NCI ARTworks in Peru to host ‘The Art of Law Enforcement’ exhibit

NCI ARTworks in Peru will host an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, for the monthlong exhibition of artwork by artists from the law enforcement community in the Tri-County area. The exhibition is called “The Art of Law Enforcement.” The opening reception is free, and the public is welcome.

The exhibition serves as a way to strengthen bonds between local law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve, and to showcase the artists themselves. NCI ARTworks invited law enforcement personnel, retired and current, as well as civilian employees to submit their art for the September exhibit. Mediums include acrylic or oil paintings, woodworking, and wall and free-standing sculptures.

“The Art of Law Enforcement” includes:

Penny Boedigheimer is a retired city of Geneva police officer. Boedigheimer served 20 years with the Geneva Police Department and two years with the Peru Police Department. She also was a forensic artist while serving on the police force in Geneva and was trained at the FBI. Boedigheimer received her formal art instruction in the fine arts program at Northern Illinois University. Her work often presents a stylized vision of her world as a police officer. She integrates material related to her previous profession into her artwork, which encompasses many mediums. Some of her artwork in this exhibit is created from bullet casings, using it as a way to flip the narrative by taking an object with negative connotations and turning it into something positive.

Marjorie Myer is a retired La Salle County sheriff’s correctional deputy. Myer was born in Ottawa and has made La Salle County her home. After several years of raising children and working a high-stress job, she discovered her love of painting. She was taught by Steve Ross, son of famous TV painter Bob Ross. Meyer has attended multiple workshops in Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee and, most recently, with a well-known artist in England. Fascinated that they were able to help first-time painters create beautiful works, it became her goal to teach others the joy and satisfaction of painting. For the past three years, she has been teaching oil painting workshops at Open Space Art Gallery and Studios in Ottawa. Always trying something new, Myer has recently been creating wearable art by painting her favorite landscape scenes on fabric, including jean vests and jackets.

Frank Messina is a retired La Salle County juvenile corrections officer. Messina was born in Italy and raised in the U.S., where he 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.

Private viewings of the exhibit can be arranged by emailing outreach@nciartworks.com. NCI ARTworks Gallery is located at 400 Fifth St. in the west wing of the Westclox building in Peru.