The College of Fine and Applied Arts is an international leader for research and practice in the arts with an emphasis on professional excellence, diversity, innovation, and preservation.
As one of the nation’s leading research institutions, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been shaping the future since 1867. Research at FAA is a highly engaged area that often includes community involvement and interdisciplinary partnerships.
Research in the arts and applied arts research are increasingly growing areas of focus for our college. FAA provides support for student and faculty research through a variety of initiatives and programs.
Learn more about our college-led research Initiatives
The Arts Impact Initiative is a pilot program supported by the Investment for Growth Program out of the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. The initiative builds on the historic record of research, creation, and service across the College of Fine and Applied Arts’ Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Krannert Art Museum, Japan House, and academic units dedicated to the study of the visual and performing arts, design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. It serves the University of Illinois’ land-grant mission through its focus on translation of data and research about art and artists into actionable strategies for enhancing how we work and live locally, regionally and nationally.
Research projects currently serving as use cases for the broader initiative:
Guided by the vital role of art and artists to the health of our state, the Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership seeks to advance our understanding of the realities and needs of arts workers and the larger cultural ecosystem to which they belong. It funds research at the intersection of artistic labor, education, workforce development, government policy, and the social and economic impacts of the arts. The partnership’s goal is to identify nation-leading and transformative improvements in how the state trains, educates, supports, and employs its creative workforce
For over a decade, SNAAP data and reports have explored alumni perspectives on their livelihoods and educational experiences. This research has helped higher education and other arts training institutions improve student experiences and transform curricula for better alumni outcomes.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a sponsoring institution for SNAAP, with a research team housed within the College of Fine and Applied Arts under the Arts Impact Initiative. Jennifer Novak-Leonard, professor of Urban and Regional Planning, serves as SNAAP’s Research Director, as well as the Vice President of the SNAAP Board of Directors.
Crip*: Cripistemology and the Arts is a project co-led by Sylvestre and Jones that focuses on applying Crip/Disabled epistemologies and experiences to arts practice and pedagogy through both course development and curatorial practice.
Minoritarian Aesthetics Laboratory (MAL)
The Minor Aesthetics Lab: Experiments in Performance and Politics, led by Ruiz, serves as a space to explore social constructions like race, ethnicity, gender, sex, and class through collaborative experimentation using arts such as theatre, photography, music, curation, dance, poetry, and sculpture.
The CU BIPOC Artist Collective aims to help artists of the global majority connect with each other, network, share resources, and find emotional support. The collective is a partnership between the City of Urbana’s Arts and Culture Program and the University of Illinois’ College of Fine and Applied Arts.
