  Performed on Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 2 pm in the studio theater at Addison Trail High School adjacent to the Addison Center for the Arts.
"The Lady, the Locket, and the Loves of John Wilkes Booth" is an original play written and performed by Maria Boundas Bakalis. Dr. Boundas Bakalis has woven a mysterious tale surrounding a woman's locket. The locket contains two images set side by side: President Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth, his assassin. But, Booth was also a well-known and successful actor, son of one of the greatest actors of the era, Junius Brutus Booth, and brother to the renowned actor, Edwin Booth. The Booths of Maryland were revered by theatre audiences throughout the country. But, it was John who electrified the stage with his passionate performances and strikingly handsome face. John Wilkes Booth captured the hearts of many women. One of these women is the Lady of the Locket, a woman who wore a locket near her heart, a heart that loved both Lincoln and Booth. Who of the many loves of John Wilkes Booth wore the locket around her neck? You, the audience are invited to solve the mystery: Who was the Lady of the Locket?
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  Addison Center for the Arts Celebrates 25 Years of Fostering the Arts in Addison 25-year Celebration. The Addison Center for the Arts celebrated its 25th Anniversary September 6, 2019 at 6:30 pm with a benefit banquet at Empress Banquets in Addison. Art enthusiasts along with the Mayor and some Trustees of the Village of Addison enjoyed an open wine and beer bar, dinner, fine art by local artists, silent auction, and music by the Papo Jazz Quartet. 25 Years of History. Addison Center for the Arts, a not-for-profit art agency, was founded in 1994 to advance the arts as an integral part of life in Addison and the surrounding communities. The ACA dedicated itself to creating quality art programs in order to provide self-exploration, skill development, and aesthetic awareness. We seek to empower creators, performers and the community as a way to enhance and enrich the world around us. For many years, civic and cultural groups, as well as involved citizens of Addison, had recognized the need for a home for cultural arts in Addison. In 1986, those groups, along with the Addison Cultural Arts Development Commission joined together to fully explore the need and feasibility of building a cultural arts center in Addison. With the support from local and state agencies, like the Village of Addison and the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Commission was able to prepare the first stage of development that would become the Addison Center for the Arts. In September of 1994 the Center was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization to advance the arts as an integral part of life in Addison and the surrounding communities. “I personally remember back in 1982 bringing the idea for an arts center to the Addison Village mayor and trustees. Back then, our community theater and art guild were meeting at various places around town--they needed a ‘home of their own.’ As a member of the Addison Cultural Arts Development Commission, I was given approval to start writing grants for this project. I’m proud of what we have accomplished over the years working with the village board, school administrators, visual artists, musicians, and theatrical artists. We are grateful that the people of Addison and the surrounding area are a great audience!” --Annette Leiber, Founder and President Emeritus of the Addison Center for the Arts The Center partnered with numerous organizations like the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Salt Creek Ballet Company, Fantasia Ballet Company of Russia and the Mexican Folkloric Dance Co. of Chicago to bring culturally diverse arts programming to our ethnically diverse population. Over the years, the ACA’s art gallery has hosted the art work of hundreds of professional Illinois artists other artists worldwide. In addition to the professional artists, the Art Center has displayed and nurtured the talent of up-and-coming student artists from the local schools and girl scout troops. In the fall of 2010, after a successful capital campaign in partnership with the Village of Addison and DuPage High School District 88, the Addison Center for the Arts opened the doors of its current home located in Addison Trail High School that features an art gallery, a 120-seat Studio Theater, a 1200-seat auditorium and shared classrooms. The new gallery is a focus of educational visits from the local elementary school students and is a valuable and convenient resource for the Addison Trail High School students. The Addison Center for the Arts looks forward to embellishing the cultural life of its community far into the future. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to helping us bring the arts and culture to Addison and the surrounding communities!  Exhibition dates: August 14 through September 21, 2019
