Candlelight Vigil for The HMC: A Last Goodbye
The organization Yaku, is no longer the owner of the Church. In early 2020 it was returned to the County and later purchased by a private company based out of a Chicago suburb. The doors have been padlocked and there is now caution tape surrounding parts of the building.
We invite you to a "goodby ceremony" to say a final farewell to the Hale Memorial Church. It will be an informal occasion held outside the building as an opportunity to check in with those who have been involved over the years, share some fond memories, and talk about what the future holds. We plan to bring actual candles to share. You are welcome to bring your own candles or any other item that seems fitting for a candle vigil in honor of a church building.
This is not the end of Yaku, it is the end of our efforts to save the HMC.
401 W High St, Peoria, IL 61606-1900, United States 7-10pm
Article ππ ππππππππππππ ππππ ππ πππ ππππ published by Emerge SAIC Journal written by our co-founder Natalia Villanueva Linares for their DREAM ISSUE invited by the editor-in-chief Kathryn Cua . Photography by Skyler J. Edwards and Earl Power Murphy
PETITION: REJECT the Ordinance that would Block the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley House Museum!
ONE STATE Arts Conference
WATCHT THE FULL PANEL HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbVU1k_IqmA&list=PLx6lHx-69DKquAunx5Xs6OvAWw65_95IT&index=9
Panelists Natalia Villanueva Linares, High Place/Yaku in Peoria, John H. Guevara of Chuquimarca Projects in Chicago Jose Luis Benavides of Sin Cinta Previa
How is curating Latinx artists in Illinois? Where do local Latinx contemporary artists exhibit? Where do they get published? Where can we learn about local Latinx artists? How do Latinx artists relate to the region, the midwest and international conversations around contemporary art? These questions and more will be explored through an examination of best practices and methods by three nomadic yet distinctly Illinoisian and Latinx artists, arts leaders, projects and spaces including; Natalia Villanueva Linares of High Place/Yaku (a mini-mansion exhibition space and international art magazine) in Peoria, IL, John H. Guevara of Chuquimarca Projects (a library, residency, proposal-based project and exhibition space) in Chicago, IL & Jose Luis Benavides of Sin Cinta Previa (a roving, queer, feminist and Latinx focused video-art, online-archive, and screening series). Through this panel participants will learn better methods to serve Latinx communities, ways to decenter the urban gallery, and gain resources to provide direct access for invisibilized Latinx communities. We also hope to address why and how Latinx artist are often left out of contemporary discourse and art spaces throughout Illinois, and more urgently how to best provide relief, healing, and a sense of place for Latinx artists by providing varied pathways of visibility through sustainable and communal practices. One State Together in the Arts is the only statewide conference focused on creative professionals in Illinois. For more, visit http://onestate.artsalliance.org/
Art goes outdoors during terrain Biennial
Article for the PJ star by Leslie Renken. A unique type of art festival, Terrain Biennial is designed to spark conversations between neighbors and to bring contemporary art to people who might not otherwise see it. Homeowners partner with artists to get art out of the galleries and into neighborhoods.
Conceived by the late Chicago artist Sabina Ott, Terrain Biennial began in 2011 with monthly installations in the artistβs yard. Today the exhibition is held all over the country.
βThis yearβs subject is βwhat is your terrain, and how does the landscape affect you?β said Natalia Villanueva Linares, a co-founder of YAKU who is curating exhibits at 423 High Street and the nearby Hale Memorial Church.
Linares invited Chicago artist Jesse Meredith to exhibit his work at 423 High Street. βNot What You Thinkβ is a series of yard signs, which usually direct people into some kind of action, like voting for a particular candidate.
Hale Memorial Church Featured Site in International Terrain Exhibitions
Interview for WCBU radio, our co-founder and curator Natalia Villanueva Linares with the executive director of Arts Partners Jenn Gordon.
LISTEN HERE
Exploring the local Terrain
Article by Emily Potts. Artist Natalia Villanueva Linares, co-founder of Yaku Peoria, is curating local participation in Terrain Biennial 2019, a public art exhibition staged at locations worldwide. Here in Peoria, the work of local artists can be seen on the windows of Hale Memorial Church and at Yakuβs headquarters at 423 W. High Street.
The late artist, curator and educator Sabina Ott of Oak Park, Illinois, founded Terrain Exhibitions in 2011, originally hosting installations in the front yard of her home. Though Ott passed away in 2018, her legacy lives on through the Terrain Biennial, which includes 33 participating cities this year.
Yakuβs mission aligns perfectly with the spirit Ott engendered. βOur organization has been working for several years creating cultural bridges and facilitating international exchanges,β Natalia explains. βWith a simple gesture, Sabrina created a formula to bring new forms of art in any neighborhood, city and country around the world, to foster dialogue between neighbors.β
EMERGING ARTIST COLLECTIVE
Visit of the Church
Emerging Artists collective visiting the Hale Memorial Church
UKAYZINE Launch party PARIS
YAKU in Kinshasa, Congo
MAKERS MARKET
At the riverfront museum
BIG PICTURE PEORIA
FINE ARTS FAIR
UKAYZINE LAUNCH PARTY
YAKU in Lima, Peru
22 de Diciembre 2017 en la casa cultural Amaru, Barranco
Peoria High
CHURCH CLEAN UP
IGNITE 2017
OVERFLOWING WITH LOVE
βLoveβ pours out of the Hale Memorial Church building, above, at 401 w High st. like a waterfall as part of an installation put together by Yaku, a not for profit group that is working to save the structure as an international cultural center. HERE
Peoria Love is Pouring out of an Old Church in Peoria
WMBC Peoria news, The love of Peoria is literally pouring out of an old church on Main Street. Yaku is a new non-profit that is spreading the love and pride of Peoria.
The founders of Yaku cut out over 6,000 hearts and went to local shops around Peoria, asking people to write what they love about Peoria and what they hope to see in Peoria on the hearts.
Art for Art's Sake: New 'Zine Part of Broader Artists' Vision for Peoria
The post consumer report podcast
ART. What is good for?
Yaku is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization charged with the great task of restoring and re-purposing the iconic Hale Memorial Church located on the corner of Main and High Streets in Peoria. The building exists to nurture and house a growing 60+ member community of artists and art groups from around the world. In addition to restoring the church, the mission of Yaku, which means βwater,β is to curate contemporary art experiences designed to engage local and global audiences through international exchanges.
Yaku: A New Flow
by Stevie Zvereva, Photography by Skyler Edwards
A young coupleβs repurposing of an old church is poised to fuel an international art movement.
When Earl Power Murphy decided to buy the old Hale Memorial Church at Main and High Street, he had big dreams. A Bradley University undergraduate student at the time, he walked regularly past the stately old church, enamored by its grandiosity and presence. After seeing the potential of the indoor spaceβand meeting a girlβa grand scheme emerged.
Natalia Villanueva was a third-year student at the Γcole nationale supΓ©rieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, when Murphy arrived on a two-week study abroad program. When their paths crossed, the connection was immediate.
Artist restoring Hale Memorial Church offers 'SNAX' nomadic art event for the
Moving Peoria Forward by Kristin Dimaggio
Before buying the dilapidated Hale Memorial Church three years ago, Earl Power Murphy and his wife Natalia Villanueva thought it was a good idea to have it appraised.
βWe shelled out a lot of money for him to tell us it was worth zero,β said a laughing Villanueva while sitting in Broken Tree Coffee Friday afternoon. βHe said βyou have two options: Either run away right now, or you are crazy and you are going to make something happen. Call me in the future because I want to see what you do.ββ