J. R. Kortman Center for Design / Kortman Gallery

Celebrate El Dia de los Muertos and the election season with handmade folk art from Mexico, Peru, India and Bolivia. Colorful ornaments, bowls, and mascots add a touch of authenticity to your seasonal collection...now at J. R. Kortman!

After her mother passed away, Rockford artist Jeanne Ludeke, while sorting through her belongings, became interested in the cardboard boxes her mother had used to store and preserve things that were important to her. Moved by the imagery of the boxes and the memories they contain, Ludeke saw them as an intriguing subject matter for her exhibition of realist paintings.
    On Friday, August 12th, Ludeke will present these remarkable paintings in a Kortman Gallery exhibit titled “Flashlights & Other Stories.”
    “Jeanne’s exquisite paintings at first glance look like beautifully colored abstracts,” says Kortman Gallery director Doc Slafkosky. “But with a closer look you discover they are paintings of the actual aged cardboard boxes that held her mom’s treasured keepsakes. Most unusual, but unforgettable imagery that you just have to see!”
    “The history of what each box had once held was recorded with my mom’s script on the lids and sides of the boxes,” Ludeke said. “What she had saved and valued and how it was kept, spoke of her connection to our family and her relationship with the material world. For me, the boxes became a metaphor for the transience of home, family and the impermanence of things.”
    Ludeke began her studies in drawing, painting and art history at NIU and the University of Salzburg, Austria, and completed a Masters in drawing at NIU in 1983. She has worked as a commissioned portrait artist and also taught art for many years. Only recently she has returned to her personal work as an artist.
      The Kortman Gallery exhibit “Flashlights & Other Stories,” paintings by Jeanne Ludeke will open Friday, August 12th, 5:30 to 9pm. It will be on display through September 30th. Kortman Gallery is located upstairs at J. R. Kortman Center for Design, 107 North Main Street in Downtown Rockford. The opening reception is free and open to the public. For more information call 815-968-0123 or visit www.jrkortman.com.

Elegant architectural details captured by Rockford photographer Hans Rupert. "Secret Scenes: Hidden icons in a different light" an exhibition of photos of Downtown Rockford by Hans Rupert is now display upstairs in the Kortman Gallery through July 31st. Don't miss this great photography show!

Downtown Rockford is Hans Rupert’s front and backyard, his neighborhood, his workplace, his home. And being a commercial photographer with architectural clients, Rupert has an eye and camera on buildings. With the opportunity of seeing it 24 hours a day, season after season for three decades, the unique architecture of Downtown Rockford has naturally become the subject of Rupert’s stunning and intriguing neighborhood photographs.
    On Friday June 3rd, Hans Rupert’s captivating perspective of Downtown Rockford will be presented in “Secret Scenes: Hidden icons in a different light,” an exhibition of photographs will open in the Kortman Gallery.
    “Hans starting posting his collection of these elegant photos of Downtown on Instagram and Facebook and that caught our eye,” said Doc Slafkosky, gallerist for the Kortman Gallery. “The light, the colors, and the architectural details in his photos is breathtaking. Hans has stepped out of his commercial field and into the artistic world with these photos.”
    “I was surprised when the Kortman Gallery approached me with the idea for an exhibition,” said Rupert. “I have always thought of my photography as a commercial endeavor, and not necessarily art. But, I’m excited and pleased to share my Downtown with everyone.”
    In his exhibition title, Rupert refers to “secret scenes” which, in reality, are in plain site, says Slafkosky. “However, you see them from a personal and atmospheric perspective that Rupert was able to capture through detailed familiarity and affection for his neighborhood. Most of us don’t see Downtown in this light.”
    Since the mid 1980’s, commercial photographer Hans Rupert has not only  worked, but has lived in Downtown Rockford.  Studio space was affordable as was living space. In the late ’90’s Rupert acquired the Bliss Building on Mulberry Street where he and his wife, Amy are raising their two children. He is a graduate of Rockford University and owner of noir.net, his photography business.  
    The Kortman Gallery exhibit “Secret Scenes: Hidden icons in a different light,” photographs by Hans Rupert will open First Friday, June 3rd, 5:30 to 9pm. It will be on display through July 16th. Kortman Gallery is located upstairs at J. R. Kortman Center for Design, 107 North Main Street in Downtown Rockford. For more information call 815-968-0123.

Here are contemporary, yet classic, pieces that would add an elegant, and even whimsical accent to your home...also ideas for graduation, Father's Day, and Spring weddings...Japanese zinc Crane Vase, the beautiful wood and lacquer Michael Graves mantle clock with swinging pendant, and ceramic Einstein bank...

Remember Mom on Mother's Day, May 8th with something sweet or something fun, or something exceptional that she'll treasure forever from J.R. Kortman Center for Design...