FAA
Legacy Awards 🏆
Each year the College of Fine and Applied Arts honors both past legacies and emerging voices in the arts by recognizing our alumni and friends who have impacted their fields in transformative ways. In 2025 we celebrated seven fantastic individuals for their invaluable passion and service to the arts.
Read the rest of our Dimension story at the link in our bio🔗!
Get ready for DESIGN ILLINOIS, 💼✨ an event where you can make meaningful connections with peers, faculty, and industry leaders along with accomplished designers and mentors.
Come prepared to expand your network and develop relationships that will shape your future in design. See you there!
Register today: https://go.illinois.edu/Design_Illinois
@illinois_artanddesign
@uiucgd
@sustainabledesignil
@faastudents
Happy Lunar New Year! 🏮
Lunar New Year is one of the most significant and widely celebrated holidays in many Asian cultures. It marks the beginning of a new year and is associated with a rich variety of cultural traditions. We invite you to join the Asian American Cultural Center, along with our campus and community partners, for a series of family-friendly events celebrating Lunar New Year across Urbana-Champaign.
From Lunar New Year Dragon Tour 🐲 to Art Exhibits 🎨, there are many events to explore!
For more information and the events calendar click the link in our bio!🔗
@aaccillinois
Immerse yourself in a one-week, college-level program and become part of a community of talented and serious artists from diverse backgrounds! 💃
The Summer Intensive at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Illinois provides a perfect platform for high school students to prepare for success in auditions, work with professional choreographers, learn about careers in the arts, make new friends, and get a taste of college life.
Find more information at the link in our bio 🔗!
@danceatillinois
Countdown to Commencement! ⌛
Commencement is one of the proudest days of the year at Illinois. From the spectacle of the universitywide ceremony at Gies Memorial Stadium to the moment you cross the stage at your unit Convocation, the entire weekend is a celebration of our talented graduates. Discover everything you’ll need to make it memorable.
Don`t miss a step. Click the link in our bio! 🔗
"Every summer, the college’s High School Summer Intensive brings together a select group of high school students from across the country to explore the arts. This weeklong, immersive program offers students the opportunity to work directly with U of I faculty to hone skills in theatre, dance, design, and artmaking. Along with professional training, the program gives students a real-world experience of what it is like to study at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at a world-class university."
For dance alum Tessa Olson (BFA ’25), the High School Summer Intensive was the start of a powerful journey towards a professional career as an artist.
Read more about the Summer Intensive and Tessa here at the link in our bio 🔗!
@danceatillinois
@illinois_artanddesign
@illinoistheatre
Uncorked: Building Community Through Music 🎵
Krannert Center Uncorked, a free concert series on many Thursdays throughout the year, aims to provide a showcase for central Illinois musicians of many genres. The Uncorked series has brought in artists from near and far and brought the CU community closer together.
Read the rest of our Dimension story at the link in our bio🔗!
@krannertcenter
"Every moving piece, every hinge, every wobble required precision. The team engineered a set that could fail spectacularly while still protecting the actors and maintaining the illusion of spontaneous disaster."
How do you design a theatrical set that is built to break, night after night? FAA communications intern, Aditi Khandelwal, interviewed scenic design MFA student, Fallon Podrazik, about her set design and build process for Illinois Theatre’s fall 2025 production, `The Play That Goes Wrong.` The production required décor, platforms, even walls to come crashing down during the play, making the set itself a comedic performer, and elevating storytelling through technical ingenuity.
Read the full story 🚧 at the link in bio!
@illinoistheatre
@illinoisscenicdesign
@ad1tik
BSSD
📢 BSSD students, check out all of the professional development opportunities during career fair month and remember the deadline to submit your portfolio for Design Illinois on Handshake is Feb 15! Make sure to take advantage of all these opportunities!
🚀✏️ FAA431 – Sustainable Design Capstone just wrapped up a Design Sprint led by Professor Eric Benson, TA Camila Madariaga, and invited professor John Stallmeyer (who led FAA430 in the fall). The sprint marked the transition from project topics and scope development into the design phase, students will be diving into this spring 🌱🏗️. Stay tuned for what’s next!
☀️ Leilany Fuentes-Garcia and Dale Sink created a collaborative poster documenting their experience in the Sustainable Design study abroad program with Casa Pueblo in Puerto Rico in 2025 which is now on view on the 2nd floor of the Architecture Building.
☀️ Q. BSSD: Tell us a bit about yourself and your experience with Casa Pueblo.
☀️ A. Leilany Fuentes-Garcia: “I am currently a senior studying Sustainable Design and I participated in the Casa Pueblo program in Spring 2025. As a Sustainable Design student, I have learned a lot about the importance of community-based sustainable design and why a just energy transition is urgently needed, so it was incredible being able to experience and learn first-hand what this can actually look like.”
☀️ Dale Sink: “I am in the Sustainable Design program with minors in urban planning and landscape architecture. The urban planning department led the trip I took to Adjuntas as a Junior.”
