Opening Reception: July 28, 2006 from 6-9pm Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce group and solo exhibitions, opening with an artist reception on July 28, 2006, 6-9pm, at 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. The Gallery is open and free to the public on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12 to 7pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4pm.

“Annual Members’ Show” with works in all media, by 44 artists; “Not for Human Consumption” with sculptural works by Lisa Merida-Paytes; “Waxing Silent” with paintings by Selene Sepsey Grimes; and “All Things Woven” at the Artisan Gallery. July 28 through August 24, 2006, at Woman Made Gallery.

Exhibiting artists are Mary-Glynn Boies, Sharon Bourke, Mary Jo Bowers, Kim Brenner, Moira Carlson, Eileen Gardner Collins, Amanda Cutting, Donna Dodson, Betsy Dollar, Eileen Downes, Emile Ferris, Beatrice Fisher, Deb Flagel, Andrea Ginsburg, Lynn Hill, Carrie Hoelzer, Emily Kalwaitis, Lois Keller, Jim Kubik, Elaine Langerman, Jenny Learner, Pearl Pualani Ling, Peggy Lipschutz, Harry Longstreet, Bobbi Meier, Bert Menco, Lisa Merida-Paytes, BettyAnn Mocek, Doris Monti, Debbie Heemstra Novak, Robbin O'Harrow, Mary Jo Parker O'Hearn, Mary Porterfield, Cherry Rahn, Lynne Richards, Lisa Ross-Miller, Michelle Sakhai, Barbara Sistak, Marcy Sperry, Norine Spurling, Nena St. Louis, Petra Voegtle, Katherine Weston and Micah Wren-Gray.

Image: Edge of Innocence
Emily Kalwaitis
acrylic wash on paper - 25 x 20" (framed)

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In her artist statement Selene notes, “Over the past year I have been working on a series I call ‘White Silence.’ My goal has been to use encaustic to push my paintings from pure landscape to an abstract conveyance of my relationship to the land. This search hopes to capture the sublime isolation of being at one with the silent earth.”

Selene Sepsey Grime's exhibition: "Waxing Silent" will be on display from July 28 to August 24, 2006.

Image: 'The Silence of the Snow'
Selene Sepsey Grime
encaustic - 24 x 24"

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In her artist statement, Lisa reveals her inspiration and intent: “My father’s taxidermist / slaughterhouse business was an overwhelming environment with powerful images of hanging carcasses of deer, piles of sawed off animal feet and freezers full of animal hides. These images presented a lack of empathy for life to me as a child. My work is concerned with the wonder of origin and the disparity of conservation through the destruction and exploitation of our environment. My father’s vocation was straightforward – permanent displays that are frozen in time. My objective is to conjure the past, present and future in order to invoke the contemplation of our existence.”

Lisa Merida-Paytes' exhibition: “Not for Human Consumption” will be on display from July 28 - August 24, 2006.

Image: 'Fish in Rock'
Lisa Merida-Paytes
Raku - 14 x 25 x 18"

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Participating artisans: Karen Gubitz, Sarah Hartshorn, Jana Hassett, Jeanne Heifetz, Rosemarie Hohol, Yura Ilieva, Lialia Kuchma, Barbara Kubala, Claire Marcus, Rebecca McEntee, Laurie M. Peters, Jane Raissle, Elizabeth Rhoads Read, Susanne Shafer- Wilson, Regina Vorgang, Patrice Wernlund and Eugenia Zazowska.

Image: "Jade Curve" - acid-etched glass, silver wire, 6 1/2" x 11" x 2" by Jeanne Heifetz.

Artisan Gallery

Poets include Marion Boyer, winner of RHINO's 2006 Readers=Writers contest; Amy Liang, Chinese lecturer at Northeastern Illinois University; Steven Schroeder, poet & translator; and Ardis Stewart, poet & retired lawyer.

For more information, contact:
Lauren Levato at womanmadepoetry@hotmail.com
Gallery: 312.738.0400 or gallery@womanmade.org

About Woman Made Gallery

Woman Made Gallery is a tax-exempt, not for profit organization founded in 1992. Its goal is to support women in the arts by providing opportunities, awareness, and advocacy. It specifically accomplishes this through monthly thematic exhibitions which raise public awareness and recognition of women's cultural contributions.

Woman Made Gallery is supported in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; a CityArts Program II grant from the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs; the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; the Polk Bros. Foundation; the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation; the Efroymson Fund, a CICF Fund; and the generosity of its members and contributors.