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Our Mission
Arts of Life advances the creative arts community by providing artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective space to expand their practice and strengthen their leadership.
Our Mission
Arts of Life advances the creative arts community by providing artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective space to expand their practice and strengthen their leadership.
Our Artists
We were founded with the idea that the studio belongs to its artists. The guiding principle behind the studio is to give people an opportunity to shape and be a member of an artistic community; a community that changes with the growing needs of the artists and one that is a contributing member of the larger society.
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What's Happening on Instagram
We hope you feel inspired by 💕 love today! Here’s a love inspired Artwork that Arts of life artist Raina Carter has been working on, titled “Spiritual-Crossed Soulmates in Tokyo”.
“This is the story of the young loves, Ostara, The Winx Fairy of Domino and Yoru, The Ninja Turtle of Japan just like Romeo and Juliet.” - Raina Carter @princessraina2
❤️ Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!! ❤️
About The Artist:
With a clear artistic voice, Raina Carter develops narrative themes in her works that revolve around female-centric pop music and Japanese culture. The influence of anime is evidenced in the interplay of geometry, fantasy and character-driven artwork.
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Image description:
ID- An illustration made with markers of a bright green ninja turtle and a pink fairy girl with bold red hair. They are in the center of of a Japanese urban landscape with Japanese text on billboards, and they are holding each other .
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#RainaCarter #ValentinesDay #Valentine #Love #Illustration #Artist #Painter #HappyValentinesDay #SupportLocalArtists #Marker #Characters #ChicagoArtist
#DisabledArtist #ArtistWithDisabilities #DisabledArtists #ArtsOfLife #FairyGirl#NinjaTurtles #TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles #Japanese #ChicagoJapanese #ShareTheLove #Winx #WinxClub
👀 Look at how cool this Linocut Print came out 🔥!!! Becky Kubica made the print while working and experimenting with mediums at @evanstonartcenter. (Swipe to the end to see her process and the results.)
What is a Linocut? A design cut into a flat linoleum surface with a carving utensil = a linocut. Typically an artist draws on a transfer sheet that is then transferred on to the linoleum surface. The drawing can also be made directly on the surface. Then the artist can start to carve out sections of the linoleum that they don’t want printed. Ink is then pressed on to the linoleum design with a rolling pin. Finally, the linoleum is stamped using variable force to get the desired results. #TheMoreYouKnow
About The Artist:
Rebecca (Becky) Kubica’s artwork is a reckoning with personal life and fantasy. A natural storyteller, she creates artistic narratives of herself alongside friends, family and fictional characters from the silver screen.
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Image Descriptions:
ID1- Artist Becky Kubica wearing a red shirt with black gloves on, pressing an art print on to a cut and carved Linoleum rectangular piece with a wooden spoon, while in an art studio.
ID2- A close up of Becky’s arms and hands wearing black gloves, starting to peel back the print off of the linoleum.
ID3- A close up of Becky’s arms and hands wearing black gloves, with the print 75% off of the linoleum.
ID4- A side by side view of the black and beige linocut print 1st edition, showing a character that Becky made and the etched and carved linoleum used to create the print
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#BeckyKubica #PrintMaking #Linocut #Linoleum #LinoleumPrint #ReliefPrintmaking #PrintMaker #Art #PrintArtist #ChicagoArtist #Ink #InkMaster #BlockPrinting #Maker #EvanstonArtCenter #Northshore #DisabledArtist #ArtistWithDisabilities #DisabledArtists #ArtsOfLife
📣Join us in congratulating Marcelo Añón for being selected by The Arts of Life Curatorial Committee as the latest Artist Spotlight feature. 👏 👏 👏
Marcelo Añón is recognized for his graphic depictions of urban architecture that showcase worlds of steel, brick, and glass. His use of perspective invites the viewer into his drawings, and then upon deeper inspection, explore the maze of repeating shapes, patterns and geometry.
When asked about Marcelo’s work, Artist Alysha Kostelny had this to say, “He uses a lot of lines. They look like they are real things, they look like geometric abstract, very detail oriented.”
Añón’s artwork has been featured in Arts of Life’s 20th Anniversary Platinum Print Collection, studio merchandise, and has been projected on the facade of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.
Link in bio to see a selection of his available works. Inquiries can also be made to sales [at] artsoflife [dot] org.
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Image Descriptions:
ID1- Marcelo standing in front of a black white and grey cityscape like art piece with a black frame, hung on a wall.
ID2- an ink drawing of a geometric mirrored landscape, drawn with many lines, with a centered vanishing point.
ID3- A portrait of Marcelo with one arm around his mom, both are smiling at the camera.
ID4- An art piece showing stacked 3d cubed rectangles on the left and scattered 3d rectangular cubes on the right, drawn with ink.
ID5- Marcelo with a blue button up, standing and leaning in front of many art pieces hung on a wall in a gallery.
ID6- A colorful line drawing showing many squares circles and rectangles and lines all connected to each other in multiple organized patterns.
