Flexspace
RAC Teaching Artists: Christine Blanek, Diane Claussen, Erin Hayden, Corrine Miller, Tariq Tamir, Shawn Vincent, Daiva Walz | March 13 - April 11, 2026
Tariq Tamir | Skyburner, 2026, Mixed Media, 24 x 48 x 36 inches
Opening Reception: Friday, March 13, 2026, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Exhibition Dates: March 13 - April 11, 2026
Exhibition on view: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 PM
The Riverside Arts Center's FlexSpace is pleased to present a group exhibition of art by our teaching artists Christine Blanek, Diane Claussen, Erin Hayden, Corrine Miller, Tariq Tamir, Shawn Vincent, and Daiva Walz, curated by Joanne Aono. Please join us for a reception for the artists on the evening of Friday, March 13th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public with light refreshments served.
Corrine Miller | Basic Decency, Hand embroidered mixed media on canvas, 14 × 14 inches
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present a group exhibition of art by our teaching artists Christine Blanek, Diane Claussen, Erin Hayden, Corrine Miller, Tariq Tamir, Shawn Vincent, and Daiva Walz. We are fortunate to have these talented teachers who provide our amazing classes to students of all ages in mediums encompassing painting, sculpture, ceramics, mosaics, and so much more. This exhibition provides a glimpse into their personal artistic practices outside of their educational services, revealing what their passion pulls them to create.
Shawn Vincent's mastery of ceramics and glass is displayed in her assemblage of hanging discs and gleaming vases, while Diane Claussen's colorful paintings show her influences of abstraction and expressionism. Christine Blanek's stoneware pieces are an extension of her ceramic knowledge combined with sensitivity to nature, while Corrine Miller's embroidery is an unexpected reveal of creativity and expression in response to our times. Daiva Walz's interests in the environment are shown through ceramic vases and a large fiber wall hanging, while Erin Hayden's grouping of ceramic tea pets and small paintings of orcas and butterflies depict her desire for slowness and reflection. Tariq Tamir's intense installation of paintings and a dramatic dragon sculpture capture his immersion of art with life.
These seven teaching artists are all respected educators with experience and skill in their mediums of ceramics, painting, assemblage, glass, mosaics, drawing, and jewelry. The Riverside Arts Center values the professionalism they bring to our classes and the enthusiastic students they gather. The art these teaching artists make in their studios is often a result of their influences from educating, but is largely from what lies inside them - the art they have a passion to explore and express. We are grateful to have these artists be a part of the RAC Family.
–Joanne Aono, curator
Christine Blanek | Coldness In Earth, ceramic, dimensions variable
Christine Blanek studied Fine Arts with fiber mixed media, figure drawing and ceramics for many years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago through their weekend programs, early college and then college. Growing up with artistic and musical parents, art and music has been a huge part of her life - taking her to work many years at Marshall Fields, Macy’s then Neiman Marcus in the Visual Department. Blanek’s love of art and working with students with disabilities has brought her to work at her local middle school as a Paraeducator. She is the RAC Ceramics Studio Director and currently teaches Ceramics for Kids, Weekend Wheel Workshops for Teens and Adults, and Spring Ceramics Class for Teens.
“My work is inspired by the earth and its natural beauty. I tend to show my ceramic pieces not always fully glazed. I enjoy seeing the original clay form in my work and the rawness of the clay. Hoping you see the juxtaposition of the two mediums. In glazing my work, I study how each piece flows and experiment in my glaze work to continue that movement.
I want the viewer to experience a sense of calm and peace when looking at my work.”
–Christine Blanek
Instagram: @becreativeuniqueyou
Diane Claussen | Oil on Canvas, 22.75 × 32.5 inches
Diane Claussen has been an artist, teacher, and art therapist for over 40 years. She teaches spontaneous art techniques and communications tools aimed to spark creativity, fun, and relaxation. She leads RAC’s Senior Art Club at the Riverside Parks and Recreation.
Erin Hayden | Installation of Clear Sky Series: Orcas and Tea Friends, 2026, Acrylic, colored pencil, and ink on canvas and Cone 10 stoneware with red iron oxide, dimensions variable
Erin Hayden is an interdisciplinary artist and educator working across painting, performance, drawing, poetry, video, installation, and ceramics. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Stony Island Arts Bank, and Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Torino, Italy. She holds a BFA in Painting and a BS in Art Education from Illinois State University, and an MFA in Art Theory and Practice from Northwestern University.
Erin Hayden creates small-scale animal sculptures and intimate paintings. Some sculptures function as ceramic tea pets, unglazed clay figures in dialogue with Chinese tea traditions, traditionally kept on a tea tray during service and nourished with poured tea. Over time, they absorb warmth and develop a patina, acting as quiet companions in moments of reflection. In addition to orcas and butterflies, she creates tea pets of horses and snakes in response to the cycles of the Chinese zodiac, reflecting on time, change, and symbolic renewal.
Her paintings, made with colored pencil, ink, and acrylic, share this small scale and sense of closeness. Orcas and butterflies recur throughout her practice. The orca embodies depth, intelligence, and ancestral memory; the butterfly carries metamorphosis, emergence, and the courage to transform. A dream in which two orcas circled and invited deeper swimming, along with the way butterflies appear throughout daily life, informs both mediums.
Across sculpture and painting, Hayden creates intimate ecosystems that invite slowness, freedom, and attentive presence.
She is passionate about sharing art as a tool for expression, reflection, and connection across all ages and communities. Erin has taught art to learners ranging from preschoolers to seniors, in public schools, universities, and community arts programs throughout the Chicagoland area. She currently teaches a Ceramic Talisman Workshop and Ceramic Surface Decoration for Teens and Adults, and will be expanding into classes in painting, drawing, and performance.
Website: erinkhayden.com
Instagram: @erinhayden @psychicorcas
Corrine Miller | No One Is Illegal, Hand embroidered mixed media on canvas, 12 × 12 inches
Corrine Miller earned a BFA from Northern Michigan University. Her body of work is mostly photography and mixed media with a concentration in fiber and paper craft. She loves sharing the creative process with children and has been teaching most of her adult life. The past four years she has taught at The Log Cabin Center for the Arts in Palos Park, IL. Corrine also works at The Pile Bookstore where she developed and runs the StArt (story + art) program, an art history/literacy program held at the bookstore once a month. She teaches Fun with Fibers and RAC’s seasonal Art Camps for Spring, Summer, Thanksgiving, and Winter Breaks.
Tariq Tamir | Acrylic, ink on canvas
Tariq Tamir affectionately called Mr Tee by his students, is an artist and educator who studied at Columbia College Chicago. He has exhibited his painting, assemblage, and found object art in solo and group exhibitions in local venues. He has been featured in numerous videos for RBTV’s People in Perspective, the Riverside Arts Center, Cultivator, and the Oak Park Public Library.
