Call for entries for annual 'Vicinity' exhibition
The Norris Cultural Arts Center board and gallery committee is accepting applications for "Vicinity 2016," the annual exhibit open to artists who reside within 50 miles of The Norris.
The exhibit will open to the public Saturday, Sept. 17. A reception honoring the artists will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, through Oct. 30.
Artists wishing to participate in Vicinity 2016 should bring to the Norris Gallery one ready-to-hang or ready-to-display piece of artwork together with the non-refundable entry fee between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, and complete an exhibition agreement. For more information, download the season prospectus at norrisculturalarts.com.
Artists and educators Ingrid E. Albrecht, Meg Bero and Joseph Hernandez will serve as adjudicators. The exhibit is open to artists who reside within a 50-mile radius of The Norris, 1040 Dunham Road, St. Charles. Works of all media are accepted for judging. The panel of judges will select works to be included in Vicinity 2016, and will determine the winner of the annual Lester J. Norris Memorial Award. They also will select works for awards of excellence and honorable mention.
Albrecht is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and the Illinois Watercolor Society. She also is an associate member of the National Watercolor Society and a life member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. Albrecht's work has been shown in group and solo exhibits throughout the U.S. and internationally, and has received numerous awards. She holds art degrees from the American Academy of Art in Chicago and Southern Illinois University. In addition to her creative output, Albrecht has more than 15 years of teaching experience at various education levels in American and international schools.
For the past 20 years, Bero has been on the artistic and professional staff of the Schingoethe Center for Native American Art at Aurora University, as curator of education, associate director and curator, and since 2007 executive director and chief curator. She also developed and currently chairs the university's Museum Studies program. Bero's earlier experience included painting and museum work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. She is an experienced adjudicator of area art shows produced by The Norris, Fine Line Creative Arts Center and the St. Charles Arts Council. Bero is a past winner of the Visual Arts Educator of the Year Award from the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education, and the Museum Educator of the Year from the Illinois Art Education Association.
An award-winning artist and long-time educator, Hernandez is associate professor emeritus in art/ceramics/drawing and design at Waubonsee Community College, where he taught for more than 25 years and served as department chair for 13 years. He earned bachelor and master of art degrees, and a master of fine arts degree in ceramics, all from Northern Illinois University. Hernandez has shown his work throughout the U.S. and internationally, and has participated in workshops in South Korea and China. He has received numerous awards including Faculty of the Year Award form the Illinois Community Colleges Trustees Association, and the Visual Arts Educator Award from the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education. In 2016, Hernandez was inducted into the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame as a visual artist and art educator.
For more information, visit www.NorrisCulturalArts.com.