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The Great Outdoors: A Group Exhibition at Giertz Gallery at Parkland College
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The Great Outdoors: A Group Exhibition
Monday, October 6–Saturday, November 8, 2025
Reception: Thursday, October 9, 2025, 5:30 – 7:00pm
Gallery Talk by Amanda Smith at 6:15pm
Artist Lectures: Amanda Smith, Thursday, October 9, at 1:15 PM in the William Staerkel Planetarium
“The Great Outdoors” exhibition showcases an array of ceramics, printmaking, mixed media, watercolors, and oil paintings created by five distinguished artists from the United States. This exhibition will open on Monday, October 6, at Giertz Gallery, located within Parkland College. The exhibit will be open for viewing until November 8.
We invite you to attend the reception on Thursday, October 9, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM, which will feature a gallery talk by Amanda Smith, a participating artist and Senior Lecturer in Painting at Indiana University.
As with all Giertz Gallery programs, admission to the exhibition, reception, and lectures is free and open to the public. For updates and further information regarding additional programming, please visit our website at parkland.edu/gallery.
The exhibit participants include Hannah Buchanan, residing in Rockville, IN; Pattie Chalmers, residing in Carbondale, IL; Travis Head, residing in Blacksburg, VA, Beth Shadur, residing in Highland Park, IL; and Amanda Smith, residing in Bloomington, IN.
The Giertz Gallery at Parkland College serves as a platform for the exhibition of contemporary art. It functions as an educational resource that promotes critical thought and dialogue through the visual arts, while also acting as a cultural center for our community. Our serene campus location encourages meaningful engagement between the artwork and its viewers, facilitating a deeper understanding and appreciation of the arts. Furthermore, our diverse programming, which includes workshops and lectures, allows participants to experience the artwork firsthand and engage with artists about their creative processes, career paths, and artistic journeys.
“The Great Outdoors” includes ceramics, printmaking, mixed media, watercolors, and oil paintings. This exhibition features five artists who examine the relationship between humans and the natural world, with an emphasis on the outdoor environment as a space for enjoyment, recreation, and study, in contrast to more developed areas.
The artists capture the essence of wilderness and sites at the periphery of human development, highlighting places where individuals engage with nature, such as parks, campgrounds, and rural landscapes. Their works depict activities including camping, fishing, travel, and even leisure in one’s own backyard. Through these representations, the artists invite viewers to consider the cultural history of these landscapes, promoting a deeper understanding of our interactions with the environment.
An artist lecture by Amanda Smith is scheduled for Thursday, October 9, at 1 PM in the William Staerkel Planetarium. Amanda Smith holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and creates work that investigates human interpretations and experiences within landscapes. She has exhibited and lectured extensively, both nationally and internationally, at notable venues such as the SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York, the Rochester Art Center in Minnesota, the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center in Kansas City, Box 13 Art Space in Houston, the International Quilt Museum, and Biblioteca Viva Egana in Santiago, Chile. Currently, she serves as a Senior Lecturer in Painting at Indiana University.
Image: Amanda Smith,Unless we close our eyes, we can’t see where we used to be anywhere, oil on canvas, 64 x 48 inches, 2024
Giertz Gallery hours are 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Wednesday, 10 am to 7 pm on Thursday, and noon to 3 pm on Saturday.
To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north side of campus. Enter through Door X-7, turn left, and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located.
Giertz Gallery?acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.?All events in the accessible gallery are free and open to the public. Parkland is a Section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/353-2338 or email accessibilityservices@parkland.edu