art
COLLECTION
current art exhibitions
The library features local artists in two gallery spaces, the Café Gallery and the North Gallery. Art exhibits rotate monthly.
April 20 - May 21
Historical Newspapers Gallery Project
Locations: North Gallery
This gallery project was inspired by one of the main questions posed by the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibit, “What did Americans know about the Holocaust?” Staff at the Downers Grove Public Library went through historic newspapers to find articles, political cartoons, and opinion pieces related to this topic. Clippings were compiled and displayed with additional historical context. They show a glimpse at what people in Downers Grove and the Chicagoland area knew about topics related to those discussed in the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibit. These panels are a fraction of the material that exists within historical newspapers about the subject. For more information, and to see full text articles of the included clippings, please visit the Adult and Teen Services Desk on the second floor.
submit your work
The library's rotating gallery schedule typically books approximately one year in advance. If you have artwork you would like to exhibit at the library, fill out the interest form below. All artwork exhibited at the library must adhere to the library's policy.
permanent art collection
Country Ramble
Harmony
Resting Spot
By the Stream
Alix Stefan
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 2nd Floor, nonfiction
The four landscapes reflect the Stefan’s obvious love and respect for nature, with the greens, pastels, and blues of the trees, flowers, and sky creating a restful atmosphere.
"I like to take something realistic and simplify it," Stefan says. "I need it to invoke a feeling in me. When that happens, I bring emotion to it, and you have a painting to enjoy for years to come."
Couples II
B. Mensah
Year Acquired: 2019
Location: 1st Floor, lobby
The artist is sometimes seen as crazy, but to me, the very thing we all see and take for granted translates into the artistic representation on the canvas, as the spirit of creativity takes over my being." - Mensah
He has an intense sense of color and this vibrancy adds a great deal to the paintings he produces. “I create to portray how I see nature and to exhibit the artistic qualities in me,” Mensah states. He creates works that are easily identifiable, not merely through his own style but his subjects as well. The characters he portrays, the stories he tells, are all part of one very elaborate narrative.
Couples II is a donation from by B. Mensah.
Navy Pier, Aerial View
Bruce Heinrich
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 2nd Floor, computer area
Heinrich’s photography captures the hustle and bustle and beauty of Chicago's lakefront. The photo was taken from a helicopter as Heinrich dangled out an open door secured by a large seat belt with the buckle taped shut. He used a medium-large format camera and high-speed film.
Chicago native Bruce Heinrich began his involvement with photography at age fourteen and has worked in the field ever since. He also collects old photographs documenting beautiful Chicago.
Burmese Teaching Panels
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 2nd Floor, elevator wall
This set of teaching panels came from Mandalay in Northeast Burma. They were carved at the end of the nineteenth century and uniquely combine painting and sculpture. Colored from paints made from various natural dyes, minerals, and extracts, the hardwood panels were hand-carved in deep relief.
Typically, the subject matter for Burmese panels combined a variety of decorative elements with either stories about historical or mythological people or depictions of Jatakas (stories of previous lives of the historical Buddha). Particular characters or episodes were used to tell a complex story, and the artwork often focused on a central figure whose clothing and jewelry was highly detailed. At times, the background was also detailed, emphasizing interior design and, perhaps, architecturally important motifs.
Won't You Say You Love Me?
Carrie Ann Schumacher
Year Acquired: 2016
Location: 2nd Floor, music collection
A box of discarded romance novels inspired Carrie Ann Schumacher to embark on a sculptural journey that has taken her work across the country. The feathery white pages of the books became the fabric of a series of full-size dresses featured in her exhibit, “Build Her a Myth: Romance Novel Dresses.”
Storytelling and art making were a significant part of Schumacher’s formative years. It was her future and she’s never looked back. A multi-media artist living and working in the Chicago area, she received her B.F.A. in Digital Media from Elmhurst College and an M.F.A. in Painting from Northern Illinois University.
A former DGPL employee, Schumacher donated the dress to the library in memory of her friend and mentor, longtime Circulation Manager Nadine Walsh.
Won't You Say You Love Me is a donation from Carrie Ann Schumacher.
Ruby Macchia, a glass bowl
Dale Chihuly
Year Acquired: 2002
Location: 1st Floor, café
Chihuly's Macchia bowls are created by creating a color chart with one color for the interior, another color for the exterior, and a contrasting color for the lip wrap, along with various jimmies and dusts of pigment between the gathers of glass. Throughout the blowing process, colors are added, layer upon layer. Macchia means spotted in Italian.
Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. His work is included in over 200 collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including seven honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Story of Gilgamesh
Dallas Cole
Year Acquired: 1977
Location: Stairway landing
The bas-relief depicts highlights from the legend of King Gilgamesh of Sumeria, the oldest surviving epic poem. The story of Gilgamesh and his adventures predates the invention of writing. It was passed down through oral storytelling until around 2000 B.C. when the Sumerians, using cuneiform script, recorded the epic on clay tablets.
Sculpted by Dallas Cole, the bas-relief was donated by the Downers Grove Friends of the Library in honor of librarian Frieda Humphris who worked at the Downers Grove Library from 1925 to 1972. This piece has been a familiar sight for many years at DGPL, originally displayed in the former library building. Since then, the piece has been refurbished, conserved, and transferred to its current location in the new building.
Ta-Da!
Daria Peoples
Year Acquired: 2022
Location: 1st Floor, Kids Room entrance
Ta-Da! is the illustration that graces the final page of the children’s picture book Show The World authored by Angela Dalton. The collage is a combination of oil and oil sticks painted onto khadi paper, with the khadi paper then collaged onto an illustration board. As the last image a reader views, Peoples’ collage piece shows a group of children playing outside engaging in a range of activities — drawing, roller skating, drumming, breakdancing; literally showing the world all that they can be, which can be interpreted as a direct representation of the book’s title. It is said that the first step in Peoples’ creative process is getting to know the manuscript intimately and reading it frequently prior to crafting initial sketches. The images on a page of a children’s book don’t necessarily have to tell the same story as the manuscript, however, Peoples’ deep connection to the story and the clear attempt to interpret how it may be viewed from the perspective of a child is also vividly apparent in this closing image showing children engaged in various forms of creative exploration.
Daria Peoples is an author and illustrator who maintains a lifelong history as a library lover and enthusiast. Often reciting the story of her first job at the ripe age of nine working at her hometown library’s children’s section, Peoples’ love of storytelling made a perfect complement to her childhood love of drawing and painting. After working as a teacher for a decade, Peoples later transitioned to becoming a full-time
author illustrator of children’s books, all while cultivating messaging and community that encourage youth to allow themselves to be seen and heard as citizens of the world.
Ta Da! is a donation from the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation.
Big Rally
David Gerstein
Year Acquired: 2006
Location: 2nd Floor, Graphic Novels
David Gerstein’s Big Rally conveys the movement, color, and excitement of a bicycle race. Gerstein is a contemporary Israeli artist and sculptor whose work has been exhibited in the United States, Europe, South America, and his home country. His whimsical and colorful hand-painted metal sculptures express the joy of life and the forces of good in the world.
Franklin Street Bridge
DuBuffet Sculpture
Harld Washington Library
Edward Daniel
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 2nd Floor, Public Computers
Through the creative use of his lens, Chicago photographer Edward Daniel presents three architecturally arresting views of popular Chicago landmarks. The Franklin Street Bridge is awash in winter—reflecting typical Chicago weather. The thick, abstract curves of Jean DuBuffet's Monument with Standing Beast contrast and frame the geometric lines of the skyscraper in the background. Roof ornamentation depicting an owl perched atop the Harold Washington Public Library building provides the perfect foil to the massive granite and brick structure.
Daniel began documenting Chicago street scenes over twenty years ago and now works on commercial assignments and art photography.
Children of Peace
Gary Price
Year Acquired: 2002
Location: Outdoor Garden Walk
"The figures in ‘Children of Peace' symbolize peace and harmony with all things around them—both with nature and mankind. Peace is something our world cries out for, and as an artist and a father of five, I believe it starts with our children. If our youth have the opportunity to grow up in peaceful and loving homes and are taught early the need for harmony and concern, the entire world will spin in a brighter and higher direction. In this sculpture, the children's bodies form simple arches. Arches are the beginning of circles, and circles are simple and beautiful forms that represent peace, harmony, and eternity." - Price
Puffed Up Prince
Gary Price
Year Acquired: 2002
Location: 1st Floor, Kids Room
"Every once in a while it's a fun challenge to ‘break the mold,' so to speak, on traditional figure sculpture and create a piece of pure whimsy. I was sitting in the studio one day looking at a recently completed sculpture of a child and a ball. Wondering what type of a creature would lend itself to a spherical shape, I proceeded to add clay to a ball. Coincidentally, a large jumping frog was visiting in the studio. Every time I touched the frog it would enlarge itself with air. Needless to say, I was inspired and my first spherical creature was created; the ‘Puffed Up Prince.'" - Price
Illinois Sojourn
Gregory Gove
Year Acquired: 2000
Location: 2nd Floor, Quiet Study Room
Illinois Sojourn, a work commissioned by the Library Board of Trustees, was painted on canvas and then applied to the wall of the Quiet Study Room. It depicts a peaceful Illinois rural scene and also employs the design of the room's windows. By incorporating the window motif in the work, the mural creates the feeling that you are looking through the windows of the room onto the tranquil rural scene beyond.
