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Rory McEwen (1932-1982) Tulip, ‘Julia Farnese’ rose feather, 1976. © The Official Estate of Rory McEwen.
By JACKIE LEWIS
Artist Rory McEwen’s paintings of nature are exceptionally detailed. That much is obvious when you first encounter his work, but upon further study each work reveals itself as something well beyond scientific reproduction or illustration. McEwan’s unique combination of realism and modernism deftly evokes both emotion and beauty.
McEwen became known in the 1960s and 70s for his distinctive style of botanical realism framed by, and placed within, large amounts of white space. The Scottish-born artist was only 50 when he died in 1982, and since that time McEwen’s children have been dedicated to promoting the legacy of the late artist’s work. The opportunity to view dozens of McEwen’s works in person comes to Chicago this summer as Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature arrives at Chicago’s Driehaus Museum and continues the reintroduction of Rory McEwen and his artwork to United States audiences. The Driehaus exhibition is the last stop on a multi-city tour across the country. McEwen is not a household name in the United States, but he is well-known overseas. The current exhibition has been successfully exposing both American art aficionados as well as botanists to his legacy, a prospect that has been exciting for friends and family of the artist to see unfold. Chicago resident Joseph Gromacki, Driehaus Museum Board member and friend of the McEwen family, shared with CGN that this exhibition has had a great reception at its previous stops, and McEwen’s work demonstrates Incredible luminosity. “They have a real trueness of color through the use of watercolor on vellum,” he says, “And [the images] are as real as they can possibly look.”
The breadth of work shown in A New Perspective on Nature firmly orients McEwen in the history of botanical art while acknowledging the bridge he created between Old Masters and contemporary artists through a style that melds multiple time periods and influences. On view will be multiple examples of botanical art from the 16th-18th centuries, with Old Master works by 17th and 18th century floral artists, many from American philanthropist Bunny Mellon’s extensive estate. Works by contemporary botanical artists from the renowned collection of Dr. Shirley Sherwood are also included in the exhibition.
Though work by other artists provides context, the centerpiece of the exhibition is 85 of McEwen’s paintings, on loan from numerous galleries and collections from around the world, featuring highly detailed botanical subjects, from lush individual flowers, to varigated leaves and crisp vegetables, each set strikingly against a vast, white background. The juxtaposition of detailed realism with the spare aesthetics of modernism defines McEwen as an artist whose work was ahead of its time, while paradoxically being an artist of his time.
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Red Pepper 1971, Watercolour on vellum, 28.9 x 39.4 cm, ©The Estate of Rory McEwen
McEwen’s interest in organic matter had roots in his childhood growing up on the magical Marchmont House in the Scottish Borders where he could indulge his artistic sensibilities in an idyllic setting. At home he was taught how to draw by his governess, before he received a more classical education at the famed Eton College in England, and then subsequently he also made contact with French floral painters during his travels. McEwen’s ideal circumstances and family standing meant in some ways he easily found himself on a path to immersing himself in botanical art. McEwen once said he chose his subject matter as “a way to get as close as possible to what I perceive as the truth of the time in which I live.” For McEwen, natural imagery allowed the artist to delve deeply into a lifelong inquiry into light and color in natural objects.
McEwen was a bit of a celebrity in his youth when he made a name for himself because of another artistic medium: music. An interest that grew out of his inclination for history, McEwen crafted his own interpretations of ancient Scottish folk ballads, playing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and even touring the United States in 1956, playing in high profile venues like the Ed Sullivan Show. Despite his musical talent and following, he ultimately dedicated himself to the visual arts. After a musical tour, McEwen claims that “[his] hand had unknowingly educated itself,” and he returned to painting.
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Rory McEwen (1932-1982), Old English Striped Tulip, 1974-76, watercolor on vellum. © The Estate of Rory McEwen.
