Selections have been made...

Frances Cox, Black Apricot Tree, Oil, 34 x 40"

This past April, Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago opened an exhibition titled "From Nature" to benefit the Ragdale Foundation. The exhibition was produced to help call national attention to the Ragdale Foundation and to raise money to support the Ragdale residency program. I've written about the program in past posts but basically the program allows artists—from all over the world—to attend Ragdale and create in a beautiful, serene, and uninterrupted environment.

The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is committed to supporting the arts as well as to supporting Ragdale by purchasing at least one of the exhibited pieces for inclusion into the school's permanent collection. Actually... the school has chosen to purchase three. The pieces selected for inclusion into the school's permanent collection are: "Black Apricot Tree" an oil on canvas painting by Frances Cox [Wilmette, IL], "Blue Leaf on Stream" an oil painting on canvas by Diane Kunzler [Glidden, IA], and RK Williams' [Denver, CO] Platinum-Palladium Print titled "Fog and Light". Commissions from the sale of these pieces—as well as all other sales in this exhibition—will be donated to The Ragdale Foundation residency program.

Many of the works are still available. If you are in—or passing through—downtown Chicago, please drop by to see the exhibition. Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is located at 180 N. Wabash, at the corner of Lake and Wabash in Chicago's Loop. You can also review the work on line at gallery180.com


Above: Diane Kunzler, Blue Leaf on Stream, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24"


Above: RK Williams, Fog and Light, Platinum-Palladium Print, 4 x 5"

From Nature... One of the Selected Works

The "From Nature" exhibition to benefit The Ragdale Foundation, has been selected. The show will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago from April 20 - July 24. The reception will be on April 24th from 5:30-7:30. The show consists of twenty-four works by twenty-one Artists from around the country. It includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and mixed-media.

The above image is a Platinum Palladium Print titled "Fog and Light" by RK Williams of Denver, CO. This is just one of the amazing images in the show. The mystical glow of the light moving through the fog—defining the trees— creates a peaceful, quiet sanctuary. The piece is an intimate, four by five inches in size.

A quick overview of Platinum Palladium Prints... The labor-intensive process for creating platinum prints was created by British Inventor, William Willis Jr. in 1873. Platinum images are contact prints and—based on their chemical composition—are highly permanent.