Current Exhibit<\/h2>\n![\"Flat](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2026\/02\/Afro-Exh-flat-crop-scaled-e1770416745369-300x140.jpeg\")
“Find Your Place Among the Stars” how Afrofuturism unfurls in Popular Music, <\/em>Sara Ostermeier (February 2026-May 2026)<\/h3>\nAn aesthetic and movement across all arts, Afrofuturism considers what the future can or should look like for the Black and African community. It can also interrogate how our depictions of space and extraterrestrials might mirror the treatment and othering of Black and Brown people in White society. This exhibit explores the Afrofuturism found in Popular Music not only in the music & production but also the marketing and visual accompaniments. Most Afrofuturist scholars define Sun Ra as the definite beginning of this aesthetic in music. Ra and his Arkestra performed in glitter-clad ensembles all over South-side Chicago in the late 1950s. Their style was experimental and fusionist, too out-of-this-world for one single genre. In fact, most of the music explored in this exhibit venture outside of traditions or expectations.<\/p>\n
In this exhibit each album is collocated by a shared Afrofuturist theme. Alien-nation features albums where the artist uses colloquial ideas of aliens or other worldly beings as allegories of lived experience. Composing the Future considers how the music itself can be futuristic. And The Future is Here incorporates albums with direct statements on current social conditions, encouraging community and action. For more information, consult Afrofuturism Free Resources<\/a> sheet or listen to the Afrofuturism Exhibit<\/a> playlist on Spotify.<\/p>\n![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2026\/02\/Afro-Exh-left-crop-221x300.jpeg\")
<\/span>\u00a0![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2026\/02\/Afro-Exh-mid-crop-221x300.jpeg\")
![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2026\/02\/Afro-Exh-right-crop-227x300.jpeg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nStudent & Class Exhibits<\/h2>\n
MPAL is interested in highlighting the creative and research processes of students through exhibits in the Library. Consult our Student Exhibits page<\/a> for more information and see past examples of Student Exhibits<\/a> online. Instructors interested in having their students develop an exhibit as part of a class project should email MPAL<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/p>\n
\nDigital Exhibits<\/h2>\n\n- Historic U. of I. Songs<\/a><\/li>\n
- Broadside Ballads: Influences of Composers and Social Change<\/a><\/li>\n
- MPAL’s Player Piano<\/a><\/li>\n
- History of the Music & Performing Arts Library<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div><\/div>\n
Recent Exhibits<\/h2>\nThe Music of Farm Aid 1985, <\/em>Holly Bleeden (August 2025-October 2025)![\"Flat](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/08\/FarmAidHorizontal-300x183.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\nIn a repetitive boom and bust cycle that began in the Great Depression and climaxed around the presidency of Ronald Reagan, family farms in the United States\u00a0found themselves facing bankruptcy and loan default as the price of their crops fell lower than their cost of production. The ripple effect of the industry collapsing devastated the Midwest. Organized in just six weeks and featuring over 40 artists, the first Farm Aid was held at University of Illinois\u2019 Memorial Stadium on September 22, 1985. Featured artists spanned the folk, country, blues, and rock genres, and approximately 80,000 concert goers attended the festival, generating $7 million dollars to benefit farms in crisis. Farm Aid is the longest running concert benefit in the United States and is celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
This exhibit features materials from the Music & Performing Arts Library’s collections related to the artists and the music they performed at the first Farm Aid concert in 1985. It is one of two companion Library exhibits to the Spurlock Museum’s Songs of Solidarity: The 1985 Farm Aid Concert<\/em><\/a>, the other being the Funk ACES Library exhibit Farm Aid and the Farm Crisis<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/08\/FarmAidVertical1-225x300.jpeg\")
<\/a>![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/08\/FarmAidVertical2-225x300.jpeg\")
<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/08\/FarmAidVertical3-225x300.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/07\/EchoesOfTime_Flat-300x174.jpeg\")
<\/a>Echoes of Time: The Evolution of Music Media, <\/em>Holly Bleeden and Monica Gil (April-August 2025)<\/h3>\nThis exhibit provides a historical timeline of recorded audio technology, focusing on the perspectives of everyday consumers of music media in the United Stated and covering early recordings from the 1800s through present day. It highlights a unique part of the Music and Performing Arts Library’s holdings and provides historical context for today’s music recording and listening practices. [This exhibit, curated by MPAL graduate assistants, was the winner of the University Library Exhibitions Committee’s 2025 Graduate Student Exhibition Contest.]<\/p>\n
![\"Vertical](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/07\/EchoesOfTime_Vertical1-225x300.jpeg\")
<\/a> ![\"Exhibit](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/07\/EchoesOfTime_Vertical2-225x300.jpeg\")