Lisa Key, Driehaus Museum Executive Director, believes that this exhibition invites us to approach our natural surroundings with curiosity and wonder. “McEwen’s naturalistic paintings,” she considers, “will echo the organic forms and ornamentation throughout our historic interiors”
McEwen’s paintings capture an intensely detailed realism that is a masterwork in painting, especially given the difficulty of his chosen media, watercolor on vellum. This choice highlights how McEwen was inspired by Old Master artists who were fond of painting on vellum as well for realistic depiction, yet McEwen transforms it for his own purposes, which ultimately made him an artist who managed to bridge the gap between past and contemporary botanical art styles. While the material choices are similar, McEwen’s placement and use of the negative and abstraction of blank space was his own invention. As Gromacki explains choosing a beautiful object, such as a flower, and letting it become everything in the white space glorifies the subject in a way prior artists did not. It places the subject in conversation and allows a sense of beauty and emotion that a more scientific depiction may lack.
Late in his career, before his untimely death due to cancer, McEwen’s work focused on deteriorating leaves. He felt that so much was happening within a dying leaf that it could capture life’s fading grandeur. McEwen proclaimed that he was not a botanist or a scientist but an artist depicting more than the visual in his works. Even once the artist himself was gone, McEwen’s art had a profound impact on the work of contemporary artists who came after, a testament to how some artists utilized a connection between modernism and classical botanical art to inform their own artistic expressions. McEwen’s style is established as a connective piece, bridging the past and the future.
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The Driehaus Museum aims to share exhibitions that bring new perspectives to visitors. One way that the museum plans to cultivate these new viewpoints is through thought provoking collaborations with other local institutions. Throughout Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, the Driehaus Museum will partner with Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum, and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum amongst others. The Driehaus will also participate in the Magnificent Mile Association’s Annual Tulip festival. Julie Treumann from the Driehaus shared, “The collaboration happened–no pun intended–quite organically. We realized that between McEwen’s depictions of tulips being one of the central images of the exhibition and the exhibition opening in the spring, around the time of the Mag Mile’s Tulip Festival, it was a natural fit. The Mag Mile was excited to make this work and we have had a fruitful collaboration. We are but a hop, skip, and a jump from the Mile, so we hope the colorful blossoms will accentuate our connection to the Mile and thus to our goal to open our doors wider to Chicagoans and visitors from around the world.” Collaborations such as these will increase the general public’s exposure to McEwen and to the museum. “The tulips will be planted right outside our buildings,” Treuman said. “We hope they will announce to our neighbors that they have something beautiful to look forward to, not just a new Driehaus Museum exhibition, but a sure sign that spring is on the way. And, of course, tulips don’t live forever. We don’t know if they will still be in full flower by the time the exhibition opens in later May, but the accompanying tulip sculpture will endure! More than that, the tulips are a welcoming sign of the season, an enticement to draw people into the Museum, and a sign of our belief in Michigan Avenue’s importance for the City of Chicago.”
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Rory McEwen (1932-1982), Helen Josephine, 1975 © Estate of Rory McEwen
The Driehaus Museum will also be partnering with Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music to celebrate McEwen’s art beyond the visual realm. This collaboration highlights the way McEwen’s musical impact reaches back into the past for inspiration while continuing to inspire artists of today, similar to his visual work. These many cross disciplinary experiences expand the breadth of the exhibition to demonstrate how McEwen’s legacy is not only a bridge between time, but places and spaces as well. Like the organic matter in his paintings, his life and this exhibition connect different areas of the city through his contributions.
As Joe Gromacki shared, “Chicago is going to be the most exciting and diverse experience of this exhibition. It fills a niche that other venues are not filling.”
