The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has announced their spring and summer festival and special event dates for this year!

• Chicago Farmers Markets (citywide including Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St.)
  • Open May – October
• Maxwell Street Market (800 S. Desplaines St.)

Winnie Godfrey is our April Artist of the Month. Originally from Philadelphia, Godfrey was raised on Chicago’s south side and earned a bachelor of science in art and a master of fine arts from the University of Wisconsin. She also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of California.

The timeless tradition of floral painting inspires most of Godfrey’s work, but she developed a unique style that depicts floral subjects in an eye-catching, modern way. She utilizes light, color and composition techniques to make photorealistic paintings and presents her subjects with a fresh approach to depicting shapes, texture and the translucency of flowers.

Although her artwork primarily consists of oil-based floral paintings, she is renowned for her work in other figurative subjects, including a series inspired by the indigenous Mayans in Guatemala. Each painting illustrates a different village and costume in a sequence of 14 life-size oils titled “Mayan Procession.” While she often uses oil paint, Godfrey includes a variety of mediums in this series, such as textiles, photos and “alfombra” or carpet made of colored sawdust.

Are you looking for something fun and free to do this month?

Museums across the state are offering free admission to Illinois residents.

As long as you show proof of residency, you get free admission!

On April 8, people in Illinois will have the opportunity to witness one of nature’s most awe-inspiring phenomena – a total solar eclipse. This rare event occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, which casts a shadow that completely blocks out the sun’s light, turning day into an eerie twilight.

Illinois, known for diverse landscapes and star-studded skies, will serve as an ideal viewing location for this celestial spectacle. The path of totality – the area where the sun is completely obscured by the moon – will include the southern tip of Illinois as well as other states.

Todd Snyder is our March Artist of the Month. He is a nationally recognized fine artist from East Peoria and has worked as a professional oil painter since 1986. Snyder earned an associate degree in commercial art from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver, Colorado and has since lived in central Illinois.

The multitude of paintings Snyder produced throughout his career depict local urban landscapes and architecture in magical realist style reminiscent of the German New Objectivity painters of the early 20^th century. He combines elements of surrealism with his subject matter to fashion his own style of “industrial surrealism” in all of his work.

According to Snyder, his paintings are synthesized productions of his imagination, which include a combination of heavy industrial machinery, cityscapes and images of his immediate surroundings. He aims to create ambiguity and tension in his illustrations in order to reflect the surreal nature of our world and leave the viewer with a fragmented, unresolved story about what they are seeing.