<\/a> ![\"Exhibit](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/07\/EchoesOfTime_Vertical3-225x300.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exhibits at MPAL serve an educational purpose and are intended to help disseminate knowledge while sharing unique materials in the Library\u2019s collections. MPAL also supports students in the design of exhibits related to their research and creative activity. Current Exhibit “Find Your Place Among the Stars” how Afrofuturism unfurls in Popular Music, Sara Ostermeier (February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-289","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5460,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/289\/revisions\/5460"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
“Find Your Place Among the Stars” how Afrofuturism unfurls in Popular Music, <\/em>Sara Ostermeier (February 2026-May 2026)<\/h3>\nAn aesthetic and movement across all arts, Afrofuturism considers what the future can or should look like for the Black and African community. It can also interrogate how our depictions of space and extraterrestrials might mirror the treatment and othering of Black and Brown people in White society. This exhibit explores the Afrofuturism found in Popular Music not only in the music & production but also the marketing and visual accompaniments. Most Afrofuturist scholars define Sun Ra as the definite beginning of this aesthetic in music. Ra and his Arkestra performed in glitter-clad ensembles all over South-side Chicago in the late 1950s. Their style was experimental and fusionist, too out-of-this-world for one single genre. In fact, most of the music explored in this exhibit venture outside of traditions or expectations.<\/p>\n
In this exhibit each album is collocated by a shared Afrofuturist theme. Alien-nation features albums where the artist uses colloquial ideas of aliens or other worldly beings as allegories of lived experience. Composing the Future considers how the music itself can be futuristic. And The Future is Here incorporates albums with direct statements on current social conditions, encouraging community and action. For more information, consult Afrofuturism Free Resources<\/a> sheet or listen to the Afrofuturism Exhibit<\/a> playlist on Spotify.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/p>\n MPAL is interested in highlighting the creative and research processes of students through exhibits in the Library. Consult our Student Exhibits page<\/a> for more information and see past examples of Student Exhibits<\/a> online. Instructors interested in having their students develop an exhibit as part of a class project should email MPAL<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/div><\/div>\n In a repetitive boom and bust cycle that began in the Great Depression and climaxed around the presidency of Ronald Reagan, family farms in the United States\u00a0found themselves facing bankruptcy and loan default as the price of their crops fell lower than their cost of production. The ripple effect of the industry collapsing devastated the Midwest. Organized in just six weeks and featuring over 40 artists, the first Farm Aid was held at University of Illinois\u2019 Memorial Stadium on September 22, 1985. Featured artists spanned the folk, country, blues, and rock genres, and approximately 80,000 concert goers attended the festival, generating $7 million dollars to benefit farms in crisis. Farm Aid is the longest running concert benefit in the United States and is celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n This exhibit features materials from the Music & Performing Arts Library’s collections related to the artists and the music they performed at the first Farm Aid concert in 1985. It is one of two companion Library exhibits to the Spurlock Museum’s Songs of Solidarity: The 1985 Farm Aid Concert<\/em><\/a>, the other being the Funk ACES Library exhibit Farm Aid and the Farm Crisis<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This exhibit provides a historical timeline of recorded audio technology, focusing on the perspectives of everyday consumers of music media in the United Stated and covering early recordings from the 1800s through present day. It highlights a unique part of the Music and Performing Arts Library’s holdings and provides historical context for today’s music recording and listening practices. [This exhibit, curated by MPAL graduate assistants, was the winner of the University Library Exhibitions Committee’s 2025 Graduate Student Exhibition Contest.]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exhibits at MPAL serve an educational purpose and are intended to help disseminate knowledge while sharing unique materials in the Library\u2019s collections. MPAL also supports students in the design of exhibits related to their research and creative activity. Current Exhibit “Find Your Place Among the Stars” how Afrofuturism unfurls in Popular Music, Sara Ostermeier (February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-289","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5460,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/289\/revisions\/5460"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nStudent & Class Exhibits<\/h2>\n
Digital Exhibits<\/h2>\n
\n
Recent Exhibits<\/h2>\n
The Music of Farm Aid 1985, <\/em>Holly Bleeden (August 2025-October 2025)
<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Echoes of Time: The Evolution of Music Media, <\/em>Holly Bleeden and Monica Gil (April-August 2025)<\/h3>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/h3>\n
![\u00a0<\/a>](\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mux\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/08\/FarmAidVertical1-scaled.jpeg\"){kind=link}