Artist Reception: Saturday, August 17, 2019 from 2 to 4 PM The Addison Center for the Arts presented Expedition-Composition, an art exhibit of paintings by Mary Dorrell. The exhibit opened August 14 and continued through September 21, 2019. The public was invited to attend the artist reception on Saturday, August 17, 2019 from 2 to 4 pm, where we all enjoyed the rock and blues guitar of Joe Eddy Brown as we marveled together at Dorrell's artwork. The exhibit featured Mary Dorrell’s paintings that communicate her sense of adventure and wonder. “Before starting a new piece, I ask myself, what drew me to that place or subject and what am I seeking to convey about the experience? Was it the storm that just passed, a dense wood or a stunning sunset? Was it a shared experience? Was it a memory?” But that is just one aspect, what draws me to create is a desire for connection and a sense of discovery. I open my heart and mind to allow the painting to flow to where it wants in telling the story. Each painting has a mind of its own and vibrates with its own energy. I feel compelled to create paintings that convey a taste of adventure, a response of emotion, and a bit of mystery.” --Mary Dorrell Addison Center for the Arts 213 N. Lombard Rd. Addison, IL 60101 630-458-4500 Gallery Hours: WED - SAT, 1 to 4 PM. Addison Center for the Arts 213 N. Lombard Road Addison, IL 60101 Hours: Wednesday through Saturday 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is always FREE  Exhibition dates: June 19 through June 29, 2019.
Artist Reception: Friday, June 21 from 6 to 7:30 PM. The Addison Center for the Arts presented “Courageous & Strong: Girl Scouts’ Budding Artists”, an exhibit of art by the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana Service Unit 537. “Courageous & Strong” opened Wednesday, June 19, 2019, and continued through June 29, 2019. Everyone enjoyed the artist reception with the Girl Scouts on Friday, June 21 from 6 to 7:30 PM. “Courageous & Strong: Girl Scouts’ Budding Artists” is an art exhibit featuring the art projects of many troops from the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. The ages of the artists range from girls that are Daisies in Kindergarten and 1st grade, Brownies that are in 2nd and 3rd grades, and Juniors that are in 4th and 5th grades. The girls worked on projects throughout the year either in school or during Scout meetings/gatherings and have a wide range of art pieces from painted rocks, to sculptures, sketches, paintings and more. As members of Service Unit 537, our girls do so many things to give back to their communities all year long such as volunteer at PADS, raise money and food for food pantries, create awareness for disabilities, make blankets for kids in pediatric hospitals, collect things to recycle and reuse, and much more to try and make this world a better place. This exhibit was organized to do something for the girls. This show is meant to celebrate just one of their many talents and is something they really enjoy."  The Addison Center for the Arts proudly presented, Maureen McKee's, “Nature's Diversity” exhibition of impressionist oil paintings. “Nature's Diversity” opened Wednesday, May 8, 2019, and continued through June 8, 2019. The public were invited to enjoy the artist reception on Friday, May 17 from 7 to 9 PM.
The exhibit was a jewel box of small-scale landscapes. Each piece was an impressionistic keyhole glimpse of a dynamic vista. Maureen McKee on "Nature’s Diversity": "My show, Nature’s Diversity, celebrated the ever changing landscape that is a challenge and a reward to paint. Nature is a source of inspiration, for me, to explore and create. It is an adventure to view its scope. The variety of light, form, and color. The diversity of the seasons - the weather - the time of day may each change my perspective. The way a flower blooms or the way a tree bends .... piques my imagination. This invites me to explore a variety of techniques... from energetic brushwork, palette knife, to blended paint or heavy build up of textures. I work in oils and oil pastels... preferring one media or the other is dependent on the subject matter and my mindset when I start my journey into a new painting."  The Addison Center for the Arts presented, Joanne Barsanti's, “Delicate Beauty” fine art exhibition of photomontages. “Delicate Beauty” opened Wednesday, March 27, 2019, and continued through April 26, 2019. The artist reception was on Friday, March 29 from 6 to 8 PM.
