Community Calendar

An encore of Bernadette Curl-Woodruff's solo collection of photographic art will be shown at the DeKalb Area Women's Center from August 1 to August 31, 2025.

We invite you to join us for a RECEPTION celebrating her work on Friday, August 22nd from 6pm to 8:30pm. Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be served. Live music TBD.

The show is titled STRANGE LOOKING CREATURE and is a life-sized photographic exploration of how she sees/is seen in this world. Using hybrid analog/digital techniques and equipment, her work is also informed and augmented by her previous professional experiences as a metal and wood worker.

If you cannot join us at the reception, we hope you will be able to stop by the center sometime during the 1 month run.

An encore of Bernadette Curl-Woodruff's solo collection of photographic art will be shown at the DeKalb Area Women's Center from August 1 to August 31, 2025.

We invite you to join us for a RECEPTION celebrating her work on Friday, August 22nd from 6pm to 8:30pm. Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be served. Live music TBD.

The show is titled STRANGE LOOKING CREATURE and is a life-sized photographic exploration of how she sees/is seen in this world. Using hybrid analog/digital techniques and equipment, her work is also informed and augmented by her previous professional experiences as a metal and wood worker.

If you cannot join us at the reception, we hope you will be able to stop by the center sometime during the 1 month run.

Larry Bond, Lowden Gallery, July 1 - August 31

Through the years I have experimented with different forms of 2D and 3D art .Acrylics, oil, charcoal, pen and ink, and watercolor have been my primary painting and drawing mediums; however, my first love is Watercolor.

In terms of competition and recognition I have won several awards, entered numerous art show competitions, and was accepted into the 2018 San Diego Watercolor Society’s International Watercolor Show. I have won awards from shows at The Next Picture Show, Dixon, Illinois, Norris Gallery, St. Charles, Illinois, and Illinois Watercolor Society Member Shows. I am a Signature Member of the Illinois Watercolor Society.

When asked to describe my style I often describe it as “realistic contemporary with an occasional abstract slant”. In short, I want the viewer to see the painting as mostly realistic and be drawn-in to the scene. I enjoy painting Urbanscapes, Abstracts and Rural Landscapes.

The Next Picture Show community arts center in Dixon presents 2 juried shows through Aug. 9: "Abstract," an exhibit that explores artists who push the bounds of their 2-and-3-D artwork through abstraction; and "The Power of Words," exhibit that invited artists to find a fusion between word and visual arts in their works.

An opening reception and awards presentation will be held on Friday, Jul. 9, from 6-8 p.m.

Ellen Mumford, Taft Gallery

As a child I really never had an interest in art. It wasn’t until my junior year in high school that I decided to take an art class due to the fact that I needed an elective course. Here I found my niche and won a summer semester art scholarship at the University of Illinois. During my college years I did not major or minor in art as I would certainly have become a “starving artist." However, I always took an art course.

My career as a civil engineering technician drove me to focus on math causing a conflict that was at odds with my artistic creative processes. So, during those 42 years of highway work I produced very little art, only mainly for my home. While considering future retirement, I decided it was time to “up” my art game. Because I had never considered watercolor, in 2012, on a whim, I enrolled in Graydon Cafarella’s watercolor landscape classes at The Next Picture Show gallery. I LOVED IT! To further my watercolor experience, I also painted with David Becker in Venice, Italy, and then every Thursday (fighting rush hour traffic!) with Dale Popovich of Palette and Chisel Art Academy in Chicago. When possible, I still paint with Dale at Dillman’s Resort in Wisconsin.

My work is eclectic at best but tends toward realism. I am always trying new methods, paints, topics, etc. As a “snowbird” I have recently joined Scott Hiestand’s acrylic wildlife/landscape classes and Gail Bokor’s experimental mixed media/abstract classes. Both are teaching in the Daytona Beach area. My paintings in this gallery exhibit their influence but also Graydon’s and Dale’s.
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I have won many awards for paintings created in all 3 mediums (most recently at TNPS Best of Show Abstract) but have only exhibited locally. Exhibiting at CMAAA is opening a new area of exposure of my art to the masses. I try not to be too philosophical about my art. I paint what I like and what brings me pleasure – and sometimes a challenge. In the words of Georgia O’Keeffe “I have but one desire as a painter - that is to paint what I see, as I see it, in my own way.”

Greg La Mont, Feature Wall

Greg has been fascinated with art and artwork since he was young, always experimenting with wall art, illustrations, mechanical drawings, and caricatures for the high school yearbook to name a few.

Intrigued by creating in many different genres, he kept building upon his knowledge bank. A self taught artist, he brings an eclectic mix to his body of work.

He enjoys visualizing and creating work in varying mediums, and has been showing locally in the surrounding area for years now.

Paw Prints: Artworks of Animals
August 1 - September 13
Reception: August 8, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

This exhibit focuses on the subject of animals, domesticated or wild: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and fish. Artists are free to apply their own interpretation in representing the overall theme, from a small insect to a massive whale, and even fictional, mythological, or imagined creatures.
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Awards: The exhibit will be judged with awards presented at the reception, August 8, from 6:00 - 8:00pm. Visitors will also be allowed to vote for their favorite art piece with the People’s Choice winner announced at the close of the exhibit.

Our awards judge, Carol Bingham, grew up in a small town in central Illinois where she spent much of her childhood playing near rivers and streams. Early childhood experiences provide the basis of her paintings. Most of her work is in oil, but she has also used watercolor, acrylic inks, graphite, collage, and mixed media.

Carol has accepted numerous awards for her work. She received her BFA Illustration summa cum laude at NIU in DeKalb, IL.

This exhibit focuses on the subject of animals, domesticated or wild: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and fish. Artists are free to apply their own interpretation in representing the overall theme, from a small insect to a massive whale, and even fictional, mythological, or imagined creatures.

Awards will be presented by judge Carol Bingham, with live music by Al & Jeannie Brown.

Also featuring works by Greg LaMont and Ellen Mumford.

August 8 @ 7pm
Don’t miss The Sandlot, a coming-of-age sports comedy film about a group of young boys who bond over baseball during the summer of 1962. When Scottie Smalls (Thomas Guiry) moves to a new neighborhood, he manages to make friends with a group of kids who play baseball at the sandlot. Together, they go on a series of funny and touching adventures. The boys run into trouble when Smalls borrows a ball from his stepdad, which gets hit over a fence.

Release date: April 7, 1993 (USA)
Director: David Mickey Evans
Running time: 1h 42m

Under the light of the full moon, join Severson Dells Nature Center staff as we explore the woods and prairies in search of nocturnal mysteries. All ages!