Community Calendar

“High Strangeness" is an exhibition that explores the intersection of the uncanny and the unknown, where the boundaries between reality and the surreal blur. Featuring a diverse array of photography, painting, and sculpture, this show invites viewers into realms of altered perception, mysterious phenomena, and the strange undercurrents of contemporary life. Each work in the exhibition engages with the concept of "high strangeness"—a term often used to describe encounters with the unexplained, the bizarre, and the otherworldly.

The Freeport Art Museum is thrilled to host Resilient Wonder, two solo exhibitions through Dec. 27. These exhibitions feature impressive works by Chelsea Bighorn from Chicago Illinois and Hattie Lee Mendoza from Peoria Illinois.

Chelsea Bighorn was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona, and is Lakota, Dakota and Shoshone -Paiute. Bighorn’s work is the result of her combining traditional Native American design with elements from her Irish American heritage. Using this process, she tells her personal history through her art. Bighorn has shown her work at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, SITE Santa Fe, Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, and The Center for Native Futures in Chicago, IL. She graduated from The Institute of American Indian Arts in 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts. Bighorn received her Master of Fine Arts in Fiber and Material Studies from School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2024. She currently resides in Chicago, IL where she is an artist in residence with Chicago Artist Coalition.

Hattie Lee Mendoza is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up in Fowler, Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has an MFA from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and a BA in graphic design from Tabor College, Hillsboro, KS. She is influenced by her Great Grandmother and namesake’s Cherokee heritage and stories, desiring to revive and continue that legacy within her family after generational loss of cultural connection. She spent three years living in Thailand, as well as traveling to various countries, while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team. The experience gave her opportunities to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia and the Middle East. Afterward, she returned to the States and was motivated to connect to her own ancestral heritages. Her maternal grandmother’s frugal values, stemming from a depression era childhood, are also reflected in Mendoza’s practice by including repurposed and recycled personal, family and community items, as well as thrifted and found objects.

Chicago-based artist Michael x. Ryan gathers the quiet imprints we leave behind — from sidewalk stains and river paths to shower puddles and fallen tree limbs — and gives them form, weight, and voice. Through drawing, mapping, wood relief, and 3D printed objects, Ryan captures traces of human presence — the edge of a river, the imprint of a wet body, the marks on a street — and renders them as physical forms that evoke movement, memory, and place.

This exhibition brings together key installations spanning over four decades, from early works shaped by the Ox-Bow landscape to large-scale reliefs inspired by the streets of Chicago to one tree of interest on the family property in Woodstock, Illinois. By drawing attention to overlooked details, Ryan invites us to consider how our everyday movements shape the spaces we inhabit — and how those spaces, in turn, record and reflect our presence and passage through time.

Homecoming: In Color celebrates the reopening of Rockford Art Museum after a year-long renovation closure. This exhibition features a selection of popular pieces and hidden gems, showcasing the rich diversity of our revered collection. Come witness the power of art and community as we welcome you back to a vibrant space of creativity!

Select members of the Plein Air Painters Of Rockford (PAPOR) are exhibiting their interpretations of "The Thankful Path" to coincide with Klehm Arboretum's event by the same name. A selection of 24 original artworks is on display December 2 through mid-January 2026.

PAPOR posts their activities and Art results on their Facebook fan page - Plein Air Painters of Rockford

“High Strangeness" is an exhibition that explores the intersection of the uncanny and the unknown, where the boundaries between reality and the surreal blur. Featuring a diverse array of photography, painting, and sculpture, this show invites viewers into realms of altered perception, mysterious phenomena, and the strange undercurrents of contemporary life. Each work in the exhibition engages with the concept of "high strangeness"—a term often used to describe encounters with the unexplained, the bizarre, and the otherworldly.

The Freeport Art Museum is thrilled to host Resilient Wonder, two solo exhibitions through Dec. 27. These exhibitions feature impressive works by Chelsea Bighorn from Chicago Illinois and Hattie Lee Mendoza from Peoria Illinois.

Chelsea Bighorn was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona, and is Lakota, Dakota and Shoshone -Paiute. Bighorn’s work is the result of her combining traditional Native American design with elements from her Irish American heritage. Using this process, she tells her personal history through her art. Bighorn has shown her work at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, SITE Santa Fe, Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, and The Center for Native Futures in Chicago, IL. She graduated from The Institute of American Indian Arts in 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts. Bighorn received her Master of Fine Arts in Fiber and Material Studies from School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2024. She currently resides in Chicago, IL where she is an artist in residence with Chicago Artist Coalition.

