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Tag: Art

Camera, tripod, lenses on leafy ground

April 26 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Environmental Film Series by Kateryna Sazonova

Join us for a compelling afternoon of film and conversation with Ukrainian filmmaker, environmentalist, and Brushwood Center Videographer-in-Residence, Kateryna Sazonova.

This program features a screening of Sazonova’s environmental film series—three interconnected short films that examine the urgent realities of climate change and humanity’s impact on the planet through both documentary and speculative storytelling. Currently based in Chicago, Sazonova is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, where she earned her MFA in Film and TV Directing in 2023. Her work has received international recognition, including a 2025 Emmy Award for her contributions to public television with WTTW / PBS Chicago.

Plastic (2018) is a documentary with experimental elements that traces the rise of plastic from its invention in the early 20th century to its overwhelming presence today. The film imagines a future where plastic has overtaken the natural world, offering a stark warning about the consequences of inaction.

200 Years Before 2389, a prequel to her latest work, is a short fiction film set in a post-environmental apocalypse. It follows a lone survivor navigating a world shaped by ecological collapse, providing an intimate glimpse into a possible future shaped by today’s choices.

2389: Coming Home continues this narrative in a sci-fi context, as two figures from a Martian colony—a scientist and a soldier—return to a devastated Earth to assess its habitability. As they confront the realities of a planet altered by climate change and resource wars, they face a moral dilemma that challenges the future of humanity itself.

Following the screening, Sazonova will lead a lecture and discussion on environmental storytelling and sustainability in the film industry. Drawing from her own creative practice, she will explore how filmmakers can reduce environmental impact and how audiences can translate these ideas into everyday life.

This event invites viewers to reflect on the power of cinema not only to tell stories, but to inspire meaningful change.

Register Here

Related Events

April 12 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Opening Reception: Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA features artwork created by facilitators of and participants in the TIERRA program—Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance—a research-informed, nature-based training program that supports Community Health Workers serving communities across Lake County, Illinois.

TIERRA equips Community Health Workers with tools to address the interconnected challenges of trauma, health disparities, and environmental injustice. Rooted in mindfulness, restorative practices, and the healing presence of nature, the program creates space for participants to explore their own experiences while strengthening their capacity to care for others.

Through visual art, reflection, and creative expression, participants in this program have translated their personal and professional journeys into powerful works that speak to resilience, healing, and connection to the land. The pieces on display offer insight into the inner landscapes of those working at the front lines of community health. These are individuals who navigate complex social and environmental challenges while supporting the wellbeing of others.

Created during guided sessions that integrated nature observation, contemplative practice, and artistic exploration, the artworks reflect themes of renewal, rootedness, and collective care. Plants, seasonal cycles, and the natural rhythms of the landscape serve as both inspiration and metaphor for growth and restoration.

By sharing these works with the public, the exhibition honors the vital role Community Health Workers play in building healthier, more equitable communities.

Schedule

1:00 pm – Exhibition Opens – Refreshments Available

1:30 pm – Artist Panel

3:00 pm – End of Reception

RSVP TO THE OPENING RECEPTION

Related Events

April 12 @ 1:00 pm – May 3 @ 3:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs and Health Equity and Nature Accelerator
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA

Healing Together: The Artwork of TIERRA features artwork created by facilitators of and participants in the TIERRA program—Transforming Internal Experiences for Resilience and Restoration through Acceptance—a research-informed, nature-based training program that supports Community Health Workers serving communities across Lake County, Illinois.

TIERRA equips Community Health Workers with tools to address the interconnected challenges of trauma, health disparities, and environmental injustice. Rooted in mindfulness, restorative practices, and the healing presence of nature, the program creates space for participants to explore their own experiences while strengthening their capacity to care for others.

Through visual art, reflection, and creative expression, participants in this program have translated their personal and professional journeys into powerful works that speak to resilience, healing, and connection to the land. The pieces on display offer insight into the inner landscapes of those working at the front lines of community health. These are individuals who navigate complex social and environmental challenges while supporting the wellbeing of others.

Created during guided sessions that integrated nature observation, contemplative practice, and artistic exploration, the artworks reflect themes of renewal, rootedness, and collective care. Plants, seasonal cycles, and the natural rhythms of the landscape serve as both inspiration and metaphor for growth and restoration.

By sharing these works with the public, the exhibition honors the vital role Community Health Workers play in building healthier, more equitable communities.

Learn more about the exhibition

Related Events

April 25 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Nature Book Club: April

The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a space to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and/or art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.  

