The 10th annual Greening of the Arts Tour, Reception and Show was one month in the making, as the specifics were ironed out for this bi-state event. And all went according to plan.
Sponsored by the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative, this year’s tour was conducted on consecutive weekends, in collaboration with Calumet College of St. Joseph, Chicago Artists Month and the 119th Street Artists.
“The tour and show explores works by local artists who used recycled materials or who focus on nature,” said Michael Boos, Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative executive director. “This event gives us the opportunity to observe who these artists are and what they have created.”
In preparation for this year’s exhibits, the 119th Street Artists dedicated a show last month for this event. Attendees at that opening were invited to create art from assorted recycled material to hang or mount in the gallery.
That show’s opening featured live entertainment and Mary Ellen Croteau, a Chicago artist who recycles bottle caps.
The 119th Street Artists’ Corner Stone Art Gallery was the second stop on this year’s tour, after beginning at the Bernard Gallery inside Calumet College.
The eight-stop trip continued to Whiting’s Studio 659 before it traveled to Chicago’s East Side for a visit to Under the Bridge Gallery.
Owned by Roman and Maria Villarreal, the exhibit area in this gallery included the works of the couple and also artist Rose Zavala, of Chicago.
Visitor Regina Shelton, of Lansing, Ill., commented to Zavala on the variety of her paintings, as well as the vivid colors used. She also told Boos the tour was an eye-opener for the participants.
“We had no idea there were so many good artists so close by,” she said as she listened to Zavala discuss her works, many of which reflected on her family home in Mexico. “Going on this trip to visit their studios was a great way to see what they’ve made.”
The four remaining stops along the tour route included Paul Henry Gallery and Substation 9, both in downtown Hammond, and The Warehouse Studio and Side Car Gallery, both in North Hammond.
As in past years, the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative’s Greening of the Arts Reception and Show began a week later in the Bernard Gallery located at Calumet College.
Eleven artist displaying their paintings, sculptures and photography were recognized during a ceremony hosted by Boos. They were Larry Brechner, photography; Marsha Browne, sculpture; Tamara Browne, photography; Betty Delinck, painting; Mary Ann Gradisher, decoupage; Pat Hansen, painting; Martin Martinez, photography; Larry Mickow, photography; Rebecca Moss, photography; Paul Orich, sculpture; and Katherine Van Drie, sculpture.
This art show continues at Calumet College through Dec. 14.
For more information about the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative: 219-933-7149, 312-220-0120 or www.wolflakeinitiative.org.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