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May 16–August 17, 2025
50 E. Erie, Chicago, IL 60611
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Stargazer (I remember you)
18\" x 16\" x 1 3/4\"
colored pencil on archival paper, framed with museum glass
photo credit: Nathan Keay
By SUSAN GESCHEIDLE
Duncan Robert Anderson has long been a steady presence in the Chicago art scene, carrying an identity that is impossible to miss. He stands well over six feet and is consistently dressed in black from head to toe, complete with boots and a signature wide-brimmed cowboy hat. His silhouette has remained unchanged since he arrived from East Tennessee in 1998, save for his long hair slowly turning grey. Since we first met back in 2002, I have never once seen him out of this attire. Yet whether encountering him at gallery openings or during visits to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where he works as building operations manager, that imposing visual style is always balanced by an easy, genuine warmth and impeccable manners rooted in his Appalachian upbringing. It’s an unpretentious demeanor that has earned him a quiet, lasting respect across the community.
Anderson is best known as a dedicated artist and a vital behind-the-scenes force at the MCA. His current solo exhibition, Messengers and Oracles, at the West Town Chamber of Commerce, offers a welcome look into his personal and creative practice. Featuring nineteen drawings, the exhibition focuses heavily on memory and how we are shaped by places and people. The majority of the works were already sold, despite being exhibited outside of a traditional commercial gallery space. Opening night also celebrated the release of his beautiful monograph of the same name, which is now officially available for purchase at the MCA Store. The artwork leans into Anderson’s Appalachian roots, bringing his childhood background into a direct conversation with his decades of lived experience in Chicago.
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Stormlight
24\" x 20\" x 1 3/4\"
colored pencil on archival paper, framed with museum glass
photo credit: Nathan Keay
Anderson’s geography isn't just a straight line from the South to the Midwest, though. His marriage has introduced a deep Japanese influence to his life, adding another layer to the work. You can see this cultural mix directly in some of the drawings, portraits of anonymous Japanese figures set against a backdrop of familiar Chicago architecture and cityscapes.
While Anderson’s drawings have always stemmed from his own life and memories, this newest body of work has a profound focus on loss and grief. The exhibition serves as a tribute to his mother, as Anderson recently reached the exact age she was at her passing. This enduring grief is compounded by the consecutive losses of his dog Smokey, his artistic brother-in-arms Tony Fitzpatrick, and his art hero Don Meckley between 2025 and 2026. In light of these profound losses, his signature technique of mark-making on black paper feels especially fitting, giving these deeply personal images a darker, more forlorn feel.
Anderson's process makes perfect sense when you understand a love for German Expressionism that dates back to his childhood. In the spirit of that movement, his technique of coloring on black paper makes the bright colors jump, letting his animals emerge directly out of the deep shadows. You can see this dramatic mood across his landscapes and cityscapes—whether capturing weathered old houses, the dark silhouette of the John Hancock Center, or the towering form of the Willis Tower.
Anderson notes he is a \"huge fan of Symbolism and Romanticism,\" blending those traditions with \"a bit of dream-like revelation and vision\" to create a magical world of his own. He imagines solitary animals as protectors keeping watch over the people and places he has lost. Although only a few pieces on display feature human figures, many drawings are filled with bears, elk, wolves, birds, and dogs. By dropping these creatures directly into man-made settings, he creates a strange visual tension—granting the animals a powerful presence that disrupts an otherwise quiet human environment.
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The Hospital Escape
24\" x 20\" x 1 3/4\"
colored pencil on archival paper, framed with museum glass
photo credit: Nathan Keay
Many of these drawings focus on a single, isolated figure. The Hospital Escape (18” x 15”) features a massive elk standing under a glowing streetlamp. This powerful image hints at a wild animal breaking free from an institutional space and stepping out into the city, tapping into timeless themes of survival and freedom.
Storm Light (18” x 15”) shifts into a quieter, more tense atmosphere, focusing on the weathered Victorian house where Anderson lived in the attic while a student at East Tennessee State University. Warm sunlight hits the front steps and grass, bathing the home in a serene beauty that contrasts with the dark, stormy sky. Perched on the peak of the roof is a massive black heron with its wings spread wide—completely dominating the structure as both a menacing hunter and a fierce, protective shield: an oracle keeping watch.
