The Daily Northwestern
EVANSTON ARTIST FEATURED IN PRESTIGIOUS BOSTON GALLERY
Jennifer Hepp, Reporter
October 12, 2016
Evanston artist Robin Samiljan’s work will travel all the way to downtown Boston to be exhibited at a prestigious gallery for the artist’s upcoming solo show, “Miniature Moments”, beginning Thursday.
Samiljan’s work will be featured at the Copley Society of Art on Newbury Street — an achievement Samiljan said is a “dream come true.†The Copley Society is the oldest nonprofit art association in the United States.
“This is a big deal to me,†Samiljan said. “For me, on a personal level, this was a professional goal of mine.â€
In order to get her own solo show, Samiljan said she had to go through an extensive artistic process, which included her becoming a Copley Artist — a prestigious title awarded to accomplished artists — and later submitting a proposal to the art committee and getting it approved.
“This is a great opportunity for both Robin and the Copley Society because we are always happy to showcase our members’ work,†said Dana Marks, the society’s gallery coordinator. “We are really happy to have Robin as a Copley Artist member here this fall. It’s going to be a great show.â€
“I want people to look at this miniature place and have people feel like they want to walk and enter it,†Samiljan said. “I want to be able to bring people to a place.†Samiljan’s solo show at the Copley Society includes 35 pieces, she said.
Copley Society Executive Director Suzan Redgate called Samiljan’s exhibit “beautiful†and said the pieces are relatable, as they portray landscapes and settings in Chicago and the New England area that are familiar to people, as well as being accessible price-wise.
“My first love is landscape and nature,†Samiljan said. “I want to paint places that I’ve been to that made me feel good, or bad, or made me feel something.â€
Samiljan’s work will be shown in the Red Room at the Copley Society, one of the two spaces on Newbury Street where artists can show their solo shows.
Marks said the Red Room, which is the smaller of the two spaces, will be a great intimate setting for people to view Samiljan’s art.
“The pieces are going to be very well lined up and close together, so you are going to be able to see a wide range of her work,†Marks said. “It’s going to be a very full gallery, and it will give people an opportunity to see [the paintings] up close and personal.â€
Contrary to popular belief, Marks said, the Red Room is not the color red. The gallery walls are repainted for every show to match the artist’s work, she said.
Samiljan, who lived in Boston for 25 years and recently moved back to Chicago, regularly teaches classes at the Evanston Art Center and the North Shore Art League in Winnetka.
“Miniature Moments†will run from Oct. 13 through Dec. 24, while Samiljan will exhibit her “Elemental†series, which includes more abstract landscape paintings, at Navy Pier in April.