Above / Artist Sheri Butler models her handmade face mask, a whimsical idea that came to her as she wanted to make the best of the COVID-19 situation. She also made a similar one for her husband. The artist’s creativity “brings a smile to many,” said organizers of the 2020 art competition.
Naperville Art League has announced the winners of its annual Public Art Competition themed “Juxtapose.” The show remains online until May 15, 2020, and many pieces are available for sale. Unfortunately, the Gallery is closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Individuals considering purchase of art are welcomed to contact naperartleague@aol.com.
Top Award Recipients
Best of Show: “Side by Side” by Julie Kline
Award of Excellence, adult category: “4 Quarter Time” by Janet Pearson-Strack
Award of Excellence, adult category: “Gemini” by Sheri Butler
Award of Excellence, student category: “Persephone and Hades” by Emily Rachel Peto
People’s Choice Award – via online voting: “Quilt #3” by Maria Lombardi
Honorable Mention Awards
Twelve artists, listed alphabetically, were recognized with Honorable Mention Awards and are featured on the NAL website.
“Erykah Amongst the Butterflies” by Desiree; “Butterfly” by Jon Doud; “The Bee” by Carol Hendrix; “That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles” by Kirk Kerndl; “Milk & Tar” by Naomi Lares (student); “Quilt #3” by Maria Lombardi; “Red and Black” by Katherine Marra; “Jack & the Bean” by Patricia Melekus; “Cheetah Hunting Gazelles in Africa” by Michael Rabin; “The Over/Under” by Sally Sharp; “Nasturtium Flower” by Kasia Szczesniewski; and “Guardian of Art” by Robert Yurgaitis.
The competition was judged by Hollis Levine. Her professional affiliations have included the St Charles Arts Council, Palette Talk Art Critique Group, Arts Alliance of Illinois, Northwest Area Arts Council, and Oil Pastel Society.
Directors of the Naperville Art League wish to congratulate the winners and “all the very talented participants.”
Naperville Art League offers a variety of art classes for all ages and skill levels at its Naperville Fine Art Center & Gallery at the corner of 5th Avenue and Center Street. While unable to hold classes there during the Stay at Home orders, the League invites people to watch its website for summer classes and camps as well as online education.
The next Gallery show will be a Naperville Art League member exhibit with two themes: “Chaotic” or “Calm.” To learn more about membership, visit www.napervilleartleague.com.
Top winners invited to comment on work
Best of Show winner, Julie Kline, is a life-long artist who graduated from the Art Institute of Boston as an illustrator. Now retired, she is primarily a watercolorist who meets for fun with a small group of friends and coaches them in watercolor techniques.
“How interesting that I am a watercolorist and I won for my pen and ink drawing titled “Side by Side,” she commented. Kline has been a NAL member for a total of 12 years.
She recently published a children’s book titled Mouse Searches for a House. “It’s about a zoo. I wanted my grandchildren to have a book written and illustrated by their grandma. They love animals and love to go to the zoo,” she said.
The book is available through the Naperville Art League.
When asked what she is doing during this Stay at Home order, she showed her COVID-19 journal in which she writes and draws just about every day.
“Journaling is a good way to keep up one’s art skills and,” she continued, “it will be a memory for my family.”
Kline commented how seemingly mundane things have taken on more value in the last month. As she draws, little things become more evident and interesting. The detailed pattern on her lawn furniture and a goose sitting on a nearby nest are among her journal sketches.
Sheri Butler, Award of Excellence winner, is a self-taught artist who has been a NAL member for more than 10 years.
“I like to push the envelope and pursue my own interests,” Butler said.
She has found, for herself, that taking formal classes can trap her creativity. She enjoys entering competitions and “Gemini” was painted specifically for this contest. It provides a view of humans as one model but with differences. The viewer sees the subjects are similarly posed but the subtle differences and faintly written messages cause one to ponder. Butler’s goal in her art is to impact lives and change them for the better. By creating art, she hopes to make the world a better place.
More than half of the participating competition artists, including three of the top winners, consider themselves amateurs.
“Art uplifts, no matter what skill level,” said Sally Sharp, president of the Naperville Art League. “We all have a creative aspect to who we are. It may be found in technology, dance, architecture, music, visual arts, engineering or elsewhere.”
Janet Person-Strack, who won an Award of Excellence, was inspired by stained glass windows with the glass showing the world’s colors in a new way. She salutes the connection of visual art and the art of music, calling her piece “4 Quarter Time.”
Emily Rachel Peto, Award of Excellence winner in the Student category, is a high school sophomore with ambitions to become a doctor. Her winning piece, “Persephone and Hades” came to mind after reading mythology. The characters oppose each other, fitting well with the contest’s theme “Juxtapose”. She has had an interest in art since she was young, but it was a middle school art teacher who saw her talent and encouraged her. A Naperville Art League instructor, Penny Coffman, keeps students motivated, according to Peto, and encouraged her to enter the contest. Peto recognizes the value of art especially when she is stressed. With the many choices students face, Peto finds art therapeutic. When she reaches her goal of being a doctor, she plans to still have art as a serious hobby.
Peto is spending much of her time recently taking her high school classes online which she finds a challenging way to do AP Psychology and Honors Physics. With art as her release, she is focusing on sketching to improve her portrait drawing skills.
The community participated in selection of one winner: People’s Choice went to Maria Lombardi’s “Quilt No. 3”, an intricate representation of the craft of quilting using magazine clippings and hand-drawn ink patterns. Faced with having to put the show online because its Gallery was closed due to the coronavirus, NAL leaders came up with the idea of having Facebook viewers vote for their favorite. Lombardi’s piece took the Number One spot by a significant margin.
“A big thank you to the online voters and Facebook friends for their enthusiastic participation in our virtual gallery,” said NAL president, Sally Sharp. “All 50 participants felt the love!”
Naperville Art League & Riverwalk Fine Art Fair
Naperville Art League is a 501c3 nonprofit volunteer organization of approximately 200 members who are artists, art enthusiasts and art collectors. The League owns the Naperville Fine Art Center & Gallery at 508 N. Center Street in Naperville, at the corner of 5th Avenue and Center Street. Classes for all ages and skill levels are offered along with summer camps, culturally enriching Gallery shows, art auctions, and special events.
Naperville Art League also founded and hosts the annual Riverwalk Fine Art Fair, held downtown Naperville by the Riverwalk in September each year. This, the 35th year of the juried fair, will again feature about 130 nationally and internationally recognized artists.
For more information about this active organization, visit napervilleartleague.com. Donations to support the work of Naperville Art League also are appreciated.
Story and photos submitted by Linda VanderKolk for the Naperville Art League.