“Delicate Beauty” offered viewers a serene stroll through a Japanese garden. The collection was a series of photomontages: thoughtfully chosen photographs and textures combined to create nature scenes and portraits with an underlying message of peacefulness and serenity, innocence and purity, struggle and hope, strength and resilience, and delicacy of both materials and subject matter. Barsanti's work is a stylistic melding of East and West, ancient and modern. Drawing on inspiration from traditional Japanese art, symbols, processes, and materials; Barsanti uses modern digital tools to present subject matter that she encounters in her photographic adventures in the western world. “Delicate Beauty” uses a variety of papers and silk fabrics made in Japan. The output media, whether paper or fabric, is selected to enhance and support the specific subject matter; whether that is elegant birds, shapely trees, or fantasy scenes. Joanne Barsanti is an award-winning artist who uses her photography to create nature-based scenes and “portraits” with a unique style and texture. She combines traditional subject matter and processes with modern technology to take her photography to a new level. Ms. Barsanti’s work is one part creative inspiration, one part the snap of the shutter, and one part the magic that comes from playful use of digital technology. Birds, bonsai, water, Koi, and other items typically found in a Japanese Garden are reworked and carefully composed in her fantasy scenes. Underlying it all, these elements have been chosen carefully to portray the struggle and tension we often face; but with the underlying message of hope, harmony, long-life, and good fortune. Her work has been shown regionally and across the country, in exhibits in Vermont, Florida, and California as well as internationally, in Europe. Her work has been featured in magazines such as “The Hand Magazine” and the “Prairie Light Review,” as well as a self-published book “Flowers with Attitude.” Ms Barsanti’s artwork can be found in corporate and private collections across the country. To see more examples of her work and for more information, go to her website at http://www.joannebarsanti.com or contact via email joanne@joannebarsanti.com  TANIA BLANCO's “Traces of the Sacred” was an escape and a visual journey into a serene, visionary haven.
Addison Center for the Arts presented TANIA BLANCO: Traces of the Sacred, an art exhibit featuring the artist’s mixed-media works on canvas from February 13 through March 15, 2019. On Saturday, March 2, 2019, from 4 PM to 7 PM members of the community attended a free reception to meet and discuss the artist’s work with her. Blanco is a collage and mixed media artist from Naperville. She has served as the President and Vice President of the Midwest Collage Society since 2003. In this exhibit, she is shared art works that bring you into her personal visionary space. In this space she offers up a refuge for spiritual reflection. “The current exhibit of my work spans a 10-year period of creating collage and acrylic paintings and reflects this philosophy. My work frequently addresses spiritual symbols and themes, and my personal places are natural settings like parks, arboretums, sanctuaries for animals, or at an ocean beach, when the sun rises or sets and where I take meditative walks. I have included sacred symbols in each of the paintings in the current exhibit: mandalas, labyrinths, temples, Buddha images, figures on a spiritual journey and peaceful landscapes. Some of the paintings in this collection are abstract and the sacred may not be obvious to the viewer, but each was inspired by meditation or by contemplation of some sacred space. For me, the process of creating art is often akin to a type of evolving prayer in which layer upon layer unfolds. My hope is that each visitor who sees my exhibit finds some image that invites a personal and peaceful Reflection.”  "Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints."
