Annual Photographer of the Year
and Student Exhibition

Aug. 31- Sept. 24. 2009

Reception: Wednesday, Sept. 2, 12-2 p.m.

Featured works by Leonard Ferris,
Photographer of the Year

The photographer of the year exhibition provides an opportunity for Prairie State College to showcase the talent of a student who receives recognition as "Photographer of the Year."  This annual competition is open to Photo Society members and current photography students at PSC.  A panel of three judges selects the Photographer of the Year on the basis of his/her portfolio, a statement of intent and a personal interview.  A $1,500 scholarship, co-sponsored by the Prairie State College Foundation, Student Government Association and Photo Society, accompanies the recognition.  This year's award is presented to Leonard Ferris, and her work is exhibited in the Center Gallery.  

The; annual student exhibition provides an opportunity for Prairie State College to showcase the talent of students enrolled in one of the art-related disciplines offered:  Art, Graphic Communications and Photography.   The art shown here is a sample of the numerous works created in a 2009-2010 by our students.  The art department faculty shared curatorial responsibility for this exhibition.

Thinking Again

A Regional Juried Survey of Green/Sustainable Art and Art Practices

Oct. 5 to Nov. 5, 2009

Juried by Andrea Peterson

Reception: Friday, Oct. 9, 4:30-7:30 p.m.

Featured works by Julia Asherman, Jerry Catania, Maryellen Cox, Mike Henderberg, Laurel Izard,
Larry Jensen, Elaine Martin, Andrea Mattson,
Suesi Metcalf, Robert Possehl, and Jeff Stevenson

Recycling in our homes and businesses has become second nature, and articles and news stories have persuaded most people take a look at the carbon footprint they are leaving through their lifestyles and work choices.

Artists, too, have begun to “think again” about their art, and how to have a more positive effect on the environment. For some artists, this means removing particular toxic chemicals from their processes. Others 

are saving money and resources by recycling materials and objects in their work or using sustainable materials.

This exhibition focuses on artists who have embraced the idea of “greening” their art in some way or another.  While this is the common theme among the works, that is the only similarity among the pieces selected. The work in the show ranges from sculpture to collage to mixed media. It is just a small sampling of artists who care about the environment and are conscious of the impact their art can have on the world around them.

As Time Goes By

Nov. 16 to Dec. 17, 2009

Featured works by Steve Sherrell, Karena A. Karras, Diane Levesque, Robert Kameczura, Christine O'Connor, Kim Laurel, and James Mesplé

This exhibit explores various aspects of time in relation to human life. It explores the way elements of time intersect with the world we live in. It takes old stories and myths and reinvents them in contemporary contexts. It explores memories and dreams of the future and illustrates how they interact in our consciousness and effect how we evaluate truth.

It will consider our knowledge of the past and how this relates to our concepts of the present, and how this in turn relates to our expectations for the future. It explores how the ways we think and feel change with time. It explores motion through time, including music, dance and travel, all of which take place with a strong connection to time.

Also, in parallel with the famous song, “As Time Goes By,” some works will touch on how time relates to romantic love.

The Mythopian Artists Group is a group of notable contemporary artists who first banded together 14 years ago with the thought of a group or movement that was uniquely Mid-Western in origin, based on humanistic values, and intent on avoiding many of the more conceptual based ideas then in fashion in favor of finely crafted pictorial art. Members have been added over  .  

the years but the ideas which unite them remain the same. They are concerned with a literate approach to content in art. They are concerned with finely crafted narrative art in a contemporary context, art which contrasts elements of various epochs and places, and examines things old and new, beautiful and ugly, mystical and everyday.

Their aim to create art which is visually striking, intellectually challenging and, most importantly, profoundly emotionally expressive. They like to explore new visual techniques and work in a wide range of media, including paintings, digital giclees,
assemblages, prints, photography and drawings in various media.

Visitors are invited to visit the Mythopian Artists Group Website at www.artmyth.org

Synergy
The Annual Area High School
Art Exhibition

Mar. 23- Apr. 16, 2010