Felted finger puppets of famous Shakespearean characters, a mixed media piece made entirely of old books, and a scene incorporating sculpture, fiber art, and recycled instruments, are among the pieces from CUC art students that will be featured in the Oak Park Library’s Idea Box space April 27 to 30.

The installation is a collaboration between the Oak Park Library and CUC’s art department. Each piece highlights a local nonprofit, incorporating a service element to the exhibition. 

“I was thinking about how do we make it more meaningful and looking at what the library does and what the mission of our university is, we came up with the idea that, why don’t we highlight local nonprofits?” assistant professor of art Angela Dieffenbach said.

Dieffenbach’s 12 Advanced Studio students embarked on their projects after spring break, choosing nonprofits that piqued their interest.

“I chose the Oak Park Festival Theater because I’ve had a big personal connection to the theater,” said senior Nathan Goman, who was involved in theater both at Concordia and in high school. “I want to help spread the importance of the theater and what it means to me.”

Goman crafted 11 felted puppets of characters from various Shakespeare plays for the showcase. Each individual puppet took five to six hours to perfect.

Junior Sarah Redhage chose to work with Providing Instruments for the Next Generation (PING), which provides free instruments, music scholarships, and summer camps to youth in Oak Park and River Forest, making music accessible to everyone.

“My mom’s a violin teacher, and I’ve grown up in music my entire life,” Redhage said. “So it’s been a really big part of my life and a lot of my favorite memories came from summer music camps. I was really touched and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is so cool and I need to pick this one.’”

Choosing to pursue a mixed media project, Redhage’s piece incorporates sculptures of children below a draped banner embroidered with sheet music for beginner tunes. Ceramic and fiber arts have become go-to mediums for her recently, she said.

“I didn’t want just a flat painting,” Redhage said. “I was just kind of thinking, what would be a good way of showing how multidimensional the effects of music are? It touches a lot more parts of your life than you would think. And it’s not just these people give you instruments for cheap. These people are literally changing lives.” 

Beyond being able to pour their talents into a cause they are truly passionate about, some students have gotten some significant professional experience presenting their art. Senior Isabelle Campos, who chose Friends of the Oak Park Public Library as her charity, presented her project at their bi-monthly meeting. 

“I got to meet all the people that were on the website that I’ve been researching, and so it was really nice,” Campos said. “I was actually really surprised just how well they received it and how gracious they were, I just felt very welcomed. And I didn’t really have any nerves about it. I just felt a lot of joy being able to share it.”

A longtime employee at her local library and frequenter of Friends of the Library book sales, Campos focused on capturing what makes libraries so special to her.

“I knew I wanted to do something that represents the mission, which is basically providing access to and giving new life to old books and giving access to the community through their book sales,” Campos said.

For her project, Campos constructed a scene entirely out of used books and recycled materials. The used books and old catalog cards were sourced from CUC’s library. 

“I had a lot of fun making it. I like how it challenged me to be creative in ways that I didn’t know,” Campos said.

Once the showcase concludes, the finished pieces will be donated or sold to raise money for the charities the students worked with. 

“It’s been so rewarding to see students see how art can touch people and really highlight the beautiful, lovely things that’s happening in this world,” Dieffenbach said. “I’m really touched by it and it’s been inspiring to me to think about like ‘oh how can I help support the good work that’s being done?’”

For many students, the community aspect of the project has been rewarding.

“I’m really glad that we’re kind of getting out more in the community,” Redhage said. “Because, obviously, our campus gallery is cool, but we’re part of the Oak Park and River Forest community. And I think we should really act like it. And even if we’re not staying here for the rest of our lives, it’s good to know what’s going on. And it’s good to support things while we can, while we’re here.”