Enter into "Decaying History" through Michael Vanko's doorways into the past. The Addison Center for the Arts gallery hosted its first pop-up exhibit featuring photographer and urban explorer, Michael Vanko. The show opened Wednesday, December 12, 2018 and continued through Saturday, January 12, 2019. Vanko displayed his videos and series of photographs, “Decaying History,” that document abandoned buildings in Illinois. The artist is a resident of Addison, IL and an alumni of Addison Trail High School. He is currently studying photography at College of DuPage. Several years ago he became active in the urban exploration (a.k.a. urbanex) community and began documenting his adventures with photographs and making videos from those photographs. He is now an emerging urban exploration photographer. His process involves researching abandoned sites, exploring them, and documenting their current state of entropy. Then he shares his discoveries with us through those photographs. Vanko says, “Each picture represents forgotten history and what happens when humans leave a building behind. Some of these places are mummified in time while others have been reclaimed by nature. These photos sometimes contain hidden history that people don’t want you to see. I’m here to take you down the rabbit hole and show you what’s behind that door.” The artist's reception was on January 11, 2019 from 1 to 4 pm. The reception coincided with Addison Trail High School's Alumni Day. As a graduate of the school, Vanko was eager to share his experiences with urbanex photography with AT's current crop of students. The students enjoyed hearing about Vanko's photographic process and adventures in urban exploration.  The Addison Center for the Arts is hosted the Addison Art Guild's Fall Member Show for 2018. The exhibit ran from November 1 through December 7, 2018. This year's exhibit featured the work of: Tania Blanco, Margaret Bucholz, Angelo Campagnolo, Jan Dunteman, June Feil Annette Perrone Leiber, Greg Maksymiw, Melodee McCormick, Marianne McKoveck Beverly Miotke, Bernice Murphy, Ann O'Brien, Jackie Pickell, Irma Pocius, Carol Severson, Elke Simmons, Judy Sullivan, Bala Thiagarajan, and Lyn Tietz. The public reception was on November 8, 2018, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. At that time the artists' work was judged by Lauren Peterson for judging the exhibit. She offered our artists valuable and insightful feedback and encouragement. Thanks, Lauren! Congratulations to this year's award winners! BEST IN SHOW Marianne McKoveck FIRST PLACE Angelo Campagnolo Annette Perone Leiber SECOND PLACE Margaret Bucholz Melodee McCormick HONORABLE MENTIONS Greg Maksymiw Lyn Tietz June Feil Tania Blanco The competition was fierce. Well done to all of the artists who entered this year.  September 12, 2018 on exhibit : September 19 - October 19, 2018 artist reception : Friday, September 28, 2018 Addison Center for the Arts in Addison, IL presented: “Guelaguetza de colores,” an exhibition of international artists in celebration of Hispanic Heritage month. The exhibit opened Wednesday September 19 and continued through October 19, 2018. The public was invited to the artist reception/fiesta on Friday September 28, 2018 for refreshments, music, and art. “Guelaguetza de colores” was an homage to the pageantry of the Guelaguetza festival in Oaxaca, Mexico. During this annual festival, citizens in their regional costumes enjoy music, parades, and dancing and showcase their finest arts and crafts. Exhibit curator Karla Wong on the meaning of Guelaguetza in Mexico: “The word has Zapotec origin and is supposed to designate the action of offering, sharing or giving. In this celebration folk groups of the eight regions of the state participate, wearing and taking pride in their colorful costumes.” Similarly, the artists of this exhibit displayed their own outpouring of creativity as it relates to their Hispanic heritage. The exhibiting artists included: Lorena Bonilla (Mexico) Alex Brightbill (Chicago suburbs) Mario Carrizosa (Mexico) Carmina Cortes (Des Plaines) Noé Díaz Ibañez (Mexico) Esperanza Gama (Chicago) Miriam Ladrón De Guevara (Mexico) Dolores Leycegui (Mexico) Guillermo Pacheco (Mexico) José Luis Piña Morales (Chicago) Alejandra Villegas (Mexico) as well as the show’s curator, Karla Wong from Addison, IL The Addison Center for the Arts gallery is open Wednesday - Saturday 1- 4pm and is located at 213 N. Lombard Road, Door #4, Addison, IL. Free parking is available in the North lot of Addison Trail High School. Special tours are available by calling 630-458-4500. This exhibit is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. |
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