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>> NARRATOR What do Snap-on-Tools and an art center at Eastern Illinois University have
in common? The answer, Newton E. Tarble. As one of the founders of Snap-on-Tools, Tarble
was able to make his initial fortune. His connection to Eastern dates back to his earlier
days, not in college, but much earlier. Newton spent his elementary years at Eastern’s
laboratory school. So, he and his brother attended the training
school and then um EIU’s first president, Lord, uh arranged for Newton and his brother
to get a pitcher/catcher baseball scholarship to Swarthmore College. So, they went off to
Swarthmore to study. >> NARRATOR Grateful to Eastern for his early
success, Tarble wanted to give something back. He was approached with the idea for a new
arts center for the campus, which ironically would be constructed right next to the former
school that he attended in his youth. The building uh was open in 1982. There was
quite a long planning process that went prior to that but it opened in 1982. Uh it’s the
only building on campus that’s funded entirely through donor funding and Newton Tarble pledged
a million dollars um to start the project. >> NARRATOR And similar to the concept of
Snap-on-Tools, which brings the tools to the workplace, Tarble wanted art to come to the
community in the same way And so the idea was to make the arts as assessable
as they could to the people of central- Illinois. And knowing that you know different offerings
and accessibility to the arts is somewhat limited, because we’re in the rural area.
And so, from the very beginning uh the Tarble is intended to serve the campus community
and the general community. >> NARRATOR Since the day they opened their
doors, the Tarble Arts Center has served a number of purposes, as a gallery, classroom,
gift shop, performance space and much more. The permanent collection includes 20th century
Illinois folk arts, American Scene prints and watercolors from the 30’s and 40’s.
Paintings by Paul T. Sargent and Robert M. Root, both were natives of the area and were
associates with the Brown County Indiana Artist Colony. Changing exhibits throughout the year
showcase not only the center’s permanent collection but also the works of visiting
artists. [space]
>> NARRATOR The Tarble Art Center is home to the drawing/watercolor biennial exhibition,
which started in the 1970’s, it is a juried show that is open to any Illinois artist.
Two purchase award winners are chosen each year, which then become part of the center’s
permanent collection. Tarble’s biggest show is Cultivating Creativity, an annual children’s
art exhibition. We’ve continued to expand the schools that
are incorporated into the exhibition. So, it started off being primarily Charleston
schools and now it is like forty area schools in like a 15 mile radius and grown from being
a very modern exhibition to being the largest that we do. This past exhibition had over
300 works. One piece of art from each school in the exhibition is selected and then that’s
put in a small traveling exhibition that goes back to those communities. So, that um the
student artist and the schools and the teachers get recognized for what they do in the form
of having that exhibition there. But also then puts that students works in the context
of all the other work that is being done in the area
>> NARRATOR In addition to serving as a gallery, the Tarble Arts Center offers an extensive
educational program for school-age children in the region. Summertime brings out a variety
of art classes where kids can try their hand at any number of art mediums.
One thing is we have a really well equipped classroom. We can do um ceramics. We can do
enameling. We can do sculpture. We can do metalsmithing. We do painting and print making
and so on. So, we can do things that especially some of the more economically challenged schools
just can’t introduce those media or can’t afford to kiln things like that. Um also bringing
them into the museum setting often times we’ll use some of the art on display as inspiration
for some of the projects. So, they actually gets to see the real thing and then you know
create something inspired by that. So, I think that’s another advantage too.
One of my favorite quotes uh is from Einstein and he says, “You know, before you can do
anything, first you have to imagine it”. And that’s what the arts is all about, imagining
things.