Community Calendar

Practice the art of noticing details while connecting with nature. This beginner-friendly bird outing will include an introduction to birding and a one-mile trail walk. All experience levels are welcome. Binoculars provided. This guided walk will start at 7:30am.

David Bingaman and Bob Logsdon, Lowden Gallery, Sept 1 - Oct 31

David Bingaman:

David Bingaman began his photographic journey in 1973 when he bought a Nikon camera and then backpacked throughout Europe and North Africa. Since that time, he has developed his skill in capturing landscapes as well as other natural and portrait subjects.

David lives on the Rock River in Dixon, IL with his wife Sarah where he pursues Bald Eagles, Great Blue Herons, and amazing sunsets. He also travels extensively in the U.S. as well as Africa and South America to capture interesting subjects.

He has displayed his work at many area galleries and won numerous awards including Best Landscape Award at the Franklin Grove Harvest Festival, Best of Photography at the Grand Detour Arts Festival, First Place in Digital Photography at The Woodlawn Arts Academy, and Best of Show at the About Face and the Winter Scenes and Holiday Dreams Exhibitions at TNPS.
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Bob Logsdon:

Bob Logsdon is an accomplished landscape photographer, residing in Grand Detour, Illinois. Bob is an extensive traveler who documents his traveling experience in his pictures. It is through photography that Bob introduces the viewer to his endless and challenging imagination

Andrew Raeside, Feature Wall - September 1 - September 30

It hit me in an instant to become an artist at the age of 12. I remember the moment like yesterday. A sudden spiritual rebirth and everything had changed. I have been working on that project ever since.

I attended the University of Northern Iowa and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting in 1980. I worked with disabled adults for a time in Dubuque IA. Then I relocated to New England where I taught Art and Music in a residential grade school for children with emotional and behavioral disorders now called Spaulding Academy. While working there I attended Plymouth State University and received a Master of Arts in Teaching.

I worked at Spaulding Academy for 27 years until I retired and returned to Dubuque to focus again on painting and become a member of the artist community in Eastern IA. My main focus in the arts has been the Expressionist and Abstract Expressionist approaches.

​ My current objective is to use abstract art to celebrate what connects us all together. The New York School of Abstract expressionists is my primary influence. They spoke about a collective unconscious, a concept held by psychologist Carl Jung. But it is not necessary to believe in anything magical to understand that we are all connected because we all have shared experiences. And we all respond emotionally to our experiences. When we look at a painting, we respond emotionally to what we are seeing. Even if the painting is completely abstract and makes no reference to anything in the physical world. We may not be conscious of our reaction but if we are paying attention, it is there. My wish is to make paintings that celebrate these emotional interconnections between us.

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.”

“Beaumont’s Dave Oliphant is known as one of Texas’s foremost poets, whose writings tell the story of Texas towns and especially Texas jazz – a music genre Oliphant fell in love with at an early age.” – Beaumont Enterprise, May 2024

Dave visits the library to read excerpts of his poetry, and play recordings of musical pieces that inspired his work. He has written three books in prose on the history of jazz entitled Texan Jazz, The Early Swing Era, 1930 to 1941, and Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State, as well as editing a book entitled The Bebop Revolution in Words and Music.

A list of potential poems and musical works you’ll hear include:

“Dancing on the Ceiling”— Lamar Technicians
“An Afternoon of Debussy” — “Afternoon of a Faun” with flute
“The Hero’s Fall I Fell For” — King Oliver and his Orchestra playing “Too Late” in 1929
“Merry-Go-Round” — Duke Ellington
And more!

This program is free and open to all. No registration is required.

For additional information, please contact Samantha at samanthah@dkpl.org or at (815) 756-9568 ext. 1701.

Winner of the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards for Best Book, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" has charmed audiences across the country with its effortless wit and humor. This bee is one unforgettable experience.

An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents (played by adults) vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life unaffirming "ding" of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves a champion! At least the losers get a juice box.

Join us this fall on the Ray Castle Stage, right next to Starlight Theatre, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Bundle up, bring your own chair or blanket, and enjoy an evening of enchantment, comedy, and mischief on the lawn. The magic of Shakespeare meets the beauty of autumn nights — don’t miss it!

Christ Community Outreach Center is proud to partner with Administer Justice to provide legal counsel to individuals in our community. This program takes place on the first Saturday of every month from 9 AM to 12 PM at our location: 316 N 6th St, DeKalb. To make an appointment, please call 855-818-4554 or visit AdministerJustice.org/GetHelp. Walk-ins are also welcome on a first-come, first-served basis.

This Science Saturday invites local Indigenous groups to utilize Severson Dells to teach community members about stewardship of nature and Indigenous culture & traditions

David Bingaman and Bob Logsdon, Lowden Gallery, Sept 1 - Oct 31

David Bingaman:

David Bingaman began his photographic journey in 1973 when he bought a Nikon camera and then backpacked throughout Europe and North Africa. Since that time, he has developed his skill in capturing landscapes as well as other natural and portrait subjects.

David lives on the Rock River in Dixon, IL with his wife Sarah where he pursues Bald Eagles, Great Blue Herons, and amazing sunsets. He also travels extensively in the U.S. as well as Africa and South America to capture interesting subjects.

He has displayed his work at many area galleries and won numerous awards including Best Landscape Award at the Franklin Grove Harvest Festival, Best of Photography at the Grand Detour Arts Festival, First Place in Digital Photography at The Woodlawn Arts Academy, and Best of Show at the About Face and the Winter Scenes and Holiday Dreams Exhibitions at TNPS.
Picture

Bob Logsdon:

Bob Logsdon is an accomplished landscape photographer, residing in Grand Detour, Illinois. Bob is an extensive traveler who documents his traveling experience in his pictures. It is through photography that Bob introduces the viewer to his endless and challenging imagination