Gallery 659 celebrates a = year

January 3, 2008

By ERIC JOHNSON Staff = Writer

Pam Louik goes to the Starbucks on Park Ave. every = morning=20 before she goes about her day. A couple of weeks ago, = she got=20 to talking with a Glencoe couple about Gallery 659, = the=20 gallery around the corner on Vernon where she displays = her=20 artwork and is a chairman.

It was 8 in the morning and the gallery didn't open = for=20 three hours, but the couple was persistent, and she = walked=20 with them, coffee in tow, and opened up the Gallery = for them=20 to peruse. After a few minutes, the couple left after=20 purchasing $800 dollars worth of Art.

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Gallery 659's Pam Louik, left and = Ann=20 O'Brien discuss a piece of art that they plan to hang = on the=20 wall of the downtown Glencoe gallery which is = celebrating its=20 first year.
(Rob Dicker/Staff = Photographer)

This popularity has taken the quaint spot from a = proposed=20 two-week Human Relations Committee project, to a = 35-member art=20 co-op that celebrated its one-year anniversary on = December 7.=20

The gallery continues to display some of the most = exiting=20 art work in Chicago -- and the most eclectic:=20 socio-politically laced anarcho-saics by Cindy Jevon = stand 20=20 feet from Harriet Kohn's mixed-media, stitched, cosmic = landscape "Pentium Embroidery."

"To be apart of this group is inspiring, we feed = off each=20 other," Kohn said. "We inspire each other and I like = the=20 different perspectives from different people."

Her work, displayed during the December 7 one-year=20 anniversary celebration and opening of the "Off the = Wall"=20 exhibit, reveals the culmination of her 16-year = practice of=20 stitched work, with brightly colored threads and gems = stitched=20 into a painter's canvas, then framed.

The celebration started at 6:30 p.m. and after an = hour of=20 unobstructed views and polite conversation, the floor = was=20 packed with at least 75 people enjoying wine and = cheese and=20 clamoring for vantage points and conversations with = the=20 artists.

The gallery originated as an idea by the Human = Relations=20 Committee for a two-week project to celebrate = diversity in=20 Glencoe. After Village President Scott Feldman signed = off on=20 it, the Chairmen rallied support in the community and = the=20 artists jumped aboard.

"Glencoe doesn't have much (ethnic) diversity, so = we wanted=20 to celebrate diversity of art," Pam Louik said in a = follow-up=20 interview.

The "co-op" is a style of gallery organization = where=20 artists pay a nominal membership fee to display their = art.=20 When a piece is sold the artist gets most of the = profit and=20 some goes back to the gallery (percentages vary across = the=20 board). As is the case at Gallery 659, artists usually = have=20 responsibilities that are related to their outside,=20 non-artistic experiences.

The chairman of the Gallery are representative of = this=20 style.

"The three of us have distinct skill-sets," = chairman Ann=20 O'Brien said of fellow chairmen Ellen Shubart and Pam = Louik.=20

Shubart addresses governmental and community issues = (she is=20 a Village Trustee), Louik designed the operations and = media=20 outreach platforms, and O'Brien handles aesthetics. =

"(All of the members) have other talents that = contribute to=20 the working of it," O'Brien said at the event.

Gallery members are accountants, lawyers, and = publicists,=20 and the art work they produce is "good art, not junky = or=20 crafty: it's gorgeous," O'Brien said.

Each artist is also required to participate = annually in=20 some form of community outreach. As Pamela Louik puts = it,=20 "community service is as important as the required = membership=20 dues."

The 'Off-the-wall' exhibit ran through Dec. 24. =

Gallery 659 is located at 659 Vernon Avenue and = open=20 Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more=20 information visit the website: = www.gallery659.org.