Mission
After working for the past few years on Eco-Culture-Arts community projects, our focus shifts to Conscious Designing Inquiry. Thought it is open to interdiciplinatry dialogue, the central line of work would be Creativity and Innovation through Arts.
Though our medium is Arts, we believe Science, Arts, Maths, Sociology, Ecology, Economy, and all fields of study can work in unison for a holistic approach towards human development. It is this INTERCONNECTEDNESS that we aim to explore while bringing diverse groups together on an interactive Arts platform.
With the same EDUCATIONAL and EXPERIMENTAL outlook, with the same CREATIVE FORCE but with a deeper INQUIRY we look forward to learning more from each other for better understanding of our work.
We are grateful to all the collaborators, sponsors and supporters for encouraging us this far and hopefully further too.
Collaborations are welcome from any and every field to create events that vitalize each other’s common missions.
Kuldeepa VM
Founder, Project designer
Affiliates, Collaborators, Partners
Heartfelt gratitude to all the volunteers, partners and collaborators , our events have truly been enriched with their presence!
Collaborators for Spring Summer 2024
Past Partners:
International and Area Studies Library
Champaign Mixed Clovers 4-H Club
Member of- Americans for the Arts
This website and our projects are generously funded by Chirag Mehta.
Collaborative Project Members for C Designing Spring- Summer 2024
Julie Nieset has been a Wetland Plant Ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey at University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign for over ten years. She leads teams and assists others with environmental surveys of wetlands, streams, and rare plants throughout the state of Illinois and writes technical reports related to environmental permitting under the U.S. Clean Water Act for state and federal agencies. She also initiates and collaborates with others in the community to educate and hold space for immersive and artful experiences in the natural world.
Kuldeepa Vartak-Mehta Custom Designs Art projects and organizes them with interested members as community Eco-Culture-Arts events. Born and raised in Mumbai, she enjoys the vibrancy of an active life. She has a FineArts Diploma in Painting from L.S. Raheja school of Art. a Post-Dip in Art Ed. from Roby D’Silva college of Visual arts. She has worked as an Art Teacher, Art and Craft Facilitator in National, International board schools in India. She now volunteers in local schools, paints periodically to explore the secrets of mind and sometimes writes to express her findings. She enjoys Nature from where she draws never ending inspiration.
Abigail k. Padfield Narayan is a Manager of Academic Programs at the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.
Phil is a Lead IT Infrastructure Specialist working in Technology Services at the U of I. He is responsible for designing, deploying, maintaining, and securing the computing infrastructure that provides, through the WebStore, software and licenses to the Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield campuses. As a Microsoft Certified Trainer and Expert, Phil also provides on-demand training in MS SQL Server and Project. Working at the U of I over the last 25 years has provided many excellent opportunities to collaborate with departments across campuses in a wide variety of projects. With graduate degrees in Physics and Mathematics, Phil keeps a strong interest and his skills sharp in the latest technical and computational developments. Outside interests and activities include woodworking, ceramics, painting, gardening (Phil is a Master Gardener), and puzzles. In 2019 the Spurlock Museum hosted an exhibit of over 400 puzzles from his collection. Some of his own design. Long-time interests in culture, philosophy, religion, spirituality, and creativity also help balance more left-brain activities.
SECS- Students for Environmental Concerns is the oldest and largest environmental organization at the University of Illinois, dedicated to environmental activism and justice. SECS aims to promote environmental action on campus by spearheading campaigns and collaborating with other organizations on projects that lead to a greener Earth. We believe that all individuals and institutions, particularly those in the Global North, have an important role to play in resolving the current climate crisis. Our primary mission is to work to maintain the stability, integrity, and beauty of the natural world, promote and participate in the sustainable food revolution, and pursue clean energy on and off campus.
Dr. Sowmya Anand grew up in India, mainly in Mumbai, and came to the United States in 1991 to start a Masters/PhD program in Social Psychology at The Ohio State University (OSU). She returned to India after that and came back to the US in 2001, when her spouse started his PhD program. Since she graduated Sowmya has worked in both academia and industry- she has worked for The Gallup Organization, at the Survey Research Laboratory at UIC, and is now in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at UIUC; she has taught statistics, research methods and social psychology courses at Sydenham College of Management, SP Jain College of Global Management, OSU and UIUC. She and her family have resided in Champaign-Urbana for 16 years now. They love the diverse and friendly community here. She engages with the community in various ways, including through the weekly and informal Hindi language classes that she co-leads with other parents.
Nazanine Agassi has been a Champaign-Urbanite for 29 years. She works at UIUC Main library. The first 30 years of my life, I lived in Baku, Azerbaijan, my birthplace. I speak Azerbaijani and Russian. My summers since childhood were spent traveling and working in anthropological and archeological field trips with my Mom. Traveling for me is a primary need. It is the best way to learn about people, their cultures, and arts. I got my MA degree in Russian, Azerbaijan, Persian literature and linguistics from Baku National University after which I researched and studied the minorities of Azerbaijan while working at the Academy of Sciences there. In Urbana-Champaign, I studied at the Russian and East European and Eurasian Studies center and Linguistic department of UIUC. I work at UIUC Main library - the temple of knowledge. Aside, from the love for several disciplines like languages, philosophy, psychology, poetry, dance, and infinite love of the sea, (or any body of water). My passion is flamenco, I can dance for hours