FALL 2003

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Dear Friends,

We've made some changes in SPOTLIGHTS. We hope you will enjoy and profit from our efforts to make SPOTLIGHTS a more valuable and interesting publication.

Our cover will feature artwork representing a current Northwest Cultural Council exhibition, an article or something of special artistic interest. Twice a year four additional pages will give Martin Ryan, Prose and Poetry Editor, the opportunity to include lengthier essays and short stories.

We have also added two columns. One will present ideas and observations for you to contemplate. The other will feature teachers sharing their experiences as they integrate the arts into their science, math, English and social studies curricula.

David Engle teaches drawing, painting and art history at Barrington High School. David, and two retired English teachers developed the "Junior English and the Interrelated Arts" curriculum. He is our first contributor addressing the integration of the arts into the curriculum.

I am pleased to introduce Dr. Dennis L. Weeks. He will be writing a column for SPOTLIGHTS each quarter entitled "Arts Commentary". The title has intentionally been left broad to allow Dennis to write about how he interprets what he observes and how he connects today's culture to the past.

I've had the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Weeks, the new Dean of Liberal Arts at Harper College in Palatine. Dr. Weeks received his Ph.D. in English, with specialties in 20th and 19th century British literature, from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. His background includes over twenty years in the classroom teaching English, humanities and philosophy. He is the author or editor of five books on literature and the history of ideas. Dennis inaugurates his cultural commentary column in this issue.

As this issue of SPOTLIGHTS goes to press we are celebrating the publication of Martin Ryan's book of poetry destinations: new and selected poems. Martin is currently the Editor of Prose and Poetry in SPOTLIGHTS. The cover design of his book appears on the front cover of SPOTLIGHTS. The Council's graphic artist Mike Springer designed it. Martin's book can be purchased at the gallery for $10.00 or mailed to you for $13.00 including shipping and handling.

Rolling Meadows Library was named "Library of the Year 2002" by the North Suburban Library System this past spring. The system is a consortium made up of more than 650 academic, public, school and special libraries in Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

"Successful participation in community partnerships was one of the key factors in receiving this award. Our partnership with the Northwest Cultural Council was especially mentioned in the nomination for this top award," said Roselinde Davis, Director of Special Services at RML.

For many years RML has partnered with NWCC to bring art to library patrons by displaying works by NWCC artists. RML's art gallery is located on the second floor, adjacent to the Community Program Room. The two-way benefit of this partnership gives library patrons unique art to enjoy and gives area artists an opportunity to display and sell their work to a larger audience.

Our congratulations to Lynn Railsback, an NWCC Corporate Gallery artist since 2000. Lynn began painting in 1997. After seeing her watercolors on the American Society of Botanical Artists web site, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation of Carnegie Mellon University contacted her to submit slides for consideration in their 11th International Exhibition. Although this is the 11th exhibition, the show only occurs every three or four years. They chose "Carrion Flower" smilax herbacea and "Golden Rain Tree" tabebuia caraiba, for this exhibition. The show runs from October 2004 through February 2005.

A warm welcome to Diane Kostick; she joins me as coeditor of SPOTLIGHTS. Diane retired in June after teaching elementary school for 39 years, and is the author of more than 10 books. I look forward to working with Diane.

We have a rich lineup of programming this season, and I hope to see you at the Council's upcoming events.

Warmest regards,

Kathy Umlauf

Maestro Alan Heatherington                                                                                              by Sharon Findley Kirmse

From its inception the Northwest Cultural Council has dedicated itself to bringing the fine arts to the suburban audience and to the youth of the communities it serves.

Conductor and violinist Alan Heatherington shares that dedication with us, so it was very good news when the Board of the Lake Forest Symphony announced last spring that he had accepted a new five-year contract. Heatherington will continue as Music Director of that organization, providing artistic oversight of their subscription and educational concerts and acting as artistic coordinator with the Lake Forest Symphony Music School.

Although he is in demand as conductor and clinician internationally and has toured Europe during the summer season over the past ten years, his heart remains here, committed to the Chicago area music community. Upon accepting the new contract he stated, "The Chicago area offers the finest orchestral musicians anywhere in the world. One need not go beyond its borders to conduct a world-class orchestra. I have played violin and conducted professionally in Chicago for over thirty years and I know and respect these musicians."

