In the Gallery Now
Current Exhibition: Singularity is a Forest
January 5 – February 23

January 5 – February 23, the Brushwood Gallery hosts Singularity is a Forest, an exhibition of photography and poetry by Mexico City artist Álvaro Alejandro López.
He describes his series: “In our different languages the trees are mainly a generic symbol. However, if we contemplate them closely, we will find in them the diverse and the singular.This series is an aesthetic approach to the features and scars that give life to the individuality of each tree.”
Current Calls for Art
Artist of the Month
Apply for a month-long spotlight roles starting in April of 2025.
Artists of the month will:
- Demonstrate their work at one Open Art Workshop
- Teach one 2-hour Create & Sip class, featuring the project of their choice
- Display their work on one wall in the Brushwood Center Gallery, plus optional shelf space for the duration of their feature month.
- Be featured in Brushwood Center’s e-newsletter and social media
- Receive a $750 stipend
Artists must apply with samples of their work, an artist’s statement, bio and proposal for a class project.
Preference will be given to artists whose work has ties to Brushwood Center’s mission and explores themes of health, equity and justice, nature and the environment, and to artists whose class projects explore a creative of BASE (Brushwood Art Supply Exchange) materials.
Mother Earth Market
Indoor-Outdoor Event: May 10 & 11, 2025
Application Deadline: March 30, 2025
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods is looking for Artists, Artisans, Makers and Local Businesses and Organizations to be vendors at the 2025 “Mother Earth Market.” Taking place every Mother’s Day weekend, the market features and celebrates local artists, makers, vendors and organizations who are inspired by “Mother Earth” and working towards a more sustainable future. As a special treat, the Mother Earth Market will also feature events such as live music performances, storytelling presentations, drop-in classes, activities and more! A full schedule of events and times will be available later this spring.
Being Part of the Market
Items sold in the Market may include (but are not necessarily limited to): artwork, notecards, jewelry and personal accessories, functional objects for the home or garden, decorative items, toys, personal care items, artisanal food items, plants, Mother’s Day gifts, as well as items, services and educational materials related to community wellbeing and a more sustainable future. The majority of items sold by each vendor must in some way be related to nature, wellbeing, the environment, and/or be eco-friendly (subject matter, materials used, function, locally made, etc.), but we encourage a wide variety of interpretations of that theme.
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal: Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes
Application Deadline: June 8, 2025
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal – Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes
Located in the northeastern corner of Illinois, the Waukegan Dunes is an area of great environmental and historical significance that is home to hundreds of species of native plants worth celebrating. The fact that this scrap of nature has survived and thrived is significant not just for its diversity, but because of its location next to a recently closed coal plant – one of five Superfund Sites in the area that have been sources of pollution for over a century. What has proximity to pollution done to the site? What are the plants that survive, and why are they important? In this exhibition, Brushwood Center will celebrate the plants of the dunes that remain, and also address the Dune’s environmental importance and the dangers that it and the community that live around it face.
The subject of submitted artwork must include at least one species of native plant that can be found in the Waukegan Dunes. Traditional Botanical Art is welcome, but so are other styles and interpretations. All mediums are welcome, including but not limited to painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, mixed media, digital art, video, and poetry. Performing arts may also be considered for inclusion during special events like the opening reception.
The subject of submitted artwork must include at least one species of native plant that can be found in the Waukegan Dunes. Traditional Botanical Art is welcome, but so are other styles and interpretations. All mediums are welcome, including but not limited to painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, mixed media, digital art, video, and poetry. Performing arts may also be considered for inclusion during special events like the opening reception.
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal will be presented at Brushwood Center in partnership with The Richard H. Driehaus Museum and their summer 2025 exhibition, A New Perspective on Nature, by Rory McEwen.
Coming Soon

Water(color) for the Soul: Music of Lake Michigan
Pop-Up Exhibition
February 19 – 25, 2025
Come enjoy the original culminating works of this residency at The Brushwood Gallery in a Pop-up Exhibition! These pieces of music, that at first glance appear to be pieces of abstract art, will be displayed at Brushwood Center accompanied by QR codes that will link to performances of the works by Black Moon and allow the general public to listen to the pieces as they were intended to be heard by the Veteran composers who wrote them.