The 20th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition (RJE20) opens at the Freeport Art Museum on Saturday, May 11th, from 5 to 8 pm. Featuring a wide range of styles, media, and concepts in contemporary art, This much-anticipated exhibition showcases the latest achievements from artists living in the Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

This highly selective show received an incredible 221 submissions from 67 artists this year. Special guest Ari Norris of Rockford University selected 48 artworks for inclusion in this year’s exhibition. Out of these works, Norris has chosen five artists to receive recognition for their excellent artistic contributions, including First Place awarded to Cindy Lesperance for Strata 5301, Second Place awarded to Veronica Storc for Blissful Bones, Third Place awarded to Lee Grantham for D2. Honorable Mentions were awarded to Amy Carani for Pictor and Shelly Gilchrist for How Jugglers Study Gravity.

Please join us in celebrating our regional artists at the free public opening reception on May 11th from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm. The exhibition will remain on display in the museum’s main galleries through Saturday, July 20th, 2024. Many works on display are available for sale, and several exhibiting artists will also have items for sale in the FAM museum store.

About this year’s juror:
Originally from Muskegon, MI, Ari Norris is an artist primarily working in sculpture, utilizing a variety of processes and materials. Norris received an MA from Northern Illinois University in 2021 and has exhibited solo shows in Chicago at David Salkin Creative, and the PLAN. Norris has been included in group exhibitions West, Wester, Westest 4 at Left Field, Los Osos, CA, Shooting Pool with a Rope, at Baby Blue Gallery, Chicago, IL, the Midwest Sculpture Exhibition in Kokomo, IN, and other locations including Michigan, New York, Florida, Texas, and Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Norris recently became a partner of Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, IL in 2022. He currently holds the positions of Gallery Director at Rockford University, Rockford, IL, Adjunct Faculty at Rockford University for Beginning Drawing and Co-Director & Partner at Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, IL

Exhibiting Artists:
Elisa Ahmer, Maureen Bardusk, April Behnke, Nicholas Bridge, Amy Carani, Denise Crute, Jim Davis, Patrick Doughman, Creswell Dsylva, Perry Eden, Jaymes Fedor, Shelley Gilchrist, Lee Grantham, Timothy Griffith, Kelly Hansen, Alan Hobscheid, Ruth Lantz, Chelsea LeDoux, Cindy Lesperance, Michelle Louis, Daniel Martin, Joel Metzler, Christine B. Miller, George J. Miller, Nanette Mosher, Woody Olsen, Natalie Pivoney, C. Marua Poshka, Marty Potts, Jan Reagan, Sara Risley, Brett Sanders, Howard Schwartz, Charese Smiley, Veronica Storc, Sam Tucibat, Christian Ulloa, Kaitlin Walsh, Heidi Weiss, Mark Weller, Arin Whitmore, Emily Schroeder Willis

This exhibition is sponsored by Winter Construction of Freeport.