John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune wrote of him, "Clear, commanding yet graceful on the podium, Heatherington can be trusted to lead the orchestra to great things." Well on his way to accomplishing that task, he has the enviable record of eliminating the symphony's operating deficit while attracting a growing list of kudos for artistic quality.

Added to the demands of his symphony commitment and personal appearances as a violinist, Maestro Heatherington also has a long list of accomplishments as Music Director of the Chicago Master Singers and founder and Artistic Director of the Ars Viva! Symphony Orchestra.

Now in its 25th season, the Chicago Master Singers is an all-volunteer group of 130 singers from across the Northwest suburbs. Their performance venue is Divine Word Chapel in Techny, with their 25th anniversary spring concert scheduled to be performed at Symphony Center in Chicago. With a sound described as "big, warm and glowing" by Dan Tucker of the Tribune, the group is attracting an ever-growing following among audiences that appreciate fine choral music.

In addition to its subscription series the group has expanded its popular Chorale Christmas Concert to two venues this year, St. Anne Church in Barrington and St. Joseph Church in Wilmette. An annual favorite, Carols of the Season, performed by an expanded complement of voices, will again be performed at Divine Word Chapel.

Ars Viva!, featuring musicians from both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Orchestra, promises an exciting season of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Vaughn Williams and more. Described by the Chicago Sun-Times as presenting "outstanding concerts, often with unusual repertory and always with some of the city's best musicians," Ars Viva! has added even more credit to Heatherington's reputation.

It was named the 2003 Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras. Performances are easily accessible to suburbanites at the North Shore Center of the Performing Arts in Skokie.

Heatherington's greatest gift to the community of music lovers may be his capacity for recognizing gifted young performers and giving them a stage to showcase their talent. To talk to him is to hear his excitement about working with youth and exposing them to the treasures of great music. He says simply, "This is our future audience."

He has not only gone into many public and private schools in Lake County with chamber ensembles, he also arranges to bus children to performances of the full symphony. He believes these activities, gladly fitted into his extremely demanding schedule, afford him the opportunity to talk to young people about music, play favorites which have special appeal and expose the youngsters to fine music live.

Heatherington is excited at the prospect of serving the Lake Forest Symphony during its 50th Anniversary season in 2006-2007. In recent years they have performed at Drake Theater on the campus of Barat College. Now plans are underway to build a new symphony hall in cooperation with Lake Forest District 67.

It will provide a fine balance, finally a state-of-the-art home base for the symphony and an educational facility to nurture a love of music in the next generation.

JUNIOR ENGLISH AND THE INTERRELATED ARTS AT BARRINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

By David Engle

A unique and popular course has been in place at Barrington High School for many years. Junior English and the Interrelated Arts is an honors-level course that is team-taught between the English and Art Departments.

This program is centered on American literature. However, these particular sections explore not only ideas found in significant literature but also relate both similar and diverse ideas found in painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and dance. This provides the opportunity for students to develop more than an academic or textbook understanding of American literature, as it is the instructors' stance that no artist or writer works outside of social cultural, or artistic influences. Throughout the year, wonderful and exciting revelations occur about seemingly unrelated images and writings. These revelations contribute to a more in-depth understanding and encourage further exploration and study of the diversity and interconnectedness of all the arts, particularly as they apply to the shaping of American culture.

Flexibility in the design of the course is necessary. While the course is centered in the classroom, students also experience the wide range of cultural resources in the Chicago area. Field trips to museums, art galleries, musical and theatrical performances and walking trips to view significant architecture are planned. Pre-trip discussions and impromptu writing assignments during trips help students clarify and focus often complex, interrelated thoughts.

Various themes and ideas reappear at different times and re-form throughout the year. Generally, the following four major themes are explored:

I. "The Past is Prologue."

This unit usually provides some sense of an historical overview of Western art and thought. Challenges to students' preconceptions about art often occur as methods of close and critical observation are encouraged and taught. Some investigations are explored into the very nature of artistic perception.

II. Paradise Re-invented: "Imitation is Suicide."

This unit explores the origins and nature of romanticism as an ongoing expression of the American identity. Particular attention is paid to the conflict between the European tradition and the attempt to develop a uniquely American "voice" in literature and the arts.

III. "The Machine in the Garden."

This unit explores the rise of realism and naturalism in both literature and the arts. Undermining the romantic outlook, American writers and artists reflect not only historical developments, but also the provocative inquiries of science.