Chicago-based artist Gregory Gove focuses on public area artwork of all sizes and styles, and his works can be seen in corporate, retail, and health care settings throughout the country.
Untitled
Untitled
Jim Laser
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 1st Floor, Checkout Desk
Both works evoke aquatic images and demonstrate Laser’s technique of transforming something ordinary into a work of art by looking at it in an unusual way. Laser is a Chicago-native, and a prolific fine art photographer with a portfolio of over 800 pieces—all hand-held, 35mm, uncropped, full-frame Cibachrome prints. Laser performs his own color processing in order to achieve the subtleties he is after.
Soaring, Kids Room Mural
John McDavitt
Year Acquired: 2017
Location: 1st Floor, Kids Room
Muralist, illustrator, and product designer John McDavitt created the mural, titled Soaring, in the Kids Room in 2017. Books are flying from the library doors while the characters emerge from their pages midflight in this whimsical mural seen from a bird’s eye view. With its attention to detail, each open book tells its own story. The mural was generously paid for by the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation.
Soaring, Kids Room Mural is a donation from the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation.
Kuna Molas
Kuna Artists
Year Acquired: 2006
Location: 1st Floor, Kids Room, Fiction
The Kuna are from the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. Folk art textiles, like these, are made by an appliqué process referred to as “reverse appliqué,” using several layers of differently colored textiles which are sewn together. The layers are cut and stitched to allow the different colors to show through in the finished design. Designs depict flora, fauna, geometrics, and whimsical themes. The small colorful animal molas displayed in the library are sometimes called “molitas.” On the average a mola takes from four to six weeks to complete. The best mola makers are highly honored among the Kuna.
Books in Print
Library Quilters
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 2nd Floor, Conference Room B
Created by staff members Denise Griffin, Amy Johnson, Daksha Mistry, Karen Rodde, and Amy Ruyle in celebration of the new library building, Books in Print is constructed from strips of various cotton prints designed to look like books on a shelf.
DGPL staff members organized and quilted the piece over the course of 9 months. The top of the quilt contains a batting and backing and is machine quilted between each book and shelf to achieve the desired effect. A photo of the library mascot, Miss Mouse, was photo-transferred onto fabric and appliqued onto a block. The names of the quilters, as well as the titles of various books, can be found in the design.
Aqua Melt, Flores y Conejos
Melissa Leandro
Year Acquired: 2020
Location: 1st Floor, Lobby
Melissa Leandro explores personal, familial, and cultural experiences, bringing together motifs and objects of domestic life that echo her hybrid culture as a first-generation U.S. citizen. Leandro’s textile works take her audience to a hyper-vivid alternate reality both inspired by and at odds with ideas of “home” as she traveled between Costa Rica, Miami, Chicago, and adventures abroad.
Leandro utilizes repetitive and layered techniques of drawing, weaving and stitching to represent an abstract and tactile slice of the people and places that are vital to her sense of identity.
To learn more, hear the artist discuss her work.
Aqua Melt, Flores y Conejos is a donation from the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation.
F.GI's Bridge
Pamela J. Hart
Year Acquired: 2001
Location: 2st Floor, Elevator Wall
Local gems such as the Morton Arboretum, Cantigny, and the Chicago Botanical Gardens influence much of Pamela Hart's work. The interplay of light and shadows on the paths and walkways of these settings has inspired her to work with layers of paint and focus on the shadows created by nature. As a result, her creations carry an impressionistic tone.
Frozen Orchard No. 2
Patricia McGrady
Year Acquired: 2001
Location: 2nd Floor, Computer Area
Frozen Orchard no. 2 is the result of an afternoon drive in one of Patricia McGrady's favorite locations, Suttons Bay, Michigan. Evanston photographer McGrady is particularly drawn to rural landscapes, perhaps from spending summers, as a youth, on her grandparents' farm in West Virginia.
Her camera of choice is a Rolliflex TLR. McGrady uses a variety of films and papers for color work, while all her black and white photographs are printed on fiber-based paper. Some of her photos have sepia tones added, and several of her images are hand-colored.
Untitled Abstracts
Pietro Adamo
Year Acquired: 1999
Location: 2nd Floor
Works like these two are celebrations of the artist's admiration for freedom of expression, feelings and emotions, and the "unpredictable and inexhaustible record of life."
Adamo focuses on geometric spatial relationships, and texture and form give optimism and strength to his works. Adamo states, "I have to paint to speak without words, to express myself without restrictions…never relenting.
