Chicago, Illinois Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of "Some Assembly Required" with works by 35 artists and solo exhibitions by Lauren Levato and Louise Pappageorge.

In addition Woman Made's Artisan Gallery shows works in "All Manner of Humor," an exhibition that continues the exploration of the materials and techniques being used by women artisans.

Please join us at the artist reception on June 29, 2007, 6-9pm at 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. Works will be on display until July 26, 2007.

Regular Gallery hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12 to 7pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4pm.

Juror Lauren Levato, an accomplished painter, writer, and activist, stirred the imagination of many artists with the question, "Do you juxtapose?" In response, artists from across the United States and overseas submitted work that incorporates found objects such as scrabble letters, rocks and wire cages, while using sculptural, collage, photographic and painting techniques to assemble their works.

Participating artists include: Yvette L.C. Arendt, Magdalena M. Arguelles, JE Baker, Jolene Beckman, Lauren Black, Carmen Bond, Karen Bondarchuk, Carla Brooke, Catherine Burris, Barbara Carson, Susanne Clark, Bridget Conn, Lisa Mei Ling Fong, Elizabeth Featherstone Hoff, Liz Howe, Luanne Keen, Jacqueline A. Kotz, Karen B. Light, Anne Mondro, Crystal Neubauer, Sarah E. Rehmer, Julie Lapping Rivera, Tamara Rivet, Therese Rozeboom, Amy Sacksteder, Lauren J. Shover, Holly Streekstra, Deva Suckerman, Stacy Tompkins, Wendy Whitesell, Debra Tomson Williams, Jennifer Woronow, Cheri Wranosky, Joan Wynn, and Chris Young-Pour.

Image: "Discarded Things" by Karen Bondarchuk - scavenged tire pieces, 24 x 18 x 66 inches

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With her beetle, wasp, and cicada filled shadowboxes, Lauren Levato presents a new and engaging solo exhibition of insect assemblages at Woman Made Gallery.

Levato creates intimate shadowbox assemblages and collages that include carefully selected found objects. Horsehair and books on Cheiromancy as well as insects are re-invented through the artist's imagination. For this exhibit, the artist explores the world of fortune telling while wearing a sometimes poetic, sometimes scientific lens.

In addition to her assemblage and collage work, Levato is an accomplished painter, writer, and activist. She exhibits regularly in the Chicago area and works as the gallery director for the Lillstreet Art Center. Chicago publisher Fractal Edge Press published "Marriage Bones," her first collection of poetry, in 2006. Currently, Levato is available for interviews and her studio, located in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, is open for insect exploration.

Please join us at the opening reception on June 29 from 6 until 9pm. Works are up through July 26.

Image: 'No. 05' by Lauren Levato paperclay, cicada wing, 3.5 x 3 inches

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Louise Pappageorge's work reflects our daily conscious and perfunctory viewing of billboards, signage and magazine advertising. Working with text and imagery culled from fashion magazines and other periodicals her work examines and scrutinizes the covert, subliminal messages imbedded in the media. She explores ideas and values of beauty and perfection, consumption and objectification.

Her self-published book "TINA" will also be on display. Ms. Pappageorge is a native of Chicago and a graduate of the School of the Art Institute, Chicago. Her work is included in the Collection of the City of Chicago and the Abstract Mind Mural.

To view more of her work visit www.louisepappageorge.com

Please join us at the opening reception on June 29 from 6 until 9pm. Works are up through July 26, 2007.

Image: 'Shadow ' by Louise Pappageorge woven magazine pages , 5 x 5 inches (framed 14" x 11")

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Linda Michel-Cassidy from Arroyo Seco, New Mexico has been selected as the "featured artist" for the "All Manner of Humor" exhibition. The jury was impressed with the consistency of her excellent craft and the development of concept in the body of work that she submitted. The work takes risks by playing with the expected notion of function and decoration in wearable art. The concept and humor in each work becomes a wonderful narrative as a series.

Other "All Manner of Humor" artists include Rachael Dillon, Sandy Duval, Roberta Elliott, Judy B. Freeman, Christine French, Judith Geerts, Karen J. Gubitz, Cathy Lyn Harrison, Mavis Leahy, Laura Leonard, Rachel Lewis, Dory Maier, Peggy McDowell, Gisèle Perreault, Leslie E. Smith.

Artists exhibiting in other media include: Angela Askin, Beth Bartley, Molly Bitters, Olga Czerny- Sanchez, Sarah Chapman, Lori C. Coan, Linda Deardorff, Sandra Golbert, Judy Gray, Caroline Haurie, Laura C. Hewitt, Ala Jaron, Mara Krumins, Stephanie Marder, Carol Metzger, Emily McCormick, Mary Mintich, Emily Murphy, Kimberly Nikolaev, Carmen M. Perez, Natalie Prevost-Mero, Karen Roberts, Kristi Sloniger, Liz Vercruysse, Emily Watson and Lisa Williams.

'All Manner of Humor' will be on display through August 30, 2007.

Image: 'Decent Parker Medal ' by Linda Michel-Cassidy silver, cotton ribbon, 3.5 x 1.5 inches

Artisan Gallery

Please join us for a poetry reading on Sunday, July 1, 2007 from 2 to 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Maureen Seaton, author of Venus Examines Her Breast, is hosting this reading. The collage poems are rearranged from the poet's own works, or are in some other way formed by the process of collage. The reading takes place during the visual art exhibit of the same theme and will include Alice George, Maureen Seaton, Lauren Levato, Cin Salach, and others.

The event is FREE, street parking is available, and the blue line Grand stop is a few blocks away. We will have complimentary refreshments and books for sale.

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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 Chicago Community Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation; the Efroymson Fund, a CICF Fund; and the generosity of its members and contributors.