One of the biggest arts conferences in the state is coming to Galesburg starting on Sunday.
The One State Together in the Arts conference features multiple speakers and presentations and will feature 200 to 250 artists flocking to Galesburg for the event.
Michelle Kim, director of the Galesburg-Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, says that if you’re planning on heading downtown for any reason between Sunday and Tuesday, expect to see an influx of people.
“There will be a lot of activity going on downtown, so people will see lots more pedestrians, foot traffic, possibly car traffic as well,” Kim tells WGIL. “So I’d say… watch out for that. [We’ll see] a lot of hustle and bustle for sure.”
She also told WGIL that it’s unusual for a city of Galesburg’s size to get an event like this.
“The conference is exciting, it draws artists, arts educators, arts administrators and basically anybody who has anything to do with art from all over the state. It’s a conference that takes place – generally – every other year in a different city, and typically a bigger city than Galesburg. Typically a city that has a convention center.”
Galesburg is the smallest community to ever host the One State Together in the Arts conference.
Presentations will take place over the next few days at the Orpheum Theatre, The Kensington, Galesburg Community Foundation, and at Knox College.
A full schedule can be found here.