Prior to joining RAC, he taught young adults ages 14-21 with Chicago’s Gallery 37 and the Boys and Girls Club. In addition to being poetically inclined, Tariq uses art as a medium for self-growth and empowerment which he transfers to his students. As our Lead Teaching Artist, he has been an instructor at RAC for nearly two decades. He teaches RAC’s seasonal Art Camps for Spring, Summer, Thanksgiving, and Winter Breaks, as well as his popular Creation Station for Teens, Creation Station for Kids, and Intuitive Painting for Teens.
Instagram: @esotariq2
Shawn Vincent | Detail, Balancing Chaos and Hope, 2026, Ceramic, glass, flowers, 30 x 48 inches installation
Shawn Vincent received a B.S. degree from Western Illinois University with majors in both Fine Art and Biology. She spent many years working as an art director for an advertising agency and has also freelanced. Finding her true passion, Shawn has worked in ceramics for over 30 years and has been teaching for 26 years. She has exhibited her pottery at various galleries and venues throughout the Chicago land area and her work is collected nationally.
“I have been a practicing ceramic artist for the last 32 years. A majority of the work I do is functional. I work primarily on the wheel and strive for simplicity, elegance, and grace of form. Although my work is functional I have a tendency to make my pieces as unique as possible. After I throw my pieces I usually cut them down, carve them or take them out of the round. I also used found objects, gemstones, or Swarovski crystal and wire them into the bowls to create a sense of movement and balance. When I am making a piece I do it with the intent that it be used. I think using a piece daily keeps it alive.
I am also very involved in exhibiting and showing my work. When I have an exhibit, I tend to be more experimental and do many installations. I also have a degree in biology so much of my installation work deals with the body and how our everyday life affects our physiological make up. The interaction between our physical space and how we incorporate it into our system is reflected in my ceramic pieces. I regularly sell my pieces in stores in and around Chicago. My work is collected both locally and nationwide.
Along with my ceramic practice I have been a teaching artist for the past 27 years. I teach all levels of ceramics and many other mediums. I work within my community to set up artist in residency programs and create one of a kind installations in many schools in the surrounding neighborhoods. As an instructor I use creativity and innovation to motivate, impart knowledge, and facilitate learning. The ability to inspire people to stretch themselves and their work is something that I strive for every day.”
–Shawn Vincent
Her class offerings include Fused Glass Jewelry, Mosaic Making, and several levels of Pottery Explorations.
Instagram: @claymama
Daiva Walz | Bloomwear, Ceramics, 13 × 10 × 10 inches
Daiva Walz is a Chicago-based studio artist and emerging art educator whose multidisciplinary practice spans ceramics, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Working across two- and three-dimensional forms, she explores material process, surface, and structure through deliberate mark-making and constructed form.
Walz earned her Associate in Arts from Triton College and her BFA in Art, Media, and Design from DePaul University, with a concentration in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. She is currently completing a Master of Arts in Teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with anticipated graduation in May 2026.
Alongside her studio practice, Walz has developed experience teaching and mentoring across K–12 and adult learning environments. She has supported and led workshops at the Riverside Arts Center, Firebird Community Arts Center, and worked as an Artist Mentor at Arts of Life, where she facilitated demonstrations and supported independent studio development for adult artists with disabilities. These experiences inform her approach to both making and teaching, emphasizing attention to craft, experimentation, and personal interpretation.
“I am a multidisciplinary artist specializing in ceramics, painting, and printmaking based in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. My work is inspired by a deep curiosity about nature and our complex relationship with it. This curiosity fuels my desire to observe, reflect, and engage with our innate connection to the natural world. Through scale, color, design, and pattern, my compositions invite viewers to contemplate our relationship with nature. I aim to reveal the often-overlooked details in the natural world, those quiet moments and intricate forms that might otherwise go unseen. Much of the imagery in my work centers on organic elements, such as flowers and plants, combined with geometric and figurative forms. These elements, intertwined, convey spiritual themes and lived experiences that underscore the delicate complexity of nature, something I deeply admire, draw inspiration from, and continually seek to connect with.”
–Daiva Walz
Website: www.daivawalz.com
Group Exhibition | April 19 - May 23, 2026
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present a group exhibition guest curated by Madelyn Roldan.
Niki Johnson | Pillars of Democracy | June 4 - 20, 2026
The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present Niki Johnson’s Pillars of Democracy.
Rita Grendze | August 30 - October 31, 2026
The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present an exhibition by Rita Grendze, curated by Joanne Aono.
RAC Kids Show | December 4, 2026 - January 2, 2027
The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present our annual Kids Show.
Creativity Fest | Saturdays February 7 & 21, 2026
Dates: Saturday February 7 and 21, 2026
Drop in Times from: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Town Hall Exhibition: March 4 - July 1, 2026
Artists Exhibition Reception: Friday, March 13, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Gather your family and friends to make art! Join us in creating a community art project. Finished pieces will be displayed together at RAC's Town Hall exhibition. Stop by RAC to create your art and connect with others in our community.
More information to come.
Anthony Vizzari | Like a Hole in the Heart: Brides, Battlefields, & Betrayal | October 26 - December 6, 2025
Artist Reception: Sunday, October 26, 2025, 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Please join us afterwards for a private cocktail hour at the Quincy Street Distillery
Exhibition Dates: October 26 - December 6, 2025
Exhibition on view: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Artist Talk and Studio Visit: Saturday, November 15, 2025, 11:00 AM, at Anthony Vizzari’s studio, A&A Studios in Lyons, 7947 Ogden Avenue
The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present Like a Hole in the Heart: Brides, Battlefields, & Betrayal, an exhibition of Anthony Vizzari’s photographic collages curated by Joanne Aono. Please join us for a reception with the artist on Sunday, October 26th from 3 - 6 pm. The exhibition will be on view Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through December 6, 2025. An Artist Talk at Anthony Vizzari’s studio will take place on Saturday, November 15th.
Number Seven, 2025, Fiber based pigment print from cellulose nitrate, acetate and polypropylene, 24 x 24 inches
Like a Hole in the Heart: Brides, Battlefields, & Betrayal explores the tenuous intersection of love, desire, grief, and memory through the lens of vernacular photography. These works are built from found photographs: anonymous portraits, family snapshots, and images once held in private hands. Mundane and often forgotten, such photographs carry the intimate weight of personal histories, yet their narrative has shifted over time, becoming shadows of a lost past.
Since its inception, photography has been central to rituals of mourning and remembrance. In the late 19th to early 20th century, it was common for photographers to create memorial motifs by superimposing or collaging the image of the deceased onto another photograph, often of funeral flowers or even the casket itself. These composite images acted as mementos, providing a visual form to aid in the grieving process. They bridged the gap between presence and absence, offering comfort in the face of often devastating loss.
My work references this memorial tradition but expands and reinvents the narrative, much like a “memory retablo”. Through cutting, burning, and layering, photographs are fractured, creating ruptures that reflect the instability of relationships, memory, and the human condition. The bride emerges as a figure of tradition and old-world values: a symbol of vows, marriage, expectations, and commitments that are often broken or left unfulfilled. In contrast, battlefields are not literal landscapes of war but symbolic spaces of inner conflict, treacherous emotional terrains where love, loss, and memory collide.
