Curatorial Portfolio
smash the cis-tem
October 16 - December 13, 2025
This show brings together artists who refuse to fit into binaries—offering vivid, uncompromising expressions that challenge societal systems, celebrate queer lives, and provoke much-needed dialogue. From intimate portraits of self-discovery to explosive acts of resistance, the work on view highlights the transformative power of queer creativity. In collaboration with the Adler Arts Center and the LGBTQ+ Center Lake County.
echoes of silence
April 18 - May 29, 2025
Through evocative portraits by Viktor Gerasimovski, behind-the-scenes images from field research, and intimate glimpses of community resilience, the work challenged viewers to engage with histories too often left unspoken. Each photograph functioned simultaneously as personal testimony and collective call to action, bridging the space between artistic expression and social justice.
The exhibit was part of Northeastern Illinois University’s Genocide and Human Rights Research in Africa and Diaspora Center’s research project focused on collecting testimonials from Burundian survivors of the 1972 genocide. Originating from a transformative research trip to Burundi, the project grew into a platform that amplified voices often unheard—voices that refused to be forgotten. This curatorial practice foregrounded art as both witness and catalyst, creating spaces where silence was transformed into dialogue, remembrance, and responsibility.
myths & miniatures
October 11 - November 16, 2024
Myths & Miniatures was a presentation of thirteen local artists’ miniature model works. Many of the pieces on display had been handcrafted, 3D sculpted, or adapted from stock models, and all were hand painted by their creators.
The exhibit sought to explore modern myth, guiding viewers from the art form’s tabletop gaming origins to its explosive growth as an expressive medium. Through each artist’s meticulous craftsmanship, devotion, belief, and personal connection to these stories, audiences experienced the ways in which artistic expression and style brought these narratives to life.
In addition, two of the displays in the gallery featured open community contributions, highlighting the vitality of the local creative community and the many artists producing work in this medium today.
past to present
September 6 - 28, 2024
Founded in 1934, the Lake County Art League is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fostering interest in the arts in Lake County and across Illinois. The organization serves to cultivate a deeper appreciation of visual art through exhibitions, festivals, technique demonstrations, lectures, critiques, and the sharing of ideas, inspiration, and encouragement among members.
This exhibition celebrated the League’s anniversary, honoring its long history of supporting artists and connecting communities through the visual arts.
native plants in the Adler woods & the midwest
May 3 - 30, 2024
Through detailed and expressive works, the exhibit invited viewers to explore both the artistry of botanical illustration and the ecological significance of the restoration work taking place in the Adler Woods and throughout the region. The exhibition celebrated the intersection of art and science, drawing attention to the beauty and resilience of native plant life.
the fine art of color pencil
April 5 - 27, 2024
Art by Philip Schorn, celebrating the expressive possibilities of color pencil. From floral renderings inspired by the Chicago Botanic Garden to luminous pencil paintings in the spirit of Monet, the show highlighted the mastery and vision of an artist who elevated color pencil to the realm of fine art.
holding on to the small hands of details
October 6 - November 20, 2023
Holding on to the Small Hands of Details was a collection of more than one hundred works in porcelain, prints on paper, textiles, and stories that explored the companionship and beauty found in life’s details. The exhibition reflected the artist Anne Bernard-Pattis’ vision of navigating both the familiarity of our everyday world and the vastness of the universe, which continues to press more fully into human awareness.
Anne Bernard-Pattis responded to this tension with sensitivity and depth, engaging the humbling complexity of life’s minutiae alongside the mystery of the infinite. Her work invited viewers to reflect on the balance between the intimate and the immeasurable, encouraging a renewed appreciation for the overlooked details that shape our daily experience.
people, places, & things
April 7 - May 20, 2023
The Why That Lives Within Our Creativity brought together the receptive realism of Libertyville artists Cindi Sartain and Jeff Hendricks. The exhibition reflected the inspirations and impulses that fueled their work, united by a shared aesthetic and strengthened by their ties to community.
