September 2026 Newsletter
Events Calendar | Call for Artists | Volunteer
Gallery News
Dear CSI Members,
We have an important update to share about Chicago Sculpture International’s Project Space Gallery at 1912 N. Damen Avenue. Firstly Chicago Sculpture International expresses their utmost gratitude to the generosity of Ivy Gard who presented CSI with the space for use by Project Space. Ron Gard (Ivy's husband) was a devoted sculptor who dedicated much of his time to supporting CSI for many years before his passing. The Gard's have done so much to see our organization thrive and it is an honor that we have been given the opportunity to work with them throughout the years.
After an incredible 6½ years of exhibitions, programs, creativity, and community in this space, the generous gift of space that made the Project Space possible is coming to an end as the space transitions toward commercial use. The gallery will close later this month.
Project Space Gallery has given CSI the opportunity to showcase the work of so many talented artists, bring members together, and create a vibrant place for art and conversation. We are deeply grateful for the generosity that made the space possible, as well as to everyone who has helped make the gallery such a special part of the CSI community.
CSI looks forward to continuing its gallery exhibition program, including our annual Little, but BOLD! holiday exhibition. News of its venue and the Call for Artists will be forthcoming.
As CSI plans for the future of its gallery program, we are also exploring creative possibilities for exhibitions in 2027. CSI welcomes members to share promising leads for potential exhibition spaces and other creative opportunities. Please share those leads via email to info@chicagosculpture.org.
Thank you for being such an important part of CSI, and we look forward to continuing to exhibit, connect, and celebrate art together.
Cheers,
Micki LeMieux
CSI Gallery Director
Board Member Opportunities
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEES WAIVER
Chicago Sculpture International is waiving annual membership fees for members willing to devote time volunteering in any of the committees on our board and leadership page. Please check out here: www.chicagosculpture.org/board-leadership
Areas include:
Communications outreach; Assisting with panel and artist talks; Exhibitions, installations and opening receptions; Grants and development… and more. Contact info@chicagosculpture.org for additional information.
Start learning about the progress of our nonprofit organization today!
Open Board Positions
Membership Chair: Helps strengthen connections among CSI members and build an active, engaged membership community. The Membership Chair organizes informal member gatherings, including meetups, studio visits, picnics, and other opportunities for members to connect, share ideas, and experience art together.
This is an opportunity to help shape how CSI brings its membership together and to develop programs that make membership more rewarding and engaging.
Vice President: Acts as president in his/her absence; assists in public relations, develops meeting agendas, committee management, and overall board governance alongside acting president.
Treasurer: Manage (maintain) financial database including banking relationships, keeps track of deposits/disbursements while communicating with accountant and executive director.
Outreach Development: Communicates with CSI partners, committee chairs (indoor/outdoor/grants/etc).
Please reach out via info@chicagosculpture.org if you have interest in volunteering for any of these roles.
Whispers from the Unfamiliar
Image credit: GLIMPSE (detail) by Debra Blechan, Fired earth / Hand-painted ceramic sculpture, 48 x 30 in. (ceramic: 17 x 14-1/2 x 9 in)
Group Exhibition at the CSI Project Space Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, August 7, from 6-9 pm
Exhibit Dates: August 7 – September 4, 2026
Whispers from the Unfamiliar invites artists to explore their relationship with the unknown . . . the quiet, unfiltered thoughts that flutter internally before taking shape in the real world. Intuition perceives our surroundings and understanding of self-long before our conscious mind constructs words to rationalize them. The unfamiliar whispers in silent moments, revealing hidden emotions, forgotten histories, and subtle echoes of understanding. It weaves narratives while we sleep and wakes us with instant clarity and purpose. By embracing this unconscious conversation, we uncover insight into our identities and the world we inhabit.
Stephanie Sailer, Curator
Exhibiting Artists: Debra Balchen, Roland Biermann, Bethany Cordero, Alexis Di Stefano, Brian Divis, Gertah, Abby Giurfa, Carol Hammerman, Alex Jarus,Nico Kazlauskas, John Kurman, Elizabeth La Bouef, Kim Laurel, Micki LeMieux, Ellen Lustig, Scott Mossman, Marvin Shafer, David Skora, Rich Stewart, Nancy Van Kanegan, Audrey Yang
Location:
CSI Project Space Gallery
1912 N. Damen Ave. Chicago, IL.
(At the corner of Cortland and Damen Avenues, in the Bucktown neighborhood)
Gallery Hours:
Fri, 2-6 pm
Sat, 12-4 pm
Sun, 1-5 pm
Voices in Form
Personal, political, or social narratives expressed through sculpture
Exhibition Dates: October 1 – November 12, 2026
About the Exhibit:
The Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery is hosting a special juried exhibition, Voices in Form, which features work by artist members of the Chicago Sculpture International group.
Voices in Form invited sculptors to explore how three-dimensional works can carry, amplify, and embody personal, political, and social narratives. This exhibition seeks sculpture that functions as a form of visual language—expressing lived experience, cultural memory, identity, resistance, or reflection through material, process, and form. Artists were encouraged to consider how their work “speaks” in space, whether through symbolic imagery, abstract gesture, or the physical presence of the object itself.
