Riverside Town Hall exhibitions
27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Open Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM and Friday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
RAC's Creativity Fest Community Art Exhibition | May 12 - July 30, 2025
The Riverside Arts Center’s Community Art Project to Celebrate Riverside’s 150th Birthday!
Exhibition Dates: May 12 - July 30, 2025
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Sunday, May 18, 2025, 3:00 - 6:00 pm
Theresa Paris, canvas for Creativity Fest
The Riverside Arts Center (RAC) is pleased to present an exhibition of art created by the Riverside community. In honor of Riverside’s sesquicentennial, RAC hosted Creativity Fest in April, inviting the community to join in two Saturdays of artmaking led by our teaching artists, Shawn Vincent, Tariq Tamir, and Theresa Paris. Participants of all ages were invited to add their personal artistic embellishments to panels loosely representing our river. This community project, like our river, connects, directs, and flows between us in celebration of Riverside’s 150 years.
Please join us on Sunday, May 18th from 3 to 6 pm for a reception to celebrate the artists and art. Light refreshments will be served at the Riverside Arts Center, a short block around the corner from the Town Hall. The exhibition will be on view at 27 Riverside Road from May 12 through July 30th, 2025.
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Matthew Katz | August 7 - October 29, 2025
Exhibition Dates: August 7 - October 29, 2025
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Sunday, September 14, 2025, 3:00 - 6:00 pm
Alexa Chmura | Imprints of the Familiar | February 3 - May 6, 2025
Riverside Spire, 2023, Oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches
Exhibition Dates: February 3 - May 6, 2025
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Friday, March 7, 2025, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Riverside artist, Alexa Chmura’s first solo exhibition at the Riverside Town Hall. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Friday, March 7, 2025 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. The Town Hall is located at 27 Riverside Road, a short block from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden.
Alexa Chmura’s exhibition made RB Landmark’s cover story!
(Click image to read)
I seek to capture the beauty and inspiration that exists in the quiet corners of everyday life. Through painting and ink fingerprints, I focus on the subtle, small details that often go unnoticed in our daily routines. Whether it’s a scene viewed from my window, the soft light on my front porch, or the animals that share our space, my work aims to reflect the ordinary in extraordinary ways.
A significant influence on my process comes from the Pointillist techniques of the Impressionist movement, where artists used small, distinct dots of color to build up complex images. In my own work, I employ a similar approach, using fingerprints and ink pads—each fingerprint a tiny, deliberate mark that contributes to a larger whole. Like the dots of Pointillism, these impressions build a cohesive image, while also imbuing the work with a sense of personal connection.
The curve of a tree branch, the light on a porch, the movement of wildlife—I hope to encourage others to find beauty in their own surroundings. My use of fingerprinting with ink, particularly in my animal studies, symbolizes the idea that we all leave our mark on the world, and in turn, the world leaves its mark on us. These works are a reminder that creativity and inspiration can arise from the most familiar places, like seeing a deer in your backyard.
My hope is that you leave with a renewed sense of wonder and recognize that inspiration is found in paying attention to the everyday.
–Alexa Chmura
Touched by Color, 2024, Ink and fingerprints, 24 x 36 inches
Alexa Chmura is a Riverside artist working primarily in inks and oils. She creates commissioned portraits of people, pets, and homes through her Lexline brand. Her illustration and design work has been featured by companies such as Great Clips, the Wisconsin Future Farmers of America Foundation, and others. Chmura won first place in a commissioned poster competition for 5NINES. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art and Communications from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Original paintings and prints of the originals are available for purchase
Click on the images below for more information. Questions? Contact Exhibitions Director Joanne Aono at jaono@riversideartscenter.com
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Marks of the Wild, 2024, Ink and fingerprints, 36 x 24 inches
Erika Vazzana | That Was Then This Is Now | November 18, 2024 - January 30, 2025
What color do you live in?, 2024, Molding paste and acrylic, 40 x 30 inches
Exhibition Dates: November 18, 2024 - January 30, 2025
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Friday, December 6, 2024, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm, During the Riverside Holiday Stroll
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Riverside artist, Erika Vazzana’s painting exhibition at the Riverside Town Hall. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Friday, December 6, 2024 from 5:30 to 9 pm, during the Riverside Holiday Stroll. The Town Hall is located at 27 Riverside Road, a short block from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden.
The River Throws Riverside a Curve, 2019, Molding paste and acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches
My art in this show is a glimpse from 24 years ago to today. I thrive on reaching out to the community to have a say and had asked them on a recent Facebook community page post, asking for residents to describe where they live by a color, and one of the pieces included addresses how I interpret their response. Honoring who we are today because of what we were or did yesterday was a driving force to connect me to the articulation of the work.
I am so grateful to be a part of this community and feel it’s so important that it shapes and inspires me on who I am, what and how I create. From the walks along the river, strolls in the summertime, chats with people walking by my house, hanging at the pool and being involved. It’s all food for my creation.
