CLC to open series of art exhibitions

The first of eight diverse art exhibitions planned for the 2010-11 season opens today at the College of Lake County.

"From Here to Paradise," will be on display in the Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art through Aug. 13. It consists of works by the Mythopian Artists Group, a group of seven highly respected Midwestern artists with an interest in narrative painting in a contemporary context. In this exhibition, they examine the concept of what a contemporary paradise might be and what it takes to get there. The artists are Kim Laurel, Karena Karras, Robert Kameczura, Steve Sherrell, James Mespla, Diane Levesque and Christine O'Connor.

According to Kameczura, founder of the Mythopian Artists Group, the exhibit's goal is to take viewers "on a journey of the imagination from our everyday world to Paradises of differing sorts. It is a chance to stretch our minds to encompass the most beautiful things we can imagine, and also to touch upon what roads, sometimes hard and difficult, lay between the everyday world we live in and the more ideal worlds we would like to experience, both now and in the future. The Mythopian Artists hope this exhibition has one other purpose, which is to challenge the viewers to think about what sort of Paradises they might imagine and how they might work toward creating it."

The exhibit's opening reception will be held on Friday, July 9, from 7-9 p.m. The exhibit and reception will be held in the college's Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art, on the campus at 19351 W. Washington St. in Grayslake. Gallery hours for this exhibit are July 9-30, Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. From Aug. 2-13, hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.