, and it is only in the last decade that Champaign has joined them. I wanted more people to be aware of this place, and its importance, so that is can continuously grow and improve as planned. Already this has started, as I observed by the crowd it drew in this January at the event Prairie Fire filmed. Children were all over the place, participating in hands on experiments and demonstrations. Trying to film them in action was a bit of a challenge, since they would run as soon as they noticed the camera. Virginia Steffen still managed to sneak up on them, and get some great shots before they noticed.
We had a wonderful time that Saturday shooting this. I really hope more people take notice of this neat little place, and will help to support it.
Segment duration: 08:13
Story links:
Producer: Elif Basar
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Illinois Culture/History • Libraries/Museums/Cultural Centers • Livestock/Animals/Zoology • Science/Nature • Champaign • Champaign County
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
Paul Idleman by Alison Davis Wood
Paul Idleman was a man who lived many lives during his short time with us. I first met Paul when he had recently taken the job as director of the Champaign County Historical Museum. Many times over the years he provided props and shooting locations for productions at WILL including “Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance” and “10 Sisters: A True Story.” As I got to know Paul, he shared some amazing stories from his years in Colorado. He had published a comedy newspaper and one of his writers was Roseanne Barr. One time he even assigned Roseanne to do an interview with then “almost famous” comedian Jay Leno. Paul was also a big music fan. Every year he would burn CDs for his friends that included his favorite songs. He used his graphic design talents to create hysterical covers for these treasured gifts. Paul’s love of music had led him to a career as a rock and roll photographer. He approached a Colorado radio station about publishing a newspaper for them and suggested he get photos of local concerts to include in the publication. The radio station bit and he had a backstage pass. Over the years he braved the crowds to get shots of The Who, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Ray Vaughn. But over the years he took other jobs and the photos were hidden away in boxes. Thankfully after he moved back to his hometown of Champaign, Carolyn Baxley of the Cinema Gallery in Urbana persuaded Paul to dig through his collection. The result was a showing of his work at the Gallery and an opening reception that drew friends from as far away as Colorado. Luckily, many got the chance to experience the talent of this wonderful man. He will be missed.
Segment duration: 09:12
Story links:
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Cinema/Theaters/Film • Music • Photography
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
Tim Hartin and I got to know Carl Sandburg while working on WILL-TV’s “The Song and the Slogan.” For that production we had interviewed his only surviving daughter, Helga, at her father’s birthplace in Galesburg. But the interview just didn’t seem to fit into that production. When we decided to produce a “Prairie Poets Special” for Prairie Fire, we knew it was our chance to use the footage with Helga. It was also a chance to give viewers another opportunity to visit the state’s wonderful museum in Galesburg. The museum gives you the opportunity to experience the many faces of Sandburg, from newspaper boy and socialist organizer to poet and folk singer. It is a place you should certainly see for yourself.
Segment duration: 05:11
Story links:
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Illinois Culture/History • Literature
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
My mom first taught me about Vachel Lindsay. On the wall in her bedroom she had autographed copy of one of his poems. It originally belonged to my grandmother. It was a present from her teacher upon her 8th grade graduation. The teacher had asked Lindsay to sign poems for the entire class and he had graciously obliged. It was a treasured possession in our house and a reminder of another famous man from my hometown. It inspired me to learn more about Lindsay’s poetry and his life in central Illinois. I learned that my grandmother had another connection to Lindsay. She had Susan Wilcox as an English teacher at Springfield High School, the same teacher who was a great influence on Lindsay’s life.
When the state beautifully restored Lindsay’s home, I knew it was time to put my interest in Lindsay to tape and produce a story on him for Prairie Fire. The story was even more fun to do because I got to interview Jennie Battles. I first met Jennie when I was planning my wedding and she worked at the Old State Capitol. Her love of Springfield and Illinois history is infectious. Her tours of the Lindsay home are so incredible that you feel the Lindsay family’s presence in every room. It is something you have to experience for yourself.
Segment duration: 08:46
Story links:
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Illinois Culture/History • Literature • Springfield
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
I was first introduced to Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology when I was 9 years old. My parents were both theater majors and one summer decided to teach an acting class to elementary school children. Each student had to perform a different poem from Spoon River Anthology – mine was “Emily Sparks.” Several years later I was cast in the Spoon River Anthology play at my high school. I have grown up reading and re-reading the poems of Spoon River, but it wasn’t until I decided to do a Prairie Fire segment on Edgar Lee Masters and the Spoon River Valley that I really learned about the life of the Spoon River poet. Primarily famous for his best selling anthology, Edgar Lee Masters was a prolific poet and eccentric personality who suffered great tragedy in his youth and whose boundless curiosity and creativity eventually produced the more than 250 epitaphs in Spoon River Anthology.