Sartain’s mixed media works combined collage with acrylic, oil, and gouache, often painted from her own photographs, which she inverted while working to capture intricate detail. Hendricks’ representational oil paintings grew from careful observation and reflection, embodying his belief that art is a continual search for meaning. Together, their works invited viewers to consider how creativity emerges from curiosity, process, and openness to the world around us.
the messengers
September, 2012
Artist Jeanne Sapienza - The Messengers at the David Adler Music and Arts Center. Sapienza described her photography as “an expression of myself—my thoughts, imagination, spirituality, and fascination with the beauty of the physical world around me come to life.”
Through her images, Sapienza invited viewers to experience photography as a deeply personal yet universally resonant form of expression.
hop on
September - October 27, 2012
Hop On, a solo exhibition by Stephanie Toral chronicled her creative journey while debuting new works that fused painting and printmaking.
Working in watercolor, copper intaglio etching, and painterly monotypes, Toral explored portraiture, illustration, and nature-inspired subjects alongside vintage and travel themes. By incorporating text, pattern, and graphic elements, she communicated her impressions on multiple levels, blending design and fine art. Hop On highlighted both the breadth of her career and her ongoing pursuit of uniting disciplines to express a distinctive artistic vision.
i’ve got peace like a prairie in my soul
November, 2012
An exhibition by Leisa Corbett that reflected her deep connection to nature and the meditative calm it offers. Through her work, Corbett translated the vastness of prairie landscapes into a visual language of serenity, resilience, and quiet strength.
Drawing on both personal reflection and the natural beauty of the Midwest, Corbett’s pieces invited viewers to experience the prairie not only as a physical space, but as a metaphor for inner stillness and peace. The exhibition celebrated the capacity of art to mirror the landscapes of both place and spirit.
Robert Klunk
December 6 - January 10, 2012
An exhibition by Leisa Corbett that reflected her deep connection to nature and the meditative calm it offers. Through her work, Corbett translated the vastness of prairie landscapes into a visual language of serenity, resilience, and quiet strength.
Drawing on both personal reflection and the natural beauty of the Midwest, Corbett’s pieces invited viewers to experience the prairie not only as a physical space, but as a metaphor for inner stillness and peace. The exhibition celebrated the capacity of art to mirror the landscapes of both place and spirit.
dreamscapes
January 18 - February 2, 2012
Dreamscapes, a body of work by Susan Russell that spanned intimate to expansive scales and invited viewers into realms where the imagined and the real converge. Her portfolio ranged from small, delicate compositions to large commissioned murals, bridging personal introspection with broader inquiry.
Russell’s signature sepia-toned Renaissance-influenced oil pieces employed burnt umber and washes of turpentine, revealing drips, cracks, and textures that evoked layers of memory, decay, and emergence. Through these subtle surfaces, she crafted visual “dream-interludes” that slowly reveal themselves, guiding the viewer through a poetic exploration of time, transformation, and the hidden nuances of perception.
a taste of nature
February 8 - 23, 2013
A Taste of Nature, an invitational exhibition featuring five Lake County artists: Anne Anderson, Gail Basner, Kathy Broxton, Jackie Carmichael, and Barbara Rogers. Through landscape and scenic works, the exhibition highlighted the artists’ diverse approaches to capturing the richness of the natural world.
From vibrant florals and wildlife studies to evocative landscapes and seasonal scenes, the collection reflected the enduring power of nature as inspiration. The opening reception welcomed the community to celebrate these works, affirming the Adler’s role as a gathering place for creativity and local artistic expression.
adler artist member exhibitions
2012, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Each year, the Adler Arts Center’s Annual Artist Member Exhibit celebrates the depth and diversity of its creative community. This exhibition featured works across a broad spectrum of media, styles, and themes—painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, photography, and beyond—offered by the Center’s own artist members.
The show invites viewers to engage with the evolving voices and visions of the Adler’s artistic family. It reinforces the importance of artistic community—of sharing work, inspiration, and conversation—and underscores the Center’s role as a hub where local artists connect, grow, and present their most meaningful work.