Exhibiting Artists: Nikki Renee Anderson, Brian Divis, Darlys Ewoldt, Victoria Fuller, Spencer Gale, Ronald Gonzalez, James Hajicek, Azadeh Hussaini, Terrence Karpowicz, Fia Kim, Jill King, Pat Miceli, Bill Mitchell,Brian Monaghan, Jerry Monteith, Nancy Pirri, Marvin Shafer, Cherry Tung, Sishi Wang, and Bruce Webber
About the Juror:
Carrie Baxter, Art Gallery Director, and the IUK Art and NMAT Faculty will serve as the jurors. Important Dates:
Important Dates:
Exhibition: October 1 – November 5, 2026
Delivery of work: September 14-17, 2026
Exhibition closes: November 5, 2026
Location:
Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery
IU Kokomo Campus
Room KA-102
2300 S. Washington St.
Kokomo, Indiana
Phone: (765)-455-9523
Gallery hours:
Monday–Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (EST)
Friday-Sunday: CLOSED
Momentum
CSI Member Juried Exhibition at Leslie Wolfe GalleryExhibition Dates: October 10 – November 5, 2026
Opening Reception: October 15, 5:30 – 8:30PM
Coincides with Lincoln Park Art Night
Momentum refers to a call for works whose power for expression implies movement, direction, speed, or growth, transformation, or significantly, the “potential” for any of these ideas. The idea of momentum seems especially appropriate for sculpture because the viewer rarely experiences sculpture from a fixed viewpoint. All works of art or design convey visual elements that exist along a spectrum between static balance and dynamism, depending on the intent of the creator. For this exhibition, works are sought that lean strongly toward the dynamic end of that spectrum. Sculptures fully in the round and works in relief will be considered. Artists may submit three works for consideration.
Exhibiting Artists: Wallace Bowling | Ei Cullina | Darlys Ewoldt | Lynn Floriano | Shelley Gilchrist | Indira Johnson | Yvette Kaiser Smith | Terry Karpowicz | Kelly Lawler | Micki LeMieux | Won Ji Lim | Ellen Lustig | Patrick Miceli | Ruth Aizuss Migdal | Scott Mossman | Katherine Nemanich | David Noguchi | Zelene Jiang Schlosberg | Marvin Shafer | Julia Smith
About the Juror: Beth Shadur is an artist who has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. She has created over 150 large public murals as public, private, and community art projects in the United States and Great Britain. She has taught and served as a visiting artist at many colleges and universities. From 2012-2024, Shadur served as Gallery Director at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, IL. She has been awarded numerous residencies and fellowships. Her work is owned in many private and public collections.
Important Dates:
Exhibition: October 10 – November 5, 2026
Delivery of work: October 8, 10AM – 5PM or October 9, 10AM – 1PM
Reception to coincide with Lincoln Park Art Night, October 15, 5:30 – 8:30PM
Pick up of work: November 4, 3PM – 9 PM or November 5, 10AM – 5PM
Location:
Leslie Wolf Gallery
Old Town Art Center
1763 N. North Park Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(312) 337-1938
Landscape Echoes: Texture, Form and Tension - Sculptures by Mike Baur
Exhibition runs through September 25, 2026
CSI member and veteran Illinois artist Mike Baur has been creating sculptural works in the Chicago area since 1976. His pieces are featured in numerous public spaces and museum collections, including two works held by the Koehnline Museum of Art.
This exhibition showcases sculptures inspired by the textures and forms of natural landscapes—often vast expanses interrupted by both organic and industrial elements. Baur’s work offers abstract interpretations of these environments, frequently suggesting a horizontal orientation that reflects how natural forces can subdue vertical structures.
Koehnline Museum of Art
Oakton College
1600 E. Gold Road
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Gallery Summer Hours:
Monday through Thursday: 10 am - 7 pm
Aug. 3 - Sept. 25:
Monday through Friday: 10 am - 6 pm
Saturdays: 11am -4 pm
For special visits call: (847) 635-2633
Image credit: Mike Baur
Ronald Gonzalez: Tributaries
New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC) at Alfred University Fosdick-Nelson Gallery
August 28–October 9, 2026
The New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC), a statutory college of the State University of New York operating within Alfred University, presents Tributaries, an exhibition of new assemblage works by CSI member Ronald Gonzalez. For more than four decades, Gonzalez has transformed found objects through assemblage, welding, casting, and continual reworking. In Tributaries, the bed becomes a recurring sculptural form, shifting the artist’s longstanding engagement with the human figure toward intimate spaces associated with rest, vulnerability, dreams, and childhood.
Opening Reception: Friday, August 28, 5–7 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
Location: Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Harder Hall Lobby, School of Art and Design, Alfred University, Alfred, New York.Gallery Hours: Daily, noon–4 p.m.