I personally wanted to acknowledge one piece in the show, “Nellie”. Nellie Brennan was an elderly Riverside resident recently tragically struck by a train and killed. Every-time I saw her we chatted and she too shaped the way I look at the world.
“Healthy as a horse, strong as a bull” -N.B.
–Erika Vazzana
Nellie, 2024, Paint palette pieces on paper, 16 x 12.5 inches
Erika Vazzana is a Riverside artist working predominately in acrylic. Her paintings have been shown in venues throughout the Chicago area, most recently at the Gwen Lux Hotel in Chicago and Art on 66 in Wilmington. The artist’s work can be found in Chicago area hotels, restaurants, hospitals, grocery stores, schools, churches, little league fields, libraries, homes, and more. Clients and organizations she’s participated with and donated artwork to include, the George Lopez Foundation, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Chicago Cares, Brushes With Cancer, Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, 100th Club, Lurie Children’s Hospital, Bryan & Amanda and Bickell Foundation, Saint Jude, Navy Pier Flower and Garden Show, The GOOMBAY Bash, and the Chicago Dental Association & Foundation. Recent commissioned works include murals for Riverside Foods, handbags for Marc Jacobs, and numerous corporate and private clients. Vazzana has done art projects with Chicago Public Schools, recently completed a mural at Riverside Brookfield High School, and has been an artist in residence at Ames Elementary School. She is on the Board of RAW (Riverside Arts Weekend), and has been affiliated with Reach for the Stars and the Mark Sheridan Math and Science Academy. She holds a BFA from the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Walk through the woods in Riverside, 2024, Acrylic, glitter paste, and paper paint palette pieces, 38 x 30 inches
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Rafael Nieves | Welcome Home | August 2 - November 14, 2024
Welcome Home, Riverside, 2012, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
Exhibition Dates: August 2 - November 14, 2024
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Sunday, September 8, 2024, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Join us afterwards for a private happy hour at the Quincy Street Distillery
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present local designer, Raphael Nieves’ exhibition of graphic posters at the Riverside Town Hall. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Sunday, September 8, 2024 from 3-6pm. The Town Hall is located at 27 Riverside Road, a short block from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden. Afterwards, join us for a private happy hour of artisanal spirits across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Welcome Home, North Riverside, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
What is “home”? The place you were born. The town you grew up in. The village where you settled with family.
And where is home? According to the Temptations, it’s wherever Papa laid his hat. But it could also be that house you grew up in. That fountain where you professed your love to your partner. That school you went to or escaped from.
The Welcome Home series is about nostalgia. It’s about roots. It’s about memories of a time and place that had a significance to you. It’s about love and life.
Often at shows, a potential customer will pore over my displayed prints and reminisce about the images that are presented; “Oh, I went to school in Riverside. My parents lived in Berwyn. My spouse was born in Oak Park. I loved going to the zoo in Brookfield. I remember Kiddieland in Melrose Park.”
I don’t identify the landmarks or buildings in my prints. I don’t have to. If you lived or loved or left a town, you’ll recognize the image and you’ll remember what it meant to you.
Parents will buy a print for their child who is going to school in another state, to remind them where they came from. Children will buy a print for their parents who would regale them with stories of the town they grew up in. And real estate agents will buy prints for their clients who are buying or selling their home in a particular village, to give them a memento or a sense of place.
The Welcome Home series is about location. It’s about memory. It’s about hometown pride. It’s about all of us, where we come from and where we are going.
– Rafael Nieves
Welcome Home, Brookfield, 2017, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
Rafael “Unca Raffy” Nieves is a North Riverside, IL, based graphic designer. By day, he works as an office manager. At night and on weekends, he writes graphic novels and creates digital art for logos and prints.
In 2010, he began illustrating a series of images entitled “Welcome Home”, that commemorate iconic architecture and landmarks of various towns and villages in the Western Suburbs. His artwork evokes the look and feel of the WPA, European travel posters, and propaganda. Today, with over 30 prints (and counting) that celebrate such towns as Western Springs, Brookfield, Riverside and Oak Park, he is regarded locally as the preeminent chronicler of “hometown pride” by his clientele, which include homeowners, businesses, and real estate agents.
Sarah Thomas of the Brookfield Farmers Market wrote this about Nieves’s Welcome Home. Brookfield print: “His work captures iconic sculptures and architecture that can bring the viewer instantly to the place they represent. He takes that element and gives it dimension, enhancing it on a plain backdrop that magnifies its importance. The Brookfield piece captures your eye with a whimsical bird placed atop a magnificent beast.”