Hattie Lee Mendoza is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up in Fowler, Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has an MFA from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and a BA in graphic design from Tabor College, Hillsboro, KS. She is influenced by her Great Grandmother and namesake’s Cherokee heritage and stories, desiring to revive and continue that legacy within her family after generational loss of cultural connection. She spent three years living in Thailand, as well as traveling to various countries, while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team. The experience gave her opportunities to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia and the Middle East. Afterward, she returned to the States and was motivated to connect to her own ancestral heritages. Her maternal grandmother’s frugal values, stemming from a depression era childhood, are also reflected in Mendoza’s practice by including repurposed and recycled personal, family and community items, as well as thrifted and found objects.

Chicago-based artist Michael x. Ryan gathers the quiet imprints we leave behind — from sidewalk stains and river paths to shower puddles and fallen tree limbs — and gives them form, weight, and voice. Through drawing, mapping, wood relief, and 3D printed objects, Ryan captures traces of human presence — the edge of a river, the imprint of a wet body, the marks on a street — and renders them as physical forms that evoke movement, memory, and place.

This exhibition brings together key installations spanning over four decades, from early works shaped by the Ox-Bow landscape to large-scale reliefs inspired by the streets of Chicago to one tree of interest on the family property in Woodstock, Illinois. By drawing attention to overlooked details, Ryan invites us to consider how our everyday movements shape the spaces we inhabit — and how those spaces, in turn, record and reflect our presence and passage through time.

Homecoming: In Color celebrates the reopening of Rockford Art Museum after a year-long renovation closure. This exhibition features a selection of popular pieces and hidden gems, showcasing the rich diversity of our revered collection. Come witness the power of art and community as we welcome you back to a vibrant space of creativity!

For 24 years, Carolyn Lee McKee-Freese served the public school system with honor, devotion and skill. Having the opportunity to teach was a dream come true, as she loves sharing knowledge with others. She prepared for her endeavors by earning a Bachelor of Education from North Illinois University in 1969 and by becoming a certified teacher in Illinois. The degrees propelled Ms. McKee-Freese to become an art teacher at Simmons Junior High School immediately following graduation, where she stayed for three years. After that, she worked as a substitute teacher at Moose Heart School for a year and as an art teacher at Yorkville District High School for 20 years.
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Although Ms. McKee-Freese has since left the public sector, she remains committed to education. She currently using her background and expertise as a private contractor in the education department of the Chicago Field Museum, where she has been since 2002, and as the visual art curriculum developer for Yorkville District 115, where she has been since 1990. She also holds membership with the Illinois Art Education Association, the Illinois Artisans Program and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.​ Over the years, Ms. McKee-Freese has found a variety of mediums, through which she can express herself in addition to academia. She has published artwork in exhibitions at the Norris Gallery, the Ironwood Gallery of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, the Sprague Gallery, Aurora University, the James R. Thompson Center Atrium and the New York State Museum in Albany, among other places. She was also an art contributor to the Life Over Time Exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum, and was an art show judge at regional shows and fairs. Further, Ms. McKee-Freese has been published in Nature Magazine, Natural History Magazine and the British Journal of Paleontology. She has authored the likes of “A Popular Guide to the Nature and the Environment of the Fossil Vertebrates of New York” and “Papers in Paleontology.”In recognition of her achievements, Ms. McKee-Freese received a variety of accolades. She was named Teacher of the Year by Yorkville High School students in 2006 and 2007, Most Influential Educator for several years between 1996 and 2007 and Educator of the Month by Coco-Cola Co. in 1995. Further, Ms. McKee-Freese was honored to be featured in numerous editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of American Women.

When Ms. McKee-Freese isn’t working, she enjoys horseback riding, hiking, bird watching and paleontology. She also likes to teach scientific illustrations at summer camps for children; she thinks combining nature and art is fascinating. If she could offer some advice to the younger generations, it would be to find a passion and pursue it, just like she did. She still finds joy in receiving letters and emails from former students thanking her for the life lessons they learned from her classes.