Crystal Lake gallery hosts works by local artists in new exhibit

Submitted by Lakeside Legacy Foundation.

Lakeside Legacy Foundation will kick off the 2013 gallery season with one of the Arts Park’s most intriguing exhibits to date. The Midnight Fields exhibit features the dark and mysterious work of Connie Sonnenberg and Kendall Wallor, local artists. Come out from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, and enjoy free light refreshments, and a cash bar.

Music for this event will be provided by Mark Piekos featuring Summer, an acoustic duo. Enjoy this free art event at the historic Dole Mansion, 401 Country Club Road, Crystal Lake. Guests can interact with the artists, take a self-guided tour of the historic Dole Mansion, and purchase art.

The event’s theme, “Midnight Fields,” aims to create an atmosphere which “we don’t often see with our own eyes.” Visitors will enter the dimly lit galleries to find vignettes “where flora and fauna exist at a very symbolic point in time, the bewitching hour of midnight.” It is on display Feb. 1-22 and can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The work of Connie Sonnenberg, winner of the “Best of Acrylic 2012” at Barrington’s Art in the Barn, primarily reflects the world of equestrianism. She wishes to depict the horse as a creature of great dignity. When describing the painting “Attitude,” she shares her “desire to capture the movement and attitude of this beautiful animal with personality and wisdom while he runs free.” Sonnenberg has been deeply involved with horses for the past 15 years as an owner as well as an instructor and trainer.

Kendall Wallor is a 2009 graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign’s Fine Arts-Painting program. She describes her subject matter as having “a dark yet romanticized feel to it that is meant to grab and hold its viewers captive while they become pulled into the infinite stage of the painting and its created environment.” Wallor joins Sonnenberg in a longtime love of the equine world; she supports various horse rescue organizations, and draws inspiration from this activism. Wallor also is an owner, trainer, and also assists the Eastern Illinois University Equestrian team.

After the gallery opening, guests can purchase tickets to the Roger Reupert and Friends interactive jazz concert in the Listening Room at Lakeside Legacy Arts Park. Tickets are $10 a person, and seating is limited. Tickets to the past two Listening Room performances sold out. Call the box office at (815) 455-8000. Visit LakesideLegacy.org for information on First Friday and the Listening Room.