Past Events and Programs

You’re invited to visit the Art Center galleries during the month of October to view an exhibition of materials, including letters, posters, drawings, and other memorabilia from EAC's archives that illustrate the Art Center’s rich history.

In October of 1929 over 20 of Evanston's civic and cultural leaders established the Evanston Art Center. This forward-thinking group recognized the many benefits of providing a rich cultural life to an entire community. For over eight decades the Art Center has contributed to the vibrancy and creativity of this community.

In 2015, the Art Center will begin to write the next chapter in is history from its new facility at 1717 Central Street in Evanston. Architect's renderings, floor plan designs, and other inspirational photos will be on display in the gallery.

The Evanston Art Center is pleased to present a special musical program featuring our artist-in-residence, Josefien Stoppelenburg. New Voices: A Songfest will feature performances by Stephen Alltop-piano, Jean Hatmaker-cello, Danika Paskvan -violin and Dan Qiao-viola, will showcase the music of Stacy Garrop, Lita Grier, Harold Bauer and composers like Handel, Tchaikovsky and Rossini.
 
Willem Stoppelenburg, who is coming over from the Netherlands, will premiere his new piece ' Kavafis Songs,' for Cello and Soprano.
 
You will also hear two e.e. cummings sonnets for Soprano and String Trio by Harold Bauer.

This program is included in the Chicago Artists Month 2014 highlighted programs.

$15 General Admission, $5 Students, under 18 Free

All performances will be held at the Evanston Art Center, 2603 Sheridan Road in Evanston

On Wednesday, September 17, EAC hosts a special 1-day program for artists led by artist, coach and agent, Gwenda Joyce. This intensive session runs from 10am to 5pm and is designed for those artists who aspire to build their art career with gallery representation. This day-long intensive will

Join Art After Five coordinator and celebrated artist Linda Kramer on the evening of September 10 for a visit to a private art collection. Focused on American art of the past forty years, the collection includes works on paper by Alex Katz, Philip Pearlstein, Joel Shapiro, Elizabeth Murray, David Salle and others. A concentration of Chicago Imagist works includes paintings by Roger Brown and Barbara Rossi, works on paper by Jim Nutt, Gladys Nilsson, Karl Wirsum and Ray Yoshida, and prints by Ed Paschke and Christina Ramberg.

How Can We Use Art to Build Community Inside and Outside of the Art Center?
Design for America (DFA)
Monday, August 11, 10:30am – 12:30pm

How Can We Use Art to Build Community Inside and Outside of the Art Center? 

Free Design-Thinking Workshop

Design for America (DFA)

Monday, August 11, 10:30am – 12:30pm

Saturday, June 21 & Sunday, June 22 from 1 – 4pm.

This special teacher development program, organized by Rachel Harper and co-taught with Nick Hostert and W. Keith Brown, offers Illinois State-Certified teachers the opportunity to explore the practice and implications of teaching as a contemporary art form through immersion in imaginative play, creative challenge, and reflective discussion. Teachers will also earn CPDU credits.

Program participants will also be given access to the Art Center’s gallery the weekend of September 27 and 28 with the intention of animating the space with art work, curriculum, responses to the June program, or other activities of their choice.

Please consider joining us on Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22 from 1 – 4pm. This workshop is limited to 15 teachers and has a $25 per person fee, which includes lunch and a free sketchbook.

Once again the front lawn of the Evanston Art Center has come alive with intriguing and beautiful site-specific works by local artists. Each artist was asked to reference the history, geography or architecture of this special place through concept or material.

It's not too late to buy tickets.

Saturday Night, May 17 at the Evanston Art Center.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening of auctions, dinner, and dancing in the galleries and under our tent on the evening of May 17. The weather even cooperated! We raised money to fund our arts programming, scholarships, and community engagement initiatives.

Design your own posters and promote your band, event, or fund drive! Nicolette Ross of Spudnick Press will be at the Art Center on Saturday, May 17 from 1 to 4pm. This is your chance to work with one of the most talented printmakers in the Chicago area as you explore two elements of relief printing (letterpress and linoleum block printing) through creating your own edition of broadside posters.

Text will be laid out using wood type and printed on the Line-O-Scribe cylinder press. Imagery will be incorporated through a hand-carved linoleum block. Explore the interplay between image and text while learning technical carving and printing skills.

You'll take home your own edition of posters, and we encourage a group share so you can also take home a poster from each of your classmates.

Get interactive! Come to the Art Center and join Northern Illinois University Professor, Steve Ciampaglia and artists from The Plug-In Studio for this extraordinary pop-up, drop-in art + technology workshop. Use electronic components and found materials to make interactive artworks that move, make sound, and light up.

FREE workshop. No registration is necessary, just drop in anytime and make something cool that moves. All ages welcome.

Saturday, May 10 from 1-4pm

We are pleased to welcome composer Howard Sandroff who will talk about the relationship between his sculpture (completed at the Evanston Art Center while studying with Matt Runfola) and his musical compositions. Sandroff will also discuss the modes operandi of "preverbal memory" and the muse, which inspires (or not) us all in the creation of art.  

We would like to thank all of those who presented and attended last night's program.

This special panel, organized Caitlin Bruce and Polly Solomon, was the second installment of a year-long project that explores the shared connections between contemporary circus and graffiti art in New York City and Chicago. With this exciting project, Bruce and Solomon seek to put into conversation graffiti artists and circus artists through discussions, workshop, and performance in order to investigate the ways in which both genres utilize publicity, spectacle, and movement.

What are your kids doing during spring break? They could be busy making art and learning new skills in the areas of mixed media, painting and drawing. The Evanston Art Center has provided high quality youth arts programming for decades. Our teaching artists have years of experience with youth audiences and are accomplished at introducing projects that improve critical thinking skills, creativity, collaboration, vocabulary, and are basically a whole lot of fun!

We've been very fortunate to have artist Ben Whitehouse as part of our Arts Center this winter. Ben has been working in our 2nd floor studio space and interacting with students and visitors throughout the week. He will be with us through April 13. We hope that the public will take full advantage of Ben’s time with us and stay alert for upcoming events and programs with him.

Our Living Studio residency is a new and ongoing program provides a meaningful platform for local and national artists to transparently make and share work. The residency focuses on artistic visibility and public engagement around contemporary artistic practices and processes. The Art Center views its residency as an investigation of openness, generosity and exchange while challenging traditional notions of art studio.