Nieves is largely self-taught. His tools include an iPhone, a laptop, and the Adobe Illustrator program. He cites Michael Schwab, Saul Bass and Alphonse Mucha as influences. He is married, with two children, a dog, a cat, big dreams, and a mortgage.
facebook.com/nievesdesigns
instagram.com/raf_nieves
Welcome Home, Chicago, 2016, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Brian Wells | April 29 - July 31, 2024
Used Car Lot, 2021, Oil on canvas, 21 x 28 inches
Exhibition Dates: April 29 - July 31, 2024
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Friday, May 24, 2024, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Brian Wells’ exhibition of urban scene paintings at the Riverside Town Hall. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Friday, May 24, 2024 from 6-8pm. The Town Hall is located at 27 Riverside Road, a short block from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden.
Artist Statement
My work has always focused on the mystery to be found in the commonplace, everyday world. Working as both a print maker and painter, my subject matter has included construction workers, urban landscapes, horse racing, ants and monkeys interacting as workers and bosses, and abstraction based on the natural world. I have worked with a variety of mediums: hand printed, multi-colored woodcuts; abstract constructions; drawings on paper; oil and acrylic paintings.
In 2011, I started painting vignettes from my house and yard in Chicago. The materials in these domestic scenes include thrift store, estate sale, and outsider art, found objects, and my own work. These pieces encapsulate the random coming together of the unknown, causing the viewer to question and delight in the unexpected. My newer work focuses on local storefronts, both shuttered and currently in business, along with doorways and construction dumpsters. In 2020 I started a series of self-portraits that morphed into using sculpted mannequin heads as models, and the latest series uses shop window figures. I’ve also returned to painting exterior urban settings, especially south side Chicago abandoned sites or overgrown, graffiti-covered walls. These mundane subjects take on a mysterious life of their own for me, enveloping a sense of time and place that never remains still.—Brian Wells
Brian Wells has had solo exhibitions of his paintings, prints, drawings, and constructions at Rainbo Club, Garden Apartment Gallery, Joymore Gallery, Kimball Arts Center, and Lula Café in Chicago. Group exhibitions include the Illinois State Museum (Lockport), Birdhouse Museum (Chicago), Palette and Chisel Academy (Chicago), Triangle Gallery (San Francisco), and the Three Rivers Arts Festival (Pittsburgh). His art is held in numerous private collections.
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Hutt Rubio | Collective Works | January 29 - April 25, 2024
Exhibition Dates: January 29 - April 25, 2024
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Sunday, April 7, 2024, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present local artist, Hutt Rubio in his first solo exhibition of drawings and paintings at the Riverside Town Hall. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Sunday, April 7, 2024 from 3-6pm. The Town Hall is located at 27 Riverside Road, a short block from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden.
Artist Bio/Statement
I have created art my whole life. My mother was a cartoonist for the Beaumont Texas newspaper and an accomplished watercolor and acrylic landscape painter. Inspired by her ability, I grew up drawing comic book superheroes which helped me develop my knowledge of anatomy and gesture in my figurative pieces. Despite not having any formal training, I have developed my own method of approaching different mediums which allows me the freedom to express myself across many subject matters. My work is sometimes as a meditation which seems to invoke an emotional response with the piece and hopefully provide the viewer a similar experience.
—Hutt Rubio
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
RAC's 30 Year Anniversary Instructors Exhibition | November 15, 2023 - January 25, 2024
Exhibition Dates: November 15, 2023 – January 25, 2024
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Sunday, January 21, 2024, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
In celebration of the Riverside Arts Center’s thirtieth anniversary, we are pleased to present Past Perfect: RAC’s 30 Year Anniversary Instructors Exhibition at the Riverside Town Hall. The exhibition features the art of past and current instructors; Jennifer Allen, Alex Brightbill-Velázquez, Allie Lawton, Ameera Pernebsati Lys, Theresa Paris, Tariq Tamir, and Shawn Vincent, on view through January 25, 2024.
Please join us for the artist reception on Sunday, January 21st from 3:00 – 6:00pm at the Town Hall, 27 Riverside Road. Refreshments will be served a short block away at the Riverside Arts Center located at 32 East Quincy Street.
Exhibiting Artist Instructors:
Jennifer Allen | Plate, 1995, Glazed earthenware, 7 x 7 inches
Jennifer Allen taught classes at the Riverside Arts Center in the 1990s. Jens Kids is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 on the wishes of Jennifer Lynn Allen. Jennifer brought her love of children and art together while teaching at RAC. At the age of 27, she succumbed to a courageous three year battle with pediatric cancer. In her memory, Jen’s Kids brings art activities to children under hospital care at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center and Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. Jen’s Kids is an outreach program of the Riverside Arts Center.
Alex Brightbill-Velázquez | Save the Bees, Linocut and Chine Colle, 16 x 20 inches
Alex Brightbill-Velázquez is a Mexican artist who immigrated to Chicago at the age of ten and now resides in Riverside. She earned a BFA from Northeastern Illinois University and has shown at numerous galleries and curated art shows and cultural events. Her artwork embodies the hybridity of growing up with two cultural experiences, her love of animals and nature.