☀️ Leilany and Dale: “Our visit to Adjuntas, Puerto Rico completely transformed our understanding of what sustainability means and the power of grassroots action. This experience has given us new perspectives that sustainable design expands beyond a set of design criteria to how it can be a deeply human process rooted in care, equity, and environmental protection. What struck us most was how resilience comes alive through human interaction. The way people support one another, share knowledge, and build together out of love for their community shows that environmental justice is inseparable from cultural resilience.
☀️ Our collage represents the story of Casa Pueblo as we experienced it. It is a collection of stories from the past and the ongoing journey that we cannot see. It is a story about protecting the place and the people around you; about refusing to remain complacent in an exploitative system; and about employing a praxis of love above all to guide your actions. Adjuntas is truly a unique place, but we hope that you feel a familiarity in this collage and are inspired to exercise your praxis of love, no matter how small the task.”
📚 Do you have an academic or professional opportunity you would like to pursue but need additional funding to do so? The Opportunity Scholarship provides $300 or $500 awards to selected students. Funds are awarded based on clearly articulated benefits to the student’s professional or academic growth.
🔗 Link in bio and QR Code
🗓️ Important Dates:
Application closes: Monday, Feb 16 at 11:59 PM
Winners Notified: By March 5
A lot is going on for BSSD students this week! Make sure to check out what’s coming up!
🖼️Feb 6 - Portfolio Reviews & Alumni Event 1 - 4 PM Siebel Center for Design, Room 1002. Receive individualized feedback on your portfolio from distinguished faculty and alumni. Then, gain insights into multiple sustainable design career paths from successful alumni. state of Sustainable Design, survey current trends in sustainability and design, and explore the evolving career landscape. This is a great chance to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with others who are shaping the future of Sustainable Design. We welcome your voice and encourage your participation.
📔Feb 2 - Opportunity Scholarship Applications open
✏️Feb 2 - 10th day" add/drop deadline for classes
🎓Feb 3- Add yourself to the pending degree list if you are graduating in Spring 2026 by February 3rd, 2026
🖼️Feb 6 - Portfolio Reviews & Alumni Event 1 - 4 PM Siebel Center for Design, Room 1002. Receive individualized feedback on your portfolio from distinguished faculty and alumni. Then, gain insights into multiple sustainable design career paths from successful alumni.
📚Feb 15 - Student submissions for Design IL due in Handshake (link in bio)
Scholarships due:
📕Bates Scholarship Fund for FAA Continuing Student Success | Deadline: February 6
📗Fred S. Bailey Scholarship | Deadline: February 8
📘Illinois Athletic and Academic Strive Scholarship | Deadline: February 8
📙Nowak Fellowship | Deadline: February 15
⭐️ Meet our Social Media Intern, Katherine Minch! Swipe through to find out more about her, like her major, go-to study spot, and what music she’s currently listening to!
☀️Anna Creech is a senior in BSSD graduating this May. She participated in the Spring 2024 study abroad trip to Puerto Rico.
☀️Q. BSSD: Tell us a bit about your experience with Casa Pueblo.
☀️A. AC: "While in Adjuntas in the Spring of 2024, we were tasked with coming up with ideas for a vacant lot that Casa Pueblo had recently acquired to be a part of their Energy Independence Plaza. While in Puerto Rico, we sketched ideas for the plaza, a community space that would support the solar independence movement and the local community. As a part of this design, we envisioned a community garden along with a gathering space and connections to both the main buildings of Casa Pueblo and the already completed Bosque Solar, the site located right next to the lot."
☀️ Documentation of Anna’s project is currently on view in BSSD’s first exhibition in our new gallery space. This exhibition features documentation, reflections, and design interventions conceived by students from the B.S. Sustainable Design Program who participated in a study abroad course to Puerto Rico in spring 2024 and 2025. While there, students met with local academics, artists, activists, and communities working with Casa Pueblo in the Altos de Cuba neighborhood of Adjuntas. They were then tasked with documenting and sharing Casa Pueblo’s achievements as well as actively contributing to the improvement of Altos de Cuba through sustainable design interventions. We invite you to visit the Sustainable Design Corridor on the second floor of the Architecture building to learn about their experiences engaging with Casa Pueblo’s energy independence and economic development work, as well as the designs students conceived for a meaningful, sustainable, community gathering space!
📢 Attention BSSD Students! Receive individualized feedback on your portfolio from distinguished faculty and alumni. Then, gain insights into multiple sustainable design career paths from successful alumni.
👥 Juniors and Seniors are expected to attend in preparation for the Design Illinois Career Fair. Freshmen and Sophomores are strongly encouraged to participate.
Friday, February 6, at Siebel Center for Design, Room 1002
1:00 - 3:00 pm Portfolio Reviews with Faculty & Alumni
3:00 - 4:00 pm Career Panel with BSSD Alumni
