2012 Illinois Community College Juried Exhibition

(artwork by Amanda Mulcahy Parkland College)

The Visual Arts Gallery at Governors State University is pleased to present our 2012 annual Illinois Community College Juried Exhibition The exhibition will be on display from February 17 through March 3, 2012.

The closing Reception and Awards Ceremony will be Saturday March 3, Noon – 5 p.m. Juror’s talk at 3 p.m.

The distinguished juror Christopher D. Smith, Director Linda Warren Projects, Chicago, IL has selected 55 works of art from 236 entries by 93 Students from 9 Illinois Community or Junior Colleges.

Over $1500 will be awarded during the closing reception/awards ceremony/juror's talk on March 3.

There will also be a "Peoples Choice Award" handed to the student artist that received the most votes from our galleries visitors. There is still time to vote for your favorite piece of artwork. Come in to the gallery during regular gallery hours and cast your vote!

GSU's art program will also host an open house for the event starting at noon with interactive projects and points of interest throughout the art classrooms. Refreshments will be served.

This event is free and open to the public.

www.govst.edu/gallery

regular gallery hours:

Mondays and Wednesdays 5 - 7

Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 - 9

Fridays 5 - 9

Ways of Making: Photography

Featuring Visiting Artists:

Myra Greene and Cecil McDonald, Jr.

Guest Curator, Susan Aurinko

Exhibition Dates: January 9 - February 3, 2012

Closing Reception/Artists' Talk:

Thursday February 2 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m

Janet Engel-Julian " Graduate Student Exhibition"

The Graduate Thesis Show of Janet Engel-Julian

Opening reception on Dec. 2 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m

To artist Janet Engel-Julian, a shoe print is more than just the product of a tread forming on the ground. The shoe prints, or in this case, ceramic tiles are the clues to life’s journey and form the basis for her master’s degree thesis art show, which opens Wednesday, November 30 with an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 2, at Governors State University Visual Arts Gallery.

Engel-Julian, a Lake Bluff Middle School art teacher, says her family inspires her artwork, especially her mother’s family, who emigrated to the United States from a small town outside of Palermo, Sicily in 1962.

“I think about the hardships and life-changing experiences my mother went through that make her the person she is today,” she says. “My family’s traditions and experiences and their influence on my life are what I use to inspire and influence me as I create my work.”

The shoe-print ceramic tiles, arranged in an 8’ x 12’ installation, dominate the gallery walls and provide a sense of motion while capturing and cataloging the many steps of this familial and cultural journey. These tiles are joined by other installations such as porcelain, hand-rolled cavatelli, slip cast tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables, as well as strings of slip cast garlic bulbs that delicately hang from the gallery ceiling.

For the opening night reception on Dec. 2, Engel-Julian will create a culinary performance piece for those in attendance to share the camaraderie of a meal, while creating their own memories, a theme central to the exhibit.

“Even though people may be enjoying the same meal, they’re going to remember certain parts of it differently based on their personalities and past encounters,” she says. “While you can capture time in photos, video, or ceramic tiles, it is always passing and changing, and only really documented in your own memories. Once the memories fade, the past is lost.”

Additive / Subtractive; Sensory Interactions Developed By a Geometric Algorithm

Additive / Subtractive; Sensory Interactions Developed By A Geometric Algorithm

The Graduate Thesis Show of Tim Vitek

November 17 - 23, 2011

Opening reception November 17, 6 - 9 p.m.

Artist Statement:

When we remove all notions of symbolism and iconography the viewer is allowed to focus on color as content and experience a visual reaction within his or her own electromagnetic spectrum.

By calculating a geometric algorithm, true gradation between colors is achieved. By incorporating an additive and subtractive method within this geometric algorithm, a unique spectrum of color is created.

Placing random color fields composed with this algorithm side by side not only combines mathematics with intuition, but develops relationships that make tangible these interior movements of color. A grid system is created and becomes not a playground but a safe house for the exchanges of color. These movements of color are visually controlled experiences that allow the viewer to absorb a continuum of color within a designed space.

Color spectrums are methodically placed to create a reaction in the mind of the viewer. The variations of color develop into patterns themselves and perform a visual rhythm within the grid system. The movements of color work in sync to create synergy. This synergy allows the colors to move freely along the grid and allows the viewer to explore these visual interactions within the confinements of their spaces.

Ways of Making: Work on paper

Michelle Grabner - Zach Mory

Allison Svoboda - Matthew Woodward

Guest Curator Elizabeth Whiting, Curator for the Union League Club of Chicago

Reception and Artists' talk: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Remarks at 7 p.m.

The "Ways of Making" exhibitions are a series of invitational art shows that focus on art making disciplines taught in the art program at GSU. By inviting professional artists to exhibit their work in our campus gallery, classroom instruction and conversations with students can be energized in new ways, and our GSU community can enjoy interacting with excellent art.

Janice Pratt "Nature Orchestrated" Graduate exhibition

Janice Pratt

Graduate Exhibition

Nature Orchestrated

October 3, - November 11, 2011

The Art on Campus program is activating wall spaces on campus with student, alumni, and community artwork. During Fall Semester 2011,
A graduate thesis exhibition will be featured: Janice Pratt “Nature Orchestrated”. Exhibit will occupy across campus to enjoy the full effect of this artists’ work. Because this gallery is located in the public areas at GSU, the exhibit can be viewed any time the campus is open.