• the217
• Music
• Creativity cultivators: music and art collide at Boneyard Arts Festival

Related Media

People enjoying the music display(up on the opposite building)in downtown Champaign on the first day of Boneyard Festival, April 16. Photo by Tanmay Chowdhary

• See Slideshow (3 images)

Related Artists

• Boneyard Jazz Quintet's Profile »
• Angie Heaton and the Gentle Tamers's Profile »
• Roberta Sparrow's Profile »
• Scurvine 's Profile »
• New Orleans Jazz Machine's Profile »
• Sunset Stallion's Profile »
• Santa's Profile »
• DJ Belly's Profile »
• New Ruins's Profile »
• Elsinore's Profile »
• Post Historic's Profile »
• Kilborn Alley Blues Band's Profile »

Related Venues

Luna »
Address: 116 E. Chestnut Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 344-1895
Show on map

Blind Pig Co., The »
Address: 120 N. Walnut St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 398-1532
Show on map

Mike 'n' Molly's »
Address: 105 N. Market St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 355-1236
Show on map

Alice Campbell Alumni Center »
Address: 601 S. Lincoln Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone:
Show on map

Canopy Club »
Address: 708 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 367-3140
Show on map

Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center »
Address: 202 S. Broadway Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 344-8820
Show on map

Heartland Gallery »
Address: 112 W. Main St. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 337-4767
Show on map

Iron Post »
Address: 120 S. Race St. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 337-7678
Show on map

Bread Company »
Address: 706 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 383-1007
Show on map

Related Articles

• Great places to indulge your senses during Boneyard

Now in its seventh year of existence, the local showcase that best embraces the plethora of available art forms, the Boneyard Arts Festival, is again upon the Champaign-Urbana community. The festival comprises a jam-packed four days of over one-hundred venues, live performances, and art showings celebrating the 217’s artistic niche. The carnival of creativity commences today in downtown Champaign, moving to the academic locus of the UIUC campus on Friday, traveling to the stereotypically “artsy” downtown Urbana on Saturday, and finally to the greater Champaign County on Sunday. Although you may consult your trusty, official “Boneyard Arts Festival Map” to help you traverse CU’s celebration of the visual, performing, and communicative arts, below, buzz provides you with a condensed version of what to focus on in terms of music and live performance.

Thursday, April 16

As you saunter down the homely, yet homy streets of downtown Champaign, be prepared to be visually wow-ed by the works of local artists in a myriad of window and outdoor displays. From the Indi Go Artist Co-op, to Jos. Kuhn & Co. (featuring the work of Deborah Fell, creator of this year’s Boneyard Arts Festival Signature Image), art-savvy attendees will be hard-pressed to run out of forms of media or options for perusal. In a particularly literary mood? Come celebrate the orality of language at acclaimed area pub the Blind Pig from 5-8 p.m., showcasing readings from writers of the Red Herring’s Fiction Writers Workshop. In terms of music performance, jazz-favorites Boneyard Jazz Quintet and alt-country local Angie Heaton will perform at Chestnut St.‘s Luna, Thursday evening. Although most venues close prior to 10 pm, the never-satiated festival-goer can stop by Mike 'n' Molly’s cozy upstairs stage for an intimate Indi Rock & Punk show by Roberta Sparrow and Scurvine, lasting until 2 a.m.

Friday, April 17

Start out your day on a Southern bang with live music from the New Orleans Jazz Machine at UIUC campus’ Alice Campbell Alumni Center. Free after 9 p.m., one of Urbana’s favored music venues, the Canopy Club, will feature music by Zimbabwe musicians Mhondoro Rhythm Success with Bolakada, followed by Tuesday regular, the Piano Man. For those interested in an academic take on the history of music in America, be sure to stop by the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music for an interactive music exhibition, entitled “Music in America,” running throughout the day. Showcased at last Thursday’s LM5s, Sunset Stallion and Santa, among numerous others, will perform at the Independent Media Center (IMC) from early evening on, culminating in a presumably-wild dance party with DJ Belly & Wildcard on into Saturday morning.

Saturday, April 18

Feeling the urge to connect on the most tribal, basic level with fellow CU residents? Look no further than Urbana’s own Broadway Avenue, where a Community Drum Circle will commence Saturday afternoon at downtown boutique Beads N Botanicals. Stuck on the engineering quad, tirelessly studying at Grainger? Preserve your sanity with a study break consisting of a percussion performance by Chad Dunn & Recycled Rhythms from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Engineering Quad. In the mood for ethno-authentic music-making? At Urbana’s Heartland Gallery, live performances include instruments as exotic as Highland bagpipes and the marimba. Although not a surprise to most downtown-Urbana regulars, the Iron Post will be hosting a trio of sundry bands from 1 p.m. on, as the nightlife comes alive on Race. During the IMC’s second day of musical performances, area favorites New Ruins and Elsinore will perform, in addition to seven other talented local rockers, hip-hoppers and folksters.

Sunday, April 19

Eager to venture outside the city limits of Champaign-Urbana for even more art and live music? Look no further than Rantoul’s own Sidney Artists’ Guild, featuring a Grassroots Revival duo from 2-4 p.m., as well as a timely presentation on “Meeting Mr. Lincoln” by the Creative Dramatics Workshop. Hankering for a scrumptious lunch or dinner off The Bread Company’s cosmopolitan menu? If so, stop by the Euro-trendy cafe to vicariously participate in a colloborative performance project between musicians, dancers, actors, and visual artists. Last, but not least, for the third day in a row, the IMC will host a musical “melting pot” of performers: from up-and-coming Post Historic to the more punk-leaning We Must Dismantle All This! to the blues-based Kilborn Alley.