Image credit: Ronald Gonzalez
Lakewood Meadows Oak Tree Sculpture Project
Crystal Lake Park District
Lakewood Meadows Park, Crystal Lake, IL
Proposal Deadline: Friday, September 25, 2026, at noon
The Crystal Lake Park District is seeking proposals from professional, student, and emerging artists, sculptors, chainsaw artists, woodcarvers, and artist teams to transform one to three salvaged oak logs into a permanent public sculpture at Lakewood Meadows Park. The logs came from a large oak tree that was removed in 2024 for safety reasons, and the project seeks to honor the tree’s life and the benefits it provided to the community. Designs should connect with the Park District’s support of native wildlife, pollinators—including monarch butterflies—and native plantings, while complementing recreational opportunities at the park. Existing granite boulders may also be incorporated into the work.
The project anticipates an artist stipend of approximately $1,500 to $3,000 and based on the scope of the proposal submitted. Applicants should include proposed costs from conceptual design through fabrication and installation, with final compensation determined based on the scope of the selected proposal.
Applicants should include proposed costs from conceptual design through fabrication and installation, with final compensation determined based on the scope of the selected proposal. Proposals should also include a general concept, proposed design and fabrication/installation process, and project timeline. A stable foundation and anchoring system may be required for long-term durability and public safety; the Park District may coordinate and pay for this portion through a local contractor.
Individual artists, artist teams, and class projects are welcome.
All work must be completed by April 15, 2027.
Click here for more information and to apply
A site visit to view the logs and conditions can be arranged with Amy Olson at 815-459-0680 ext. 1217 or aolson@crystallakeparks.org. Contracts are subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act and require appropriate insurance and contractor documentation.
Experience the 24th Annual Ravenswood ArtWalk
September 12–13, 2026
11:00 AM–6:00 PM
Along Ravenswood Avenue from Lawrence to Irving Park
Spend the weekend exploring one of Chicago’s most vibrant creative neighborhoods during the 24th Annual Ravenswood ArtWalk, taking place September 12–13 from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Stretching along Ravenswood Avenue from Lawrence Avenue to Irving Park Road, ArtWalk invites visitors to discover the workspaces and creations of local artists while enjoying a lively neighborhood festival atmosphere.
Highlights include:
An Outdoor Arts Market featuring 70+ artists
40+ open studios
Pop-up galleries and markets
Live music
Food trucks
Local craft beer
Kid’s activities
And much more!
Whether searching for original artwork, meeting artists, or simply enjoying a day immersed in Chicago’s creative community, Ravenswood ArtWalk offers something for all ages.
Click here for more information on the Ravenswood ArtWalk and Volunteer Opportunities.
Image: Spoonbridge and Cherry, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, 1988. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Image courtesy of Meet Minneapolis.
International Sculpture Conference
The International Sculpture Conference is coming to Twin Cities, MN and the clock is ticking for enrollment in their upcoming round of panel discussions and all things sculpture. The dates are October 22-25, 2026. Please see: sculpture.org/mpage/TwinCities2026 for more specifics on what ISC is up to. Chicago Sculpture International is looking to be present in some shape or form, so if anyone is planning to go please e-mail info@chicagoscultpure.org to let us know!
Have any news to share?
Shows, awards, residencies etc? Submit here and we'll include them in an upcoming newsletter.
While you're at it, your profile and images on CSI’s website are important. When CSI applies for grants and upcoming shows, images are solely chosen from those you have uploaded to our website. Please take a minute to look over what you have posted and make sure you are presenting the best work. Please contact info@chicagosculpture.org with any questions or assistance you would like or need.
CSI projects are partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Chicago Sculpture International acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency for CSI programming including exhibitions and funding for Project Space Gallery.
CSI is a proud recipient of the Driehaus Foundation Arts and Culture Grant to help support funding and programming.
Chicago Sculpture International acknowledges support from the National Endowment for the Arts
Above: (right) Ron Gard’s sculpture The Struggle Against Death; (right) Ron in 2014 working in Lincoln Park on one of three tree sculptures, Dying to Survive Nos. #3, #6 & #9.
In Memory of Ron Gard
Chicago Sculpture International acknowledges Ivy Gard, who in 2020 graciously donated ongoing exhibition space (CSI Project Space) to CSI and its members in memory of Ron Gard and his achievements in sculpture and dedicated service for several years as treasurer of the organization.
Ron’s exquisite and exacting craftsmanship, along with his vast knowledge of materials and methods, is widely regarded and revered by CSI and his circle of peers.
Land Acknowledgement
The City of Chicago, and its surrounding areas, have always been and always will be, home to numerous Native American communities. As a team dedicated to the uplifting of Indigenous People's sovereignty everywhere, we recognize that each program and exhibition associated with this project is taking place on the traditional homelands of the Council of Three Fires - the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa - as well as the Menominee, Miami, and Ho-Chunk Nations. Further, we acknowledge that Chicago is home to one of the largest urban Native American communities in the US. We therefore invite each of our non-Indigenous colleagues to learn more about the forced removal of many of the communities listed above from the state of Illinois and to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into their line of work. To provide immediate assistance to Native American Communities in Chicago, you can send donations to the city's American Indian Center here
Image credit: An untitled “bed” installation from Ronald Gonzalez’s Tributaries exhibition.
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