An Interview with Amy Lee Segami

Amy Lee Segami is a Chicagoland painter and the latest featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  Her show Frozen Dreams: Painting on Water is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library where you can catch it through March 7th.  Weaving her backgrounds in art and science with Eastern and Western perspectives, Segami draws on her Asian heritage and physics knowledge for her contemporary take on the ancient art form Suminagashi.  We recently spoke with her via email about the fusion of art and science, the 2,000-year history of Suminagashi, her creative process, and her future plans.

An Interview with Maryna Danylovych

Maryna Danylovych is a Chicagoland painter and the latest featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  From now until December 31st, more than three dozen of her impressionist still lifes and landscapes will be on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library.  Inspired by her favorite painters Monet, Renoir, and O’Keefe, Danylovych strives to ensure that the emotions she puts into her pictures reach the people who view them.  We recently spoke with her via email about her artistic origins, creative process, and future plans.

Local Art @ EPL

We are quite pleased to introduce local painter and Prairie Joe’s restaurant owner Aydin Dincer as the next featured artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  From now through April 30th, you can catch his eye-popping paintings in their 2nd floor display at EPL’s Main Branch.  Playfully self-described as an artist who both “paints in oil and cooks with oil,” Mr. Dincer’s portraits and landscapes are at once fresh, bold, and fun.  So don’t miss this satisfying art sampler straight off the eclectic walls of his popular Central Street eatery, and make sure to check back with Off the Shelf later in April for a featured interview with Mr. Dincer himself.  Stay tuned.

A Talk with the Artists of ‘Thursdays with Leslie’

(front, l-r) Karen Corrado, Judy Cohen, Marlene Brill, Jean Novales, Leslie Hirshfield, Maribeth Gibbs. (back, l-r) Tracy Hodgson, Sandi Lawrence-Brogen, Rima Lockwood.

Thursdays with Leslie is an impressive collaborative exhibition by ten talented painters from the Noyes Cultural Art Center and the latest show in our popular Local Art @ EPL series.  Currently on display through February 28th on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Branch, Thursdays with Leslie features an ecclectic mix of watercolor, oil, and pastel works created by the skilled students of instructor Leslie Hirshfield.  I recently spoke with many of the Thursdays with Leslie artists via email about their artistic backgrounds, experiences at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, and impressions of the Chicagoland art scene.

An Interview with Zuleyka Benitez

Zuleyka Benitez is a local painter, business owner, and the latest artist to be featured in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  Her show – titled Narrative Interiors – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Branch where you can catch it through the beginning of January.  For Narrative Interiors, Ms. Benitez combined images from existing art works, historical magazines and postcards, and other found objects into gouache paintings highlighted with watercolor and pencil.  Reminiscent of stage sets or studio photographs, her paintings feature minute, “seemingly decorative elements” that are intended as clues for adding complexity to a viewing experience that unfolds like the plot of a good book.  I recently spoke with Ms. Benitez via email about her European childhood, her painting “Hair Club for Men,” and her experience as an artist in Evanston.

Local Art @ EPL

"The Lucky Shirt"

We are thrilled to announce that local painter and business owner Zuleyka Benitez will be the next artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  Beginning December 1st and extending through the month, her finely-detailed exhibit Narrative Interiors will be on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Branch.  For Narrative Interiors, Ms. Benitez combined images from existing art works, historical magazines and postcards, and other found objects into gouache paintings highlighted with watercolor and pencil.  Reminiscent of stage sets or studio photographs, her paintings feature minute, “seemingly decorative elements” that are intended as clues for adding complexity to a viewing experience that unfolds like a good book.  So don’t miss Narrative Interiors right here at EPL, and make sure to check back with Off the Shelf later in December for a featured interview with the artist herself.  Stay tuned.

Local Art @ EPL

If you missed his October 16th presentation “Death in a Lawless Land: The Massacre of Immigrants in Mexico,” mark your calendar because artist and activist John Sevigny is bringing his powerful photographs back to the library.  We are thrilled to announce that Mr. Sevigny will be the next artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  Beginning November 1st and extending through the month, his thought-provoking exhibit Nomads will be on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Branch.  For Nomads, Mr. Sevigny captured the intimate portraits of Central American immigrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in order to explore the nuanced motivations for their travel.  His photographs are at once memorable, revealing, and challenging to immigration discussions that would paint with broad strokes.  While planning your November visit, you can preview Nomads online and also learn more about Mr. Sevigny by visiting his Gone City blog.  Finally, make sure to check back with Off the Shelf later in the month for a featured interview with the artist himself.  Stay tuned.

Artists, Samella Lewis and Richard Long at Woodson Regional Library in August

Renowned artist and art historian, Dr. Samella Lewis,  and author, Dr. Richard  Long, will present a lecture at Chicago Public Library Woodson Regional Library at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Agust 14. The two lecturers will speak at length about James Richmond Barthe’ (1901-1989). Dr. Lewis is the author of,  Barthe’: His Life in Art. For information, call (312) 747-8184.

Susan M.

Local Art @ EPL

Throughout the month of July EPL is pleased to present the work of Alice Dubois, the latest artist to be featured in our local artist exhibition series. Ms. Dubois’ colorful canvases draw inspiration from nature, literature, and music and combine various artistic styles into a striking, unique, and eerily beautiful whole. She lives and makes her art right here in Evanston, Illinois and has even been inspired by EPL’s family of peregrine falcons to make a brand new painting featured in her exhibit. You can see Ms. Dubois’ artwork throughout July on the 2^nd Floor of the Evanston Public Library. And stay tuned to our Off the Shelf blog for an interview with the artist coming up later this month.

An Interview with Timothy Campbell

Timothy L. Campbell is an Evanston based artist. He has recently created a series of drawings and short text pieces detailing the lives of residents of the fictional town of Colorido. EPL is pleased and honored feature Mr. Campbell as the first artist in our local artist exhibition series. You can currently view the Colorido project on display on the 2nd Floor of the Evanston Public Library. To view more of Mr. Campbell’s artwork (including the entirety of the Colorido series) you can visit his Flickr site. And if you’d like to meet the artist and discuss his work with him, stop by EPL this Saturday, May 29th between 3PM and 6PM for the Colorido opening gathering. We recently spoke with Mr. Campbell via email about his art, his inspirations, and what it’s like to be an artist in Evanston.