Chicago, Illinois Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce group and solo exhibitions, opening with an artist reception on October 6, 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.

Woman Made Gallery is hosting 'Signatures of Age,' a juried group show with art by women from across the United States and overseas. Simultaneously on display are mixed media works by Helen Redman in her solo exhibition 'Aging Into Full Creativity' and mixed media works by Barbara Aubin in her solo exhibition, 'Personal Symbols of Age.' The Artisan Gallery is showing functional fine craft in its 'By Invitation Only' exhibition.

In addition, a special exhibit of some of the original artwork featured in the annual 'Her Mark' 2007 date book will be on display through November 9, 2006.

In her juror's statement Ms. Redman states: "The art in 'Signatures of Age' addresses body changes, beauty obsessions, health issues, societal ills, individual identity, emergence, survival, transformation and just being here. The pieces included, like aging itself, range from poetic to disturbing, humorous to pensive and defiant to enduring.

"Aging is a natural process. It is also very much a women's issue. Resisting the marketed phobias about growing older begins right at home in our own bodies. There is profit in perpetrating the fear of aging both within those who are already old and for younger women who do not want to be. How each of us sees our own aging process may be the first step in combating the age discrimination that now dominates our culture. Our creativity is one of the greatest resources we have to age well, to face our mortality and to accept our transitions." --Helen Redman

Exhibiting artists include: Grazyna Adamska- Jarecka, Linda Ammons, Joan Arbeiter, Linda Boardman, Joy Christiansen, Peggy Dee, Judy Cooperman, Henri Doner-Hedrick, Henrietta DuBois, Lucy Rose Fischer, Beatrice Fisher, Ruth Geneslaw, Beth Grossman, Katrina Miller Hawking, Cynthia Hellyer Heinz, Soyoung Jun, Joanna Katz, Janice Keaffaber, Catherine D. Lawhon, Peggy Lipschutz, Elizabeth M. Lynch, Mary Beth Mihelic, Jean Nerenberg, Louise Pappageorge, Faye Park, Rosemary Rauber, Karen Rhiner, and Jody Stadler.

The exhibition opens on October 6th with an artist reception from 6 to 9 pm at Woman Made Gallery, 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's River West neighborhood.

Image: 'Flight Time, Memories' by Cynthia Hellyer Heinz, drawing - 22 x 15 inches

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In her statement Barbara Aubin comments: "Personal Symbols of Age includes recent autobiographical works and a new series that commemorates composers and musicians. These small works on paper reflect my impressions of the lives and work of musical composers and conductors, such as Maurice Ravel, Scott Joplin, Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich, Ervin Schulhoff, Antonio Vivaldi and Virginia Eskin, among others. All of them have met intense challenges during their life times and my intent has been to pay tribute to them.

"My media choices and technical applications have not changed much over the last sixty years of creating art. My personal circumstances, however, have dictated a smaller format and limitations in exploring digital media and photography." --Barbara Aubin

At an informal Artist Talk on Sunday, October 15 Barbara Aubin will elaborate on her themes, techniques and inspirations. The event begins at 2pm and is free.

Barbara Aubin's exhibition: 'Personal Symbols of Age' will be on display through November 9, 2006.

Image: 'Enveloping Fog and Mists - In and Out of a Full Moon' by Barbara Aubin (based on Tchaikovsy's Violin Concerto and Mahler's 9th Symphony) watercolor, rubber stamp & collage - 10 x 14 inches

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In her statement Ms. Redman writes: "My deepening investigation of the body expresses what it is to be at home in my own skin as it ages into the wild cycle of life itself. I am consciously learning to love my old woman by conjuring up the archetype of the crone as one who presides over the third stage of female life. Through my art I follow the journey of embodiment, face my own mortality, and conceive of decay and cosmic recycle." --Helen Redman.

Helen Redman's exhibition: 'Aging Into Full Creativity' will be on display through November 9, 2006.

Image: 'Where I Stand' by Helen Redman, acrylic & collage on board - 16 x 12 inches

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Artists: Angela Askin, Beth Bartley, Sarah Chapman, Lori C.Coan, Devon Driscoll, Teresa Faris, Judy B. Freeman, Karen Gubitz, Julie Burkhart Haid, Caroline Haurie, Laura C. Hewitt, Dorothy Hughes, Ala Jaron, Tammy Marinuzzi, Dorothy McGuinness, Kimberly Nikolaev, Carmen M. Perez, Julie Pitzen, Elizabeth Rhoads Read, Carol Ross, Liz Vercruysee, Emily Watson, Lisa Williams.

'By Invitation Only' will be on exhibit through November 9, 2006.

Image: 'Brooches' by Emily Watson, sterling, copper, zinc and enamel

Artisan Gallery

Premier copies of the Her Mark 2007 Datebook, Woman Made Gallery's annual publication featuring works by twenty-one artists and twenty-one poets from across the country and overseas are available at a Release Party on Sunday, October 8th from 2 to 4 pm at the Gallery.

Highlights of the party include a reading featuring Her Mark poets, a book signing by both artists and poets, and a special release party discount ($12 instead of 15). In addition, a special exhibit of most of the original artwork featured in the datebook will be on display through November 9, 2006.

Her Mark Datebook contributors are selected via annual poetry and art competitions, which are open to women worldwide. This year's poetry jurors were Lisa Alvarado, Pamela Miller and Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai. Kymberly Pinder, Ginny Sykes and Beate Minkovski juried the artwork entries. The datebook was designed by Karin Kuzniar - www.kk-studios.com.

Her Mark 2007 Artists include: Tai Lei Apolinski, Lauren Simkin Berke, Anne Canfield, Eun Woo Cho, Pat Dumas-Hudecki, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Frances Ferdinands, Beatrice Fisher, Naomi Grossman, Melissa T. Hall, Kristina Bogdanov Ilic, Virginia José, Cristina Longo, Jayne P. Lunz, Jane Maxwell, Jeanette Martone, Joetta Maue, Cella Neapolitan, Lisa Merida- Paytes, Lidia Simeonova and Marilyn Avery Turner.

Her Mark 2007 Poets include: Tamiko Beyer, Maureen Tolman Flannery, Marina Garcia-Vasquez, Claudia Van Gerven, Lucia Galloway, Penny Hackett- Evans, Irene D. Hays, Luisa A. Igloria, Allison Joseph, Jane Knechtel, Kathy Kubik, Ellen LaFleche, Laura LeHew, Natalie Olsen, Susan Richardson, Purvi Shah, Bonnie Summers, Valerie Martt Wallace, Jennifer Weigel, Sarah Zale and Andrena Zawinski.

Image: 'Milagros' by Jeanette Martone, pencil on paper - 17 x 14 1/2 inches

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Readers are selected by Kathleen Kirk, editor for RHINO, and author of Selected Roles.

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.