In some images, the eyes of figures are obscured, not to deny their presence, but to evoke the way memory operates: like a dream, blurred and incomplete, never entirely accurate. What remains are fragments: the soft curve of a neck, the glint of jewelry, the trace of painted lips. These details become heightened, markers of longing and desire. Lipstick and ornate necklaces speak to glamour and allure, as traces of beauty rituals that signal intimacy, attraction, and the hope of being remembered as desirable.
This emphasis on adornment stands in stark contrast to the environments these figures inhabit. Set against backdrops that are industrial, barren, scorched, scarred, or emptied of life, luminous faces break through. They are soft, glamorous, and fragile in fields of despair. The tension between the ornamental and the ruined, the beautiful and the desolate, rests in conflict. It is within this breach that desire and memory intertwine: figures suspended between reverence and ruin, between what is cherished and what has already been lost.
While period memorial photographs sought to restore a sense of wholeness, my interventions focus instead on fragmentation. The literal holes in these images become portals for longing, grief, and the void left by disrupted relationships and unfulfilled desires. By referencing vernacular and memorial photographic practices, these works ask us to reconsider the importance of everyday images. They are not neutral records but active agents in shaping how we remember, desire, and mourn. In their altered forms, these photographs reveal the precarious nature of love and memory, and the scars of broken promises, a hole in the heart that cannot be fully mended.
–Anthony Vizzari
Three Men, 2025, Fiber based pigment print, with polypropylene, graphite and oil, 9 × 6 inches
Anthony R. Vizzari (American, b. 1980) is an artist, architect, and collector whose work investigates the intersection of photography, memory, and mourning. His practice engages with vernacular photographs, archival ephemera, and obsolete technologies, reviving objects that might otherwise be lost while preserving the cultural histories they embody.
In 2007 he founded A&A Studios, Inc., a Chicago-based workshop dedicated to the restoration and reimagining of vintage photobooths. These once common machines, rescued from obsolescence, are preserved as both functional technologies and cultural artifacts; sites where personal histories and fleeting portraits continue to be made.
Vizzari is also the founder and curator of the Museum of Mourning Photography & Memorial Practice (MoMP), a private archive committed to the preservation and study of post-mortem and mourning photography from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Through this collection, he examines how rituals of grief and remembrance are embedded in images, and how photographs serve as fragile yet enduring vessels of memory.
Trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA) and the University of California, Berkeley (Master of Architecture), Vizzari has exhibited internationally in the USA, Europe and South America. His work foregrounds the ephemeral nature of photographs; their tendency to fade or fragment, while insisting on their enduring capacity to carry presence, intimacy, and loss across time.
To purchase artworks from his exhibition, please contact the Exhibitions Director, Joanne Aono at jaono@riversideartscenter.com.
Renee Robbins | Expedition Spectrum | September 14 - October 18, 2025
Night Watching, 2022, acrylic, aerosol and colored pencil on paper, 16 x 20 inches
Opening Reception: Sunday, September 14, 2025, 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Join us afterwards for a private cocktail hour at the Quincy Street Distillery
Exhibition Dates: September 14 - October 18, 2025
Exhibition on view: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 PM
Artist Talk: Sunday, October 5, 2025, 3:00 PM, Gallery will open at 2:30 PM
The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present Expedition Spectrum, Renee Robbins’ solo exhibition of paintings on paper, curated by Joanne Aono. Please join us on Sunday, September 14th for an opening reception followed by a private cocktail hour. An artist talk will be held on Sunday, October 5th at 3pm.
Lunaria, 2022, acrylic, aerosol and colored pencil on paper, 16 x 20 inches
Renee Robbins' Expedition Spectrum paintings evoke film stills depicting a magical journey to another planet. There, we encounter underwater scenes of plantlike creatures, their tentacles flowing with the current. Using a soft spray of aerosol paint, Robbins allows us to swim through the washes of aquamarine and purple as we bump up against the hard edges of colorful acrylic brush strokes. In this world, the land is comprised of vibrant flora and fauna glowing in iridescent greens, pinks, and oranges, contrasted by an endless sky of thinly layered single-toned blues and violets.
As we wander the mysterious depths of each painting, the flat patterns and transparent colors pull us in, challenging our perception of scale. Are we viewing a cavernous space like a camera's wide shot, an extreme close up, or are we exploring beyond our vision's capabilities? Night Watching provides a sense of looking out into the darkness of the universe, while the cell-like forms in Lunaria shift one's focus to a more intimate viewpoint.
Robbins' vocabulary has included plants, particles, celestial bodies, and pattern, in paintings ranging from small canvases to building-sized murals. With the latter, she discovered the effects that aerosol paints provide - from light sprays to stencils of bold color. Incorporating this medium with precise brushwork, she creates joyous settings, reminiscent of classic movie animation. Each painting sets the scene to delight our imaginations through the use of a bright color palette, flowing line, and fanciful imagery.
–Joanne Aono, curator
Firefly Signals, 2022, acrylic, aerosol and colored pencil on paper, 16 x 20 inches
Artist Statement
I reimagine subjects in the natural world ranging from subatomic to telescopic. Expedition Spectrum gives the viewer a visual opportunity to meditate on color; to connect their thoughts toward inner awareness and close observation of nature minutiae. The paintings journey into unknown spaces inspired by bird songs, forest canopies, and seafoam, much like an expedition. With these prompts from nature, the works focus on depicting simple pleasures and silver linings. Viewing the paintings invites a chance to slow down and explore our surroundings. With this introspection comes resilience, no matter where we are. The painting process is the culmination of a personal quest to find joy in color and to radiate warmth and optimism. The works act like fantastical prisms of nature, reflecting the shifting magic of color, from red through purple, one color at a time. Expedition Spectrum renews the spirit with color and points the mindset towards hope. My paintings reflect the diverse world and the power of nature by creating awe and a sense of wonder.
-Renee Robbins
Low Moon, 2022, acrylic, aerosol and colored pencil on paper, 16 x 20 inches
Renee Robbins is a Chicago-based visual artist who layers biomorphic forms to create detailed otherworldly environments. She has been awarded public art commissions with Chicago Public Art Group, Wabash Arts Corridor, and the Illinois’ Art-In-Architecture program. Robbins has exhibited widely, including exhibitions at Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL; and the Alden B Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, MI. Press features include PBS WTTW Chicago Tonight, Newcity, Chicago Gallery News, Chicago Magazine, Inside/Within, and an audio interview on Ahtcast. Honors include three grants from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. Robbins received an MFA from Michigan State University.
To purchase artworks from his exhibition, please contact the Exhibitions Director, Joanne Aono at jaono@riversideartscenter.com.
RAC Kids Exhibition | June 29 - July 26, 2025
Bring in one of your children’s masterpieces to have it included in a gallery exhibition!
