"As Time Goes By"
November 16 - December 17

Regular hours during exhibitions:
Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5 - 7 p.m.

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Robert Kameczura’s work frequently presents old themes, like “The Birth of Venus” or “Pandora” into entirely contemporary contexts.

Karena Karras explores the world of fantastic dreams, often in context with poetry, in finely painted, jewel like, miniature oils.

Kim Laurel does multi-media pieces, often mixing printed images, painting, and application of cloth and objects. Her work often touches on animals and their symbolic meanings as well as exploring the way our inner consciousness focuses and reshapes elements of meaning.

Diane Levesque draws on a wide range of subject matter; war and peace, chaos and rationality, and often with reference to literary and artistic subject matter.

James Mesplé highly colorful paintings blend old myths and figures from sources both ancient and contemporary into theatrical tableaux.

Christine O’Connor’s work focuses on humanistic themes, often exploring the psychology of various personalities ranging from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein.

Steve Sherrell’s work has two facets, one is his computer based work which sometimes explores themes related to fantastic mysterious landscapes, or monumental goddess like figures in strange dress. The other aspect of his work explores painterly themes, sometime involving Zen like meditations in which the paint surfaces seem to have strange organic life of their own.

Named for its generous donors, Bob and Marty Christopher, the Prairie State College Foundation oversees gallery operations.  Gallery Manager Jan Bonavia recommends programming and often acts as curator for shows.

The Christopher Art Gallery, located on the main campus of Prairie State College, hosts six to eight shows per year, featuring local, regional and nationwide artists, as well as student works.  Guest curators select artworks which best exemplify the themes for each show.

Programming varies by media, theme, and artists represented.  However, there are several annual exhibitions:

A March show exhibits the work of talented high school students in District 515, where awards are presented by a panel of judges comprised of professional artists and instructors.

The May show features the work of graduating PSC art students.

The late August show highlights the photographs of the photography student whose body of work is selected as exemplary by photography faculty, as well as the superior efforts of PSC art students in graphic communications, photography, fine art and interior design.

Each Fall, the Christopher Art Gallery features a juried show of regional artists in conjunction with Art Trek weekend (sponsored by the Chicago Southland Visual Arts Coalition).  Participating galleries and artists open numerous facilities collectively to encourage visitors to stop at as many locations as possible.

The summer 2000 exhibit, Hidden Treasures, featured privately-owned artworks by contemporary masters such as Renoir, Cezanne, Erte, Nierman, Picasso, deKooning, and others.  Through the generosity of local residents who loaned paintings, drawings, and sculptures, more than 475 guests visited the Christopher Art Gallery during the 14 days the exhibit was open to the public.