2011 Illinois Community College Juried Exhibition

February 4, 2011 – February 26, 2011
Juror: Douglas Morris Stapleton (Associate Curator, Illinois State Museum, Chicago Gallery) will be selecting this year’s artwork and awarding the prizes.


50 Illinois Community and Junior Colleges have been invited to participate. Student artists currently enrolled in an Illinois Community or Junior College and their artwork that was completed from August 2009 to present are eligible to participate.

Winning artists will be announced at the closing reception and awards ceremony on Saturday February 26, 2011 from 1pm to 4pm with juror’s remarks at 3pm. The Art Department at GSU will also host an Open House during this time that will include portfolio reviews for any art student, not just the ones in the exhibit.


GSU Art Department Open House- Showcasing programs in film, Digital Imaging, Photography, Printmaking, Painting, Ceramics, Art History, and the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park.

Portfolio Reviews- for any art student (not just those in the exhibition) Walk-ins welcome or make an appointment with the faculty in your area of interest. Contact with Questions or to schedule your portfolio review 708-534-4021

We congratulate the award winners:

Juror's Choice Award / Best in Show $300

Jeff Kolak - Elgin Community College

Masks of Mortality

Oil Paint

2010

36 x 36

2011 Merit Awards 7 Merit Awards, $100 each:

Alissa Baker - Kankakee Community College - "Mirror" painting

Jessica Chadwick - Joliet Junior College - "Lion Pot" ceramics

Claudia Frost - Elgin Community College - "Aged" photography

Zach Howerton - Heartland Community College - "Open Doors"

Jason McDowell - Joliet Junior College - "Marshland"

Rachel Long & Rodrigo Montoya - Joliet Junior College - "The Scouts" (Collaboration)

Timothy Schad - Joliet Junior College - "Mind Control" work on paper

2011 People's Choice Awards

1st: Jeff Kolak - Elgin Community College - "Masks of Mortality" painting

Daniel Stetzinger - no school listed - "Dragon"

2nd: Nick Morland - Elgin Community College - "In The Valley of Dreams" painting

Timothy Schad - Joliet Junior College - "Joliet Junior College" work on paper

3rd: Jacee Coelho - Illinois Central College - "Like a Bird from Prison" mixed media

Jenny Darby - Joliet Junior College - "Horse Hair Pot" - ceramics

Special Thanks to Juror:

Douglas Morris Stapleton, Associate Curator, Illinois State Museum, Chicago Gallery.

“Minority Art: Inspiration, Obligation”

Art Exhibit Reflects Inspiration and Obligation

University Park, Illinois, February 9, 2011 - “Minority Art: Inspiration, Obligation” is the featured exhibit, discussion, and reception at Governors State University in celebration of African American History Month. The event will be held on February 28, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with remarks at 7 p.m.
This art exhibition will feature the work of world-renowned artist Kehinde Wiley. The artwork is on loan from the Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago. Wiley’s portraits were initially based on photographs taken of young men on the streets of Harlem. The models, dressed in their everyday clothing, are asked to assume poses depicted in paintings or sculptures found in Western Art History. Wiley’s art also includes an international view with models found in urban landscapes throughout the world – such as Mumbai, Dakar, and Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to Wiley, “Minority Art: Inspiration, Obligation” also includes the works of regional artists who are African American, or who are doing artwork about the African American experience.
An informal discussion will address issues faced by minority artists, from finding inspiration in their minority status and culture to the pitfalls of feeling creatively stuck or obligated to produce art on limited subjects.
Although African American art is the focus of this event, the discussion topics are relevant to other minority groups and pertinent to the experience of many. Everyone is welcome and the event and reception are free and open to the public.
The Visual Arts Gallery and Student Affairs and Academic Services are sponsors of the event, which will be held at the Visual Arts Gallery of Governors State University

Luise Renner (1946-2009) The Girl in the Wicker Suitcase

The Visual Arts Gallery would like to wish you a Happy New Year and remind you to stop in and see our current exhibit “The Girl in The Wicker Suitcase”, a retrospective of Luise Renner’s artwork. Luise Renner (1946-2009) was a former student in the art department at GSU.

January 10 – 28, 2011
Closing Reception, free and open to the public
Wednesday January 26, 2011
5:30-8:30pm

www.govst.edu/gallery

"The Girl in The Wicker Suitcase", 2003 (acrylic on paper, 30x22) was inspired by a dream experienced in childhood by Luise Renner in which the devil was carrying her away in a wicker suitcase. The swaying motion and the swishing sound in the dream awakened her.

In this retrospective exhibition we are given an opportunity to experience the highly personal, wonderfully fanciful and colorful paintings of this remarkable artist who was taken from us too soon.

The exhibition features 30 narrative paintings and drawings inspired by dreams, fairy tales, fables and other stories. Luise Renner looked to the Bible, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Dreams, and childhood memories of her hometown in Germany for the imagery in her work.

Richard Shipps- Long Night Dark to Light

Celebrate the Winter Solstice with the astounding cut paper artwork of Richard Shipps which encourages the viewer to explore negative and positive form, shadow and light, through signs and symbols-a visual feast. Through the long night we pass, and find our way from dark to light.

December 1, 2010-December 23, 2010
Artist Reception Wednesday December 8
4-5pm Paper Cutting Demo- make a snowflake
5-8pm reception- free and open to the public

Welcoming our south side art partners: Monkey Mind Studio, Tall Grass Art Association, Union Street gallery

Rebecca L. Heide- Hyperreality

Hyperreality
Digital Composites by Rebecca L. Heide

Hyperreality is about the manipulation of time and space through digital imagery. A personal narrative has been created from the dissection and reassembling of images that reflect the life of the artist. Photographs of landscape, the human form, and sculpture are manipulated to create memory vignettes. The images are a simulation of the mental state at various times through life. Feelings of happiness, loss, fear, isolation and complacency are reconstructed in a visual form for the viewer. Rebecca’s work depicts a heightened sense of reality that blurs the line of what is real and what is fantasy.

Hyperreality is a solo exhibition at Governors State University, Visual Arts Gallery E-1580. The exhibition will open on November 15, 2010 and run through November 23rd. Opening reception is Tuesday, November 16th from 5:00-8:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.


Rebecca received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently working towards a Master of Fine Arts from Governors State University. Rebecca currently resides in Homewood, IL.

Joe Baltz

Governors State University is pleased to present Narratives of the Secret Darkroom by Joe Baltz. The exhibit explores the relationship between the language of visual reality recorded by Black & White film and the language of inner emotional experience. He uses the silver gelatin process to produce B&W postcards which are sent through the US Postal Service. The Postcard and text amplifies the connection of his personal world through photos and text. Baltz believes that images often call forth a secret story and stories often hold a secret image. Narratives of the Secret Darkroom is a two year photo project that allowed him to present 30 individual post card recipients a unique collection of personal observations and reminiscences captured on film and in text.

Joe Baltz’s photos and cards will be exhibited in a solo show at Governors State University, Visual Arts Gallery E-1580. The exhibition will open on November 2, 2010 and run through November 10. The opening reception is Thursday, November 4th from 5:00-8:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Baltz is a teacher of Photography at Joliet Central High School and lives in Joliet, IL.