The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center’s (UCIMC) mission is to foster the creation and distribution of media and art that emphasizes underrepresented voices and perspectives, and to promote empowerment and expression through media and arts education. UCIMC operates a Community Media and Arts Center out of the historic downtown Urbana post office building which was purchased in 2005 and is located at 202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana.

The UCIMC was founded in 2000 by a collective of artists and activists who wanted to democratize access to arts and media production. In the wake of media consolidation and the defunding of the arts, the UCIMC began with the goal of providing a space where everyone felt welcome and worthy of respect. UCIMC is grounded in the belief that everyone is worthy of dignity and respect, similar to the first principle of UUs. Art and media are vehicles to challenge societal oppression and empower people to discover their own dignity and worth. UCIMC provides platforms to the community through access to their venue, community newspaper, WRFU 104.5 FM radio station, Makerspace Urbana, Book and zine library, and Books to Prisoners project.

UCIMC also shares UU’s commitment to the democratic process. Its programs are largely volunteer-led and autonomous, but participants support and give input to its Board of Directors and staff. UCIMC employs one full time and two part time staff who support community members in a variety of ways. For example, UCIMC’s venue coordinator, DJ BJ Clark, teaches free community classes on basic sound engineering for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), women, trans and non-binary folks. The Executive Director, Miriam Larson, coordinates an art gallery and facilitates events that encourage cross-pollination between arts and social justice. Learn more at: https://www.ucimc.org/