On View May 1 - June 20, 2027
Born in Brooklyn, NY, Beth moved to Chicago to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After studying printmaking and graphic design, she got a job as a designer at the Field Museum. That began a successful career as a graphic designer spanning over 25 years designing books, banners, and posters for clients that included the Chicago Symphony and National Geographic.
Beth rediscovered printmaking after taking a summer course at OxBow School of Art in Michigan 15 years ago. Working with a press just felt right, and a year later she purchased her own etching press. She now creates unique monoprints in her storefront studio in Evanston, Illinois.
During a residency at the Lakeside Inn in Michigan several years ago, Beth experimented with the cyanotype process, investigating the variety of prints that can be created with this alternative photographic process. Printmaking using the sun offered a new way to pursue image making, and she now incorporates it into her work.
Beth's work can be found in the collections of Northwestern University and the Field Museum as well as in many homes and commercial spaces. She has been featured in Luxe Interiors magazine and has appeared on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight. She is represented by Gallery 1871 in Chicago and Patrician Gallery in Wilmette.
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For the last 6 years, I have been working with the Cyanotype process. I have explored a variety of subjects, processes, and materials using this alternative photographic process. Cyanotype is a 170-year-old photographic printing process that produces prints in a distinctive dark greenish-blue. The prefix cyan comes from the Greek word denoting a dark-blue enamel. When ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide are combined and exposed to UV light, the result is ferric ferrocyanide, also known as Prussian Blue.
From tutus to party dresses, our clothes express who we were as girls and who we became as women. What we wore tells our stories. I have been collecting and printing a wide variety of clothing from different eras. These now comprise a large collection of over 50 works and together mark the stages of a woman's life as well as their place in history. I would like to hang these pieces unframed, salon style, using magnets on the three front walls of the first floor of EAC, as I have done in my studio.
This exhibition will be curated by Sandra Adams, Professor of Fashion History at the School of the Art Institute. Sandra will lend the historical perspective for many of the works and help me to organize the work into the various life stages that these represent. I intend to produce a three-fold pamphlet with an introduction by Adams and a key to the titles and size of each work. An opportunity to have more in-depth stories behind some of these works can be accessed with QR codes. We plan to have her students from SAIC come to visit the exhibition as well as offer a talk with the artist and curator to the community.
GALLERY HOURS & VISITOR INFORMATION
This exhibition will be held in the First Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors, and staff.
Gallery Hours
Monday–Thursday: 9am–6pm
Friday: 9am–5pm
Saturday–Sunday: 9am–4pm
HOW TO PURCHASE ARTWORK
Artwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center. If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibitions, at [email protected] or (847) 475-5300 x 102.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.