Two Exhibitions Conclude the FusedCHICAGO 2019 Season
FUSEDChicago ended its exhibition year for 2019 with two concurrent shows:
Fayum 2019 9/26 – 10/26/19 at Union Street Gallery, 1527 Otto Blvd., Chicago Heights, IL; Curated by Alicia Forestall-Boehm, Carol Hamilton, Cindy Lesperence and Michele Thrane
FireWORKS 10/04 – 10/19/19 at The Dole – Sage Gallery, Crystal Lake, IL; Curated by Cindy Lesperence and Carol Hamilton
*all artists are listed left to right below each photo of their work
Fayum 2019 was a reprise of the previous Fayum show held at Union Street Gallery in 2014. Members chosen to exhibit their work were: Carrie Baxter, Kathy Blankley Roman, Kathie Collinson, Cat Crotchett, Laurie Danch, Bob Fesser, Alicia Forestall-Boehm, Shelley Gilchrist, Carol Hamilton, Brad Hook, Nikkole Huss, Cindy Lesperance , Cheryl Marshall, Kelly Matthews, Joycelyn Merchant, Jane Michalski, Carol Myers, April Nomellini, Robin Samiljan, Linda Sorkin-Eisenberg, Michele Thrane
Carol Hamilton did encaustic painting and encaustic monotype demonstrations at Union Street on 10-26. According to Hamilton“ (the demonstration) was very well attended and everyone was so enthusiastic about trying out the monotype process. It was a lot of fun and people had lots of questions about the process. They commented that it gave them a greater appreciation of the work in our show.”
Members Alicia Forestall Boehm and Michele Thrane were co-curators along with Carol Hamilton. Fused President Cindy Lesperence also helped to hang the show. About the experience Hamilton stated “Hanging a show is always a learning experience. Curating the work is exciting and sometimes presents unexpected possibilities. Our members submit such strong work that is a joy to put together these shows and each venue is so unique that whole process never becomes routine!” Forestall- Boehm observed “We moved work around quite a bit as we curated the work. I think that the fact that the gallery consisted of three spaces challenged us in the install process. We wanted work in each area to become its own cohesive display, yet we were conscious that all three spaces needed to speak to each other.” The installation was a team effort as Thrane stated “Cindy, Carol Hamilton, Alicia and I collaborated. We spent a good part of the day working, with a short break for lunch. We wanted to hang a cohesive exhibit, and show individual work in the best light. As Alicia said, we moved work around quite a bit until we came to a consensus that we had a good show. We looked at conversations between small groupings, as well as, the larger picture “Union Street gallery is housed in a three-story historic landmark building with fifteen artist studios and two floors of gallery space in Chicago Heights, IL. The reception for Fayum 2019 was held on September 28th from 1 to 3 pm.
FireWORKS at the Dole was a First Friday Art Show and took place in the newly redecorated Sage Gallery. The reception for FireWORKS was held on October 4 from 6-9 pm and the work was featured in the Sage Gallery from October 4 – October 19, 2019. The Dole Mansion is part of the Lakeside Arts Park at 401 Country Club Road, Crystal Lake, IL. Participating Artists were: Dan Addington, Kathie Collinson, Kathy Blankley Roman, Helen Dannelly, Linda Eisenberg, Bob Fesser, Alicia Forestall-Boehm, Shelley Gilchrist, Carol Hamilton, Brad Hook, Clare Jorgensen, Catherine Keebler, Ginny Krueger, Laura LaRue, Cindy Lesperance, Kelly Matthews, Cheryl Marshall, Joycelyn Merchant, Jane Michalski, Carol Myers, Rebecca Stahr, Michele Thrane.
