Inscapes: Robert Lee Mejer & Jason Dillard Mejer
Jun 28 - Aug 13, 2022
A father and son explore psychic space in mixed media painting, monotype assemblegraphs and watercolors revealing an undeniable visual connection.... read more
Jessica McGhee: You Can Rest Here
Jul 1 - Aug 13 2022
Jessica proves that trash is full of potential by creating colorful jewelry and sculpture using discarded items found during community clean-ups.... read more
Hot CIAO IX
Group Art Exhibition
Jul 1 - Jul 23 2022
Contemporary Art Center of Peoria’s Artist Member Group Exhibition at Studios on Sheridan, 929 N. Sheridan Rd., Peoria read more
Jill King: New Horizons
Apr 29 – Jun 17 2022
Like celestial cloud formations, Chicago educator and artist Jill King’s sculptures are energetic three-dimensional gestural ‘drawings’ of twisted metal covered with stretched... read more
Mike Baur and John Boylan
Apr 29 - Jun 17 2022
The sculpture of Chicago based Mike Baur and the 2-D mixed media work of Peorian John Boylan are guided by traditional design principles and an instinct for frankness... read more
CAC Member Artists Biennial Exhibition
Feb 25 – Apr 16 2022
The artists enrolled in the Contemporary Art Center’s Artist Membership program (CIAO) return to the Contemporary Art Center’s Preston Jackson Gallery on the 2nd floor of the building for a dynamic group exhibition featuring one work of art from each member covering the mediums of drawing, ceramics, glass, painting, printmaking and many more. read more
Ann B. Coddington
Feb 25 - Apr 9 2022
Drawing upon the ancient craft of basketry, Ann Coddington constructs organic vessels, at once both strong and delicate, that reference the human body and inspire questions about our place in the world. Since 2004, Ann has... read more
Home Sweet Home: Shahrbanoo Hamzeh
Jan 7 – Feb 19 2022
Exploring what occurs behind closed doors in melancholy but colorful paintings, Iranian artist Shahrbanoo Hamzeh suggests that our bodies, domestic spaces and home countries function as three parallel homes on different levels. read more
Roger Bean & Chuck Flagg
Jan 7 – Feb 19 2022
From an early age, both Roger and Chuck took an interest in alternative photographic processes. Chuck was attracted to analog processes, like pinhole cameras. Roger worked most often with digital processes and print manipulation, like toning and dye transfers. read more
Steph Van Doren & Jaci Willis
Oct 29 – Dec 17 2021
Two Central Illinois artists pare down their love of the natural world to the essentials in captured light and planes of color and shadow. read more
A Small Wonder Gift Shop
Oct 29 – Dec 17 2021
A small wonder means small work from local artists and that means work priced for holiday gifts! Gallery 3R is turned into a gift shop for small works of art. read more
Hot CIAO VIII
Group Art Exhibition
Oct 2 - Nov 13 2021
The artists enrolled in the Contemporary Art Center’s Artist Membership program (CIAO) return to the Studios on Sheridan for a dynamic group exhibition featuring one work of art from each member covering the mediums of drawing, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, painting, printmaking and many more. read more
Faces and Forms: André Petty & Scott Mossman
Aug 27 – Oct 15 2021
The pop art portraits of local artist André Petty are paired with the post-minimalistic sculpture of Chicago artist Scott Mossman celebrating the exploration of gestural shape and extravagant color. read more
Pieced Together: Chris Dokolasa & Lori Reed
Aug 27 – Oct 15 2021
These long-time friends share the practice of redefining their chosen mediums. Multiple altered photo prints are hand cut in strips and reassembled by Reed to create a fresh scene with other elements pieced into the final layer. Dokolasa pushes her sculptural vessels to surprising combinations of pattern, texture and flowing forms. read more
Hothouse
Jun 25 – Aug 13 2021
Jan Brandt’s vibrant paintings and fiber installations transform the gallery into a palimpsest of botanical wonder that combines the abstract with the observed. Her layered visual vocabulary is informed by 18th century botanical drawings, the patterning of Jacobean tapestries, the flat abstraction of Swedish floral design and a childhood spent on a farm. Since 2012, she has owned and operated Jan Brandt Gallery in Bloomington. read more
Ken & Barb Hoffman: Improvisations in Clay & Printmaking
Jun 25 - Aug 13 2021
Ken and Barb Hoffman share a love of improvisation in their work. Exploration in other mediums informs their dominant mediums of painting and photography, respectively. Ken experiments with traditional ceramic vessel forms, surfaces and glazing processes. Barb extends her printmaking skills to produce complex watercolor monotypes. read more
Brave Enough To Be It
Apr 30 – Jun 19 2021
Through their artwork, five African American women honor the dignity and heroism of African American women - past and present; both everyday women and those who made a significant impact on history. Featuring Sandra Bridges, Malika Jackson, Natalie Jackson, Alice Traore and Trish Williams, the exhibition of painting, photography, sculpture and art quilts culminates in a Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 19, 6:30-8:30pm. read more
Jessica Bingham: Be Tender, My Dear
Apr 30 - Jun 19 2021
Much like the cycle of renewing a garden—clearing, turning, sowing, tending, repeating, Jessica Bingham’s odd-shaped canvases are collaged remnants of older paintings made anew. Adorned with dried, homegrown wildflowers, they reference nature’s playfulness and unpredictability. read more
Guns in America
Feb 26 – Apr 17 2021
Jeff Corwin’s conflicted feelings over finding his father’s gun collection and his convictions about gun control fueled eighteen highly charged photographs illustrating the violence America faces every day. His career as a commercial photographer took him all over the country, but when we shot for such companies as Archer Daniels Midland in Decatur and Apple Commuter in Champaign, he fell in love with the Midwest. He is proud to share the entire series for the first time in Peoria. read more
Making Faces at the World
Feb 26 - Apr 17 2021
Richard Wehrs has spent 35 years feeding his fascination to convey exaggerated facial expressions in ceramic sculpture. With extensive back stories and a twisted sense of humor, each of Richard’s creations have a hilarious tale to tell. Add to that his deep love for texture, pattern, color and whimsy, and this exhibition is a very natural result. read more
Negotiating Space
Nov 6 – Dec 18 2020
While their approaches to their craft vary, these four artists share some things in common: they are women, painting in contemporary styles, who have come from other places in the country to serve as art educators in Central Illinois. Experience how Lynette Lombard (Knox College), Susanne Nestory (Bradley University), Melissa Oresky (Illinois State University) and Lisa Walker (Sandburg College) interpret, create and occupy space. read more
7th Annual Small Wonder Gift Shop
Nov 6 - Dec 18 2020
A Small Wonder Gift Shop means small work from local artists and that means work priced for holiday gifts! Gallery 3R is turned into a gift shop for small works of art. Just like a gift shop, buyers may take home the item at the time of purchase. read more
Preston Jackson & William Butler: Walking The Line
Sept 3 – Oct 23 2020
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first art exhibition organized in the gallery in 1995, Contemporary Art Center’s founder Preston Jackson and Executive Director William Butler exhibit paintings together. In a return to the visceral approach of their youth, they share a fondness for bold color and big themes as they intentionally walk the line between abstraction and happenstance. read more
Mark Holmes: Open and Shut
Sept 11 – Oct 23 2020
Mark Holmes's sculpture explores the relationship of visual, material and intellectual labor in the invention of form. Whether modelled from clay or constructed from wood, his wall-mounted sculptures hold the fixed material nature of the object in tension with the contingencies of color, light and space. Holmes is currently chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Knox College. read more