ID7-Marcelo sketching in a notebook with a pen and smiling at the camera.
ID8-A line drawn black and white landscape of a farm with everything placed outside of a singular perspective.
ID9- Marcelo holding up a thank you sign and smiling at the camera.
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#MarceloAnon #ArtistSpotlight #ArtsOfLife #ArtistFeature #ChicagoArtist #ArtGallery #ChicagoArtGallery #IDD #DisabledArtist #Artist #ArtistsWithDisabilities #FeaturedArtist #Featured #Illustration #AbstractArt #Illustrator @marcelo.anon1
💥Another successful opening! Thank you to all of the people that made it out on Friday night to the opening reception for Off-White Perceptions of Color, curated by @sarawenokur . We had a blast! If you were not able to attend, the show will be up until March 20th at the Circle Contemporary Chicago Gallery. Come on by! (Link in our bio for show details) In the mean time swipe through the images to get a little preview.
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Image Descriptions:
ID1 - Tim Stone Standing in front of 2 multi-colored and tiled art pieces.
ID2 - Portrait of Artist/Curator Sara Wenokur standing in front of a textile hung from the ceiling on their right and two colorful framed art pieces stacked of their left.
ID3 - People socializing at the art gallery.
ID4 - David Krueger’s green suit and blue mask match the colors of an art work by Chris Viau titled “A Long Wait Til Spring” .
ID5 -Susan Pasowicz standing in from of her colored pencil art work titled “Something Summery”.
ID6 - Sara Wenokur and Chris Austin talking in front of Chris’s work titled “Flowers on a Desk Besides a Window”.
ID7 - Ted Gram-Boarini dressed in a suit in front of his abstract art titled “The Hulk”.
ID8 - A group picture with Marcus Kennedy, Susan Pasowicz, Stefan Harhaj, Chris Austin, Tim Stone, Sara Wenokur.
ID9 - Corner art gallery image of art hanging on walls and a large pink, purple and blue rope/textile hanging from the ceiling to the ground.
ID10 - Three very bright and colorful art works on a wall in a row.
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#OffWhite #OpeningReception #ArtExhibit #ChicagoArtExhibition #ArtGallery #ChicagoArtGallery #CircleContemporary #PartyTime #Art #Chicago #ChicagoArt #ArtistsWithDisabilities #StefanHarhaj #MarcusKennedy #AlyshaKostelny #BillLilly #LawrenceM #NoahWieder #JohnPhelan #TimStone #SusanPasowicz #ChristianneMsall #LucyWalsh #ChrisViau #RussellCopenharve #ChrisAustin #BeckyKubica #LauraGreenberg #TedGramBoarini #JessicaDilay
Just 2 more days till the opening reception of our Circle Contemporary Chicago gallery show! We hope that you can join us this Friday, February 3rd, from 5pm-8pm for Off White Perceptions of Color, Guest Curated by Artist @sarawenokur .
About the show:
The way we perceive color is complex and can change depending on a variety of factors. Color has the power to transcend language allowing for a universal understanding of emotion. In this exhibit, I invite the viewer to immerse themselves in a world of color, and to consider their own perceptions and emotions in relation to the work. The viewer will see how colors can change depending on lighting conditions, surrounding colors, and our own individual visual experiences.
Guest Curator:
Inspired by scientific botanical illustrations, Sara Wenokur’s repetitive patterns are both minimalistic and expressive. The results do not flatly reflect the forms found in nature, but represent a surreal synthesis of plant and pattern.
FEATURED ARTISTS:
Stefan Harhaj, Marcus Kennedy, Alysha Kostelny, Bill Lilly, Lawrence M, Noah Wieder, John Phelan, Tim Stone, Susan Pasowicz, Christianne Msall, Lucy Walsh, Chris Viau, Russell Copenharve, Chris Austin, Becky Kubica, Laura Greenberg, Ted Gram-Boarini, Jessica Dilay, Noel Morical, Dana Pierfelice, Lori Seidemann, Liz Mortensen
When:
Opening Reception:
Friday February 3rd, 2023
5:00-8:00 pm.
February 3 - March 13 2023
Where:
Circle Contemporary Chicago
2010 W Carroll Ave
Chicago, IL 60612
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Image Descriptions :
ID1- A corner view of the gallery with nine white framed art works on the wall and three long textile art works hung from the ceiling to the floor.
ID2- Three colorful paintings hung on a wall next to a window.
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#ArtsOfLife #CircleContemporary #ArtExhibit
#ChicagoArtist #Color #OpeningReception
#OffWhite #PerceptionsOfColor
#ContemporaryArt #ArtGallery #DisabledArtist #ArtistsWithDisabilities
#StefanHarhaj #MarcusKennedy #AlyshaKostelny #BillLilly #LawrenceM #NoahWieder #JohnPhelan #TimStone #SusanPasowicz #ChristianneMsall #LucyWalsh #ChrisViau #RussellCopenharve #ChrisAustin #BeckyKubica #LauraGreenberg #TedGramBoarini #JessicaDilay