Allie Lawton | Spectrum, 2023, Photography printed on Luster paper, 11 x 14 inches
Allie Lawton Also known as Alejandra Alvarez, Allie was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1994 and moved to Chicago in 1998. She’s had an affinity for photography her whole life with her uncle showing her the ropes at a young age. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion while simultaneously working for a multicultural marketing agency in the city. She now resides in Riverside with her beloved husband and son. Her specialty is family portraiture.
Ameera Pernebsati Lys | Ancestral Calling Series, 2022, Photography, 14.5 x 22 inches
Ameera Pernebsati Lys is a Haitian-American fiber and mixed media artist creating with textile design, indigo, Japanese Shibori, collage, stamping, painting, ink, sculpture, quilting, jewelry design, photography and graphic design. Ameera’s work is inspired by her Haitian heritage, traditional African culture and spirituality, and the injustices of racism. She has taught indigo and shibori classes for over 7 years at various arts institutions. Ameera has her B.A. from Carleton College and M.S.W. from Smith College School for Social Work.
Theresa Paris | Disc Florets, 2020, Gouache on paper, 17 x 9 inches
Theresa Paris is a local artist who has taught painting, drawing, and ceramics at the Riverside Arts Center.
Tariq Tamir | Grasshopper, Mixed media, 12 x 12 inches
Tariq Tamir is RAC’s lead instructor. He studied at Columbia College Chicago and has been involved in the fine arts for over 10 years. Tariq has taught young adults ages 14-21 with Chicago’s Gallery 37 and the Boys and Girls Club. In addition to being poetically inclined, Tariq uses art as a medium for self-growth and empowerment.
Shawn Vincent | Learning to Recognize, 2023, Earthenware, enamel, 13 x 13 inches
Shawn Vincent is RAC’s school manager and instructor. She received a B.S. degree from Western Illinois University with majors in both Fine Art and Biology. Shawn has worked in ceramics for over 30 years and has been teaching for 25 years. She has exhibited her pottery at various galleries and venues throughout the Chicago area and her work is in collections throughout the country.
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Joe Fournier: Summer, Joy and Harmony | July 7 - November 8, 2023
Bathing Beauty, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
Free Jazz Performance with Projected Animation Featuring Joe Fournier and Dave Walker Friday, September 15th at 7pm!
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Free Jazz Performance with Projected Animation Featuring Joe Fournier and Dave Walker Friday, September 15th at 7pm! 〰️
Jazz Performance with Projected Animation Featuring the Fournier/Walker Duo:
Friday, September 15, 2023, 7:00 PM
You are cordially invited to an entertaining evening of jazz and animation in the Riverside Town Hall second floor auditorium. This performance coincides with Joe Fournier’s painting exhibition for the Riverside Arts Center on view in the Town Hall lobby. The artist-musician will perform on baritone saxophone, piano, shruti box, toy piano, bansuri, and various shakers, ocarinas and penny whistles while Dave Walker will play on guitar to projections of Fournier’s animations.
Exhibition Dates: July 7 - November 8, 2023
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Exhibition Viewing Hours: Mondays - Thursdays 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Fridays 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Closed Holidays
Artist Reception: Sunday, July 9, 2023, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Joe Fournier’s exhibition, Summer, Joy and Harmony at the Riverside Town Hall. The artist will be exhibiting several of his large acrylic paintings, reflecting his life as an artist, animator, cartoonist, and jazz musician.
Please join us on Sunday, July 9th from 3 – 6 pm for a reception for Joe Fournier at the Riverside Town Hall, 27 Riverside Road with light refreshments served at the Riverside Arts Center, located a short block away at 32 East Quincy Street. Afterwards, join us for a private happy hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Join us for a free performance by Joe Fournier and Dave Walker’s jazz ensemble accompanied by projections of Joe Fournier’s animation in the Riverside Town Hall Auditorium on Friday, September 15, 2023 at 7pm.
Artist Statement:
What can I say? I’m a perpetually curious person who likes to create beautiful things.
Having been born with what the ancient Greeks referred to as the "classic illustrator's build," I found few options available save drawing pictures that both illuminate and annoy... mostly annoy. It's true. My thin, almost childlike arms have the precise amount of musculature to lift and manipulate both pencils and pens. That, along with my sedentary predilection, well, there was really no other path for me. “Predestined”, as it were.
