Passion Project

What drives an artist to create? To prepare a canvas, step behind their easel, and make that decisive first stroke of paint? The Art Center Highland Park seeks answers to these questions in their upcoming exhibition, The Passion Project. Behind every work of art is a spark of passion captured in physical form. This spark spreads from artist to artwork to audience—igniting a blaze of passion.

Featuring work from seven visual artists and one poet, The Passion Project captures that blaze in a variety of mediums. Bojana “Bojitt” Ilic, Brandon Breaux, Veronica Clements, and Katrina Smolinsky are Chicago artists creating everything from murals to paintings and poetry. Jeremy Brown lives in Georgia and integrates text in LED lights onto his canvases. New York artists Irene Mamiye, Yuko Nishikawa, and Elisa Valenti redefine their forms through mobiles, digital imagery, and paintings of the female body.

Though working in diverse mediums, these artists are unified by the way passion guides their processes. Their philosophical approaches to their work, defined by their identities and views of the world, translate into unique material that audiences connect to on a visceral level. Curator Caren Helene Rudman states, “What sets these artists apart is that they create manifestations of what they know and feel in their gut. The result is work that emanates a kind of energy that audiences enter into and experience.”

Inspired by TAC’s mission statement to “become a cultural destination that inspires and ignites a passion for the arts,” the theme of the exhibition extends to TAC’s annual benefit, Ignite Passion. This year’s benefit will be held at The Art Center Highland Park on Friday, May 5, at 7:00 pm, coinciding with The Passion Project’s opening. For ticketing and sponsorship information, visit our event website. A free, public artist reception for The Passion Project will be held on Friday, May 19th from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.

Please join us to experience The Passion Project and explore the underlying force of the creative process—showcasing how passion travels from artist to artwork, from artwork to audience.

Hours: Mondays – Saturdays, 10-4, or by arrangement

Accommodations can be made for those with special needs

The Art Center Highland Park, a not-for-profit organization, has been the North Shore’s home for artistic discovery and creative exploration since 1960. Through innovative programs, exhibitions, and classes designed for all levels and ages, The Art Center provides a welcoming space for our diverse communities to experience and participate in the arts.