Monday, May 22, 2017

Around the Block II: Artists from Our Neighborhood

AROUND THE BLOCK II
June 19 to August 9, 2017
Giertz Gallery at Parkland College
Reception: Thursday, June 22, 5–7 p.m.; opening remarks with Lisa Costello, Kelly White, and juror Gisele Atterberry at 6 p.m., Music by El Guapo
Closing Gallery Talk: August 9, 6 p.m. by Gisele Atterberry

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Works by community artists will once again feature in a summer juried art exhibition at Giertz Gallery at Parkland College.

Giertz Gallery, in collaboration with 40 North: Champaign County Arts Council, presents “Around the Block II: Artists from Our Neighborhood” opening Monday, June 19. The exhibit, which runs through Aug. 9, comprises works of art that reflect the caliber of creative flourish that is present in east central Illinois.

Serving as juror for the exhibition is Gisele Atterberry, art history faculty in the Fine Arts Department at Joliet Junior College and coauthor of the college textbook Design Essentials: A Handbook. She will provide opening remarks at the June 22 exhibit reception, to be held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery. Atterberry also will give a closing gallery talk on the show Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 6 p.m.

image information: work by Sylvia Arnstein

Gallery Director Lisa Costello called this year’s exhibit a terrific survey of artists who live in the area.

“We’re pleased by the strong turnout of artists who submitted their work for the exhibit,” she remarked. “We’re also very pleased to have Gisele Atterberry agree to be our juror; a longtime resident of Champaign, she has made an impact in the arts in Illinois. She took this responsibility very seriously and gave a lot of thought to her selection. Finally, we’re thankful for 40 North, Champaign County’s Art Council, which really helped us get the word out to local artists to submit their work! It’s a valuable resource to our community.”

More than 70 artists are participating in this exhibit: Jan Adams, Cecilia Allen and Roger Blakley, Sylvia Arnstein, Tedra Ashley-Wannemuehler, Jenny Barrett, Sandra Batzli, Gary Beaumont, Jess Beyler, Jodi Birdwell, Harry Breen, Thomas Brewer, M. Ben Cohan, Catherine Cunningham, Beth Darling, Pamela Ek, Christy Elamma, Mary Emmons, Pam Erickson, Jeff Evans, Lisa Evans, Carol Farnum, Viktoria Ford, Faith Gabel, Juanita L. Gammon, Lorraine Graham, Stacey Gross, Daniel Hadley, Sandra Hynds, Judy Jones, Larry Kanfer, Jan Kappes, Bruce Kloth, Carolyn Knox, Philip Knox, Rick Larimore, Tom Layman, Sue Kay Lee, Casey Lowry, Paula McCarty, Ann McDowell, Ingrid Melief, Melissa Mitchell, Pat Monigold, Christina Nordholm, Sharon Owens and David Spears, Jason Patterson, Vicki Patton, Shannon Percoco, Hilary Pope, Ralph Roether, Erin Rogers, Ann Rund, Vashoune Russell, Umeeta Sadarangani, Andrea Shields, David Smith, Lynn Smith, Phil Strang, Stephanie Sutton,  Bonnie Switzer, Mohan Tracy, David Wantroba, Bryan Warsaw, Rosalind Faiman Weinberg, Nathan Westerman, Catherine Wiesener, Charles Wisseman, Sarah Wisseman, and Liza Wynette

Atterberry expressed on her own “great pleasure” in jurying the Giertz Gallery’s second community art exhibition.

“I was constantly reminded of the artistic vitality evident throughout our area,” she commented. “I was delighted to see submissions from veteran artists, people who have long played a prominent and valuable role in our arts community. Additionally, there were many highly skilled and thematically compelling works that were totally new to my eyes. In all, I feel the show will offer a reflection of the exciting and diverse range of interests held by artists just ‘around the block.’”

All events in the handicapped-accessible gallery are free and open to the public. Summer gallery hours are Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.

Giertz Gallery is located at 2400 W. Bradley Ave. on the Parkland College campus. To find the gallery, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus. Enter through door X7, turn left, and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.

Parkland is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/351-2505.

This exhibit is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more information, call Lisa Costello, gallery director, at 217/351-2485 or visit the gallery website at www.parkland.edu/gallery.