- Joe Fournier
Joe Fournier is an artist, animator, cartoonist, and jazz musician. His art has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Old Town Triangle Association Gallery (Chicago), the Bridgeport Art Center (Chicago), and the Addison Center for the Arts. He is also an award-winning political cartoonist, whose satirical political strip appeared three times a week in The Chicago Tribune. Fournier's work has been included in exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC) and the Cannes Film Festival (Paris, France). His art is held in private collections as well as the Library of Congress. His illustration has been published in national and international publications including The Sun-Times, Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, Musician, Playboy Magazine, and Chicago Magazine.
https://joefournierstudios.com/home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYbsLJPx0eI
Dave Walker is a musician and architect, whose work can be seen internationally. He received a BFA in Jazz Performance from the City College of New York.
https://brucenagel.com/pages/david-walker
Fournier/Walker Duo
The Red Cello, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 inches
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
The Riverside Arts Center is grateful to the Quincy Street Distillery for their partnership in hosting a private happy hour for Joe Fournier’s opening reception.
Natalie Shugailo: Everything Fades | April 4 - July 3, 2023
Swoop, 2021, Spray paint, 24 x 36 inches
Exhibition Dates: April 4 - July 3, 2023
Artist Reception: Saturday, April 8, 2023, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Exhibition viewing at the Riverside Town Hall with light refreshments served at the Riverside Arts Center a short block away.
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Viewing Hours: Mondays - Thursdays 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Fridays 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Closed Holidays
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Natalie Shugailo’s exhibition of paintings, Everything Fades at the Riverside Town Hall.
Please join us on Saturday, April 8th from 3 – 5 pm for a reception for Natalie Shugailo at the Riverside Town Hall, 27 Riverside Road with light refreshments served at the Riverside Arts Center, located a short block away at 32 East Quincy Street.
Artist Statement:
This show is a statement on the impermanence of street art. When we paint outdoor spaces and walls they are so vulnerable. Vulnerable to the sun, the wind, the rain. They can be torn down or painted over, vandalized and damaged. They are not meant to last forever, and they essentially belong to all onlookers who walk past them, almost as much as they belong to the person who commissioned them. Some are done without permission, some meant to only last a few days or only a few hours. But their impermanence ties them together no matter the intent or way in which they were created. When I paint murals they become only memories. They won't be hung on walls in a living room or passed down through generations, or resold on Ebay. They will fade away, they will change with the seasons and the times, they will one day all turn to rubble. So in this show I am defying this, and putting what I would paint in a public space on a canvas meant for private spaces. Meant to adorn family rooms, hallways, and kitchens. Meant to hang above fireplaces or headboards. In this way the art lives on longer and is protected. I am giving the viewer a chance to have a tiny mural all their own.
The duality to the title is that my technique I use is referred to as creating "fades". It is a way of layering spray paint translucently to create depth and form. I have been working on this process of creating for the past 5-6 years and it has become a signature in my work.
- Natalie Shugailo
Natalie Clare Shugailo is a local painter and muralist based in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield. Influenced by the city and suburban cultures, she blends high energy with soft subtlety, whimsy, surrealism, and darker personal sensibilities through the use of hard edges and translucent, smoky spray paint techniques. Shugailo has exhibited with Truborn Gallery (Chicago, IL), Galerie F (Chicago, IL), Gamut Gallery (Minneapolis, MN), and Upper Level Gallery (Kansas City, MO). Her murals can be viewed at public and private spaces throughout Illinois in addition to Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Florida, Colorado, and Costa Rica. After graduating from Riverside Brookfield High School she obtained her BFA from Northern Illinois University.
https://www.suburbanwarriorart.com
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Bold, 2022, Spray paint, 30 x 40 inches
Alex Velazquez Brightbill: Mujer Quetzalcoatl | January 4 - March 30, 2023
Dream of Quetzalcoatl, 2022, Mixed media shadow box with syringes, 16 x 20 Inches
Artist Reception: Sunday, January 8, 2023, 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Afterwards, join us for a private happy hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Exhibition Dates: January 4 - March 30, 2023
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Viewing Hours: Mondays - Thursdays 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Fridays 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Closed Holidays
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Alex Velazquez Brightbill’s exhibition, Mujer Quetzalcoatl at the Riverside Town Hall. Velazquez Brightbill’s prints and multi-media art utilize traditions and symbols from her Mexican heritage. Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of creation, represents her son’s birth after in vitro fertilization, with shadow boxes filled with syringes, prints, and drawings. Her mastery of printmaking is apparent as she reimagines the visuals of Loteria, the Mexican card game. Velazquez Brightbill is also influenced by nature and the shared resilience of plants and humans as shown in her linocut prints.
Please join us for a reception with the artist on Sunday, January 8th from 3:00 - 6:00 PM. The Riverside Town Hall is located a short block away from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden. Join us afterwards for a private happy hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Artist Statement:
“Dream of Quetzalcoatl” is the story of my journey from infertility to motherhood through in vitro fertilization. It takes its name from Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of creation.
The “Loteria” series also draws on my Mexican heritage – Loteria is a Mexican bingo game, and I use these prints to reimagine the traditional images in unique ways. I am excited to pass on this heritage to my infant son.
