Community Calendar

Parents/Guardians and Adult Students are invited to attend an informational meeting about WSSR's fall performing arts classes. Meet our instructors and learn about our classes, programs, mission, and our exciting plans for the fall!

Kids are invited to attend a free Musical Theater dance class at the same time ✨

Glü
Book & Lyrics by Jake Lockwood
Music & Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen
Orchestrated by JT Kaufman
Directed by Tommy Ranieri

GLÜ is an uplifting musical that proves the perfect bond isn’t always easy to find, but surrounding yourself with good people can certainly hold you up when life pulls you down.
Written by the dynamic team of Jake Lockwood and Alexander Sage Oyen, orchestrated by JT Kaufman, and with stage direction by Tommy Ranieri, this new musical premieres at Timber Lake Playhouse in August.

Tickets:
Prices range from $30 - $40.
Ticketing Site: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36917/production/1226455
Tickets can be also purchased by calling into the Box Office at 815-244-2035.

Dates:
Friday, August 22nd - 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 23rd - 2:00 PM
Saturday, August 23rd - 7:30 PM
Sunday, August 24th - 2:00 PM
Tuesday, August 26th - 2:00 PM
Wednesday, August 27th - 2:00 PM
Wednesday, August 27th - 7:30 PM
Thursday, August 28th - 2:00 PM
Friday, August 29th - 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 30th - 2:00 PM
Saturday, August 30th - 7:30 PM
Sunday, August 31st - 2:00 PM

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.

The Next Picture Show community arts center in Dixon brings back its Farms and Barns art exhibition, a celebration of the beautiful surrounding area and all vistas that inspire a love of the open land, including interior, still life and animal depictions, Aug. 13-Sept.13. The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 10am-4pm.

The opening reception and artist award ceremony will take place on Aug. 15 from 6:00–8:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, August 26th at 1:00 p.m. the Granville Branch of the Putnam County Public Library District will host a film screening of “Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare,” a compelling 56-minute, PG-rated documentary that brings to life the legacy of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a U.S. Cabinet.

Serving as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, Perkins played a pivotal role in shaping modern America. She championed groundbreaking worker protections, including Social Security, the federal minimum wage, the 40-hour work week, and the end of legal child labor. Through insightful interviews with influential leaders such as Nancy Pelosi, George Mitchell, David Brooks, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Amy Klobuchar, viewers will discover how Perkins’ bold vision transformed the American workplace and advanced the cause of social justice.

The screening free and open to the public and is made possible through public performance rights by Kanopy. For more information, please call the Library at 815-339-2038. The Granville Branch is located at 214 S. McCoy Street, Granville, Illinois.

Glü
Book & Lyrics by Jake Lockwood
Music & Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen
Orchestrated by JT Kaufman
Directed by Tommy Ranieri

GLÜ is an uplifting musical that proves the perfect bond isn’t always easy to find, but surrounding yourself with good people can certainly hold you up when life pulls you down.
Written by the dynamic team of Jake Lockwood and Alexander Sage Oyen, orchestrated by JT Kaufman, and with stage direction by Tommy Ranieri, this new musical premieres at Timber Lake Playhouse in August.

Tickets:
Prices range from $30 - $40.
Ticketing Site: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36917/production/1226455
Tickets can be also purchased by calling into the Box Office at 815-244-2035.

Dates:
Friday, August 22nd - 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 23rd - 2:00 PM
Saturday, August 23rd - 7:30 PM
Sunday, August 24th - 2:00 PM
Tuesday, August 26th - 2:00 PM
Wednesday, August 27th - 2:00 PM
Wednesday, August 27th - 7:30 PM
Thursday, August 28th - 2:00 PM
Friday, August 29th - 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 30th - 2:00 PM
Saturday, August 30th - 7:30 PM
Sunday, August 31st - 2:00 PM

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.

The Senior Resource Center is excited to announce a new Chair Yoga class designed specifically for adults age 60 and older.

Chair Yoga is a safe and effective way to build strength, improve flexibility, and enhance overall well-being—without the strain or exertion of traditional yoga. Participants will enjoy calming stretches and simple postures that are accessible to all fitness levels. No prior yoga experience is needed, and all adults age 60 and older are welcome to attend.

Class Details:
• Dates: Mondays & Wednesdays, July 14 – August 20
• Time: 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
• Cost: $60 for all 12 sessions (checks payable to Senior Resource Center)
• Location: Senior Resource Center Activity Room, 206 E. Stephenson St., Freeport
• What to Bring: A long scarf

The class will be taught by Patricia Kessinger, an internationally certified yoga instructor with more than 30 years of experience in health, nutrition, and fitness. She has taught classes, workshops, and seminars in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Michigan. Kessinger is an experienced fitness coach and personal trainer as well as a yoga instructor, and she’s even managed a multi-million-dollar fitness center.

Pre-registration is required. To sign up, call 815-235-9777 or email Ann Marie at awalker@srcntr.org. A minimum of 10 participants is needed for the class to begin, so invite a friend and join us for this rewarding experience!

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.