Elmhurst Art Museum

Please read below for the latest news and information.

Nikki Renee Anderson creates ceramic sculptures and installations that explore the feminine experience based on her personal history. The Cherry Series is intended to create fantasy objects and explore cultural stereotypes about beauty, desire and femininity. The sculptures resemble abstract desserts, which reference to the female body. The inspiration for this project comes from Anderson's personal experience.

Her father owned a restaurant and bakery and as a child she spent many hours there while he was working. Sometimes she helped out with cooking and baking tasks. Other times Anderson would just pick a treat from the bakery case to eat. Anderson also struggled with my weight as a little girl. This project reflects the beauty and delight Anderson saw and experienced at the bakery as well as the gluttony and shame of her body. It also reflects cultural expectations and stereotypes about the female body.

Inspired by Whiting, Indiana, a city defined by its large oil refinery, Emmett Kerrigan’s latest paintings depict factories and smokestacks. The bold, colorful factories combined with black power lines heighten the basic elements of shape, line, and color, as well as create interesting compositions. Older pieces inspired by nostalgia for the simple toys of childhood as well as Midwestern farm landscapes will sit alongside these new works, providing a visual chronology of Kerrigan’s interests.

Bill Frederick's paintings of urban landscapes, highway travel, and people caught in a moment express the artist's preoccupations with “friends and family, history and geography, and a nagging sense of dread.” Derived from a combination of imagination and photography, the paintings are a metaphor for the perception of time, memory, and the particularity of the moment.

Elmhurst Art Museum is pleased to host the third annual Portfolio exhibition for artistic teens.  This exhibition is open to all high school seniors in DuPage County.

EAM works directly with local high school art teachers who select student art portfolios to be sent to the Museum for judging.  Each submitted portfolio consists of six works created in the same medium.  Approximately twenty-five portfolios are selected for the exhibition.  The Museum hosts several educational programs for students including Portfolio 101 and Careers in the Arts Day. 

Please join us for Portfolio's opening reception on Sunday, April 11, 2009 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm.

If you are a teacher interested in participating in Portfolio, please click below.