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present the annual RAC Kids’ Show, featuring artwork created by RAC students and children of the Riverside Arts Center’s members and school. This exhibition will be on display in our FlexSpace while our Freeark Gallery + Sculpture Garden will exhibit art by RAC’s members, volunteers, clay studio members, staff, board, and adults enrolled in RAC’s classes or workshops from summer 2024-2025. View last year’s exhibition here.
Exhibition on view: June 29 – July 26, 2025
Opening Reception: Sunday, June 29, 2025, 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Artwork drop off dates:
Thursdays, June 12 and June 19: 1 – 5 PM
Fridays, June 13 and June 20: 1 – 5 PM
Saturdays, June 14 and June 21: 1 – 5 PM
Artwork pick up dates:
Thursday, July 31: 1 – 5 PM
Friday, August 1: 1 – 5 PM
Saturday, August 2: 1 – 5 PM
Note: Art must be dropped off and picked up on these dates. If you require other accommodations, please contact the Exhibitions Director well in advance.
Join or renew your membership and be a part of this showcase of amazing artists.
Renew your membership today
Guidelines:
Current members, volunteers, clay members, children of, and students enrolled in RAC’s classes or workshops from summer 2024 to 2025 are eligible.
Each artist is invited to submit one piece, no larger than 30" in width.
All hanging art must be framed and/or ready for hanging with wire or sawtooth hanger on back. There can be acceptions, please contact Joanne.
3-D work for inside the gallery, can be displayed on one of our pedestals or stand on the floor.
Please fill out the exhibition form and include it with your submission.
RAC reserves the right to reject any submission. Reasons could include but are not limited to excessive size, weight, or fragility (risk of damage to artwork on display).
Questions? Email Gallery Director, Joanne Aono: jaono@riversideartscenter.com
Adeline Katz | Cardinal in Nest, 2024, Watercolor on paper, 10 x 16 inches
RAC Limited Edition Prints in Partnership with Vertical Gallery | April 26 - June 7, 2025
Emmy Star Brown | Hygge, 2024, 12-color hand-pulled screenprint, Edition of 40, 24 x 30 inches
Exhibition Dates: April 26 - June 7, 2025
Reception: Sunday, May 18, 2025, 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Exhibition on view: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 PM
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present RAC Limited Edition Prints, in partnership with Vertical Gallery. Five hand-pulled multi-colored screenprints are available through a unique collaboration between four international artists, Vertical Gallery in Chicago, and the Riverside Arts Center (RAC). In addition, selections from the Riverside Arts Center’s 2022 and 2023 Limited Edition Print Portfolios are exhibited and available to add to your collection while raising funds for RAC's exhibitions programming
Vertical Gallery and the Riverside Arts Center (RAC) are excited to present the third annual print fundraiser, featuring exclusive, limited-edition screen prints by artists Emmy Star Brown, 2Choey, Sergio Farfan, and Phido. With only a limited number available, each high-quality print offers a unique piece of contemporary art. 25% of proceeds directly support RAC's programs, including exhibitions, workshops, and community outreach.
Vertical Gallery has covered production costs and will handle logistics like payment, packaging, and shipping, allowing RAC to focus on enriching the local arts community. Every purchase supports artists, helps sustain RAC, and brings creative experiences to a wider audience.
Prints will be available for pickup at Vertical Gallery or at the Riverside Arts Center. Shipping is $30 (up to 3 prints for one flat fee). If you prefer to pick up your order after being charged for shipping, email us for a refund, and we'll hold your print for pickup.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. How do I purchase a print, and what payment methods are accepted?
You can purchase prints directly through Vertical Gallery’s online platform. Payment methods include major credit cards, and additional options like PayPal may be available at checkout.
2. Can I choose to pick up my print instead of having it shipped, and how does the refund process for shipping charges work?
Yes, you can choose to pick up your print at Vertical Gallery in Chicago, or at the Riverside Arts Center. If you were charged for shipping but would prefer to pick up your print, simply email us, and we’ll refund the shipping fee and hold your print for pickup.
3. When and where can I pick up my print if I choose the local pickup option?
Prints will be available for pickup at Vertical Gallery in Chicago, or at the Riverside Arts Center. Please choose your preferred location when completing your purchase.
4. How does my purchase support the Riverside Art Center and its programs?
25% of the proceeds from each sale directly support the Riverside Arts Center’s diverse programming, including exhibitions, educational workshops, and community outreach initiatives. By purchasing a print, you’re helping bring art education and creative experiences to a wider audience while supporting the local arts community.
RAC's MISSION:
The Riverside Arts Center strives to be the epicenter for contemporary art in the near-west suburbs of Chicago. Through exhibitions, education, artist studios, and public events, the RAC is an advocate for the vital role the arts play in nurturing community and amplifying diverse experiences, ideas, and backgrounds.
Jay Wolke | Edge 4C, 2023, Inkjet Print on Canson Arches 310 gsm paper, 11 × 17 inches
RAC Limited Edition Prints from 2022-2023
Curated by Paul D’Amato, twenty-three artists who have exhibited at the Arts Center, were invited to respond conceptually and formally to the phrases The Shape of Things to Come and Past Perfect. The participants created a set of unique images, which were made into limited editions of 20 high quality ink jet prints. The images are printed on 11” x 17” Canson Arches 310 gsm paper and are signed, titled, and numbered.
The artists in The Shape of Things to Come include Claire Ashley,, Aimée Beaubien, Paola Cabal, Bob Faust, Matthew Girson, Azadeh Gholizadeh, Anna Kunz, Anne Harris, Kim Piotrowski, Luis Sahagun, and Jay Wolke.
The artists in Past Perfect include Joanne Aono, Kelli Connell and Natalie Krick, Paul D’Amato, Laura Husar Garcia, Alice Hargrave, Nancy Hejna, Riva Lehrer, Tony Phillips, Jennifer Taylor, Erin Washington, Michelle Wasson, and Oli Watt.
The production of these prints was made possible by the generous support of Document, Chicago’s preeminent digital print facility, and IT Supplies, who donated the paper on which they are printed.
100% of the sales of these prints raise funds to support exhibitions and programming at RAC. Each print is available for purchase for $100 each. Entire suites of The Shape of Things to Come and the Past Perfect portfolios are available for $1000.
Creativity Fest | Saturdays, April 12 and 19, 2025
Dates: Saturday April 12 and 19, 2025
Drop in Times from: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Town Hall Exhibition: May 12 - July 30, 2025
Artists Exhibition Reception: Sunday, May 18, 2025, 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Gather your family and friends to make art! Join us in creating a community art project to celebrate Riverside’s 150th Birthday! Finished pieces will be displayed together at RAC's Town Hall exhibition. Stop by RAC to create your art and connect with others in our community.
While this is an Open House format, we encourage you to sign up for a slot so you can guarantee your spot and so you may choose the approximate arrival time best for you and your family. Of course if it is best for you to walk-in, we will do our best to serve all who show up. We can’t wait to create with you!
All are welcome! $10 registration per artwork created.
