First Friday Gallery Night at the Historic Dole Mansion!

August’s First Friday will showcase artwork in a special reception on August 5th, 2011. Running from 5-8 pm, the event will feature two artist exhibitions and four different musical acts. The musical entertainment of the August First Friday will play selections from the composers and musicians featured in The Portrait in Print Collection of the Dole Gallery. As always, First Friday is free to attend and will have art sales, appetizers, and a cash bar.
In the Dole Gallery, a portion of The Portrait in Print Collection will be on display. The collection features a series of portrait prints that exhibit the four most common printmaking techniques: intaglio, lithography, woodcut and serigraphy. The collection is on loan from the Friends of the McHenry County College Foundation and was generously donated by Mary and Charles Liebman, with Sandra Lang as the curator.
The Portrait in Print Collection features portraits of artistic icons anywhere from Bob Dylan to Beethoven to Billie Holiday. Mary Liebman describes the significance of the portrait in her “Notes from the Collector” section of The Portrait in Print booklet:  “I’ve chosen to collect portraits, which have, for me, an added dimension of historical interest. Why these people? Because these are the faces I’ve found in catalogs and galleries. Why these artists? Because many artists have done portraits, but some artists specialize in this kind of work and offer a lot to choose from.” The Liebmans’ donation, which was initiated in 1988, continues to benefit the faculty, students, staff, and visitors of MCC. Curator Sandra Lang states that she considers the collection to be a “glowing example of their [The Liebmans’] commitment and appreciation for the arts, humanities, history, and education” in her “Gallery Curator’s Statement” of The Portrait in Print booklet.
The August First Friday will feature 36 pieces from The Portrait in Print Collection. Some of the printmakers that will be showcased include William Patterson with his etching of Ludwig van Beethoven, Susan Dysinger with her color etching and aquatint of John Birks Gillespie, Charles Wells and his intaglio interpretation of John Lennon, and Troy Kinney with his etching of dancer Vera Fokina. 
The Sage Gallery will display Bill Stone’s Motions. Bill Stone is an Algonquin-based artist whose work is charged with emotional energy and movement. Stone creates his work en plein air, meaning “in the open air” or outside. He transforms his thorough observations from the outdoors into vibrant abstract expression on canvas. Colorful and energetic, Stone is an artist who challenges the viewer with internal reflection, emotion, and response.
The musical entertainment of the August First Friday will play selections from the composers and musicians featured in The Portrait in Print Collection of the Dole Gallery. Music will be provided by four talented groups: Together Again, Martin Lopez Academy’s Four Strings Attached, , and Ken Cooper as Louis Armstrong peforming with his Trumpet Trio including Terri Bohl, Chuck Melhman, Guitarist Ed Lescher and on piano Joe Zymonas.
Together Again is an active band of the Chicago area that plays instrumental and vocal jazz, rock and pop. The band is made up of keyboardist Marti Bonne, bassist Jim Seidel, and drummer John Briggs.
Martin Lopez Academy’s Four Strings Attached is an elite performing group that consists of children between the ages of 4 and 17 years old who are studying violin. Martin Lopez, an accomplished violinist, is the director and founder of the group. Lopez has played and toured internationally since he was a child, and established the Martin Lopez Academy to empower kids and make it possible for them to get a taste of the experience that he had as a young performer.  The group’s large repertoire of music has been featured at many of the Lakeside Legacy Foundation’s past First Friday events.  Though many of the group’s performances are in the Chicagoland area, Four Strings Attached has also toured to Guadalajara, Orlando and Bulgaria, and the group is currently preparing for a tour to Ireland in 2012.

All proceeds from the First Friday events go to the Lakeside Legacy Foundation. Support the arts and historic preservation by surrounding yourself with the creative atmosphere at the First Friday Gallery Nights!