J. R. Kortman Center for Design / Kortman Gallery

Margret Hynes, John Lamar, and Marilynn Lamar have well established themselves in the Rockford arts community as accomplished artists. The three artists approached the Kortman Gallery with the idea of curating an exhibit featuring local artists creating works of art with an erotic theme…a subject rarely explored in the local art scene.

 The historic downtown Elk’s Lodge #64, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been selected as the new addition to the hand-painted Rockford Landmark Ornament Collection for 2021 at J.R. Kortman Center for Design.
    The building, which stands on the corner of North Main and Jefferson Streets, was built in 1913 and designed by the successful and influential Chicago architect Lawrence. P. Buck.
    “The beautiful and endangered downtown Elk’s Club is not only a local landmark, but is is one of America’s treasures,” says Doc Slafkosky, co-owner of J. R. Kortman. “The building’s architecture is definitely  inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement that took place around the turn of the 19th to 20th century.”
    The Elk’s Club ornament image was based on a painting by Rockford artist Rebecca Downing Pelley who was inspired by a 1920’s vintage post card of the building.
    Also added this year in the Landmark collection is a new edition of Symbol sculpture by Alexander Liberman,
    “The Rockford “Symbol” in Sinnissippi Park along the river is by far the best selling ornament of all other buildings and places that have been made  into ornaments since we started commissioning them back in 1997,” said Jerry Kortman. “It really has become Rockford’s definitive landmark!”
        Besides the Elk’s Club and the new Symbol, other ornaments in the collection include  the Rockford Armory, which is also a National Landmark along with two different ornaments of the Coronado Performing Arts Center.
    Rockford Landmark Ornament Collection also includes the Embassy Suites Hotel, Prairie Street Brewhouse, East and West High Schools, St. Anthony Church, two views of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House, a special edition of Memorial Hall, the Beattie Park Gazebo, the Faust Landmark Building, the “Y” Log Lodge, Burpee Natural History Museum, Anderson Gardens, and Midway Theater Building.
       In addition to the Swedish Historical Society’s Erlander Home, other historic houses in the collection include the  “Limestone Mansion,” home to the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, and the “Cobblestone House,” located at 2127 Broadway, one of Rockford’s oldest houses.    
    All the Landmark ornament images are individually hand-painted on the inside of a glass sphere, utilizing an ancient Chinese technique originally applied to “snuff” bottles. Each collectable ornament is a miniature work of art.

 Merchandising collectibles has been an integral part of the entertainment industry for decades. Iconic images appear on everything from T- shirts to lunch boxes. 
    The art world has become no exception to this concept. Images of great works of art appear on a myriad of souvenir merchandise by artists like Picasso, Van Gogh, Basquiat, Monet, and Haring, to name a few.
    Kortman Gallery takes this idea of merchandising images of fine art as an inspiration for a new exhibition called “Pillow Talk: Souvenirs of Art,” a holiday group exhibition opening Friday, November 19th. The show presents original works of art along with their images reproduced on toss pillows. Twenty-six accomplished artists from Rockford and beyond are featured in this unique exhibit.
    “A toss pillow makes a great ‘canvas’ for fairly accurately reproducing an image,” said Kortman Gallery director Doc Slafkosky. “The pillow becomes not only a unique keepsake, but a functional object that can be a cool home accent.”
    Artists were invited to submit an existing piece or create a new work for this show.
    “I usually work in ceramics,” says artist Lynn Fischer-Carlson. “The invitation inspired me to create a new abstract painting that I thought would look cool on a pillow”
    Rockford artist Drew Eurek, who creates paintings on large canvasses, submitted a piece for the exhibit. A detail of the large painting was captured and reproduced on a pillow.
    “I’m really excited to be a part of this exhibit,” said Eurek. “It’s always intriguing to see your work applied to another medium and see it with a new and different perspective.”
    “It’s always fun & interesting to see images of great artists like Picasso on mugs, calendars, plates, watches, playing cards, and yes, pillows, making fine art images widely accessible souvenirs” says Slafkosky. “So we thought it would be cool to present works of art by great local artists seen in the Kortman Gallery on pillows!”
    “Being retailers,  museum gift shops have always been of particular interest to us…the blending of art & commerce…and has even influenced our buying for our store,” said Jerry Kortman co-owner of J.R. Kortman. “So this exhibit suits our store and gallery concept perfectly.”
    Participating artists include Zoa Ace, Stephen Warde Anderson, Kelvin Candie, Lynn Fischer-Carlson, Molly Carter, Jesus Correa, John Deill, Ingrid Dohm, Drew Eurek, Brian Hierstein, Lisa Jimenez, Carrie Johnson, Etsuko Kobayashi, R. Scott Long, Jenny Mathews, Robin McCauley, Valerie Olafson, Isabella Onrubia, Rebecca Downing Pelley, Louis Recchia, Cherri Rittenhouse, JoanLee Stassi, Joe Tallman, Brett Whitacre, Kyle Wolfe, and Betsy Youngquist.
    Kortman Gallery opening reception for “Pillow Talk: Souvenirs of Art,” a holiday group exhibition is Friday, November 19th from 5:30 to 9pm.  The gallery is located upstairs at J. R. Kortman Center for Design, 107 North Main Street in Downtown Rockford. The exhibit is free, and open to the public..
    The exhibit will run though January 8th, 2022. For more information call 815-968-0123.