Hise Museum Celebrates Seven Years With Regional Art Exhibition

Thirty-six artists from five states will bring 61 works of art to Southeastern Illinois College this fall as the Ella Elizabeth Hise Museum of Regional Art celebrates its seventh anniversary.

“Seven Years of Regional Artistry — A Commemorative Regional Artists Exhibition” will be on display Sept. 14 through Dec. 4. The exhibition brings together artists whose exhibitions, programs and creative contributions have helped shape the Hise Museum during its first seven years.

Artists represented come from throughout Southern Illinois and the greater Ohio River Valley, including communities in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee.

The 61 selected works represent a wide range of media, including oil, acrylic and watercolor painting; gouache; graphite and charcoal; photography; sculpture; mixed media; cold wax and oil; screen printing; cyanotype collage; acrylic ink; and hand-tool woodworking.

“This exhibition really captures what the Hise Museum was created to do — celebrate the tremendous creativity that exists in Southern Illinois while also connecting our region with artists and ideas from the communities around us,” said Trenton Johnson, Director of the Ella Elizabeth Hise Museum of Regional Art. “After seven years, it is exciting to bring together such a wide range of artists, media and perspectives in one exhibition. Whether someone visits museums regularly or simply wants to see something different, I think they will find something here that surprises them.”

Among the works are three historically inspired Windsor chairs by Shawneetown artist Albert Phillips. The handcrafted pieces demonstrate traditional hand-tool woodworking within the setting of a fine art exhibition.

Bowling Green, Kentucky, artist Leslie Nichols takes a different approach. Nichols uses a manual typewriter to create portraits, layering individual letters and words to produce images combining visual art, literature and typography. Her accepted works include “Chlese (Huston 1937),” “To See Takes Time” and “Kaitlin (Paul 1923).” Nichols describes her process as using selected texts to explore women’s lives and social history, with individual letterforms becoming visual marks.

Science and art intersect in Belleville artist Alyssa Gilbert’s watercolor “Rainbow Eels.” Gilbert creates scientific illustrations with elements of whimsy designed to encourage viewers to become curious about unfamiliar creatures and the biological world.

The exhibition also features works connected to the landscapes and communities of Southern Illinois. Ridgway photographer Grant Twiss specializes in landscape and night-sky photography and uses his work to draw attention to Southern Illinois’ natural resources and dark skies. His photograph “Rim Rock Winter Rain” was selected for the exhibition.

Other works explore wildlife, architecture, history, social issues, personal experiences and the natural world through a variety of artistic perspectives.

The commemorative exhibition supports the Hise Museum’s mission of fostering appreciation for visual artworks, exhibits, programs and cultural partnerships that celebrate Southern Illinois and the surrounding region.

“Seven Years of Regional Artistry” is free and open to the public. The Hise Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Southeastern Illinois College, 3575 College Road in Harrisburg.

A closing reception will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 4.

For more info, contact Johnson at the Ella Elizabeth Hise Museum of Regional Art at 618-252-5400, ext. 2577, or hisemuseum@sic.edu.

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