The mood shifts with The Pact (18” x 15”), created in memory of Fitzpatrick. A well-worn tombstone stands in an overgrown cemetery with a wolf sleeping peacefully in front of it. Rather than feeling ominous or macabre, the image carries a serene beauty, and the sleeping animal brings a gentle ease to Fitzpatrick's passing. Through this peaceful presence at the grave, Anderson cuts through the heavy grief of the exhibition with a rare moment of comfort.
The Silent City (18” x 15”) blends his two worlds through an intentional ambiguity. Featuring a female face rendered in deep purple and adorned with traditional hair ornaments, an anonymous Japanese figure looks directly at the viewer with a calm expression against the dark silhouette of the Willis Tower. Anderson notes she “may or may not be a ghost or emissary,” juxtaposing her against the landmark to seamlessly connect his current life with his family’s heritage.
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Sunday Morning
20\" x 18\" x 1 3/4\"
colored pencil on paper, framed with museum glass
photo credit: Nathan Keay
A direct tribute to his mother is Sunday Morning (18” x 15”). Dressed in her Sunday best—a coat, scarf, gloves, and pumps—she stands against a soft blue glow as a white owl swoops toward her. The lights of the John Hancock Center glow as the iconic building rises in the background against a crimson and orange sky. This stunning juxtaposition brings her memory directly into the urban landscape he has inhabited for decades.
An atmospheric touch to the show is a collaborative sound loop by Paul Deuth. Anderson designed the audio to match the mood of what is on the walls, with Deuth shaping the sounds to be \"dark, magical, and other-worldly.\" It is a beautiful blend of sight and sound that completely pulls the room together. Ultimately, the exhibition stands as a quiet reminder of profound artwork built on real human issues, ignoring the fleeting, superficial trends that too often dictate the whims of the contemporary art world.
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Messengers and Oracles runs through October 23, 2026.
West Town Chamber of Commerce | 1819 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Meet the artist for a special book signing on Saturday, October 17, from noon to 4:00 PM.
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Professor Tony Jones and artist Andy Scott in the Driehaus Museum's Murphy Auditorium on August 29, 2026.
By GINNY VAN ALYEA
“Now in Chicago, we have a tradition of significant public sculptures, not without controversy,” Professor Tony Jones CBE observed during an August 29 conversation with Scottish sculptor Andy Scott OBE at the Driehaus Museum.
Hosted by Chicago Scots, the evening brought together artists, preservation specialists and members of Chicago’s Scottish community for a dinner and discussion about the cultural and economic importance of public art. It also recognized the restoration underway at the Robert Burns monument in Garfield Park, a gift to Chicago from its Scottish community in 1906.
Gary Maclean, National Chef of Scotland, prepared an exceptional three-course tasting menu with whisky pairings. Following dinner in the museum’s newly-restored auditorium, Jones and Scott turned to the work behind public sculpture, from securing funding and solving engineering problems to seeing an artwork become part of a community’s identity.
Jones and Scott met during Scott's student years at the Glasgow School of Art, which Jones then led. A sculptor himself, Jones later served as president of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a Chicago Scots board member.
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A view of Scott's The Kelpies in Falkirk, Scotland
Scott is best known for The Kelpies, two 100-foot steel horse heads in Falkirk, Scotland, inspired by the Clydesdales that worked along the canals and on the land. Chicago audiences encountered their maquettes on the lakefront during the 2012–13 Chicago Sculpture International exhibition.
Chicago, of course, offered an example of what ambitious public art could accomplish. Scott recalled using the city’s large-scale artworks as inspiration and to give his client team confidence in the project that became The Kelpies. That confidence was tested, he says. Scott described an eight-and-a-half-year process, prolonged by political impasses and funding difficulties. Some coverage became hostile. As the sculptures began to rise, however, opinions shifted in their favor.
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Scott during fabrication of the Kelpies
“You need to tough it out,” he shared.