Saturday April 12 and April 19 from 10AM – 2PM
In the FlexSpace – the Blue Door at 32-30 E. Quincy St in Riverside and also upstairs in our Main Studio (Orange Door).
Celebrate our beautiful town by the river!
Come and create your own section of a "Community River" on a canvas we provide. On Saturday April 12 and again on Saturday April 19, RAC artists will guide your creations and provide supplies, found objects and other collage materials (and feel free to bring your own as well). The artwork you create will be (if you choose) part of an exhibition the Riverside Arts Center will install at the Riverside Town Hall, celebrating the community and the 150th Anniversary of Riverside. This Community Exhibition will be on view at Town Hall from May 12-July 30th.
This project is for ages 5 - 105. Art is for everyone.
Then… SAVE THE DATE for an artists reception (that’s YOU!) for this “Community River” Exhibition on Sunday, May 18th from 3-6pm!
Sample art by RAC Teaching Artist Theresa Paris
We hope you will choose to create your river in any way that speaks to you with found objects or natural beauty we provide or that you wish to bring. Think of it as a collage that expresses who you are and what you wish for our community.
Led by our beloved Teaching Artists: Mr. Tee, Shawn Vincent, Theresa Paris, and Madelyn Roldan
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I need to register ahead of time?
Registering in advance guarantees you space at your preferred time, and helps us plan for how many people to expect. But we are happy to welcome you at the door if there is space! We've divided the day into one-hour sign-up slots starting at 10AM. When you register, let us know your preferred time, how many people are in your party, and how many canvases you'd like to work on. If you are unable to register in advance, no worries. Please walk in on the day of and we will do our best to get you and your group in!
What does it cost?
Minimum of $10 per each artwork your group makes to cover supplies. If you have a group of 3 and you want to collaborate on one canvas that will be $10 to cover supplies. If you each want to create you own artwork, and there are 3 of you in your group, that will be $10 per canvas or $30 total. You may also choose to make an additional donation which we welcome to help cover the salaries for our teaching artists. Riverside Arts Center is a not-for-profit organization. Thank you for your support!
What age is best for this project?
We welcome creative makers of all ages: kids 5+, pre-teens, and teenagers as well as adults and seniors of any age. This project is appropriate for a variety of experience levels. Pieces can be simple or more complex and detailed if you choose. Your group can work collaboratively on one canvas, or create individually on different canvases. We'll be there to guide you toward making a work of art you’ll be proud to display! Our teachers are excited to meet you and explore your ideas.
Did I hear these artworks can be displayed?
Art pieces created during Creativity Fest will be included (if you choose) in a community exhibit at Riverside Town Hall in celebration of Riverside’s 150th birthday. Stop by Town Hall to see them between May 12 and July 30th. After the exhibition closes you may stop by Riverside Arts Center to pick up your artwork to take home.
Why will this be exhibited at Town Hall ?
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center. On view at 27 Riverside Road from May 12 through July 30th, 2025. Please join us for a celebration of the artists and art during a reception on Sunday, May 18th from 3 to 6 pm. Light refreshments will be served at the Riverside Arts Center, a short block around the corner from the Town Hall.
RAC's MISSION:
The Riverside Arts Center strives to be the epicenter for contemporary art in the near-west suburbs of Chicago. Through exhibitions, education, artist studios, and public events, the RAC is an advocate for the vital role the arts play in nurturing community and amplifying diverse experiences, ideas, and backgrounds.
Hiding in Plain Sight | March 7 - April 5, 2025
"Dissolution," 2024, oil on canvas, 48" x 36", by Katharine Oltrogge.
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present in the Flexspace Gallery: Hiding in Plain Sight, a group exhibition guest curated by RAC’s gallery Assistant, Madelyn Roldan. Hiding in Plain Sight, a group exhibition of Katharine Oltrogge, Oakley MCcormack, Summer Tribble, Tariq Tamir, Madelyn Roldan and Molly Nadir. Please join us on Friday, March 7th from 5:00 - 7:00 pm for an opening reception with the artists.On Saturday, March 22nd at 2pm, join Katharine Oltrogge, Oakley MCcormack, Summer Tribble, Tariq Tamir, Madelyn Roldan, Molly Nadir and the curator for an artist talk. All events are free and open to the public.
Opening Reception: Friday, March 7, 2025, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Exhibition Dates: March 7, 2025 – April 5, 2025
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, March 29, 2025, 3:00 pm
Hiding in Plain Sight takes its inspiration from a verse of a love song, evoking the intention that love, much like art, often reveals itself in the smallest and most unexpected moments. In this exhibition, we explore the delicate, intricate relationship between the artist and their work. Each piece serves as a conversation, a serene exchange where both the creator and the creation are united, sometimes subtly, sometimes boldly, but always significantly. There’s an intimacy in art, an invitation to gaze deeper, to discover fragments of the artist's heart and soul hidden within the layers of color, texture, and form. Just like a love song that lingers long after the last note fades, these works invite the viewer to engage, to pause, and to find the charm and significance that exist in the space between the artist's intentions and the viewer’s interpretation. It’s in these moments of connection—when we see something of ourselves in the art, and something of the artist in us is when the true magic happens.
-Madelyn Roldan, curator
Katharine Oltrogge is a Chicago based artist. Her oil paintings are conjured from the fantastical, the mythological and the sacred. Using symbolism drawn from nature and religious imagery, Oltrogge’s narrative paintings investigate personal experiences of transformation and identity through the vocabulary of the hidden and the spiritual. Allegorical figures and otherworldly landscapes rendered from imagination serve as an avenue for exploring the artist’s inner world. Jewel-toned brushstrokes and layered surfaces breathe psychological depth into each figure. By focusing on the experiences of queer women, the use of religious myth reclaims visual power structures that have existed throughout the history of Western painting. Oltrogge will receive a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Spring 2025. She has been featured in various group shows at galleries across Chicagoland, including Riverside Art Center, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery Wrightwood, and Bridgeport Art Center. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Northwestern University, through the Institute’s Art by Gender and Sexual Minorities program.
Website: https://katharine-oltrogge.weebly.com/
Instagram: @katharineoltrogge
Oakley Mccormack is an artist from Riverside, Illinois. They currently attend Elmhurst university as a fine arts student with a focus in ceramics. These are their first ceramic works to be displayed in a gallery. They wanted these pieces to represent their love and adoration for aquatic and shell like shapes in nature. They find that working with clay fills them with a sense of calm and allows them to release the anxiety that runs through them on a day to day basis. They hope that these pieces fill you with a sense of calm like they did for them.
Instagram: @felinepeachy
Madelyn Roldan is an artist from Brookfield, Illinois. Madelyn will receive her associates from Triton College this spring 2025. She plans to further her art degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a multiple media artist known for her ethereal and intricate works. Some of her works include motifs of conch shells. With a deep appreciation for the significance of pastels, light and emotion, she creates visually detailed and emotionally resonant pieces that invite viewers to explore the depths of their own imagination.
