40 suburban artists unite for free art exhibit in Geneva

A new art exhibit opening Saturday in Geneva highlights the work of 40 artists from Kane, DuPage and DeKalb counties.

The free exhibit, titled "Beauty In Our Midst," is a collection of oil stick and oil pastel pieces by the recently formed group Yellow House Artists.

"This will be our first big event," said artist and events coordinator Fran Stilwagner of Geneva. "We feel we've done some good work and want to put it out there for people to see."

The collection opens Saturday at the Peck Farm Orientation Barn, 38W199 Kaneville Road. It runs through May 29. Viewing hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. An artist reception is planned for 1 to 4 p.m. May 18.

Stilwagner said the exhibit is one of several Yellow House Artists projects in the works this year. The group also is organizing exhibits at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin this summer and at an Aurora gallery in the fall.

"It's exciting for everybody because some people had never put their work out there before," Stilwagner said.

The Yellow House Artists began when 17 oil pastel artists from across the Fox Valley teamed up for an exhibit at the St. Charles Fine Art Show last May. They had met through classes taught by George Shipperley of Aurora and Carol Zack of Elgin at the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles and the DuPage Art League in Wheaton, Stilwagner said. Their first exhibit, at the Fine Art Show, was set up in a yellow house, hence the name.

The group since has grown to 40, registered as a nonprofit corporation and begun building a Web site at www.yellowhouseartists.com. Its members include artists from the Tri-Cities, Elgin, Sugar Grove, Wheaton, Downers Grove, DeKalb and Naperville, among other western suburbs.

Stilwagner said the Yellow House Artists organized partly to promote oil pastels, a medium developed in the 1940s that consists of "pure pigments suspended in inert mineral oil." Once blended or layered, the pastels never dry and are easily scraped, smudged or smeared, requiring pieces to be mounted under glass for protection, she said.

There is no admission price for the Geneva exhibit. Pieces will be for sale at various prices. Call (630) 262-5579.