At one point, financial pressures prompted suggestions to reduce the sculptures to roughly a third of their intended size, or build only one horse head. Scott and his wife, Hanneke, resisted.
“We drew a line in the sand and said absolutely not,” he recalled.
The finished sculptures became a tourism landmark and appeared in campaigns promoting Britain, including advertisements in China and at a London airport. In April 2025, Falkirk Council reported that The Helix, the park home to The Kelpies, had welcomed one million visitors in the preceding year, helping attract business to the area. Over a decade since their construction there are measurable benefits directly attributed to the Kelpies, including a tourism boost to Falkirk of 73% and 1,380 local annual jobs. Falkirk's population is just 40,000 residents.
For Scott, the response extended beyond visitor numbers. He pointed to “that passion and ownership and pride” among people who had embraced the sculptures.
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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the Kelpies when the Queen officially opened the Queen Elizabeth II Canal in 2017.
Jones described a similar sense of attachment in Chicago. Recalling the opening of Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain, he noted how quickly children adopted its shallow pool, learning to anticipate the water pouring from the faces on its towers.
“It was an amazing moment that we could never have predicted,” he said.
Jones went on to highlight the numbers that back up the impact of Millennium Park and its public art on the City of Chicago. From 2003-2026 the estimated impact is $2.5 billion. The Kelpies have not been in existence quite as long but their impact will last for decades to come.
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Jones shared a photo of the parking lot that Millennium Park and its public art replaced.
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Public art was the theme of the evening, and not just because an internationally known artist from Scotland was in Chicago to discuss the Kelpies. The Chicago Scots have their own long history of supporting art that is part of the community. Chicago Scots, founded in 1845 as the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, joined other Scottish organizations in supporting William Grant Stevenson’s Robert Burns monument more than a century ago. Today, the organization is raising funds to supplement the Chicago Park District’s restoration budget and support ongoing maintenance of the ode to Scotland's national poet here in has a long history in Garfield Park.
Conservator and sculptor Andrzej Dajnowski, who attended the dinner, is in the process of recreating four stolen bronze relief panels that once belonged on the sculpture, as Burns’s missing quill. Dajnowski will quite literally help put a pen back into the poet's hand soon.
Andrew Schneider, the Park District’s director of historic assets, described its long-term stewardship partnership with Chicago Scots as the first of its kind in the district’s history and one that connects the creation of new landmarks with the responsibility of caring for those Chicago already has so that the public may enjoy art and its impact for the ages.
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Publisher's note: Ginny Van Alyea has served on the Chicago Scots Board of Governors since 2009 and also attended the Glasgow School of Art in 2001.
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Collectors and artists attend the Not Just Another Pretty Face unveiling at the Hyde Park Art Center.
By JACQUELINE LEWIS
This year, Hyde Park Art Center is hosting the latest installment of Not Just Another Pretty Face (NJAPF). This special experience and exhibition began in the mid-1990s and occurs only every three years.
Not Just Another Pretty Face uses a matchmaking program to connect local patrons with artists. During this experience, patrons and artists choose each other, and the artist creates artwork specifically for that patron. Works range from traditional to experimental, depending on the artist chosen and the desires of the patron. At the end of the experience, the pieces are unveiled in an exhibition later this year before being purchased and taken home by the patron.
This matchmaking process differs from traditional art purchasing. Instead of collectors looking for works that already exist, purchasing them, and moving on, they become part of the artistic process and the work’s origin. Once matched, patrons meet with artists to discuss what they like and what they hope for from the final work, and the artist melds those desires with their own style.
The process cultivates a sense of generosity between artist and patron as they mutually share themselves and allow each other into their individual worlds. It facilitates lasting relationships that do not often develop naturally in gallery spaces and plays an important role in establishing broader financial support for the artistic community.
Director of Development Eric Thompson has been with Hyde Park Art Center since 2023, making this his second iteration of NJAPF. As this year’s program nears completion, Thompson offered insight into how the experience comes together.
