Local artist’s lifetime of work a legacy for Batavia’s Water Street Studios

When it was learned that an entire collection of works by the late artist and educator Edward Dlugopolski, a 40-year Batavia resident, needed to find a new home, volunteers with Water Street Studios, a community art center in Batavia, stepped up to assist with the task.

Joyce McFarland Dlugopolski, Ed’s wife, and Water Street volunteers determined the nonprofit would be a good fit to care for the art from Ed’s home studio.

The entire donated collection of Dlugopolski’s work will be shown and sold beginning in January, with proceeds to benefit Water Street Studios, whose mission is to make art accessible in the Fox Valley area.

Joyce donated the beautiful acrylic and charcoal works of art, which have been carefully cataloged and priced by friends of the late artist.

The event – Ed’s Studio: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Edward Dlugopolski – takes place Jan. 10 to 12, with an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 10 at Water Street Studios’ satellite location in Batavia.

According to a news release from Water Street Studios, Joyce and Ed have been longtime patrons of the arts, including the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera.

Dlugopolski grew up the son of Polish immigrants in Chicago. He won a scholarship to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After serving in the Army in Korea, he got his degree at the University of Chicago and a graduate degree at Northern Illinois University. For decades, he headed the art department at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, retiring in 1987.

In 2007, Ed was selected to be the poster artist for Batavia’s Art In Your Eye festival. It was then that organizers visited his studio and saw firsthand his vast collection of art, most of it his own, but also the work of artist friends.

They were so intrigued by his many self-portraits that a second piece of art was selected for purchase for the Art In Your Eye collection. His artwork was not only featured on the annual poster, but both pieces adorned festival T-shirts and canvas bags. Organizers of Art In Your Eye continued to enjoy the friendship developed with Ed and Joyce, long after the Batavia festival ended a few years later.

He worked mainly in acrylic and charcoal. The artworks, mostly framed, range in size from 11 by 11 inches to acrylic works as large as 41 by 60 inches.

Besides the self-portraits, there are colorful abstracts, portraits and a vast collection of life drawings. Of special interest is his homage to his Art Institute teacher and mentor, Boris Anisfeld, a famed Russian American painter and theater designer.

“Ed was a terrific artist, was mentored by Boris Anisfeld … but never promoted himself, instead working on teaching and producing art,” Water Street board member Bill McGrath said in an email. “At his wife’s direction, the art has been priced to get into people’s hands, and thus runs from $5 to $5,000.”

The satellite studio will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 11 and 12, at 139 First St., Batavia (just around the corner from Water Street Studios, whose main gallery is closed in January for scheduled maintenance). The gallery reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10. Complimentary beverages and snacks will be served.

All sales are final. For more information about Dlugopolski, visit www.waterstreetstudios.org/eds-studio.

To read a 2012 Shaw Local News Media article on the remarkable man, go to tinyurl.com/4kkw5j6k.