The Evanston Art Center is pleased to invite the public to the openings of two exhibitions featuring Susan Knight and Sandra Leonard! Register online via Eventbrite.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Omaha-based paper and installation artist, Susan Knight, is a Michigan native. From 2000 she lived and worked in the summers in New York City for a decade. During that time, she devoted exclusive attention to the natural world to distill the structures and systems found in nature into pattern compositions in two and three dimensions, and site-sensitive installations.

Her work was shown twice at Artpize, Grand Rapids, MI, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE, The Kaneko, Omaha, NE, The Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, NE, The Sheldon Art Museum, Lincoln, NE, The Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA, and The Plains, Art Museum, Fargo, ND.

Her work was twice featured in SciArt Magazine and was reviewed in Sculpture Magazine and in the Smithsonian Magazine. It also appears in the book, Art Inspired by Science: Imagining The Natural World, by Robert Louis Chianese.

Knight is a recipient of a Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship. She was awarded art-science residencies at AS IF Center, High Cove, NC, The Colorado Art Ranch and The Nature Conservancy Land/Water residency, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL, and the International School of Art, Montecastello di Vibio, Italy. She earned a BFA in art from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN, and attended The University of Notre Dame, The Glassell School of Art, Houston, and The School of the Chicago Art Institute.

Sandra Leonard is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Chicago. She was born in Germany and moved to Texas as a child. She received her BFA in Sculpture at University of North Texas State where she studied sculpture, architecture and design. She then attended Northern Illinois University where she received a MFA. Early on the Bauhaus was very influential on her development as an artist. During this time she visited the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and saw Oskar Schlemmer’s costumes displayed. The experience had a profound impact on her and began her fascination with creating costumes. She also became intrigued with the collaborations between Merce Cunningham and Rauschenberg and combining painting and sculpture with movement.

Leonard continues to focus on sculptural costumes,textiles, painting and performance. In the last 30 years she has been involved in numerous performances, improvised theater, alternative fashion shows and installation projects. She has had her work shown in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Paris. In 2014 she was selected as a Featured Artist for the citywide annual event Chicago’s Artist Month. In 2017 Leonard represented the Beverly ward in the “50 x 50” show at the Cultural Center. She is a member of the group “Artist Interpret Shakespeare” who has exhibited at the Elmhurst Museum, Addington Gallery. The group was also featured in the documentary “Chicago Our City, Our Shakespeare”.

In 2017, Leonard presented a performance/dance entitled “Wandering Bird” which was first performed at the Beverly Art Center. For the dance segments she collaborated with Sandra Kaufmann, a distinguished choreographer and dancer. Leonard also has designed interactive costumes for museums including the Art Institute of Chicago in celebration of the Bauhaus 100th anniversary.

Susan Knight will be on display in the Evanston Art Center’s First Floor Gallery from September 11 – October 10, 2021; Sandra Leonard: Unexpected Narratives with Flora and Fauna will be on display in the Evanston Art Center’s Second Floor Gallery + Atrium from August 28 – October 3, 2021. The event is free and open to the public. These exhibitions are partially supported by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and
expression of the arts among diverse audiences. The Art Center offers extensive and innovative
instruction in broad areas of artistic endeavor through classes, exhibitions, interactive arts activities, and
community outreach initiatives.

Evanston Art Center is located at 1717 Central Street, Evanston, IL. Evanston Art Center Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 1pm – 6pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am – 4pm. First and second floor gallery spaces are accessible. Limited free parking is available.

Due to COVID-19 protocol, when arriving at the EAC during our Gallery Hours, all visitors are required to wear face masks. Please adhere to 6′ social distancing requirements when in the gallery space. Register online via Eventbrite.

For more information, please visit us online at www.evanstonartcenter.org or contact Cara Feeney, Director of Exhibitions, at (847) 475-5300 or cfeeney@evanstonartcenter.org.

Visit the Evanston Art Center on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EvanstonArtCenter/, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/evartcenter, or on Instagram: @EvanstonArtCenter.

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