Setting out to do something different
When I set out to film this segment, I decided I wanted to do something different from the Prairie Fire pieces I had done before. Having actors performing a selection of the Spoon River poems and weaving performance with biography was definitely different and proved to be very challenging as both a producer and editor. As I usually do when I get obsessive about a subject I’m doing a Prairie Fire segment on, I read as many books as I could about Masters, including “Illinois Poems” and his autobiography “Across Spoon River.” I spent three months doing research on him and had great difficulty in figuring out how to condense and incorporate the biographical information into the piece. So ask me anything about Edgar Lee Masters and I can probably give you a four-minute or longer answer. Saddy, it’s a talent I only find useful at poetry parties.
At the cemeteries
There were four different film shoots. The first was mostly spent getting B-roll of the towns in the Spoon River Valley during the annual Spoon River Drive in early October. I also spent that day combing the two most famous cemeteries that inspired Masters – the Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg and the Oak Hill Cemetery in Lewistown – and let me tell you, it’s really hard to find a specific tombstone in a big cemetery when you have no clue where it is! Eventually I got a map and that helped a lot. The second film shoot was filming the Edgar Lee Master’s Memorial Museum in Petersburg, and the interview with Museum custodian David Edwards. The fourth film shoot was spent on pick up shots at the museum during their Winter Open House, and an interview with James Michael Pisel, a board member of the museum whose interview was not able to be used due to time constraints (alas! I’ll use it somewhere, some how).
The primary shoot
The third shoot was, of course, the primary shoot in Oakland Cemetery where six actors and seven crew members filmed the poems and a variety of wonderful footage. Five of the six actors are related (the “Clan” MacLeod) which made it rather fun, and the sixth was an actress from the Chicago area. Everyone seemed to have a great time that day. Mary Stasheff did a fantastic last-minute job with the costumes, hair, and makeup, and Brian Paris, Shane Pangburn, Virginia Steffen, and David Noreen all did a wonderful job behind the camera, providing me with an editor’s dream of rich and varied shots.
Rain holds off
The weather forecast said it would be raining all day, and we almost canceled the shoot at the last minute, but decided to go ahead with it and film whatever we could before the rain hit. However, the sun rose on a gorgeous morning – sunny and bright with a vivid autumn blue sky. We filmed all the poems in the morning, then broke for lunch around 1 p.m. and by 2 p.m., we continued filming the cemetery B-roll with three cameras and crews shooting simultaneously in different areas of the cemetery. The storm clouds moved in and we were able to get gloomy, “ghosting” shots as the sky became increasingly darker. We wrapped shooting by 4 p.m. and just after we had finished loading all the equipment into the vans, the rain hit and quickly became a downpour. That film shoot is one that I will always remember.
Segment duration: 12:03
Story links:
Producer: Eleanore Stasheff
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Literature
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
Tom Hawk by Shane Pangburn
This was the second video I’ve worked on with Tom Hawk. I don’t even bother counting the plays. Tom works so much, that it was difficult to schedule time for the story. Eventually, I just started following him. I went down to Lerna to his farm. The farm only grows lights, props, sets, and cats, not exactly in that order. Years ago, I helped Tom clean one of his workshops. It was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. These shoots were decidedly easier and more relaxed.
It was much more like having a conversation with Tom and than interviewing him. Most of the footage was us just catching up. It made editing interesting, but nobody’s interested in the editing process. I’ll just make one note of thanks to everyone who helped find archival material, particularly Mike Katzenstein, Lynn Leithliter, and Jerry Daniels. Tom has worked for so long and so many places, it was difficult to keep track of them all.
In mid-March, he designed a set for Steel Magnolias at Atwood High School. Laura Arwine directs the Atwood plays and her daughters act and help on set. I’ve been friends with the Arwine’s for years, so it was fun being there while their show took shape. I even helped out a little, mostly just lifting stuff, which is all a videographer is really good for anyway.
Segment duration: 07:29
Story links:
Producer: Shane Pangburn
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Libraries/Museums/Cultural Centers
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Get Flash to see this video.
The Whip Guy by Alison Davis Wood
I first saw Chris Camp performing at the Illinois State Fair. Being the mother of three boys, I had little choice but to watch his act. My oldest son ran right over when he heard the whip crack. But I found that Chris is right, whips are really fun to watch especially when you see them being cracked by a professional. I knew I had to do a story on man that had dedicated himself to whip cracking.
It is fun to imagine Chris as kid spending hours in his backyard using his Star Wars action figures as targets. I am amazed he was able to get his friends to help him practice during those early days. I am even more amazed that I volunteered to hold a few targets during our shoot at Washington Park. I had to close my eyes when he cracked a flower out of my mouth. Afterward I couldn’t believe I did it. I guess I just had complete trust in his abilities.
Chris is performing May 5 at the Champaign Public Library. Visit the library’s Web site for more information. Seeing him perform is something you shouldn’t miss. Also check out his Web site to get his complete schedule.
Segment duration: 06:44
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Champaign • Champaign County
back to the main Prairie Fire page
Comments: