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Reception for Underpinnings: A Group Exhibition
Giertz Gallery at Parkland College
2400 W. Bradley Ave.
Champaign, Illinois 61820
(217) 351-2485
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Monday, October 5 –Saturday, November 7, 2026
Reception: Thursday, October 8, 2026, 5:30 – 7:00pm
Gallery Talk by Marika Christofides at 6:15pm
Artist Lectures: Marika Christofides, Thursday, October 8, at 1:15 PM in the William Staerkel Planetarium
“Underpinnings” exhibition showcases an array of ceramics, printmaking, mixed media, painting, and fibers created by four distinguished artists from across the United States. This exhibition will open on Monday, October 5, at the Giertz Gallery, located within Parkland College. The exhibit will be open for viewing until November 7.
We invite you to attend the reception on Thursday, October 8, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM, which will feature a gallery talk by Marika Christofides, a participating artist and Teaching Assistant Professor of Studio Art, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
The exhibit participants include Jen Broemel, residing in Indianapolis, Indiana, Marika Christofides, residing in Stillwater, Oklahoma (Teaching Assistant Professor of Studio Art, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK); Chad Erpelding, residing in Boise, Idaho (Professor of Art, Drawing and Painting Boise State University, Boise ID); and Michael Thompson, residing in Chicago, IL.
The Giertz Gallery at Parkland College serves as a platform for the exhibition of contemporary art. It functions as an educational resource that promotes critical thought and dialogue through the visual arts, while also acting as a cultural center for our community. Our serene campus location encourages meaningful engagement between the artwork and its viewers, facilitating a deeper understanding and appreciation of the arts. Furthermore, our diverse programming, which includes workshops and lectures, allows participants to experience the artwork firsthand and engage with artists about their creative processes, career paths, and artistic journeys.
Across their artworks, Marika Christofides, Chad Erpelding, Jem Broemel, and Michael Thompson frequently address themes of place and identity, storytelling, mapping and systems, interconnectedness, and material experimentation. Their work relates to the concept of underpinnings by exploring, exposing, and referencing the foundational structures—whether material, conceptual, or emotional—that support or shape what we see on the surface. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the often-invisible systems and stories that underlie both art and life and to consider how personal and collective experiences are shaped, recorded, and understood.
An artist lecture by Marika Christofides is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, at 1 PM in the William Staerkel Planetarium. Christofides holds an MFA from Studio Art, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY and creates work that is “characterized by a graphic sense of color, pattern, and design. I draw inspiration from the aesthetics of biological life under a microscope, using bilateral symmetry and self-similarity in my compositions. Digital processes allow me to mimic the algorithmic tendencies of nature-as-designer, while printmaking allows me to create multiples with slight, often accidental variations -- the same way that a morphology is expressed differently across members of a species. By situating my works within installation environments, I extend the act of collage to the gallery wall. In this way, I emphasize the materiality of the prints, referencing the body and building a world around them that suggests ideas of parasitism, symbiosis and mutation.”
She has exhibited and lectured extensively, both nationally and internationally, at notable venues such as the SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York, the Rochester Art Center in Minnesota, the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center in Kansas City, Box 13 Art Space in Houston, the International Quilt Museum, and Biblioteca Viva Egana in Santiago, Chile. Currently, she serves as a Teaching Assistant Professor in Studio Art at Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater Oklahoma.
Image: Marika Christofides, "Schyphozoa,” 21 x 29 inches, woodblock print on handmade paper, 2026?
Giertz Gallery hours are 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Wednesday, 10 am to 7 pm on Thursday, and noon to 3 pm on Saturday.
As with all Giertz Gallery programs, admission to the exhibition, reception, and lectures is free and open to the public. For updates and further information regarding additional programming, please visit our website at parkland.edu/gallery.
To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north side of campus. Enter through Door X-7, turn left, and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located.?
Giertz Gallery?acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.?All events in the accessible gallery are free and open to the public. Parkland is a Section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/353-2338 or email accessibilityservices@parkland.edu.?