Website: https://madelynril.univer.se/
Instagram: @madelynril
Mr. Tee, also known as Tariq Tamir, is a Chicago based artist and educator who studied at Columbia College Chicago. Prior to joining RAC, he taught young adults ages 14-21 with Chicago’s Gallery 37 and the Boys and Girls Club. In addition to being poetically inclined, Tariq uses art as a medium for self-growth and empowerment which he transfers to his students. He has exhibited his painting, assemblage, and found object art in solo and group exhibitions in local venues. He has been featured in numerous videos for RBTV’s People in Perspective, the Riverside Arts Center, and the Oak Park Public Library.
Instagram: @esotariq2
Summer Tribble (b. 1999), also known as Heavenly Creature, is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice bridges the boundaries between life and death, nature and simulation, memory and decay. Using taxidermy and 3D digital rendering, Tribble interrogates the impermanence of the flesh, the cycles of decomposition and rebirth, and the ways in which trauma imprints itself onto both the organic and the artificial. Within her work, remnants of the past are resurrected in spectral forms—dissected, reconstructed, and immortalized in new realities. Tribble graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA in 2021, and her works have been featured in AIR Studio & Gallery, New Art City, and more. She currently lives and works in Chicago.
Website: https://summertribble.com/work
Instagram: @heavenlycreature001
Molly Nadir is a Chicago based artist, Molly Nadir, uses a low resolution canvas and limited colors to bring the medium of digital art to its most basic form. Using perfect squares alluding to the shape only occurring in nature with the touch of a conscious mind, Molly is able to make intricate pieces within the genre of 'Visionary Art'. Their pieces, covering themes surrounding science and spirituality, are filled with references to quantum mechanics, Buddhism, astrophysics, Advaita Vedanta Hinduism, and Sacred Geometry.
Website: https://www.artstation.com/mollynadir
Instagram: @mollynadir
Sharon Hoogstraten | Dancing for our tribe | October 20 - November 30, 2024
Margaret and Tesia Zientek, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, 2014, Digital print on canvas, 60 x 47 inches
Exhibition Dates: October 20 – November 30, 2024
Opening Reception: Sunday, October 20, 2024, 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Join us afterwards for a private happy hour at the Quincy Street Distillery
Exhibition on view: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 PM
Artist Talk: Wednesday, November 6, 2024, 7:00 PM
Riverside Public Library, 1 Burling Road, Riverside, Illinois
Reservations required - please register here (free)
*The FlexSpace will be open Wednesday, November 6 from 5:50-6:46pm for a special viewing prior to the artist talk at the Riverside Public Library, located just around the corner.
Publication: Dancing for Our Tribe
Available at the gallery and online here
The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present Sharon Hoogstraten’s photography exhibition, Dancing for Our Tribe. Please join us on Sunday, October 20th for an opening reception with a private cocktail hour afterwards at the Quincy Street Distillery. The artist will give a talk on the evening of Wednesday, November 6th at 7pm at the Riverside Public Library, just around the corner from the gallery. All events are free and open to the public. Reservations are required for the artist talk - register here.
The Potawatomi dancers’ movements work in tandem with their colorful regalia. Swaying fringe symbolizes prairie grasses. The jingle of 365 small metal cones represent blessings. Sharon Hoogstraten’s Hasselblad large format camera captures these traditions as they intertwine with present day life. Her life-sized photographs framed by cedar strips - one of the four sacred plants of the Potawatomi - show the details of the handmade ensembles. Moreover, these are portraits of individuals. The faces show expressions of passion and pride of a culture that will be preserved and continued through the tribal members dance and through Hoogstraten’s portfolio.
–Joanne Aono, curator
Robert Moody, Pokagon Band, 2015, Digital print on canvas, 60 x 47 inches
Artist Statement
In the heyday of the Anishinaabe Confederacy, the Potawatomis were spread across Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Pressured by the westward expansion of the fledgling United States of America, they became the most treatied of any Indian tribes. Forced removals and multiple treaty era relocations resulted in cultural chaos and an enduring threat to their connections to the ancestors. Despite these hardships, they have managed to maintain (or restore) their rich heritage.
Beginning with Citizen Potawatomi Nation, my home reservation in Shawnee, Oklahoma, I called on all nine nations of the scattered Potawatomi tribe. I have produced photographic evidence and a permanent record of present-day Potawatomis wearing traditional regalia modified to reflect the influence and storytelling of contemporary life. While the old silver monochrome portraits that captured Native life at the turn of the last century are a priceless record of those times, they also contribute to the impression that most Great Lakes / Woodland Indian Tribes exist only as remnants of a dimly remembered past. These formal portraits, accompanied by personal statements, portray a fresh reality of today’s native descendants and their regalia; people who live in a world of assimilation, sewing machines, proud military service, and high resolution digital cameras.
The Potawatomi Nations have merged loss and optimism to reinforce their legacy for generations to come. The old arts of language, ribbonwork, beading, and quillwork are being learned from the elders with a renewed sense of urgency. Preserving Potawatomi culture, tribal members are translating traditional designs into their own artistic celebration of continuing existence—thus lighting the path forward for the next seven generations and beyond.
Sophia Suke, Prairie Band, 2016, Digital print on canvas, 60 x 47 inches
Sharon Hoogstraten is a Chicago photographer and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She holds an MFA from the University of Illinois, Chicago after receiving a BS from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her art has been shown in solo exhibitions at the State of Illinois Building, Chicago; University of Chicago, Rockefeller Chapel; Kalamazoo Arts Council; the Elmhurst History Museum; and in group exhibitions at the Illinois State Museum; National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution; and the American Indian Center, Chicago.
Hoogstraten’s art has received media coverage by the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and WTTW among others. She has given lectures and presentations across the country. Publications of her photography have received awards from the Eric Hoffer Foundation and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Museum acquisitioned the complete collection of Sharon Hoogstraten’s CPN portraits. Her photography is held in numerous private collections. Her book, Green City Market: A Song of Thanks was recognized by the Chicago Public Library Foundation at the Carl Sandburg Literary Awards event.
https://www.behance.net/HOOGSTRATEf665?locale=en_US
Holly Holmes | Companions | September 8 - October 12, 2024
Towers of Knowledge, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
Exhibition Dates: September 8 - October 12, 2024
Opening Reception: Sunday, September, 8, 2024, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Join us afterwards for a private cocktail hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 5, 2024, 2:00 pm
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Holly Holmes’ solo exhibition, Companions in the FlexSpace, curated by Gallery Director, Joanne Aono. Please join us on Sunday, September 8th from 3:00 - 6:00 pm for an opening reception with the artist. Join us afterwards for a private cocktail hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery. On Saturday, October 5th at 2pm, join Holly Holmes and the curator for an artist talk. All events are free and open to the public.
Holly Holmes utilizes painting and tufting to express her observations of physical spaces. Through these works, we become companions on her walks where she might sketch a view at a train station or from a porch, later combining them with her thoughts on current events and associated emotional reactions.