IV. "The Shock of the Twentieth Century."

Here students become aware of the flux that was the twentieth century. They will address the process of art and literature as both a means and an end. Students should come to realize that all labels (such as romanticism, realism, naturalism-any "ism") have become arbitrary and mercurial in the twentieth century. Fast changing ideas in science and technology are used to survey the interconnectedness between the sciences, the arts, and literature which led to a dizzying array of directions and theories. Traditional "absolute" knowledge is repeatedly challenged.

While this course still contains areas of study normally associated with Junior English such as a Shakespeare play, elements of grammar, preparation for state and national exams, and research methods, it also attempts to connect these into the themes of the course. Twice designated a "Program of Excellence" by the National Council of Teachers of English and currently taught by Alexandra Stevenson and June Kramer of the English Department and David Engle of the Art Department, it continues to be an exciting and thought provoking college preparatory course.

Arts Commentary

Dr. Dennis Weeks

I would like to ask three questions about culture. Is culture alive? In order to determine the answer to that question, we have to think about what culture is. Culture is generally defined as the acquisition of learning or an appreciation of humanities and the fine arts as opposed to technical or vocational knowledge. At first glance, the term seems elitist, but it really is not. Culture seeks to teach moral and ethical values. That is not to say that a vocation does not teach a work ethic, but it is culture, according to the definition above, that may answer the need to establish a work ethic. Ultimately, culture determines how we think about our lives and the world around us.

How then does culture present itself to us? Culture comes to us through a medium of expression most often associated with the fine arts. For example, the ancient philosophers believed that art imitated life. In its simplest form we draw a picture according to what we see in life. Cave paintings in France illustrate daily life in the hunt for food. We may decorate our homes with wallpapers showing flowers or perhaps a pattern found in nature. We sing songs and through them imitate nature around us. We dance to natural rhythms, and we write poetry that is set to the same rhythms. The human heart beats to an iambic rhythm of one unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. Any parent will tell you that one of the easiest ways to get a child to sleep is to hold the baby next to the heart and let her hear the familiar beat. We are surrounded by culture, explicit and implicit.

How are we to know if art is culture? Looking back to question one, culture means the ability to learn an appreciation of humanities and the fine arts. We all know the old saw about leading a horse to water but not being able make it drink. Culture is only learned; it is not innate. Culture depends upon learned and retained experiences that make sense to our senses. This observation may be the reason why a five-year old child will not do well visiting the Louvre. The experience level is not there. However an individual who has learned the arts will wander through its fabled galleries and appreciate the works. Culture is a learned thing and the more that we learn, through our active participation in cultural events, the more educated we become and the more tuned into our environment.

Ultimately, such an organization as the Northwest Cultural Council is the medium for bringing us the education to understand the arts. Every activity that the Council sponsors is an opportunity to explore what makes us fully human.

Remembering....

Dr. John H. Joseph

It is with deep sadness that NWCC acknowledges the death of its longtime friend, Dr. John H. Joseph, since 2000 the President of the University of Maine at Machias. He had a profound influence on fostering the arts at the Council and the northwest corridor. As executive officer at Roosevelt University's Albert A. Robin Campus in Schaumburg, he was a great friend of the Council. John established a NWCC Corporate Gallery at Roosevelt University's Schaumburg campus and hosted luncheons of our artists and benefactors. He embraced our Chamber Music in the Gallery concerts, inviting Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians and Roosevelt University Rudolph Ganz Music School teachers to perform. We remember him for his generous contributions to our programs and his unwavering support.

Bob McGraw Caton

President and co-founder of the Northwest Philanthropic Trust, Bob Caton, died in February. David Hill said Caton was a "giving, innovative, kind and compassionate" man who made a difference. Caton devoted his time to helping charities and philanthropists in the area. He organized seminars and meetings bringing together people and organizations with similar dreams. Bob's interest in expanding the fine arts available to residents in the northwest corridor was in harmony with the Council's goals.

Pam Whamond

Pam Whamond died this past spring. She was an artist, NWCC's second Corporate Gallery Chair and a "Kids Meet Art"™ presenter. Pam also founded the Brickton Art Center in Park Ridge. Her life centered on the arts and she was dedicated to promoting her passion, giving freely of her time and talents. We appreciate the contributions of Pam to NWCC.