Northwest Cultural Council Features Multimedia Exhibits

From sculptures, portraits, oil and watercolor paintings, to poetry illustrated with black ink designs, the Northwest Cultural Council co-sponsors year ‘round exhibits at a variety of Northwest suburban locations, with the next shows running until Saturday, Oct. 7.

The exhibits, free and open to the public during business hours, feature the work of longtime area artists: three in Arlington Heights, by Karen Meadows and Connie Heavey at the Arlington Green Executive Center, 2101 S. Arlington Heights Rd. and by Tobi Abrams at the Wellness Center of Northwest Community Hospital, 800 W. Central Rd.; by Gary Swiontek at the Rolling Meadows Library, 3110 Martin Lane, Rolling Meadows; Joseph A. Burlini at Fremont Public Library, 1170 N. Midlothian Rd., Mundelein; Steven Schroeder at Meet Chicago Northwest, 1375 E. Woodfield Rd., Ste. 120, Schaumburg; and Tiffany Whisler at Moats Gallery, 675 N. Court, Palatine.

Karen Meadows of Buffalo Grove and Connie Heavey, formerly of Arlington Heights, (now living in Missouri), are exhibiting “All About Nature in Glass and Drawings” at the Arlington Green Executive Center with a reception in their honor from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 26. Meadows creates stained glass and Heavey blends colored pencil in her drawings.

Meadows, who has been actively involved in art since 2010, says she enjoys the “radiance and intricacies of stained glass,” having taken workshops from glass artists worldwide.

“Glass is the melding of materials and experiences I have enjoyed through the years and, for me, is the perfect medium to bring my ideas to life,” Meadows adds.

Toni Abrams of Arlington Heights exhibits her acrylics at the Wellness Center of NCH. Abrams, who has taught painting, drawing, and Early American crafts for 30 years, has had juried exhibits throughout the U.S.

Gary Swiontek of Arlington Heights, exhibiting at Rolling Meadows Library, creates photographs “because scenes and snippets of life beg to be photographed.” Swiontek says his documentations of life evoke varied emotions such as peace and discomfort, and that they are meant to be thought-provoking.

Joseph A. Burlini of Arlington Heights, whose permanent sculptures are at The Pentagon in Washington D.C., the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe and at the former Standard Oil Building—now Aon Center in Chicago, creates large outdoor pieces, as tall as 70 feet. One of his large sculptures is at the entrance of the Wellness Center. He is exhibiting his smaller bronze, kinetic, steel and plexiglass sculptures, along with his portraits, at Fremont Public Library.

Steven Schroeder of Chicago, exhibiting his paintings at Meet Chicago Northwest, believes “Emptiness plays an important role in both my painting and poetry. I often find myself spending as much time on what is not there, as on what it. This usually means focusing on a single image and letting the whole composition spring up around it.”

Schroeder, co-founder of the Virtual Artists Collective of musicians, poets, and visual artists, is a professor of Asian Classics and Liberal Education at The University of Chicago.

Tiffany Whisler of Mount Prospect, exhibiting her photography at Moats Gallery, believes that “God gives each of us passions and skills for a purpose," and she is passionate about photography.

“There is great beauty in this Earth–it is visible constantly in what God has created, and my goal is to share this beauty in all its forms,” Whisler says.

The Northwest Cultural Council serving the Northwest corridor, is a non-profit organization. It supports and promotes the work of area visual artists and poets, offering a variety of programs including corporate gallery exhibitions, co-sponsored by businesses, convention and visitors’ bureaus, libraries, and hospitals. It also offers art competitions, and poetry workshops and readings.

For more information about the exhibits, call NWCC, 847-382-6922.

Photo via Pixabay