By CGN Staff

Art Encounter, an area nonprofit founded in 1978 by three artists, recently shared that it is expanding its community outreach programming. Currently Art Encounter serves over 1,000 individuals from all ages and backgrounds annually – work that is at the heart of the group's mission and which brings creativity and connection to youth, adults, and seniors throughout the greater Chicago area at no cost to the participants.

This fall new and revived programs include an introduction to street art for young adults in Evanston, art discussions and memory-themed projects for Chicago seniors in assisted living facilities, and even a mural project with pre-schoolers. 

In 2022, AE partnered with Curt’s Café, which works to improve outcomes for young adults living in at-risk situations through work and life skills training, on a rewarding mural project. Led by artist Sholo Beverly, teens and young adults from their workforce development program designed and painted a beautiful mural entitled Elevate on the exterior of the restaurant. This fall AE is renewing their partnership by launching a new, five-week workshop introducing Curt’s Café’s students to the world of contemporary murals and street art. The series will include on-site workshops with professional muralists to explore art techniques through creative projects, a walking tour of Art Encounter’s Evanston murals, and a studio visit with a professional artist. 

Last month Art Encounter returned to two Chicago senior homes-- Paul House and Greenview Place-- for a new series in their Making for Memory and Connection program, which first launched in 2022. This nine-week program, called A Special Place, honors each individual’s life by commemorating a special place from their lives. Teaching artists Val McCune and Alex Stevenson are bringing original, professional artworks related to place and memory for discussion, then leading participants in creating a personal mixed media artworks reflecting on their chosen special place. The program will culminate with a reception and exhibition, where friends and family will join the artists to celebrate their projects. The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust is the generous sponsor of this program.

In late October, teaching artist Courtney Reed will lead a four-session mini-residency with students from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood as part of a new program at the school called PART: Performing Arts Responsive Therapy. This workshop, focusing on expressive self-portraits, will provide a creative outlet for newly-arrived migrant youth at the school to share their own migration stories and affirm their personal identities in a safe and supportive environment. Students will also discuss and draw inspiration from one of the recent additions to our traveling art collection: a painting entitled Two Pawns by Evanston artist Sam Onche, pictured above.

Thanks to support from the foundation Innovation 80, Art Encounter will be reviving a former intergenerational program called Linking Generations this year. In partnership with the social service agency Family Matters of Rogers Park, Chicago. this program pairs youth and seniors living in the same community to get to know each other through a series of hands-on workshops exploring different artistic media. Students and their senior partners interview each other to share life experiences, stimulate visual memory, and build relationships between generations. They then collaborate on a mixed media shadowbox project related to a shared interest, value, or dream that the pair has discovered. The program will culminate in a reception for family, friends, and community to share their work and reflect on their experience together.

Finally, Art Encounter will be working with neighbor artists at the Noyes Cultural Arts Cente on a special outdoor art project. Nearby Unity Preschool has recently created a unique and special outdoor space next to Noyes, giving their students the opportunity to play and explore while connecting with nature. This space is currently bordered by low concrete barriers, which will be transformed into a wildflower garden through a collaborative mural painted by fellow Noyes tenants and Unity's preschoolers. 

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