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A commission being unveiled at Hyde Park Art Center
Jackie Lewis: What is the process for artists and patrons to sign up for this experience?
Eric Thompson: For the artists, our team begins reaching out to invite them to participate about 18 months before the unveiling. For this iteration, conversations began in late spring 2025. They provide information on their artistic process, image examples of their work, and their commission rate. Our team then publicizes this information on our website and presents the artists at various salons throughout the city.
Several supporters of the Art Center host NJAPF salons and invite their own guests. Potential patrons learn about the artists and the project at large and express interest with our team. From there, we work to get the commission started!
JL: Once artists and patrons are chosen, what does the matchmaking process look like? Is there any process beyond the salons?
Eric Thompson: Much of the process happens after the salons. Patrons and the Hyde Park Art Center staff discuss artists who have piqued their interest. The HPAC staff sets up studio visits with the artists, giving the patron and artist a chance to meet, learn about each other, and discuss a possible commission. Sometimes artists may meet with multiple patrons through the project, and patrons will visit multiple studios before making a decision. Once a patron and artist agree to work together, the artist begins the work.
JL: What is your role in the process? How does HPAC support both the artists and the patrons?
Eric Thompson: NJAPF is a win-win-win situation for all parties. The patron has the opportunity to meet amazing Chicago artists, receives a unique commissioned work, and has that piece included in a public exhibition at the Art Center. The artist receives payment for the work, has the opportunity to expand their network of collectors, and often pushes their own practice through this process. The Art Center also benefits, as half of the commission serves as a tax-deductible donation that supports our mission to sustain Chicago art and artists.
JL: What aspect of NJAPF do you think has the greatest impact on the Chicago art community?
Eric Thompson: The project itself embodies the mission of the Art Center: it is designed for artists in Chicago to flourish. I think the greatest impact from the program’s ten iterations is the access it has created between artists and patrons. Relationships have been built. It is all about connection—a personal connection to the art and the connection between the artist and the patron. As a staff member, it is a wonderful thing to observe.
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Sarah Nishiura, Inching
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D. Lammie-Hanson, Agility to Surrender, 14k gold on Acrylic (wood panel)
A Word From the Artists
For a deeper understanding of the experience, artists D. Lammie-Hanson and Sarah Nishiura shared their own perspectives. Both have completed commissions for NJAPF in the past and are currently creating work for this year’s iteration.
JL: How did you first learn about NJAPF, and how did you become involved?
Sarah Nishiura: I have been teaching and exhibiting with the Hyde Park Art Center for over 15 years now, and I think it was through this affiliation that I was first invited to participate in NJAPF. I was lucky enough to receive two commissions the first year that I participated, and I think this success led to repeat invitations through the years.
D. Lammie-Hanson: I learned about NJAPF through an email invitation from Hyde Park Art Center. After I responded that I was interested, they placed me in their rotation to be presented to their patrons.
JL: How has working with NJAPF affected your artistic career? Did it fit within your practice?
Sarah Nishiura: My favorite thing about NJAPF is the opportunity to step outside my usual practice to try something different. Many of the commissions I have done in the past have involved working with materials given to me by the patron. This presents technical challenges that I wouldn’t normally take on, but I learn so much from stepping outside my comfort zone every few years. I have had continued relationships with patrons, and I have appreciated seeing the commissioned pieces in their homes. There is nothing better than seeing your work be part of someone’s life.
D. Lammie-Hanson: The patron trusted me to interpret their direction through my own lens. They gave me the subject and overall intent, and I stayed grounded by making creative choices around composition and focus that matched their goals while keeping my personal approach. Because metalpoint/silverpoint isn’t a widely known medium, working with NJAPF and Hyde Park Art Center helped me present my process to a wider audience. It also strengthened my broader portfolio by giving my work a strong platform and context.
JL: What was your experience working with a patron? How did it differ from your usual process?
