Late Night at the Galleries

Month: May 2023

Late Night at the Galleries

Posted on by Katrina Smolinsky

Late Night at the Galleries

6:00-8:00 PM on June 14, July 12, and August 16

Join us this summer for the return of our Late Night at the Galleries series! Bring a blanket, dinner, lawn chairs, and enjoy three concerts featuring Crossing Borders Music on The Art Center’s front lawn. Our galleries will also stay open late for after-hours viewing.

The Late Night at the Galleries concert series is a part of TAC’s Arts in Action programming, sponsored by Jessica & Steve Sarowitz and the Wayfarer Theater. Through active promotion of diversity and inclusion in the arts, TAC seeks to include everyone in its ongoing mission to be the North Shore’s home for creative exploration. Alongside Crossing Borders Music, TAC hopes the community will join us in celebrating the unique musical traditions of Haiti, Cambodia, and Black American composers this summer!

 

June 14, 6-8 PM: Roots: Haitian String Trios

Hear string trios by Haitian composers “rooted” in the beauty of Haitian culture and its unique history, religion, and folk traditions! Music by Werner Jaegerhuber, Rudy Perrault, Sabrina C D Jean Louis, plus folk song arrangements by Julio Racine celebrate Haiti’s revolutionary freedom-seeking origins, its folk music, its unique religious traditions—and its connection to Chicago through Chicago’s founder, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable!

 

July 12, 6-8 PM: Cambodian Music: The Living Tradition

The Crossing Borders Music String Quartet joins Nisa Pov, Resident Artist of the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and roneat ak (Cambodian xylophone) performer for an amazing night of new arrangements of Cambodian classics! The performance includes beautiful new arrangements made by Crossing Borders Music violinist Rasa Mahmoudian and overseen by Pov for the Cambodian Day of Remembrance. Be one of the first people to ever hear this amazing fusion of Cambodian and European traditional instruments—live and in-person!

 

August 16, 6-8 PM: Looking Back and Looking Forward: African-American Composers

This program features music by Black American composers of yesterday and today, including “Five Folksongs in Counterpoint” by trailblazing, early 20th century Chicagoan Florence Price – plus a reading of new works by four youth composers from Chicago’s West side! The program will also include “Rara” by Jean “Rudy” Perrault, “Forgotten Royalty” by Jessica T Carter, and “Stand Up (for Breonna Taylor)” by Jordyn Davis – all commissioned by Crossing Borders Music. Plus, hear a world premiere performance of the fun and expressive music of Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins arranged for string quartet by AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa!

 

Interested in sponsoring a Late Night at the Galleries event? Contact us at info@theartcenterhp.org.

Knitting Communities Together

Posted on by Katrina Smolinsky

 

Calling all knitters and crocheters!

Knitting Communities Together is an all-ages, multi-town art project aimed at bringing joy, comfort, and camaraderie to the residents of Highland Park and its neighboring communities. Through the therapeutic and community-building process of knitting, we are calling on residents of Highland Park and the surrounding communities to come together to knit or crochet colorful yarn creations over the course of six weeks, culminating in a colorful and collaborative art installation.

The Art Center Highland Park (TAC) will host free, learn-to-finger-crochet classes. No experience is required and all supplies will be provided! TAC will also have bins for donated yarn and finished knitting if completed on your own.

TAC Class dates:

  • May 22nd, 6 pm – 7:30 pm
  • June 1st, 4 pm – 6 pm
  • June 3rd, 10 am – 1 pm

“Coloring Day”, meaning the art installation, will take place on June 29th at 3:30 pm when we will come together in Sunset Woods Park in central Highland Park to wrap trees with our colorful yarn creations. This is an all-inclusive event — all of HP and its surrounding communities are invited to participate in this joyful process!

For more information, reach us at info@theartcenterhp.org

Additional drop-in knitting and crochet opportunities:

Park District of Highland Park at West Ridge Center Room 1 on Monday evenings from May 8 – June 19 (excluding Memorial Day) from 6-8 p.m. A non-instructional opportunity for knitters to gather (novice knitters are welcome – knitters love to help others learn!). Two bins will be available – one with donated yarn for all knitters to utilize (or donate to) and another for completed strips of knitted yarn.

Other opportunities may arise for knitters to gather – these opportunities will be shared on the Knitting Communities Together 2023 Facebook page. Knitters can share progress, request, or offer yarn to other knitters and learn or post about knitting gatherings. Join today!

 

 

Geraldine L. Mailender: Member Highlight Interview

Posted on by Katrina Smolinsky
Image courtesy of Geraldine L. Mailender

Geraldine L. Mailender TAC Member Highlight Interview

After spending her formative years in Pittsburgh, PA, artist Geraldine L. Mailender attended The Ohio State University and earned an advanced degree in Occupational Therapy. Mailender then opened a successful occupational therapy health and wellness practice in Cincinnati, OH, where she raised her two children. After making her way to Florida, she was presented with the trip of a lifetime: a tour of the National Parks. From Grand Teton to Yellowstone to Mount Rushmore, Mailender absorbed the vibrant colors of America’s most pristine landscapes: lavender-grey mountains, deep blue waters, and the red-dotted fields of Indian paintbrush. “I saw such beauty, the colors are amazing,” says Mailender. “The wildflowers reminded me that I’ve been doing embroidery since I was seven years old.”

Her background in embroidery translates seamlessly into the work inspired by her travels. Combining Japanese embroidery techniques with watercolor paintings on silk, Mailender began to create her unique works of art. The silk Mailender embroiders upon is 34 momme—momme is the unit of measurement for silk’s density, the higher the count, the more threads—a dense, luxurious canvas for her watercolors. She buys the silk in large bolts sourced from France and Italy, then precisely cuts and finishes them into 18-by-18 squares: “I stretch the silk onto the Japanese wooden frame, there is no taping, no pasting, it’s all done with needles, no knotting. There is a step and a process to everything. So I do the painting, I do the embroidering, then I take it off and mount it over museum-grade poster board.” 

Geraldine L. Mailender, Mental (Healing, Learning)

Though the Japanese Embroidery Center is located in Atlanta, GA, Mailender was able to take part in weekend retreats given by an instructor from the Center living in Florida. After learning the basics of Japanese embroidery techniques, Mailender began experimenting in her own practice, inspired by her trip through the National Parks: “I began experimenting with the light, which was so important. On those trips, you get your money’s worth, they have you up at the crack of dawn. So I really got to see when the sun first comes up over Grand Teton it really is red, then turns to gold, so I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ll get a chance to use gold floss.’” 

Mailender’s careful attention to light is reflected in the three pieces featured in The Art Center’s gift shop. Delicate threads of gold cast over pink and blue mountain silhouettes recall morning light brimming over the horizon in Mental (Healing, Learning). While bronze light dominates the frame in The Great Eclipse, a piece celebrating the beauty of the August 21st, 2017 total solar eclipse. These pieces and more can be found in The Art Center’s gift shop from now until July 1, 2023, as a part of our Member Highlight Program.

Want to learn more about Geraldine L. Mailender? Click here to visit her website.

 

Are you a current TAC member interested in being featured as a future member highlight? To apply, please fill out the Member Highlight Application, found here, and email it to staylor@theartcenterhp.org or bring it to The Art Center office.

Not yet a member, but want to participate? Sign up for a TAC Membership here!