New Aurora Public Art Director opens all-woman show on Feb. 2
Cqqchifruit will be the featured DJ at “Nevertheless: Women Depicting Women” on First Fridays in March. The show runs through March 11.
I’m a woman. So I felt a stong “hell yes” when I saw that the first show curated by Jen Evans, the new Aurora Public Art Commission director, is an all-woman show.
Supporting other women has become an important part of our local community, and I’m glad to see that carry over from community-building, to cleaning the Fox River, to politics, and to art.
The show is NEVERTHELESS: Women Depicting Women and it opens during First Fridays on Friday, Feb. 2 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Aurora Public Art Commission’s Third Floor Gallery, 20 E. Downer Place.
NEVERTHELESS: Women Depicting Women is an invitational exhibit of paintings, photographs, and installation by ten female artists: Sarah Baranski, Esther Espino, Lisa Green, Cynthia Hellyer-Heinz, Camille Iemmolo, Leah Mitchell, Ruti Modlin, Michele Norman, Angela Wilson, and Zuri Washington.
Evans said she was inspired by a conversation she had with local female painter Leah Mitchell. “Women can be underrepresented in arts, and I want girls to come see girls; and women to see what other women are doing, as role models, as possibilities for what they can be doing. These are strong women,” Evans said.
Evans explained the show as powerful and ethereal. “There’s a balance and strength through a lens of femininity,” she said. She added that through their art, people will see how powerful these women are.
Evans has the long-reaching goal of activating the space at 20 E. Downer Pl. “I want to really involve the community. We’re making it a multi-disciplinary experience,” she said.
In addition to the art, Evans will host panel discussions and lectures. “It’s about community and getting people talking to each other,” she said.
Visitors can view the exhibit for free during the opening reception and every Wednesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. from Feb. 2 through March 11.
During the exhibit’s run, two additional events will be open to the community.
On March 2, the gallery will be open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for First Fridays; and at 8 p.m., the Ready Freddies, an all-woman, Chicago-based Queen tribute band, will perform in the gallery. A $5 donation is requested to attend the performance. On closing day, Sunday, March 11, a free panel discussion about women in the arts will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the gallery.
The Art Commission’s next show is a solo show by Chicago artist Rhonda Wheatley.
For more information, visit www.aurora-il.org/329/Public-
