Join us in the Catacombs Gallery on Friday, December 8th from 6 to 9 p.m. for the opening reception of Gretchen Jankowski's solo exhibit Amplified Inking. Using relief and screen printing as a launching pad for exploration, Jankowski's vast survey of materials includes collaged prints layered in resin, as well as prints on a variety of fabrics, which she collages, embroiders, and quilts together to create large, voluminous, soft sculptural pieces. While most of the work is large scale, Jankowski incorporates delicately detailed elements that invite close inspection of abstract botanical patterns and her manifestations of otherworldly environments.

The City of Chicago is recognized as the “Heart of Soul” with music legends such as Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke, Betty Everett, and more, launched from Vee Jay and Brunswick Records on historic Record Row; a ten-block stretch of Chicago's South Michigan Avenue where several independent record companies produced blues, R&B, jazz, and soul music from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s. These artists spurred a revolution that has inspired both established and emerging soul artists to this day. Although Chicago is known globally as a city with deep roots in soul, it is not holistically celebrated nor is it recognized locally. In collaboration with Overflow After Dark Production, Music to my Soul aims to inform, celebrate, and expose both the histories, legacy, and contributions of Chicago soul music. The series documents twelve Chicago musicians: six seasoned and with historic roots to Record Row, and six emerging artists who are creating a new era of soul music in the Windy City. 

Join us in the Catacombs Gallery on Friday, January 26th from 6 to 9 p.m. for the opening reception of Faith Humphrey Hill's solo exhibit Knitfinity. 
Faith Humphrey Hill’s knitted portraits provide an optimistic view of technology’s role in shaping our identity and relationships with each other. The subjects of her portraits are strangers to her as they are to the viewer of the finished work. Being a visual artist, Faith uses her eyes to learn about the person, and in the process discovers commonalities. After the portrait is drawn, she creates a knitting pattern. Knitting is included for its reference to binary code and its continuous flow of fibers that mirrors our interconnectedness as people. These pieces are created using new and old hacked knitting machines dating from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. Incorporating technology in the process reflects the artist’s life with metal implants in her heart and along her spine. She states: “I live my life in collaboration with technology, it feels authentic to also include technology in my art process.” 

Join us on Friday, February 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Sacristy Gallery for the opening reception of Andrew Boynton: No Land Without a Lord