Join Joanna Pinsky and Sarah Packer for a day trip by motor coach to discover fantastic art in Northwest Indiana, beginning in Miller Beach with artist Jennifer Joan Taylor’s extraordinary Sparkle House – a formerly abandoned house artistically re-envisioned with mirrors, jewelry, and mosaics – where we will discover wild sculptures, oil paintings, a grotto, and a greenhouse. After lunch, we'll head to Michigan City and the Lubeznik Center for the Arts to see Kindred Spirits, a two-person exhibition of witty, incredibly-crafted sculptures by Betsy Odom and the late Margaret Wharton, two Chicago artists 40 years apart in age but aligned in spirit. We'll conclude at the beautiful Beverly Shores home and garden of expressionist nature painter Nancy Natow-Cassidy and her husband, photographer Chris Cassidy.

ITINERARY

Our first stop is the the unique and extraordinary Sparkle House in Miller Beach. Artist Jennifer Joan Taylor purchased the formerly-abandoned home and covered the exterior with sparkly mirrors, jewelry, and mosaic pieces. She filled the interior with eccentric and eclectic artworks, including sculptures made of found objects and melted plastics, mosaics created from costume jewelry, and oil paintings depicting people in bizarre situations. Outdoors, we'll enjoy the artist’s gardens and site-specific sculptures along with a grotto and a greenhouse.

After a lunch stop in Michigan City, we’ll visit the Lubeznik Center for the Arts (pictured here) to see Kindred Spirits, an exhibit of works by two artists with Southern roots. The late Margaret Wharton (1943-2014) gained artistic recognition for her witty and thought-provoking sculptures made by deconstructed chairs into reconstructed imaginative objects. Betsy Odom, 40 years younger, subverts traditional craft practices such as leather tooling, woodworking, sewing, and ceramics to create non-functional objects in materials that counter their original purpose, such as gym shorts made of rigid leather. We’ll discuss how each artist incorporates her heritage and identity in her work.

We’ll conclude by meeting painter Nancy Natow-Cassidy in the beautiful midcentury Beverly Shores home she shares with her husband, Christopher Cassidy, a photographer. A former dancer, Nancy’s paintings are filled with movement, color and brush strokes that hover between abstraction and identifiable images of nature. Her canvases range in size from small works in watercolor and pastels to very large-scale paintings in acrylic. With a former commercial career photographing food, Chris is taking personal images of nature and travel. In addition to focusing on art, we will enjoy the couples’ beautiful gardens.

PICK UP & DROP OFF INFORMATION

Suburban pick up/drop off location: Edens Plaza parking lot, northwest side, 3200 W. Lake Ave, Wilmette; bus departs 8:30 am, return drop off approximately 6:30 pm

Chicago pick up/drop off location: Ogilvie Transportation Center, southwest corner, Madison St and Clinton St, Chicago; bus departs 9:00 am, return drop off approximately 6:00 pm

Questions?

Email Public and Member Programs Manager Sarah Packer at sarah@artencounter.org.