Make sure to catch Conrad Freiburg’s work at the Linda Warren Gallery. Through a through a series of pulleys and gears in his interactive pieces we get a chance to comment about our republic by giving assent, dissent, or quiet indifference. This exhibit runs through October 11.  Also, in an effort to further engage us, Conrad extends an invitation to join him and special guests in a parlor demonstration and discussion on Saturday, October 4th at 2pm. I have seen the show and agree with the reviews. Its fabulous and not to be missed. For more information and images visit  http://www.lindawarrengallery.com/.           

P.S. Conrad was an art studio student on mine while he was in high school and I am incredibly proud of him. 

Come and have a glass of wine and nosh and at the opening reception of  ”Workers” which pairs Nancy Plotkin’s oil portraits with Margreth Lanterman’s sculptures of these Chicagoan hands, Saturday, October 4, 4 – 7 pm at Art on Armitage Gallery. For more images and information go to www.artonarmitage.com. 

I am looking forward to seeing this new and exciting work. Margreth, her husband Steve Luecking, Mary Ellen Croteau, Gallery Owner/Director and I all attended Quincy University, albeit not all of us at the same!  

If you have never been to Art on Armitage Window Gallery, take this opportunity to do so. Its a unique space in the Hermosa neighborhood. Mary Ellen, has provided an incredible service to the community with monthly exhibitions that engage and delight all who pass by the window. I have performed there several times and the immediate and genuine response from the viewers is rewarding. Mary Ellen is an outstanding artist herself who recently had a one-woman exhibition in Iceland. And, for those of you who do not know,  Mary Ellen was also my high school art student and is a very good friend. I am a lucky woman indeed.

June 1, 2008, 12 Jiujiang University art students, under my direction and with the assistance of “Evie” Zhang Chunzi, my translator and colleague, presented their performance art piece, Cocoon. Throughout life we deal with change and transition, adapting to it or creating it. Exploring the questions, “Where will I go after I graduate?” “What kind of job will I have?” “Who will I become?” the students wove a compelling visual narrative using fiber, sewing, movement, text and sound. 

This project was sponsored in part by Jiujiang University and Columbia College Chicago. More pictures will be on my Web Site soon. It was truly an amazing experience to work with these dedicated, creative and enthusiastic students.

Mr. Gong, the Dean of the Art School is in the back row. Evie is also in the back row on the end and the guy in the suit is Jesse.  

           Claudia Bucher is back in town and we will be performing the third installment of “Will it make a difference?” at Caro d’Offay, Gallery, 2204 W. North Avenue, Chicago, Friday, August 15, at 8:00PM. The first installment was produced for Sic Gallerie in Lucerne, Switzerland and the second for Waldkirch Theater in Wadkirch Germany, both in the summer of 2007.

In “Will it make a difference?” we explore the complexity of being an artist, wife and mother from different perspectives. Me: American, older, married with two grown children and at the apex of my career. Claudia: Swiss, younger, newly married with her first child and in the earlier stages of hers. Questions arise. “How do we look at our work and our lives?” “What will we learn from each other?” “What will happen as a result of our friendship?”

            Our collaborative work started in 2006 when Claudia was here for a four-month art residency and continued in Lucerne when I was there in 2007 on an art residency. In between, we e-mail a lot.

            I hope that you will be able to make it. 

Spring has been a busy month with exhibitions. In May, my work “Things she left behind.” was part of the Clay and Fiber Exhibition at Woman Made Gallery. It was an extraordinary exhibition of unique pieces from artists throughout the USA and Canada.

I created a new work for Art on Armitage Window Gallery which I call Cocoon. This is an extension of “Will is Make a Difference?” that Claudia Bucher and I created for Waldkirch Theater in Waldkirch, Germany last summer. Carole Hennessey was wrapped, sewed, and released for Cocoon. Thank you Carole! Mary Ellen Croteau has provided an excellent opportunity for folks in the Hermosa area to see artwork in her gallery window. I have performed there three times and the exchange with the visitors is always fun and enlightening.

Refuge Art Center currently is showing “PostMarks: I’m sorry….” whereby artists, writers, and poets are invited to send in a postcard addressing “I’m sorry”. It is an open show where all work is welcome and shown. The exhibit is on going, enlightening and fun. It runs through June 27 so you still have time to send them a postcard. My friend Pate Conaway invited me to create one. This gave me the chance to honor my dear friend Maureen Hallas, who died last year of ALS. The piece is hand sewn on paper that I made.

Friday, May 23, David and I leave for China to visit our son Jesse who is teaching at Jiujiang University. Fortunately, it is far away from where the earthquake struck but the entire country, as the rest of the world, is saddened by the devastation. Jiujiang University has given me an artist-in-residency to create a performance art piece with several art students. David will document the work so look for it here. The Columbia College Part-Time Faculty Development grant and the Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department grant are contributing to the support of this project.

Jesse with his students.

You’re invited! The opening of “Are We There Yet? 40 Years of Feminism.”

Friday, March 7th , 6-9 PM
ARC Gallery
832 W. Superior #204
Chicago 60622.

The curator/juror is Mary Ellen Croteau. The show is up through March 28, 2008. My artist’s book “Dirty Secret” is in this exhibition. I am very excited to be part of this.

Check out ARC Gallery

During an art residency at Ragdale, I became acquainted with the poet Virginia Chase Sutton and her work. Deeply moved by her poems on incest from a child’s point of view, I responded to them with a series of artist’s books. Dirty Secret is taken from her poem, The Miracle of my Father’s Cock. Sadly, incest is alive and well throughout the world. Although in many places there is help available for those who have been victimized, incest remains a dirty secret.