The paintings are rendered in flat, tight strokes with subtle patterns reminiscent of Phillip Guston, while the rug weavings bring to mind the abstract textiles of Anni Albers and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, bridging fine art with exceptional craft. As the eye wanders through Holmes’ vibrant blocks of color, it jumps from one angle to the next, only to be sprung about by a caressing curve. We flip between the edges and the shapes, conjuring up glimpses of familiar objects, then we step back and get lost once again. The titles give us clues and oftentimes affirmation of a perceived form in their simple poetry.
Like companion planting, where each organism provides a benefit to those adjacent, Holmes’ paintings and wall rugs nurture each other. Our experience is enhanced by the conversations between the artworks as we notice subtle nuances when comparing similar sections within separate pieces. The patterned speckles in her paintings evoke the texture of the yarns, while the hard edges of the paintbrush strokes contrast with the rough borders of the rug tufts. We notice a repeated shape or color from one piece to the next or across the room, giving a sense of cohesion throughout the exhibition.
– Joanne Aono
Over the past couple of years, I have been working with tension between abstraction and representation. The matter of facts, readings or translations of situations and elements of life resonate within me for many different reasons. In my work it is this resonance that I want to pass along to viewers. With my visual work and with the text of the titles I give rise to the friction of translation that the depiction of abstraction carries.
For me to create this current work it helps to travel outside my home. Home is wonderful and should be explored but there is an excitement and a bit of wonder that comes from leaving your known. I am always noticing details and visually studying the world around me, translating spaces, and experiences that were in and are in public view. I make this work from sketches in the studio and at times using memory and feelings to recreate the space as well.
There is an examining and reexamining process that occurs while making a work. This reexamining has also become a way of painting and color mixing when working with yarn. Recently I have been making my tufted and painted works in tandem as companions. That is both a painting and a tufted image expressing the same resonance or from the same subject situation. This enables me to make creative decisions more effectively. I am becoming a pointillist painter with yarn to create new colors or shades and to develop the tone of the pieces.
Paint is an immediate and fast medium, especially acrylic paint which I mostly work with. Changing a section of a painting or experimenting with color and pattern is relatively frictionless. Yarn on the other hand is a much more time consuming process. Experimenting with color requires careful blending of threads and meticulous consideration. By flipping back and forth between companions I am able to test out an idea in one place and realize it in the other.
For this exhibition I wanted to foreground this idea of companion pieces and see them together, adjacent to each other and encourage their conversations across the gallery. It is exciting for me to think about how their resonance echoes in the space and how the works operate in tandem across different modes of representation.
– Holly Holmes
Holly Holmes grew up in the Chicago area and currently resides in Oak Park. Holmes is a painter, sculptor, educator, planner and curator. She received a BFA in painting from Southern Illinois University and a MFA in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago. Holmes was on the board of Terrain Exhibitions, producing a residency program and the Terrain Biennial. She is a member of Videokaffe, an international art collective spanning locations in North America and Nordic countries.
Recently Holmes has shown her work at, Ohklohomo, Chicago; Sluice expo, Colchester, UK; Material, Chicago; The Design Museum, Chicago; Dominican University; River Forest, Il, Kunsthius Gallery; Crayke, UK; ArtTeleported, CICA; Queens, N.Y.; and Videokaffee at Art House, in Turku, Finland. Her art is held in public and private collections throughout the world.
Companions is Partially funded by a Part-time Faculty Development Grant from Columbia College Chicago
There is Wisdom in Waiting (2), 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 18 inches
RAC Kids Exhibition | July 7 - 27, 2024
Bring in one of your children’s masterpieces to have it included in a gallery exhibition!
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present the annual RAC Kids’ Show, featuring artwork created by RAC students and children of the Riverside Arts Center’s members and school. This exhibition will be on display in our FlexSpace while our Freeark Gallery + Sculpture Garden will exhibit art by RAC’s members, volunteers, clay studio members, staff, board, and adults enrolled in RAC’s classes or workshops from summer 2023-2024. View last year’s exhibition here.
Exhibition on view: July 7 – 27, 2024
Opening Reception: Sunday, July 7, 2024, 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Join or renew your membership and be a part of this showcase of amazing artists.
Renew your membership today
Artwork drop off dates:
Thursday, June 27: 1 – 5 PM
Friday, June 28: 1 – 5 PM
Saturday, June 29: 1 – 5 PM
Artwork pick up dates:
Thursday, August 1: 1 – 5 PM
Friday, August 2: 1 – 5 PM
Saturday, August 3: 1 – 5 PM
Guidelines:
Current members, volunteers, clay members, children of, and students enrolled in RAC’s classes or workshops from summer 2023-2024 are eligible.
Each artist is invited to submit one piece, no larger than 30" in width.
All hanging art must be framed and/or ready for hanging with wire or sawtooth hanger on back.
3-D work for inside the gallery, can be displayed on one of our pedestals or stand on the floor.
Please fill out the exhibition form and include it with your submission.
RAC reserves the right to reject any submission. Reasons could include but are not limited to excessive size, weight, or fragility (risk of damage to artwork on display).
Questions? Email Gallery Director, Joanne Aono: jaono@riversideartscenter.com
RAC Limited Edition Prints | May 24 - June 22, 2024
Exhibition Dates: May 24 – June 22, 2024
Opening: Friday, May 24, 2024, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Selections from the Riverside Arts Center’s 2022 and 2023 Limited Edition Print Portfolios will be on exhibit in the FlexSpace. Curated by Paul D’Amato, twenty-three artists who have exhibited at the Arts Center, were invited to respond conceptually and formally to the phrases The Shape of Things to Come and Past Perfect.
The artists created a set of unique images, which were made into limited editions of 20 high quality ink jet prints.The images are printed on 11” x 17” Canson Arches 310 gsm paper and are signed, titled and numbered by the artists. The sales of these prints raise funds to support exhibitions and programming at RAC, .
The artists in The Shape of Things to Come include Claire Ashley, Aimée Beaubien, Paola Cabal, Bob Faust, Matthew Girson, Azadeh Gholizadeh, Anna Kunz, Anne Harris, Kim Piotrowski, Luis Sahagun, and Jay Wolke.
The artists in Past Perfect include Joanne Aono, Kelli Connell and Natalie Krick, Paul D’Amato, Laura Husar Garcia, Alice Hargrave, Nancy Hejna, Riva Lehrer, Tony Phillips, Jennifer Taylor, Erin Washington, Michelle Wasson, and Oli Watt,
The production of these prints was made possible by the generous support of Document, Chicago’s preeminent digital print facility, and IT Supplies, who donated the paper on which they are printed.
Each print is available for purchase for $100 each. Entire suites of The Shape of Things to Come and the Past Perfect portfolios are available for $1000.
Mary Porterfield | That Which Remains | April 7 - May 11, 2024
Exhibition Dates: April 7 – May 11, 2024
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 7, 2024, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Join us afterwards for a private happy hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 pm
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present That Which Remains, a solo exhibition by Mary Porterfield in the FlexSpace. The exhibition will consist of drawings, an installation, and a community participatory art wall addressing the challenges of caregiving.