Downers Grove Public Library
Robin Faulkner
Year Acquired: 1980
Location: 2nd Floor, Fiction
Artist Robin Faulkner created four historical paintings of buildings that have housed the Downers Grove Public Library. The works employ gouache, pencil, and watercolors. Three were commissioned by the Downers Grove Friends of the Library and completed in the 1980s. Owner Services, Inc. donated the fourth piece in dedication of the new building in 1999.
Reborn
Rumi Session Series; Love
Sarvin Haghighi
Year Acquired: 2020
Reborn Location: 2nd Floor, Public Computers
Rumi Session Series; Love Location: 1st Floor, Lobby
Sarvin Haghighi merges traditional Iranian art forms with a contemporary sensibility. In combining Farsi calligraphy and Islamic architectural designs with mixed media (including resin and gold leaf), bold lines, and framing, Haghighi affirms the enduring aesthetic of a culture that is too often represented through the limited lenses of war and political turmoil. The meticulous composition of these works share the laconic beauty of Rumi’s poetry, which ultimately works to create an emotionally resonant homage to tradition in the frantic modern world.
“Art is a powerful weapon. I am on a personal mission to bridge the gap between cultures and find a common ground that unites us all as human beings through art” –Sarvin Haghighi
As a child in the midst of the Iran-Iraq war, Sarvin turned to painting to find her voice. It was amidst the acrylics and canvas that Sarvin captured the cherished memory of childhood, honored the traditions of her people, and provided cultural commentary on the female experience in contemporary Middle East society. While passion for her Persian roots provides continual inspiration for Sarvin, her cross-cultural exposure gives a universal subtext to her work. Her meticulous compositions share the laconic beauty of 13th-century Persian poet, Rumi, creating an emotional homage to tradition in a frenetic, modern world. Sarvin reimagines traditional art forms of Farsi calligraphy and architectural Persian/Islamic designs, combining them with gold leaf, bold lines, and framing. This allows Sarvin to affirm the enduring aesthetic of a culture too often represented through the limited lens of war and political turmoil.
Reborn and Rumi Session Series; Love are donations from the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation.
Untitled
Sergey Cherep
Year Acquired: 2018
Location: 2nd Floor, Nonfiction
Cherep’s dramatic paintings reflect his passion for French impressionism and his love of colors, textures, and light. His work has been exhibited extensively in the United States and in European galleries, as well as in his home country of Russia in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Renee's Landscape
Sergey Cherep
Year Acquired: 2006
Location: 2nd Floor, Elevator Wall
Renee's Landscape was donated in honor of Don and Lorraine Mullen. The original oil painting is dedicated to Cherep's wife, Renee.
Windows
Teen Artists
Year Acquired: 2019
Location: 2nd Floor, Teen Central
The twelve canvases are works created by nine teen artists as part of the View from the Artist’s Studio under the guidance of muralist John McDavitt. Artists include Cassie R., Conner R., Eliot M., Harley B., Katie T., Madeline P., Megan M., Rozalind S., and Samantha M.
This student-driven, collaborative project was conducted over an eight-week period. The teens determined the theme of Windows and each created their own view of what they saw, either looking out or looking in, on one of nine canvases. The three remaining panels were created in teams of three.
The View from the Artist’s Studio program was made possible, in part, by a donation from the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation.
Journey to Janus
Walter Gordinier
Year Acquired: 2000
Location: South Atrium
The aerial sculpture is entitled Journey to Janus after the Roman god, portrayed with two faces, who sees both the past and the future, just as the library is the keeper of the past and the future. The features of the aerial sculpture allude to the Odyssey, the great poetic voyage of antiquity. In this piece, that voyage is a metaphor for the library, speaking to the magic, adventure, and fulfillment of dreams that transcend time.
Within the atrium, the boat, a vessel represented by the cone, begins the journey. The sphere and articulated line are a compass to the future unknown that is symbolized by the crystal dichroic glass alignment where the passage ends its course. The tubes, located in the second floor spine, extend the piece by representing change and movement—a sail.
To Gordinier, it is up to the artwork, "to create an experience of passage, an event for the spirit," while providing, "a point of contemplation and revival [that] will be worth re-seeing tens of times, each time, fresh."
Travel Europe
My Memory
Zhou Brothers
Year Acquired: 2001
Location: Stairway Landing
The Zhou brothers, Shan Zuo and Da Huang, leaders in China's art renaissance, left their homeland in 1986 in order to pursue an international career. The brothers paint and create simultaneously and as a result, have become major figures in the international contemporary art world. When asked about their work, Da Huang said, "When we see an empty canvas, the image will become a new world. But what kind of new world? We have only an excited feeling. Our feeling is expressed on the canvas."
For more information email communications@dglibrary.org.