On this week’s episode of Out and About, Dr. Mae Gilliland of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois talks with Angela Weck, Executive Director of the Peoria Area World Affairs Council, about an upcoming program exploring Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and global climate challenges.

Taking place April 16 at Bradley University Westlake Hall, Defending Life and Land: Indigenous Rights, the Amazon, and Environmental Justice features speaker Carlos Salinas, who brings firsthand experience working alongside Indigenous communities in the Amazon.

Weck emphasizes the importance of global education in a community like Peoria, noting that the Council’s programs are designed to provide context, ignite conversation, and help participants better understand how international issues connect to everyday life.

“For Indigenous people, this is an issue that’s an everyday, all day,” she said, pointing to the immediate impacts climate change has on land, culture, and survival.

The conversation also draws connections to the central Illinois region, particularly through agriculture, where environmental shifts, rising costs, and land use decisions directly affect local communities. The April 16 event includes a buffet dinner, followed by Salinas’s presentation and an opportunity for discussion.

Defending Life and Land takes place at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, April 16, at Bradley University’s Westlake Hall.

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On this week’s episode of Out and About, Dr. Mae Gilliland of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois talks with Peoria native and singer-songwriter, director, and performer Liv Warfield about her upcoming April 17 concert with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra at the Prairie Home Alliance Theater.

Warfield, who has performed on stages around the world and toured with Prince as part of the New Power Generation, returns home for a collaboration she says has been more than a year in the making. She will be taking the stage at the Peoria Civic Center, a venue she grew up passing as a child.

“I am still trying to wrap my head around it… I never would have thought in a million years that I would be performing there. But also with the Peoria Symphony," she said. "Something I’ve wished for a long time,” she said.

The concert features songs from her albums Edge and The Unexpected, newly arranged for full orchestra. Warfield described the experience of hearing her music at that scale as “poetic and beautiful and powerful,” adding that she hopes to bring a sense of connection and shared energy to the audience.

The performance will also include guest vocalists, members of her band, and a few surprises for the audience.

Liv Warfield performs with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 PM Friday, April 17, at the Peoria Civic Center.

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On this week’s episode of Out and About, Dr. Mae Gilliland of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois talks with Claire McQuerry, Associate Professor and Director of Creative Writing at Bradley University, about an upcoming poetry reading and Q&A with acclaimed poet Adrienne Su. A Chinese American poet whose work explores food, memory, and the immigrant experience, an April 9 event offers the community a chance to hear Su read from her work and engage in conversation about poetry, culture, and storytelling.

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