The “Carnivorous plants” series comes out of my fascination with living things and how they have adapted to survive in difficult environments. Celebrating plants helps me appreciate and stay connected to the present moment.
Alex Velazquez Brightbill is a Mexican artist who immigrated to Chicago at the age of ten. Her artwork embodies the hybridity of growing up with two cultural experiences, and her love of animals and nature. She has held solo exhibitions in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois and participated in group exhibitions at the National Museum of Mexican Art, Awakenings Gallery, and La Luz Gallery in Chicago. Velazquez Brightbill has also curated art exhibitions and cultural events. She earned a BFA from Northeastern Illinois University.
https://www.alexvelazquezart.com
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays
Darwin Carnivora, 2022, Linocut, 12 x 15 inches
Shilin Hora: The Art of Seeing | October 6 - December 29, 2022
Michigan Lakehouse Tour, 2022, Botanical box: midwest seeds harvested from highlighted city locations, havested Lake Michigan black sand, dandelion thread, reclaimed wood frame (low VOC) , 22.5 x 18.5 x 4 inches
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present the art of local resident Shilin Hora at the Riverside Town Hall Gallery. Hora’s multi-media art explores her interests in nature, ecology, and place. Her constructions composed with prints, seed, plants, and other natural and found objects express the stories and collections of specific locations as they relate to people and the environment.
As with all Riverside Arts Center’s exhibitions, the artworks are available for purchase. In honor of the Bicentennial of Frederick Law Olmsted, sales from two of the artworks’ proceeds will go to fund Riverside’s Frederick Law Olmsted Society - Olmsted Collection 1 and Olmsted Collection 2.
Please join us for a reception with the artist on Sunday, November 13th from 3:00 - 6:00 PM. The Riverside Town Hall is located a short block away from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden.
Artist Reception: Sunday, November 13, 2022 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Exhibition Dates: October 6 - December 29, 2022
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Viewing Hours: Mondays - Thursdays 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Fridays 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Closed Holidays
Artist Statement
I explore ideas about our relationship to place and the natural environment through installations, prints, and sculpture. My art is widely known for Botanical Boxes, sculptural works inspired by natural history museum displays, and 19th century Wardian cases used by botanists to import foreign plant species to Europe. Seeds are dried, arranged, and placed behind glass, emphasizing their unique inherent qualities. I have strict commitments to conservation and sustainability, utilizing repurposed and reclaimed materials to house seed collections, becoming part of a larger ecological narrative.
Shilin Hora is a local artist whose art involves the environment and community engagement. Her exhibitions include a collaboration with the Frederick Law Olmsted Society at the Riverside Public Library, Aquinas College Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI, Harold Washington Library, Chicago, IL, and Redpath Museum, Montréal, QC. She has held workshops at the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL, Land Conservancy of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI, and McGill Université, Montréal, QC. Hora’s art has been covered by OakPark.com and Grand Valley State University. She received a BFA from Grand Valley State University, Michigan and completed courses toward an MFA at Kendall College of Art and Design.
The Village Town Hall is located half a block from the Riverside Arts Center at 27 Riverside Road in Riverside, Illinois. It is open to walk-in visitors Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM and Friday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays.
Cinque Terre Sea Urchine & Purple Line, 2019, Intaglio print with die cuts, mono print, stencil, recycled wood frame painted white (low VOC), 20 x 17 x 1.75 inches
Oakley McCormack + Madelyn Roldan: Decisions | July 10 - October 4, 2022
Madelyn Roldan
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present the art of Oakley McCormack and Madelyn Roldan at the Riverside Town Hall Gallery. They are both local college art students and have been working at RAC as teaching and gallery assistants. Their paintings, drawings, and digital art ranges from whimsical to moody, colorful to dark, and realistic to fantastical. Please join us for a opening reception with the artists on Sunday, July 10th from 3:00 - 6:00 PM. The Riverside Town Hall is located a short block away from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden.
Opening Reception: Sunday, July 10, 2022 3:00 - 6:00 PM
Exhibition Dates: July 10 - October 4, 2022
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Viewing Hours: Mondays - Thursdays 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Fridays 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Oakley McCormack is attending Illinois State University, majoring in graphic design. They were born and raised in Riverside, graduating from Riverside Brookfield High School in 2021. Oakley cites their influences as friends and family, as well as horror media and comic books, including Ava’s Demon. Their relationship with the Riverside Arts Center started as a young child attending classes, progressed as a teen volunteer, and currently as an assistant in our school and galleries.
https://felinepeachy.carrd.co/
https://www.instagram.com/felinepeachy/?hl=en
Madelyn Roldan is an art major at Triton College. Born in Winfield, she currently resides in Brookfield, Illinois where she graduated from Riverside Brookfield High School in 2021. She is influenced by artists such as the surrealist painter Maruja Mallo , the visionary abstract artist Hilma af Klint, and contemporary artists Juliana Horner, Kathleen Ryan, and Oda Iselin. Madelyn’s first art exhibition was with RAC in the RBHS AP Art 2017 exhibition. After volunteering, she is now RAC’s gallery assistant.
https://www.instagram.com/madelynril/
The Village Town Hall is located half a block from the Riverside Arts Center at 27 Riverside Road in Riverside, Illinois. It is open to walk-in visitors Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM and Friday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays.