Support that Remains, 2023-2024, Spray painted and painted walkers and crutches, size variable,
My drawings reflect my mother’s struggle to care for my father who had Parkinsonism and was homebound. The life-sized images, which are cut out and attached to the wall, represent the mounting difficulties my parents faced, made worse by the pandemic. I overlap translucent layers to signify my father’s gradual evanescence, using the vastness of the wall to represent my mother’s perseverance, hardship and love. Since my father’s passing, the assistive devices remain as witnesses to the weight my mother bore, both physically and metaphorically. The layering of film symbolizes the passage of time as my mother recalls what was, yet acknowledges the impermanence of what is. In sharing my parent’s story, I hope to elevate those who have had such an impact on our past, while making visible those caregivers who make the present possible.
– Mary Porterfield
Mary Porterfield has exhibited her paintings, drawings, and installations nationally and internationally at venues including the Lim Lip Museum in South Korea, the Phoenix Art Museum, the San Diego Art Institute, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Kohler Arts Center, the Figge Art Museum, the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, and the Rockford Art Museum. Solo shows include Hofheimer Gallery (Chicago, Il), Packer-Schopf Gallery (Chicago, Il), Concordia University (River Forest, Il), the University of Illinois (Urbana, Il), and the West Valley Art Museum (Surprise, AZ). Honors include three Illinois Artist Council Grants, a City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Grant (DCASE), a Puffin Foundation Grant, and three Chicago Community Arts Assistance Program Grants. Porterfield teaches at Northeastern Illinois University and received an MFA from Arizona State University.
https://maryporterfield.com/home.html
A Window Long Since Removed, 2023, Oil on semitransparent Dura-Lar film, 40 x 60 inches
The Tides Within, 2023-2024, Oil on semi-transparent Dura-Lar film, 82 x 216 inches,
FlexSpace Artist in Residence | Vida SACIC | February 25 - March 27, 2024
Vida Sačić. Home, Body, Land, Letterpress Prints, 40" x 58" each, edition of 2-4 each
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to welcome Vida Sačić as Artist in Residence for the month of March, 2024.
Residency Dates: February 26 - March 27, 2024
Open Studio Hours: Wednesday afternoons, 2:00 – 3;30 pm
Public Program: Q&A with Vida Sačić and Martha Chiplis: Saturday, March 16, 2024, 2:00 pm
Vida Sačić is a Chicago-based artist who works with moveable type to create editioned prints that explore labour and identity in the context of immigration.
Join us for a public program Saturday March 16 at 2:00 pm
The Riverside Arts Center will host a Q&A with Vida Sačić and Martha Chiplis Saturday, March 16, 2024, 2:00 pm in the FlexSpace.
Join Vida and Martha for an afternoon of conversation on movable type and the role of letterpress printing in community-building and collaborative practices. The conversation will feature young artists Hannah Grajciar, Luis Anzo, and Lesly Alonso, who are assisting in constructing the work during Vida's residency.
Martha Chiplis is a Berwyn-based artist and co-author of “For the Love of Letterpress,” published by Bloomsbury. She teaches letterpress printing at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.
Bio:
Vida Sačić is a Croatian and American multidisciplinary artist and educator. Her work explores immigration, gender, and labor primarily through print media. She has been a resident artist at The Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and The Center for Book and Paper Arts in Chicago. In her work,
Vida emphasizes community and collaboration. She has worked on long-term collaborative projects with TipoRenesansa Letterpress Studio in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Wisconsin. Her prints and installations have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and Europe, including at the DeVos Art Museum in Michigan and The Center for Book Arts in New York City.
Vida is currently preparing for a solo exhibition in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Locally, her large-scale work will be featured in an upcoming exhibition of printing by and for immigrant communities at the Newberry Library in Chicago, opening in December 2024.
Vida’s studio practice is informed and complemented by her work as an educator and tenured professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.
Project description:
As an artist in residence at the FlexSpace at Riverside Arts Center, I will develop a new project inspired by correspondence within immigrant families. Primarily working in print media, I plan to create in-process assemblages of prints on paper, textiles, and fiber that incorporate other media. I will be assisted by young artists from immigrant backgrounds whose families are multi-lingual. The works will feature hand-written and printed notes, drawings, images, and stories gathered during the residence.
The RAC community is invited to take part in the construction.
I will be working in the FlexSpace on Wednesday afternoons during the month of March, with events planned during the week of March 11.
Vida Sačić. Is My, Letterpress Print, 40" x 58", edition of 4
For more images of Vida’s work, please visit her website at www.vidasacic.net
Past Perfect: Celebrating 30 Years with 30 Artists | November 5, 2023 - January 6, 2024
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Past Perfect: Celebrating 30 Years with 30 Artists, a group exhibition commemorating our thirtieth anniversary. This exhibition will be on view in RAC’s Freeark Gallery, FlexSpace, and Sculpture Garden from November 5, 2023 through January 6, 2024. Click this link for images from this exhibition.
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 5, 2023, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Please join us afterwards for a private happy hour with handcrafted artisanal spirits across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Exhibition Dates: November 5, 2023 – January 6, 2024
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Artist Panel Discussions: Saturdays at 2pm
December 2nd: Artists Tom Burtonwood, Andreas Fischer, Riva Lehrer, Tim Lowly, Yoonshin Park, Kim Piotrowski, and Colleen Plumb, with curators Anne Harris, Laura Husar Garcia, and Joanne Aono
December 9th: Artists Larry Bookbinder and Matthew Girson, Jason Lazarus (via zoom) and Ali Feser, Camille Silverman, and Erin Washington, with curators Laura Husar Garcia, and Joanne Aono
January 6th Closing Reception and Artist Panel Talk: Artists Whitney Bradshaw, Bob Faust, Nancy Hejna, Heather Hug, Indira Freitas Johnson, Anna Kunz, and Jennifer Taylor, with curators Anne Harris and Joanne Aono
Established in 1993, the Riverside Arts Center has evolved into a respected destination led by its world-class exhibition programming. In recognition of the hundreds of artists whose art has similarly grown through the years, thirty extraordinary artists were selected from RAC’s solo and two-person exhibitions.
Representing a diverse range of artistic mediums, the exhibition includes a wood sculpture by one of the Riverside Arts Center’s founders, Ruth Freeark; a colorful multimedia installation by Aimée Beaubien; and a figurative oil painting by Janice Nowinski. Photography and video are explored by Whitney Bradshaw and Colleen Plumb, while painting is represented by respected artists such as Kim Piotrowski, Anna Kunz, Candida Alvarez, and Andreas Fischer. In addition, we honor Sabina Ott and Deborah Boardman posthumously through their art.
The exhibition will open with a reception for the artists on Sunday, November 5th from 3-6pm. Coinciding with the exhibition, several of the exhibiting artists will participate in panel discussions led by the exhibition’s curators, Anne Harris, Laura Husar Garcia, and Joanne Aono, on select Saturday afternoons.