FAA
🎉 Faculty shout-out! We’re thrilled to celebrate Magdalena Novoa, Jennifer Monson, and Mania Taher, who have been selected as co-instructors for the Humanities Research Institute’s Interseminars program. Their Spring 2027 graduate courses will bring bold, cross-disciplinary approaches, connecting art, dance, urban studies, and social inquiry, to collaborative teaching at Illinois. 👏✨
Read more about their courses at the link in our bio🔗!
@danceatillinois @illinois_artanddesign @hriatillinois
Congratulations to our newest Illini! We can`t wait to have you join us in the College of Fine and Applied Arts!
Explore our FAA admitted student events and manage your next steps to enrollment at faa.illinois.edu/future-students-admitted-students/
@illinois1867
A New Voice for Gospel in Higher Education🗣
"Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, Alonza Lawrence lived music. As a long-time member of the Richmond Boys Choir and an active performer with his church and the local musical theatre scene, Lawrence nurtured a deep love of music of all styles and a desire to build a career in that space.
Lawrence noticed that the music world separated musical styles based on place: gospel was for church, classical music for academia. As a graduate student at Indiana University, Lawrence made it his mission to challenge and transform that perception."
Read more about Lawrence`s journey and impact in our Dimension story at the link in our bio 🔗!
@illinoismusic
This Friday‼
Flatlands Dance Film Festival (Short Film Competition) premieres a selection of films thoughtfully challenging monolithic viewpoints and honoring the richness of diverse identities and cultures, shedding light on the complexity often overlooked by society.
⏰Friday, February 6, 7pm
🏠Spurlock Museum, 600 S Gregory St, Urbana
🎟Tickets available at the door, $5 students/seniors, $10 general admission
Click the link in our bio for more information 🔗!
@danceatillinois @spurlockmuseum
Come along with Emmaleah, a Stage Management Major with @illinoistheatre (and FAA Social Media Intern), to stage manage January Dance with @danceatillinois @smatillinois
Illinois Theatre Presents...Everybody
Everybody is a comedic and contemporary adaptation of the 15th-century morality play Everyman, one of the first recorded plays in the English language. It playfully features a lottery system for casting the roles of the play at every performance, capturing a sense of the improvisational and unexpected aspects of life. Join Everybody as they attempt to evade Death on a journey through life`s greatest mystery-the meaning of life. Everybody is written by one of America`s most provocative, innovative, and popular new dramatists, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
💀
February 13-14, 18-20 @ 7:30pm
February 21 @ 2:00pm
Tickets available at krannertcenter.com
@illinoistheatre
Congrats to all our new admits. Welcome to the College of Fine and Applied Arts!
February is Black History Month—a time to honor Black history, creativity, leadership, and impact. We’re excited to share this exciting lineup of events from our friends at the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center. We hope you`ll join us! @bnaacc_illinois
Legacy in Motion: A Century of Black History is the guiding theme for Black History Month at BNAACC, centered on honoring the 100-year legacy of Black History Month and the enduring impact of Black history, culture, and community. The theme recognizes the many ways Black people have shaped society through creativity, leadership, storytelling, and collective care across generations.
Read more about the theme and events with the link 🔗 in our bio!
BSSD
☀️ 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
👥 Join fellow Sustainable Design students, faculty, and staff for a community-centered conversation about the Sustainable Design program! Together, we`ll discuss the 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.
🗣️ BSSD Town Hall Meeting
Monday, February 2 | 5:30 - 7 PM
Seibel Center for Design Room 1002
Questions? Reach out anytime at sustaindesign@illinois.edu
☀️ Jasper Nord, an alum of BSSD, visited Casa Pueblo as part of the Community-Based Sustainable Design in Puerto Rico study abroad program in 2024.
☀️ Q. BSSD: Tell us a bit about yourself and your experience with Casa Pueblo.
☀️A. JN: “I participated in the Casa Pueblo Program in March 2024, and graduated in May 2025. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to plan a design intervention for an actual physical site. Going through this process of planning, site visits, and community engagement was immensely valuable, and a wonderful experience.
"Our assignment was to propose interventions for a vacant space adjacent to Bosque Solar in Adjuntas, designated by Arturo Massol Deyá and Casa Pueblo. Plazas are an important third space for the community, welcoming visitors late into the night. I was inspired by seeing citizens of Adjuntas playing dominoes at local gathering areas and wanted to create a system of modular seating and tables to inhabit the vacant space. With my design partner, Pooja Paramesh, we proposed a multifunctional system that incorporates sun-inspired shading, community gardens, and a modular system of domino benches. The purpose of the instruction manual is to foster community engagement via workshops to build the furniture together, and it is available in both English and Spanish."
"On our fifth day in Puerto Rico, we also worked planting coffee trees, cultivated by Casa Puelo and grown under shade in a biodiverse forest. The following day, I was able to see the roasting process and then helped to package Casa Pueblo`s signature Madre Isla coffee."
☀️A. JN: “I participated in the Casa Pueblo Program in March 2024 and graduated in May 2025. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to plan a design intervention for an actual physical site. Going through this process of planning, site visits, and community engagement was immensely valuable and a wonderful experience.
