Contemporary Art Street Jam coming soon on July 5-6

The weekend of July 5-6 the ideaXfactory, in collaboration with SquidFoo, RuBert Studios, MSU Ceramics Department, and the Springfield Art Museu, will present the Contemporary Art Street Jam! We are closing Mill Street and having events in ideaXfactory and SquidFoo and in the street and in the alley behind SF and in our grassy lot. … Read More

“Right Here, Right Now” Artist Talk by Russ RuBert on First Friday

ideaXfactory will be hosting “Right Here, Right Now” Signature Series artist talk by Russ RuBert on Friday, June 7 at 5:30 p.m. Afterwards we will be open until 10 p.m. for public performances, painting and soundscapes with the Harmonic Wall. Launching a new “Signature Series” of artist talks profiling local talent in the Springfield community, … Read More

ideaXfactory awarded 2013-2014 ArtPlace grant from ArtPlace America

The concept of ideaXploration and site-specific art installation is soon to get a shot in the arm thanks to a $200,000 grant awarded by ArtPlace, a prestigious consortium of foundations and the National Endowment of the Arts. Grant amounts range from $33,000 to $750,000, with an average grant size of just over $280,000. The complete … Read More

International Convergence at ideaXfactory

The ideaXfactory is quickly becoming a hub for art activities and during May’s First Friday Art Walk, an international hub. Tlaquepaque artists from our sister city in Mexico attended a public reception after ArtsFiesta! on the Square. Renowned ceramic artist and folk singer/song-writer Paco Padilla and performed in front of the Harmonic Wall along with … Read More

Live Art at Artsfest

The ideaXfactory collaborated with Lemondrop and Squidfoo Art Gallery and Hacker Space to create Live Art at Artsfest on the weekend of May 3-4, featuring a live painting mural wall, hands-on figurative tape sculpture, all-ages innovative print-making, and extreme knitting. Ahead of the event, we create recycled art “road barricades” to mark the street and … Read More

Harmonic Wall opening

The Harmonic Wall and Transient Constructions II by Russ RuBert opened on Friday, April 5th. Mayor Bob Stephens, City Manager Greg Burris and Assistant Public Works Director Jonathan Gano were invited guests to play musical instruments to activated the colored neon wall that responds to pitch, motion, and beat. Twenty-two bands of interactive colored lights … Read More

Outside Observations during St. Patrick’s Day Parade

A recent article in the Minneapolis StarTribune featuring the Twin Cities “Irrigate Arts” program shows a leading national example of ways that artists can be urban troubleshooters when resident artists work closely with St. Paul’s Public Works staff. In addressing urban concerns, it’s interesting to think about who asks the questions or how urban problems … Read More

WINGS class trips from Phelps Center for Gifted Education

Early in March, the ideaXfactory hosted a series of visits from WINGS classes from the Phelps Center for Gifted Education. Representative students from each of the Springfield Public Schools were part of the visiting groups. We received this report from educator Michelle Billionis who organized and led the visits: Student’s from Phelps Center for Gifted … Read More

Imagine a 24-foot wall of light

Now imagine you could control it just by waving your hand. Or swishing a paint brush and singing into a microphone. That’s what under development now at the ideaXfactory — a 24′ x 10′ wall of neon and LED lighting activated by these inputs. Inside the ideaXfacotry art space, artist Russ RuBert is constructing an … Read More

Yarn bombers make colorful statement in the NewsLeader

Great front page story in the Springfield NewsLeader by Kathryn Wall about the yarn.bombers from ideaXfactory. Click here to go the NewsLeader’s on-line version with photo gallery and video links. Thanks Springfield NewsLeader!

Springfield City Council approves ArtPlace application

Following the announcement that the City of Springfield’s ideaXfactory is a finalist for an Artplace grant, a formal presentation was made by Russ RuBert at the Springfield City Council meeting on January 29. Council members were informed about the objectives of Artplace to accelerate creative placemaking across the county and the concept of using locally … Read More

First Friday Open House

For the February First Friday Art Walk, the city district maps from Tuesday eveing’s Public Art – Scultpure Walk Forum at the Springfield Art Museum were relocated to the ideaXfactory, and people visiting put some new stars on the “Places We Wish There Was Public Art” maps. We gave out information to visiting artists who … Read More