PAST EXHIBITIONS.

FEBRUARY - MARCH 2023

For the exhibition Transparent, Translucent, Opaque the Geneva Center for the Arts is taking a slightly different view of the well crafted object. The artists in this show were chosen because of their roots in a making tradition that have grown into unique, personal expressions. The love for their craft is obvious as is each artist’s capacity for risk taking and experimentation. We admire the vulnerability that Victoria Belz exhibits in her sculptural hung glass pieces, created while maintaining a robust glass workshop and store right here in downtown Geneva. Alison Balcanoff stuns us with intricate cut paper artwork that is layered and stacked to make free-flowing and gorgeous reference to the natural world. Jill Birschbach’s ceramic sculpture are wonky and solid, yet have a playfulness and life to them that invites the viewer to get closer. Transparent glass, translucent paper, opaque ceramic in dialogue and homage to Illinois’s history of fine craft.Description goes here

JANUARY 2023

a solo exhibition featuring artist

JOANNE AONO

Prairie Passage is a solo exhibition consisting of drawings and an installation referencing the wild and cultivated plants that have grown on the prairie, providing food for the area’s inhabitants throughout history. The installation will create a passageway alluding to time, food sources, and nature along the Fox River and the former Potawatomi trail.

Joanne Aono is a visual artist, curator, and holistic farmer. Learn more.

www,joanneaono.com

OCTOBER 4 - DECEMBER 10, 2022

This exhibition focused on diverse fiber based work, inspired by nature, the environment, and the physical and spiritual place that we call “home”, as interpreted by each artist. It featured works made from natural fiber materials. The artists focused on botanical colors, making dye baths with marigold, onion skins, madder root and indigo (to name a few). The artwork varied in technique and scale, including 2D and 3D work.

ARTISTS FEATURED:

PAULA STEBBENS BECKER (MA), KRISTIN CRANE (RI), KRISTEN DETTONI (NH), LILI GILBERT (RI), PAUL LEWANDOWSKI (ME), NANCY MACHADO (MA), WANDA MIGLUS (RI), CATHY WILKERSON (MA)

SEPTEMBER 2 - 30, 2022

This exhibition invited viewers to explore the emotional truths of the subjects and/or artists through the works they had created, and to connect with our shared humanity as we make our way through a sometimes overwhelming and challenging world (both internally and externally). The show challenged the social stigma surrounding mental illness and encouraged us all to open up a dialogue to gain better understanding and to take a closer look at our own attitudes towards mental health.

ARTISTS FEATURED: Tracy Frein, Patricia Davoust & Dave Sobotka

July 1-August 25

Artists invest into the work they create drawing on experiences, feelings and inspiration from many influences. The approach to creating work varies significantly from artist to artist, while trying to manage experimentation and expertise.

This exhibition invited viewers to give thought to the strategies the three featured artist’s employ as they create work that is meaningful for themselves with the objective of producing art that resonates with viewers .

Artists featured included David Wensel, Jim Jenkins, and Rebecca MacLachlan

MAY 20-JUNE25, 2022

This traveling exhibition previously seen in galleries across the country, including Chicago and, most recently, Las Vegas presents provocative artwork influenced by gun culture and violence. The mission of this exhibit is to evoke strong and thoughtful responses, creating a much-needed platform for productive dialogue across cultural and societal divides, and to use these conversations as opportunities to listen and learn from each other.

Artists featured are the “AMERICAN ROULETTE” collective: Cesar Conde, Yousif Del Valle, Michelle Graves, Anthony Guntren, CJ Hungerman, Dominic Sansone, and Folleh Shar Francis Tamba

JANUARY 14 - FEBRUARY 18

Ana Zanic says of her work, “Art is an exploration of personal feelings through an intuitive, spontaneous process. Often reminiscent of imaginary landscapes, my watercolor paintings evolve through layers of washes, with an emphasis on the mark making. There is a quiet tension between the watercolor's fluidity, softness and calm, versus the dynamic, rhythm and energy of drawing. Unlike most other mediums, its mistakes can't be covered up with another layer. Its transparency shows the whole process. I love that aspect of its vulnerability - it resembles life itself.”

To see the Artist Talk with Ana, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2W95P2IwqM&t=11s

December 3 - January 7, 2021

A call for artwork that explores light. Think radiance. Think chiaroscuro. Think light source and light form. This exhibition opportunity is an integral part of the Geneva Art Center inaugural year, a tribute to the working artists that laid our new center’s foundation. As such, the call is open only to artists living or working in Geneva, Illinois.

October 15 - November 19, 2021

Care was the inaugural exhibition of the Geneva Center for the Arts, featuring the works of Karen Azarnia, Brenda Barnum, and Cydney M. Lewis. References to plant life and growth are a common thread in their multifaceted paintings and constructions. The art in Care shares the vision of the Center and its new exhibition space, conceptualizing the necessity for connections and conversation in addressing issues of the present, moving forward into the future.

September 2021

In partnership with the Kane County Health Department, Geneva Center for the Arts hosted the work of this traveling show. Each piece, composed by area youth, bring awareness to the importance of mental health and local resources available.