Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

JoAnne Richardson has been an active participant on the art scene since 1945 when she left Omaha, Nebraska to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She lived in Orland Park, Illinois where after raising four children she was active in the La Grange, Lemont and Elmhurst Art leagues. She studied art further with John Stribney and Gerald Merfed. Throughout her career, JoAnne has won many ribbons, but the one for which she is most proud is a painting she did of her mother standing at the family’s wringer washing machine. In addition to instructing at the Blue Island Art Cub, JoAnne taught drawing and oil painting for the Orland Park Recreation Department. JoAnne enjoys spending several hours a day painting for pleasure and during the summer, she complements her artistic skills with a love for gardening. She enjoys painting flowers and ordinary people doing everyday things with an emphasis on capturing light.

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.

Hattie Lee is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up on the plains in Southwest Kansas, and now lives in Peoria, Illinois. She has a BFA in graphic design, an MA with an emphasis in painting, and will complete her MFA in Spring 2021. As a registered member of the Cherokee Nation she is influenced by her Great Grandmother’s heritage and stories, and desires to continue that legacy in her family.

Lee spent three years living in Thailand while working with a non-profit organization on their fine art and media team, giving her the opportunity to interact and learn from many people groups and tribes in Asia. Multicultural relationships, interactions, and appreciation are a large part of her creative energy and motivation.

“I translate Cherokee tribal inspirations, such as basketry and beadwork, into original compositions. This process, and the resulting patterns, embody my experience of the world as part of the Cherokee diaspora and member of the Cherokee Nation. The abstracted nature of my compositions symbolize the mixture of cultural backgrounds our modern-day world represents. My work is a hybridization- mixing tradition and nontraditional, native and non-native; a window into the life of a contemporary Native American who desires to reconnect to ancestors long past but still revered.

My culturally inspired compositions sometimes use textiles, embroidery, and found ceramics. Relocating family heirlooms and objects to my studio and incorporating them into an art piece is one way of processing the fact that I am one in a long line of stories. I also get my paintings and prints made into custom fabrics, allowing my paintings to inform my fiber art, and vice-versa.

My family’s fiber and material history is included in my practice because the artistry and usefulness it has provided is something worth honoring, while adding my own voice to its historical timeline of use. By integrating them, it is a collaboration with an artist I will never meet, yet had their own important story and reason for creating. My work flow is influenced by repurposed or thrifted materials, as well as art supplies and objects from family and community.

The term “sacred” has most often been used with religious language. However, in my work, the definition of “sacred” is bringing reverence and respect to heritages and materials. Reverence and respect are tribal community values. Though translated differently through my own experiences, I continuously find myself circling back to the idea of a sacredness in valuing the past as well as the present, leading to the formation of a richer future.” – Hattie Lee

Exhibit will run from April 2-30, 2021
Opening Reception on First Friday, April 2, 2021 from 5-9 PM
We will be following the social distancing guidelines that are recommended at the time of the event. Masks will be required so please bring one with you.