A Midwestern Mecca

When Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), came to Peoria in 2009 to kick off his national campaign “Art Works,” he was giving the citizens of central Illinois the possibility of becoming a benchmark for a concept that became known as “Creative Placemaking.” Creative placemaking means involving members of a community—private, public, nonprofit—to shape our city with the goal of making it more livable, safer, inclusive for all, and an inspiration.

Examples abound in Peoria with CIAO First Fridays, Sculpture Walk Peoria and other programs like ArtsPartners’ ArtPop Peoria, but not all creative placemaking is art. In fact, some of the best examples don’t look like art at all. They look like people. They look like Natalia Villanueva Linares and Earl Power Murphy, the founders of Yaku.

Yaku is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization charged with the great task of restoring and re-purposing the iconic Hale Memorial Church located on the corner of Main and High Streets in Peoria. The building exists to nurture and house a growing 60+ member community of artists and art groups from around the world. In addition to restoring the church, the mission of Yaku, which means “water,” is to curate contemporary art experiences designed to engage local and global audiences through international exchanges.

The heart, soul, and spirit of Yaku lives in its founders Earl and his wife, Natalia, and in the local and international artists who are the blood of the organization. “Art is to do die for,” Natalia says. “Art is something to battle, to protect. It’s like a child that you would die for, that you would give everything to protect.”

For Earl, “Art has the ability to reestablish human nature in the present and when done well art can encourage people to step out of their understanding of themselves, society, and the world. And stepping out of that they find themselves in this colorful, beautiful, abyss where you are just alive.”

To realize the Yaku mission there is a seemingly impossible amount of work to be done in renovating the derelict space of the Hale Memorial Church. “A little over a month ago we had a feasibility study done on the building by Farnsworth…with that in hand, we will go into the capital campaign. This will be a community effort.”

Part of the effort to raise funds will be through UKAY-zine, an arts and culture magazine with local as well as international stories. As Earl described, there are two primary areas of content. The first is, “To connect the international world interested in Peoria with Peoria’s treasures. There is a plethora of things to share. The other part of the magazine is the international body of artists interested in Peoria. This is a way to introduce Peoria to the artists who will be coming.

“The artists are now part of the project and they will become our new ambassadors of Peoria.” Natalia said.

Yaku is a growing, vibrant part of our city’s creative placemaking and you can join in. Like them on Facebook. Donate to the nonprofit organization. Volunteer. Spread the word. Buy the magazine. Attend Yaku’s First Friday pop-up events, and add your name to the growing list of names who yearn to make Peoria the place to die for.

PHOTO BY Natalia Villanueva Linares
Summer 2015 Earl Power Murphy sealing and protecting the eastern stained glass.