Oakley McCormack
Stephanie Graham: Love You Bro | March 9 - June 30, 2022
Love You Bro #2, 2018, Photography, 24 x 36 inches
Stephanie Graham’s exhibition named a Top V Weekend Pick by The Visualist and Bad At Sports
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Stephanie Graham’s photography series, Love You Bro at the Riverside Town Hall Gallery.
Artist Statement
Love You Bro explores relationships and how affection is expressed between black men. As an African-American artist, Graham’s photographs, videos, and installations are armed with humor, satire, and soul in an effort to make otherwise difficult conversations on race and gender easier and more comfortable in this increasingly divisive political and cultural climate.
Artist Bio
Stephanie Graham is a Chicago artist, photographer, and filmmaker addressing the themes of social class, subcultures, race, and gender. She has held solo exhibitions at boundary (Chicago) and University of Illinois Gallery (Springfield). Her group exhibitions include The Silver Room, Produce Model Gallery, and the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago) along with CICA Museum in South Korea. In addition her films have been screened at the Revolution at Point Zero Feminist Social Practice Symposium and the Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. Graham’s art has been reviewed by Maake Magazine, Chicago Defender, Inside/Within, and the Chicago Tribune. She graduated from Columbia College, Chicago with a major in film and video and a minor in photography. Her work is held in many public and private collections.
Hours
The Village Town Hall is located half a block from the Riverside Arts Center at 27 Riverside Road in Riverside, Illinois. It is open to walk-in visitors Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM and Friday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays.
Love You Bro #6, 2018, Photography, 24 x 36 inches
DIRK FLETCHER: PORCELAIN UTOPIA: MID-CENTURY LUSTRON HOMES IN ILLINOIS AND BEYOND
Dirk Fletcher, Rockford
Exhibition at Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
In conjunction with the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial
September 9, 2021 – February 24, 2022
Artist Talk : Sunday, December 12, 3 pm
Riverside Public Library Community Room
This talk is offered in partnership with the Riverside Public Library. Reservations required.
Dirk Fletcher, Rockford, Illinois, 2020
From the artist’s statement:
“It is the end of the 1940s and GIs are returning from the war to find a housing shortage. Industrialist and entrepreneur Carl Strandlund recognized this opportunity and retooled his fledgling porcelain enameled stainless steel gas station and hamburger stand business into a promise for these GIs.
Just three years after the company’s first house rolled off its Henry Ford style production line, the Lustron Corporation declared bankruptcy. Before shuttering the factory, over 2500 homes had been delivered. According to the Whitehall Historical Society, approximately 1800 homes are still standing today.
It is the success or failure of this American Dream that intrigues me. Over the last three years, I have photographed over three hundred and fifty Lustron Homes. While only subtle changes determine the model, every home shares the same 2x2 porcelain building blocks, differing only in color. While sharing the same DNA, it is surprising that not a single home looks the same as the next. Regardless of geographic location, one would assume the homes were built in similar socioeconomic regions. A 1200 square foot house is going to be built in a neighborhood of similar homes.
I have seen impeccably restored homes in the same town as homes that paint a picture of poverty and daily struggles of its occupants. I cannot get out of my head that 70 years ago, kids were playing in these yards and driveways while parents celebrated similar goals, wishes and dreams that come with first time home ownership.
Now in my 50s, I’ve begun to worry about my family and my legacy. For the first time in my life, I’m cognizant of what I’m leaving behind for my children. Am I leaving a better world for them and their future families? Have I even tried? Having a front row seat to what 70 years can do to a community gives me pause to the choices that I have made.”
Dirk Fletcher is an American photographer whose work focuses primarily on the built environment and transportation. He has several long-term projects underway, including the documentation of post-war era porcelain enamel Lustron homes that are located across the country. He holds an MFA in Independent Filmmaking from Governors State University and a BA from Brooks Institute of Photography. In addition to shooting digitally, he is an avid designer, builder and user of 4x5, 8x10 and panoramic film cameras. He grills year-round, shoots a compound bow and lives in Brookfield with his wife and two teenage boys.
His work can be viewed at dirkfletcher.com and @dirkfletcher on Instagram.
Dirk Fletcher, North Olmsted, Ohio, 2018
Dirk Fletcher, Brookfield, Illinois, 2018
Dirk Fletcher, Louisville, Kentucky, 2018
Riverside’s Community Quarantine Quilt | March 15 - July 31, 2021
Riverside Arts Center Community Quarantine Quilt | March 2020 - March 2021
Riverside Arts Center is proud to sponsor this beautiful community quilt, sharing an uplifting perspective on the Coronavirus Pandemic from Riversiders.
