College of DuPage is a center for art and culture in the western suburbs. In this issue of Engage, we look at the College’s rich tradition of supporting the arts.
For more than 30 years, the McAninch Arts Center, affectionately known as the MAC and named in honor of the College’s second president, Dr. Harold D. McAninch, has been an active home to both touring shows and educational programs dedicated to the arts. The many classrooms, studios, labs and performance spaces are filled with students who learn by doing as they perfect their crafts.
It is with great excitement that in summer 2020, the largest private collection of works by Frida Kahlo is coming to the MAC’s Cleve Carney Museum of Art. The museum is currently being enlarged in order to accommodate this major exhibit as well as future ones. Exhibits on this scale give us opportunities to partner with local communities and organizations as well as our own academic programs to provide a rich and immersive cultural experience.
The arts also extend beyond the walls of the MAC into programs that allow students to unleash their creativity.
The power of art and education can be found in the inspiring story of COD alumna Mariam Paré. Struck by random gunfire that left her a quadriplegic, she is an artist pursuing her passion to the fullest extent. It is her painting of Frida Kahlo that graces the cover of this magazine.