Ruth Burke merges art and nature on Redbird Buzz
Ruth Burke, an assistant professor of video in the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University, is an interdisciplinary artist who collaborates with animals in her creative practice.
Burke joins Redbird Buzz to detail her path from self-proclaimed “horse girl,” to Whole Foods chalk artist, to her current role as assistant professor and working artist. She details her own academic journey and how her love of animals as a child led her to merge nature, sustainability, and art in her career.
In this episode, Burke also discusses her project “Re-Integration of Mixed-Power Systems in Agroecological Intensification,” in which she is utilizing her team of oxen, Clark and Sparky, to establish two pollinator plots and two pollinator-friendly earthworks in McLean County. Burke’s project is funded by a nearly $50,000, two-year grant from North Central Region SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education).
To learn more about Burke, Clark and Sparky, and their earthworks art, read the spring 2025 issue of Redbird Scholar magazine.
Redbird Buzz is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Transcripts of each episode are available online at Alumni.IllinoisState.edu/Podcast.
Latest Campus News
- Indian and LGBTQIA+ Cultural Dinner: ALOK emphasizes that ‘joy is your birthright’ALOK shared their journey to self-discovery and living authentically with a sellout crowd of around 400 people during Illinois State University’s Indian and LGBTQIA+ Cultural Dinner.
- FirstWord: Spring 2025A message from University Marketing and Communications Executive Director Brian Beam, M.S. ’94, MBA ’10
- Behind the lens: New York Times photographer Todd Heisler ’94 captures history in the makingTodd Heisler ’94 is a New York Times staff photographer whose career has taken him all over the world with a press credential and a front row seat to history.
- Appetite for success: Entrepreneur builds community through foodVivian Kong Doctora ’96 is a community builder who connects people and culture through food.
- The lessons of Bangladesh: Dr. Ali Riaz gives voice to his native country as it fights for democracyDistinguished Professor Ali Riaz, an expert in South Asian politics, has been tapped to rewrite the constitution of his politically turbulent native country.
- ‘Rare opportunity’: Students ditch the classroom for the courtroom to learn about legal careersIllinois State students were among more than 200 people to pack a makeshift courtroom as the University hosted the Fourth Judicial District Appellate Court for oral arguments in the Bone Student Center's Prairie Room.
