SPRINGFIELD – A presentation by multimedia artist James Luna will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, November 30, in Brookens Auditorium, lower level of Brookens Library, on campus at the University of Illinois at Springfield. The program is free and open to the public.
Luna is an artist, performer, and educator who lives on the LaJolla Indian Reservation in California. His work – dealing with identity and the contrasts between romanticized stereotypes and the reality of being a Native American in contemporary culture – has been shown nationally and internationally. His film "History of the Luiseno People" was chosen Best Short Subject at the 1993 American Indian Motion Picture Awards. At the 2005 Venice Biennale he presented "Emendatio," a collateral exhibit organized by the National Museum of the American Indian and comprising performance, photographs, video, and an installation. Luna also currently serves as an academic counselor at Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California.
Co-sponsors of the event are the State House Inn and the UIS Art Students League, Visual Arts Department, Visual Arts Gallery, and Office of Undergraduate Education.
Luna's appearance is also presented in conjunction with UIS' Engaged Citizenship Common Experience Speakers Series. ECCE is a distinctive set of courses taken by UIS undergraduates and designed to foster both appreciation and practice of diversity and efforts to make a difference in the world.
More information about Luna is available at www.jamesluna.com. More information about the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience at UIS is available at www.uis.edu/generaleducation.
