Juror Biographies
Juror Fletcher Hayes
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Artist Fletcher Hayes has called Chicago home since receiving his Master of Arts degree from the University of Alabama. His artwork has been exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Merchandise Mart, the Beverly Art Center, Old Town Art Center and Irish American Heritage Center, and galleries such as Ann Nathan, Mars Gallery, Jackson Junge Gallery, and many others.
In addition to solo and group exhibitions, Hayes’ collaborations with artist Kim Laurel have produced two-artist shows and installations.
As curators the pair has organized and brought to life several theme-specific group exhibitions of up to 50 artist-participants in cooperation with art galleries across the region. Hayes makes his living as a visual artist after a career of art direction and graphic design at national and international advertising agencies. He is currently developing a series of oil paintings on science-fiction themes.
Juror Sharon Bladholm
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Sharon's work has been profoundly influenced by her participation as artist, on scientific expeditions to remote and biologically diverse ecosystems of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon on expeditions with the Field Museum,
Conservation International and Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program. She has long explored the interfaces of art, science, conservation and nature in her many series of artworks in diverse mediums including glass, bronze and ceramic, as well as works on paper.
Concurrently she has run Opal Glass Studios since 1983 and continues to complete many important commissions and show her art work in numerous galleries and museums, as well as creating public art and installation work.
Her 2017 solo exhibit, "Soils, Seed and Sprouts ;Tropical and Temperate" at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum was well received and included 2 new new major ceramic installations.
Juror Kim Laurel
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Kim Laurel is a Chicago based mixed media artist, illustrator and graphic designer and has exhibited in the United States, Canada and England since 1977. She studied at Oberlin College, the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland State University and Illinois State University. Her works of art are part of various public and corporate collections.
Laurel's recent curatorial work includes: Her Way With Print, Fletcher Hayes & Kim Laurel Collaborations: Black/White/Gray, Element Flux, Ethereal Fauna: The Artist’s Muse, Tool Box Flower Box, Integrant Element Lab, Redux Loop, Wild Things and Beyond. She is a long standing member of Woman Made Gallery, the Mid America Print Council, the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative and the Chicago Artist’s Coalition. Kim's art is exhibited in many Chicago galleries and institutions and is represented by the Workshop Print Gallery - Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, Il. She has taught both in a corporate job instructional setting and in private and public classes at the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative. Her work is included in the recent 2015 exhibitions and publications: "Convergence: The Poetic Dialogue Project" at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art and "City Creatures" at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the publication "City Creatures" by the Center for Humans and Nature, University of Chicago Press.
For me Art is about persistence, a life study and discipline. I'm lucky enough to have kept it alive this long. It is part of my life. If you pursue it a lot or a little at any one time makes no difference...just return to it again and again. Let the presence of touch back into your life and embrace the new with reference to all that you have learned."
Learn more at: http://www.kimlaurel.com/