Northern Illinois Community Calendar

Les Allen
Taft Gallery, August 1 – September 30

Les Allen, an award-winning photographer based in Dixon, IL, specializes in Fine Art Traditional Black and White Photography. Using a large format camera, Les captures the surreal and abstract elements of the world around him.

In the world of analog photography, Les is a master printer, creating luminous and mesmerizing images that challenge perception and invite viewers into a dreamlike realm. His photographs, a manifestation of his deep connection with nature, convey his instinctual understanding of light, shadow, and composition. Evoking emotions, provoking thought, and inspiring viewers to explore their own intuitive connections with the world.

The Coliseum Museum is honored to host a special collection of China by members of the Pickard Collectors Club. The club was founded in 1992 by Joy Luke of Bloomington, Illinois, who along with a small group of Pickard enthusiasts thought it was time to bring together collectors of Pickard porcelain and glass.

Wilder A. Pickard (1857-1939) started the company in 1894 by offering his customers hand-painted giftware, artware, and eventually dinnerware of the highest quality.

Today, Pickard, Inc., remains a family-owned business proudly producing high quality, hand-crafted china. Each Pickard generation carries on the tradition of producing Ivory and White porcelain for individuals as well as for government and corporate organizations, both domestic and international. For more information visit their website at https://pickardcollectorsclub.org

Janet Beiler
Feature Walls, September 1 – 30
Sponsored by Stillman Bank

“I am a full time artist pursuing my third career in life. I work in oils, acrylics, and watercolor medium and my artistic inspiration has been landscapes, florals, and narrative art, consignment on request. I exhibit at The Next Picture show in Dixon and The Loft in Morrison, IL. Currently you may view my art on Instagram Janet Beiler username Serafinas_window and on Facebook at art created by jbeiler.”

Rock River Valley Painters Guild Plein Air Art Show
September 2 – October 31
Lowden Gallery, Coliseum Museum

Sponsored by the RRVPG

​Artists participating in the 2026 annual show include Carol Bingham, Pam Bradford, Dick Cholke, Janice Conkrite, Charles Gregory, Anne Hilliard, Tom Linden, Nancie King Mertz, Sharon Saponari, Donna Smith, Terry Werntz, Lucinda Winterfield and Leah Zahn.

Awards will be presented by judge Jean Apgar, on October 9, in conjunction with the Moments in Monochrome Awards & Reception.

The RRVPG is a not-for-profit organization promoting local art and art education (North Central Illinois).

Dick Cholke
Feature Walls, October 1 – 31
Sponsored by Stillman Bank

​Dick Cholke started painting watercolors after his retirement. After a period, he started to enter shows and Plein Air quick paint competitions. Dick has taken classes from local artists and workshops from a few nationally recognized artists. Having fun with the media and the people is most important. His best moments have been entering and selling at his first Door County Plein Air. Dick’s work has been accepted into the Illinois Watercolor Society’s National Exhibit and he has received multiply awards in Reginal & State shows.

Paula Kuehl
Taft Gallery, October 1 – November 30
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Paula Kuehl, of McHenry, has been painting since 1981. She started painting with oil paints, which were fun but slow to dry and would become muddy if you didn’t wait for them to dry. When she discovered pastels, she switched to them and never went back to oils. Pastels better suit her personality – she loves to draw and pastels are like drawing with color. She also loves the vibrancy of the medium and the versatility it provides – versatility in the ability to use different types of paper and the way the pastel reacts on that paper. She feels her work is a study capturing the essence of life – whether it be in a child, a flower or a landscape. Pastels are like life – vibrant and full of energy That is what she attempts to capture in her works.

The Next Picture Show community fine arts center in Dixon presents its annual Farms & Barns Art Exhibition now through Oct. 24.

Farms & Barns Art Exhibition celebrates the beauty, history, and enduring spirit of rural life. While inspired by the agricultural landscapes that define Northwest Illinois, the exhibition welcomes artists from across the country to share their own interpretations of farming communities, country living, and the working landscapes that feed and shape our world.

The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday from 10am-4pm.

Moments in Monochrome Art Exhibit - October 1 - Nov 14
Moments in Monochrome Awards Reception - Oct 9, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Judge Heather Shore

Heather is both an award-winning artist and art educator working in Northern Illinois. Her works reflect the variety of media and techniques she has been teaching for the past 22 years as a high school visual arts educator. Although the breadth of the media and techniques she teaches made for a long and difficult journey in finding her artistic voice; it did, however, influence her mixed media approach quite directly.

Music by Grass Attack
Grass Attack plays various genres of upbeat songs with Acoustic Bluegrass instruments They have tight vocal harmonies and arrangements that makes the music their own brand and genre

You are invited to experience the collective wisdom and personal experience of artists' interpretation of the theme Echoes of a Changing Planet. Participating artists:
Norm Knott, Marsha Goodheart, Holly Blair-Cascio, Susan Berry, Julie Kennelly, Maya Simmons, Caitlyn Jahn, Paula Flanagan-Marsh, Barbara Berney, Lori Gustafson, Sadie Hoessrich, Becca Houlihan, Jose Sente, Greg LaMont, Clara Krick, Jessie Crow-Mermel, Wren Medina, Cassie Blair, Ventie Houi, Drew Helge, Annette McLean and Cherie Heck.

In this lecture, Dr. W. Warner Wood explores the past, present and future of what museum anthropology has been and could be through examples from his own work from the 1990s through to today that began with a focus on material culture and has moved toward what he calls Participatory Action Museography.

W. Warner Wood is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he was the coordinator of the graduate certificate program in museum studies. He is also Adjunct Curator of Anthropology at the Milwaukee Public Museum and a past-president of the Council for Museum Anthropology.

Reception to follow at the Pick Museum of Anthropology, which will be open for visitors to view the current exhibit, "Things We Value."