Community Calendar

Lowden Gallery Artist: Ellen "Ellie" R. Bartels
March 1 - April 30

​Ellie has a BA degree in Education and a BFA in Studio Art , both from the University of Washington. She taught art, K – 12, in Orangeville, Il for 12 years. She currently lives in Freeport, Il.

Ellie states, “ The process of transforming paint and canvas into an appealing and effective image scares, frustrates, excites and inspires me.

My work starts out with a subject or theme in mind, usually based on my personal response to nature or a past experience, and a general plan on how to accomplish my goal. As it progresses spontaneity and intuition take over and my unconscious becomes the director.
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I have found that both oils and acrylics work well as vehicles for translating my inner vision to outer reality. Both comply with my enjoyment of layering paint and working the canvas by scraping, rubbing, scratching through, dry brushing, etc., to create depth and texture and to bring the surface to life.

It is my wish that the viewer will want to spend time with my work, to contemplate its meaning, discover its complexities, or to just enjoy the colors and shapes.

The Black & White PLUS Photography Show is a juried exhibition celebrating the strength and versatility of monochrome photography. This show invites photographers to explore imagery created without full color (including traditional black-and-white, sepia-toned and cyanotype), focusing instead on composition, contrast, light, shadow, texture, and visual storytelling.

The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 10-4 or by appointment.

Stockholm Inn is the home for our potpourri of music from 5pm to 7pm on 1st Saturday and 5:30pm to 7:30pm on 3rd Friday of each month. The Trinadora musical mixture includes vintage and contemporary pop, folk, country, jazz, blues, Latin, Celtic, and variety music - everything except the proverbial kitchen sink 🙂 Janel Nelson and Ron Holm accompany their vocals with keyboard, ocarina, guitar, ukulele, fiddle, harmonica, jSax, bass, steel guitar, concertina, and more. The room can fill up, so please phone 815.397.3534 for reservations, and mention that you need seating in the music area.

April is Citizen Science Month, and the Library invites the community to take part in hands-on projects that contribute to 2.5 Million Acts of Science, a national America250 initiative celebrating civic participation and discovery. Citizen science empowers everyday people to support real scientific research by observing and sharing information about the world around them.

Featured projects include Stream Selfie, which helps document the health of local streams through shared photos; Globe at Night, an international effort to measure and raise awareness of light pollution; and iNaturalist, a global platform for recording plants and wildlife to help scientists monitor biodiversity. Information on how to participate in all three citizen-science projects is available at the Library. All projects are free and open to the public and are suitable for adults and families alike.

The Black & White PLUS Photography Show is a juried exhibition celebrating the strength and versatility of monochrome photography. This show invites photographers to explore imagery created without full color (including traditional black-and-white, sepia-toned and cyanotype), focusing instead on composition, contrast, light, shadow, texture, and visual storytelling.

The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 10-4 or by appointment.

April is Citizen Science Month, and the Library invites the community to take part in hands-on projects that contribute to 2.5 Million Acts of Science, a national America250 initiative celebrating civic participation and discovery. Citizen science empowers everyday people to support real scientific research by observing and sharing information about the world around them.

Featured projects include Stream Selfie, which helps document the health of local streams through shared photos; Globe at Night, an international effort to measure and raise awareness of light pollution; and iNaturalist, a global platform for recording plants and wildlife to help scientists monitor biodiversity. Information on how to participate in all three citizen-science projects is available at the Library. All projects are free and open to the public and are suitable for adults and families alike.

The Black & White PLUS Photography Show is a juried exhibition celebrating the strength and versatility of monochrome photography. This show invites photographers to explore imagery created without full color (including traditional black-and-white, sepia-toned and cyanotype), focusing instead on composition, contrast, light, shadow, texture, and visual storytelling.

The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 10-4 or by appointment.

NIAAA is conducting two (2) Public Hearings on the proposed 2027 Area Plan. Older adults, caregivers, grandparents and other relatives raising grandchildren, aging service providers, public officials and other interested individuals are invited to attend and have an opportunity to comment on NIAAA’s proposed 2027 Area Plan of programs and budget.

The public hearings will be conducted via ZOOM and in-person at NAAA’s office at 1111 S. Alpine Road, Suite 600, Rockford, IL. 61108

The hearing times are as follows:

April 6, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. and
April 7, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.

The links for the meetings can be found on our website here: https://www.nwilaaa.org/news-and-events/public-hearings or you can email Jeff Barnes at jbarnes@nwilaaa.org and request the link(s).

Please RSVP to Jeff Barnes at jbarnes@nwilaaa.org if you are interested.

April is Citizen Science Month, and the Library invites the community to take part in hands-on projects that contribute to 2.5 Million Acts of Science, a national America250 initiative celebrating civic participation and discovery. Citizen science empowers everyday people to support real scientific research by observing and sharing information about the world around them.

Featured projects include Stream Selfie, which helps document the health of local streams through shared photos; Globe at Night, an international effort to measure and raise awareness of light pollution; and iNaturalist, a global platform for recording plants and wildlife to help scientists monitor biodiversity. Information on how to participate in all three citizen-science projects is available at the Library. All projects are free and open to the public and are suitable for adults and families alike.

NIAAA is conducting two (2) Public Hearings on the proposed 2027 Area Plan. Older adults, caregivers, grandparents and other relatives raising grandchildren, aging service providers, public officials and other interested individuals are invited to attend and have an opportunity to comment on NIAAA’s proposed 2027 Area Plan of programs and budget.

The public hearings will be conducted via ZOOM and in-person at NAAA’s office at 1111 S. Alpine Road, Suite 600, Rockford, IL. 61108

The hearing times are as follows:
April 6, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. and
April 7, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.

The links for the meetings can be found on our website here: https://www.nwilaaa.org/news-and-events/public-hearings or you can email Jeff Barnes at jbarnes@nwilaaa.org and request the link(s).

Please RSVP to Jeff Barnes at jbarnes@nwilaaa.org if you are interested.