Sarah Nishiura: The two patrons came by my studio, and we immediately found we had a lot in common and a lot to talk about. We shared some of our favorite artists, our experiences with travel, our love of craft and nature, and from these conversations they came up with great ideas for jumping-off points for the commission. At the same time, they let me know they really wanted me to have the freedom to go in any direction I wanted with the final piece. This experience only differed from my usual process because it began with conversations with other people rather than the conversation that usually happens in my own head!
D. Lammie-Hanson: The patron visited my studio while I was an artist in residence at Little Black Pearl, and we discussed his vision. He chose my silverpoint-on-black/metalpoint technique, and we developed the direction together. This differed from my usual process because I don’t usually enjoy doing commissions, but I enjoyed working with Hyde Park Art Center through this program. After we aligned on the creative direction for the artwork, the patron gave me the freedom to carry out the piece according to my own vision.
JL: Since you have participated in NJAPF before, what made you decide to do it again?
Sarah Nishiura: I love HPAC, and I feel like this is a great program that allows me to support their mission while also giving me a wonderful opportunity to work with collectors I might never meet otherwise. It is a win-win!
D. Lammie-Hanson: I enjoyed the opportunity to work with Hyde Park Art Center again. I submitted my interests without knowing which new collectors would be interested, but I was willing to take the chance, and I’m glad I did.
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Unveiling party attendees at Hyde Park Art Center
From the Collectors
To understand more about another side of the program, Ginny Van Alyea, CGN’s publisher and a past participant of NJAPF, shared her perspective as a patron who commissioned a work by artist Mel Watkin several years ago.
JL: Before NJAPF, did you consider yourself an art collector? Had you ever commissioned a work before?
GV: NJAPF appealed to my husband and me because we had bought art separately and together, but we hadn’t commissioned anything. My parents gave us the commission as a wedding gift, so it was especially meaningful.
JL: Before meeting with the artist, did you have a specific idea for the artwork you wanted?
GV: We looked through a lot of artwork before deciding whose work would be the best fit. There were so many choices, but we liked Mel Watkin’s particular focus. It felt like a good fit for creating something that spoke to both of us and our families when we got married.
JL: What was your experience working with the artist like? Did it feel collaborative?
GV: Working with Mel on a piece that was just for us was so cool. We sent images, ideas, and references back and forth. We met for coffee. We gave a little feedback but also listened to what she suggested. It was definitely a collaborative experience, but ultimately it was still the artist who made the art.
JL: Have you continued your relationship with your paired artist?
GV: Yes! A few years later, for a milestone birthday, I commissioned Mel again to make two more works: one about our daughter and one about our son. Now all three works hang together at home.
JL: Is there anything else you’d like to add about the experience?
GV: I know many collectors who have participated in the program more than once, and I can see us doing it again someday. It’s a wonderful chance to work with a local artist while also setting the parameters—like price and size—up front, which is another unique benefit of the program. It’s also terrific to support HPAC and local artists at the same time. While there are some big artist names in the program, NJAPF is also a wonderful way to discover emerging artists.
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This year’s unveiling reception will take place on December 11, 2026, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at Hyde Park Art Center. Following the reception, the artwork will remain on display and will be accompanied by a catalogue documenting the entire process for patrons, artists, and visitors alike.
The success of NJAPF has extended beyond Chicago, with similar exhibitions adapted in Boise, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City. To date, the program has generated more than $2 million in sales. Half of the proceeds go directly to participating artists, while the other half supports Hyde Park Art Center’s programs and mission. With more than 400 works commissioned by over 300 new and established collectors, NJAPF has cultivated an ecosystem of patronage that enables artists to thrive.
By embracing and encouraging the idea of patronage in contemporary art, NJAPF has built a community of people who value not only finished works of art, but also the creative process behind them. If you missed your opportunity to participate this year, consider becoming a patron for the next iteration.
More details at hydeparkart.org/njapf-2026/
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