The quilt draws together experiences from the Riverside community during 2020’s stay-home period. Initiated by Riversider Bridget Juister, it was inspired by a Black History quilt she’d seen on display earlier at Adler Planetarium. Thanks to material scraps on hand from Calico Corners in Hinsdale, the project was completely free for the community and offered a creative reprieve during a difficult time.
Each quilt square tells its own story, and each artist provided a brief statement sharing their thoughts about what inspired their piece. Collectively, this quilt tells a larger story about community, security, and what is revered in our lives.
Love, joy, and nature come through as overarching themes in the quilt. Homage was paid to healthcare workers, teachers, graduates, and puppies each of which held their own special place in this experience.
The repetitive pattern on the quilt’s backing fabric was chosen to symbolize the hundreds of thousands of lives lost through this crisis. The black border framing the quilt sets a somber remembrance as we begin to look back on this experience.
Juister wove a golden thread between the squares, serving as a symbolic link between diverse communities and individuals within them. The quilt commemorates the belief that when basic human needs are met, peace and joy lie at the core for every human experience.
Riverside Arts Center (RAC) is proud to support this beautiful volunteer effort. The entire process from beginning to end brought forth a feeling of peace and togetherness during what was otherwise a time of isolation and anxiety. These artists created wondrously gentle expressions of optimism and patience, assertions of solidarity and hope, and a bit of fun. Individually and as a whole it is an inspiration.
The Riverside Community Quarantine Quilt will be on display in the lobby of Riverside Town Hall through June, 2021. We hope to find a permanent home for it, where the quilt can be enjoyed by Riversiders in the future.
Click here to download a copy of the Quilt Artists’ statements
(The file will download automatically)
Quilt Detail
Exhibition in Town Hall Lobby
Camille Silverman: Storyboards for Installations and Assemblages | December 15, 2020 - February 25, 2021
Camille Silverman Storyboard for Installations and Assemblages #2
Camille Silverman Storyboard #2
For the first time, Riverside Arts Center presents tandem exhibitions connecting the Riverside Town Hall and Riverside Arts Center’s Freeark Gallery. The exhibition in the Town Hall features Camille Silverman’s “Storyboards for Installations and Assemblages”; studies for “Softening Space” which will be presented in the Freeark Gallery January 14 - February 11, 2021.
Artist Statement
This body of photographic drawings and collages was started after a 2018 visit to the drawing room at the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago. One of the displays was a series of Helen Frankenthaler prints that she continually reworked and added notes to - she had found a valuable tool for variations in the reproduction of an image. The Frankenthaler print series made me think of how this practice could be useful in my thinking and rethinking of my work in assemblages and installations. I too can build a continuous diary of visual language by using repetition to free my mind to unexpected improvisation and experimentation.
Ideas about color, form and content could be easily worked out on a daily basis through a diary of printed collages exploring possible next moves. The images are taken from assemblages of crashed sleds and found materials. This series delves into ideas of fun, risk, perception, and the construct of time. A larger series of paintings, installations and collages will be exhibited at the Riverside Arts Center in the Freeark Gallery January 14 - February 11, 2021. Riverside Arts Center is located at 32 E Quincy Street, Riverside IL,
Artist Bio
Camille Silverman currently lives in Chicago and has happily served as Riverside Arts Center’s Executive Director for 4 years, ending her term in 2020. She received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2006 and was recently published in Studio Visit Magazine, New American Painting and the online Chicago publication Voyager. Recent exhibits include Prak-sis Gallery in Chicago, M.G. Nelson Gallery in Springfield and the Des Plaines Public Library
Hours
The Village Town Hall is open to walk-in visitors during normal business hours.
click image below to view slideshow
Stacey Smalec: Daydreams of a Restless Mind
January 7, 2020 - March 31, 2020 & extended to July 7, 2020
Stacey studied drawing and painting at Joliet Junior College. She got her love for creating art from her grandmother who was also an artist. After graduating, she found herself feeling disconnected and struggling to create art. After working various jobs for a while, she felt that she was being called to create again. She started taking art classes and found inspiration from fellow artists and the work they made. A few years ago she moved away from the south suburbs to Chicago and has been seeking out opportunities to both create and showcase her work in her new location. She is grateful for the opportunity to share her work in the Town Hall.
She enjoys using bold bright colors to invoke emotion in the viewer. She also likes to use different textures to create more depth. Most of the abstract art she creates by using pieces of different images combined to create a completely new image. Other times she creates the images based on her feelings at the time they are being created. Besides abstract, her favorite subjects are animals, landscapes, and portraits.
Stacey Smalec at her exhibition in the Riverside Town Hall