Michelangelo: A Renaissance Master in Modern Times

Curiosity and appreciation. That's what brought patrons to a lecture on the Renaissance artist this week at Glencoe Public Library.

At the age of 23, an up-and-coming artist from a small Tuscan village in Italy received a contract, for a sculpture he'd yet to chisel into a masterpiece. “It shall be more beautiful than any work in marble to be seen in Rome today,” the Vatican demanded in 1498, one year before the artist finished the task, “and such that no master of our own time shall be able to produce a better.” Up to the challenge, a young Michelangelo Buonarotti gave his signature.  More than 500 years later, the Pietà—Michelangelo's life-sized statue depicting the Virgin Mary, holding in her lap the dead Jesus Christ—sits elevated, behind bulletproof glass, inside St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome. “I think many people would agree, [the Pietà] is …

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Glencoe Public Library

11:10 am on Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Thank you for this thorough report of a most interesting lecture! The art history programs by Dr. Mishur and her husband are a valuable part of Glencoe's cultural life.   more ›

The Winnetka-Glencoe Weekly Social: July 18—July 22

Garden concerts, film, art and parent lectures, and more—this week in Winnetka and Glencoe.

Doc Night Where: The Woman's Library Club, 325 Tudor Ct., Glencoe When: Movie shows twice, at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Price: Free Movie: Marwencol Come see the documentary that the The Washington Post calls a “fine, delicately nuanced portrait of an artist compelled by mysterious forces to create something utterly unique.” Marwencol, released in 2010, chronicles a man’s return from a devastating attack. As his motor skills return, Mark Hogancamp constructs a scale model of a World War II Belgian village, which he photographs and later showcases in a New York gallery. For more information, contact the Glencoe Public Library at 847-835-5056 or gckref@glencoepubliclibrary.org. Bells Ring Out in the Garden Where: Chicago Botanic Gardens, McGinley …

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North Shore Shopping Center Transforms into Global Art Gallery

Flip through Patch's photos of the 6th Annual Juried Fine Arts Fair that was hosted in Plaza Del Lago over the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday Wilmette residents did not have to go far to peruse some incredible artworks. Plaza Del Lago played host to the 6th Annual Juried Fine Arts Fair, featuring paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures and jewelry by over two dozen artists from around the world. Artists partaking in the show came from as far away as Oklahoma and Israel. The North Shore Art League puts on the event and for 87 years has been "enriching the human spirit through art education and exhibitions." Linda Nelson, North Shore Art League's Director,  told Patch: "It's a small show of a very high quality, so you really get the chance to get to know the artists and find out about the works. The friendliness of the area allows the show to …

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Everywhere, Everyday Education

Lessons in Art Found In Ordinary Materials

Everywhere, Everyday Education offers suggestions for quick discoveries and opportunities for learning with your children

What is the primal appeal that young children experience while experimenting and messing about that can completely engage their attention? Might it be the tactile nature of materials? Or the immersion and intersection of the senses? Perhaps the unintended consequences of experimentation or the unpreditcable outcomes of a self-directed activity? Playing around with some simple materials you have at home or might discover outside, can provide a wonderful opportunity to augment your child's experiential education. As children explore materials with delicate encouragement and direction, take a few moments to share some experimentation and laughter together. This Week's Teachable Moment A classic play activity to do before it gets too cold: …

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Fall Colors Inspire Painting Students

Chicago Botanic Garden offers a backdrop for art class to learn about plants.

As the lush colors of summer fade into orange and brown hues, the Chicago Botanic Garden is acting as a living canvas for one class of local artists. The four students ininstructor  Derek Norman's botanical art course spent Sunday traversing the Glencoe garden's prairie land, smelling, squeezing, pulling and peering at plants to better understand the subjects they will begin drawing and painting soon. It's a process that begins before they even put a pen to paper. "Each individual [plant species] is unique," said Norman, who has taught art in the Chicago area since the mid-1970s. He said it is important "to not only identify a plant, but to understand its lifestyle." The six-week class, called Prairie Wildflowers in Transition, is geared …

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A Partnership Made in Murals

McCann's Painting is a colorful collaboration between cousins.

In artist Dennis Franzen's paintings, you'll find fighter jets whizzing past twin beds, military tanks rolling behind a conference table and a tyrannosaurus causing some serious roof damage. It's hard to describe Franzen's work without sounding absurd--partly because they are designed to warp reality. "I like to do [murals] where, when you walk into a room, it looks like you're looking outside and there's something going on out there," said Franzen, a Wilmette native. His work is part illusion, part decoration. Franzen designs each one using a computer and then has it printed on wallpaper, which can be customized to fit any size surface. Franzen collaborates with McCann's Painting, a Winnetka company owned by his cousin Terry McCann. In …

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Jennifer Fisher

9:46 am on Friday, September 17, 2010

These murals are really cool! Nice story. I wish I could see the 6'6" hummingbird...   more ›