NCI ARTworks in Peru to host reception for emerging artists

NCI ARTworks will host an opening reception 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 12, for more than a dozen emerging artists at NCI ARTworks Gallery, 400 Fifth St., Peru.

The opening reception is free and open to the public.

The artists include:

David Alleman grew up drawing in La Salle. He focused not only on visual arts but also on music performances. Versed in traditional art media and inspired by street art, Alleman creates hybrid art pieces.

Emily Maze is a professional artist whose work can be seen at numerous public art installations in the Illinois Valley. She is a principal muralist on the Westclox Studio team, which is responsible for the Mendota Union Depot mural, the Seneca “Find Your Connection” mural, as well as numerous smaller public murals. She also collaborates with renowned mosaic artist Susan Burton.

Francesco Messina has been painting with acrylics for the past few years. He was inspired to create paintings of the universe overlaid with whimsical images from literature and Nordic mythology by watching street artists create similar works of art in the squares and galleries he visited during his travels in the U.S. and abroad.

Jacob Stouffer pushes the boundaries of his creativity, drawing inspiration from the world around him and his personal experiences. Each piece is a testament to his evolving vision and dedication to his craft, offering a glimpse into the heart and mind of a young artist on the rise. Stouffer’s art is not just a visual experience; it is an emotional journey. He believes in the transformative power of art to heal, inspire and connect all people. As he continues to evolve as an artist, Stouffer remains committed to exploring the depths of human emotion and sharing that journey with his audience.

Jannett Kelly’s whimsical work takes color and movement to another level. Utilizing mixed media and materials, she creates thoughtful and sometimes disturbing vignettes of otherworldly images.

Jeremy Faivre’s artistic inspiration can be found in the Post Impressionism and Surrealism genres of fine art. His art is born of life events that dramatically and colorfully reflect both the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of it. His work is mainly created in acrylic. One of his outstanding pieces is included in the NCI ARTworks publication called “From Harm to Hope – A Multi-Artist Retrospective of Trauma and Recovery,” available on the nciartworks.com website.

Kat Bouxsein is a Putnam County artist, exhibiting locally for the first time. Her large-scale whimsical creatures are the product of her fertile imagination. Bouxsein graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and is working as a freelance artist. She works in a variety of mediums, depending on the inspiration.

Lili Heredia is a university student who grew up in the Illinois Valley and was trained from childhood in the use of acrylics and in drawing in both graphite and charcoal. Her work has won awards in various art shows in the Illinois Valley.

Lisa Carlson is relatively new to the local fine art scene, but her dramatic alcohol ink work overlaid with skillfully designed line drawings has been taking the local art scene by storm at many local art fairs. Her work often portrays the Rubenesque female form in all of its curvy glory.

Lyle Newby’s artwork encompasses a wide range of mediums, including paintings, canvas reliefs and demi-sculptures. Through a thoughtful examination of discarded materials, unwanted objects and seemingly purposeless items, he repurposes these remnants of the contemporary world. His multidimensional artworks are filled with lines, shapes, forms, curves, textures and vibrant colors unique to his vision.

Megan Truscott is a Chicago-based artist, educator and counselor. She earned her BFA in Scenic Design from The Theatre School at DePaul University and continued on to design for companies across the U.S. including Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Theatre Squared, Pennsylvania Youth Theater, Porchlight Theater Company and Jackalope Theater Company, among others. Truscott began her MFA in Scenic Design at Northwestern University in 2016 before recognizing her passion for working in education. She continued on to Purdue University where she earned her M.S.Ed. in Counseling Sciences in 2019 with a concentration in School Counseling.

Morgan Phillips grew up in the Illinois Valley area and after earning a BFA in Industrial Design in 2022, she began working as a muralist at Westclox Studios. Phillips has been instrumental in creating numerous works of public art, including the Mendota Union Depot mural and the “Find Your Connection” mural in Seneca.

Nate Petitdieu is a well-rounded artist, whose line drawings of imaginative superheroes and fantastical characters practically leap from the page. The characters he creates are uniquely suited to adventure and thriller narratives that he creates alongside his art. In addition to his graphic illustrations, his acrylic work is also quite appealing. It is softer and more colorful than his graphic work, but it is stylish and beautiful as well.

Penny Boedigheimer is a retired law enforcement officer who was classically trained as an artist at Northern Illinois University. Boedigheimer’s work often presents a stylized vision of her world as a police officer. She integrates material related to her previous profession into artwork. Her work encompasses all mediums but her specialty in this exhibit are pieces formed from bullet casings and thematically related to law enforcement issues.

Penny Guynn’s pour art creates forms of textures that flow colorfully into one another, forming patterns out of which emerge subtle images.

Ryan Stanley began her creative journey with simple graphite drawings that she later parlayed into graphic images that have been used as tattoo designs for numerous tattoo parlors in the Midwest. She has expanded her artistic offerings by creating colorful acrylic abstracts and mixed media pieces.

Samuel Dickey is an emerging artist from the Illinois Valley. He paints the beauty of God’s creations and the things that make him think about life. His preferred medium is oil, but he also likes to draw with graphite and charcoal. He is going to pursue a career in art.

Stephanie Latty is a local artist based out of Granville, whose lifelong love for drawing and painting was instilled in her at an early age. She earned her Associates of Arts degree from Illinois Valley Community College in 2008. Majoring in the studio arts with a discipline in photography and graduated with a BS from Illinois State University in 2011. Her unique style of mixing acrylic ink and charcoal was born shortly afterward. She has always been fascinated with the randomness and unpredictability of splatter art, which is demonstrated in each of her pieces. The balance found between the randomness and uniqueness of the background paired with a structured and diligently drawn interior is the ultimate struggle and accomplishment. Her work encompasses a full spectrum of people, animals and nature.

Vincent Fleming is a native of La Salle, who has been working with various mediums for many years. His preferred subjects are self-identification images and whimsical creatures as well as fantastical landscapes from the inner workings of his mind.

More information about the event can be found at www.nciartworks.com.