Our April book will be The Place of Tides, by James Rebanks. This is a magical work of nonfiction in which James Rebanks reflects on a life-changing summer spent on a remote island off the coast of Norway, where his only companion was an old woman who practiced the ancient tradition of collecting eiderdown from birds that nest on this remarkable landscape each year. 

It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold.

Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.

REGISTER

Related Events

Meet Katherine Lampert

Katherine Lampert received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Northwestern University. She has exhibited internationally, with a recent solo show at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago. Lampert has been an Artist In Residence at the Cooper Union, a Community Artist In Residence at the Hyde Park Art Center, and received two fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center. She is also the recipient of a Full University Fellowship and a Teaching Fellowship from the Graduate School at Northwestern University, a City of Chicago Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, and a pARTners of Jackson Hole Grant. Her work has been featured in a number of publications, including the Chicago Tribune, Hyperallergic, and Michigan Avenue Magazine, among others.

See Katherine’s art on display at Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods March 1 – 28, 2026.

Unstudied, by Katherine Lampert
Media: Oil based enamel on canvas

Katherine’s Artist Statement

“When I paint, I allow myself to get lost in the process. I welcome uncertainty, an antidote to the necessity of knowing and controlling so much in everyday life. Our experience is so often mediated by technology—filtered through screens, images, and digital representations. Painting forces me to slow down, take time to observe, and ultimately experience a more direct, unfiltered connection to the natural world.

My work is tactile, built from materials such as stained paper and translucent glazes of oil-based enamel. Through layering, scraping, and excavation, I create surfaces shaped as much by chance as by intention—echoing the natural forces that transform the environment. The resulting surfaces are meditative, evoking spaces that shift between the real and the imagined.”

Image: Katherine Lampert at work.

Artist of the Month Events

March 28
10:00 am – 3:00 pm | Free
Open Art Workshop with Katherine Lampert

Open Art Workshop is open to anyone who wants to make something in any area of visual arts and crafts, from the experienced artist looking for a community of others to work with, to the complete novice who just wants to try something out in a low pressure environment, or the family looking for a fun kids’ activity to fill their afternoon – this workshop is for you!

register

Image: Drift by Katherine Lampert
Media:Oil based enamel on canvas

March 28 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Nature Book Club: March

The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a space to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.  

Our March book will be Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing, by Lili Taylor

Through a series of beautifully crafted essays, Taylor shares her intimate encounters with the birds that have captured her heart and imagination—from tracking flitting woodpeckers through oak trees to spotting majestic blue jays perched on a Manhattan fire escape; from the exhilaration of witnessing a migratory flock from the top of the Empire State Building to the quiet joy of observing a nest of hatchlings in her own backyard. Through simply paying attention to birds, Lili has been shown a parallel world that is wider and deeper, one of constant change and movement, full of life and the will to survive.

REGISTER

Related Events

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie

May 1 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie (Visit 6)

Returning in 2026, Black Moon Trio once again invites Veterans and their family members to create and perform their own original musical compositions in Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie. Grounded in the ecology and literary traditions of the prairie, this program explores how our own root systems run deep to withstand tumultuous storms and provide support in shaping individual and collective identity.

Using resources from Brushwood Center’s At Ease and Art Supply Exchange programs, Veterans participate in a six-week graphic score and poetry composition residency culminating in the creation of 15 original pieces of music performed and recorded by professional musicians. 

Black Moon Trio is honored to again be joined by poet and creativity expert, Kathryn Haydon and world-renowned botanical artist, Heeyoung Kim and members of her Botanical Art Academy. Together, they help provide expert insight on poetry, literature, and artistic methods and techniques inspired by prairie ecosystems designed to frame participant’s compositions. 

This is a six-week program–each week builds on previous work.

This program has been generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Forces initiative.

REGISTER HERE

Related Events

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie

April 24 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie (Visit 5)

Returning in 2026, Black Moon Trio once again invites Veterans and their family members to create and perform their own original musical compositions in Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie. Grounded in the ecology and literary traditions of the prairie, this program explores how our own root systems run deep to withstand tumultuous storms and provide support in shaping individual and collective identity.

Using resources from Brushwood Center’s At Ease and Art Supply Exchange programs, Veterans participate in a six-week graphic score and poetry composition residency culminating in the creation of 15 original pieces of music performed and recorded by professional musicians. 

Black Moon Trio is honored to again be joined by poet and creativity expert, Kathryn Haydon and world-renowned botanical artist, Heeyoung Kim and members of her Botanical Art Academy. Together, they help provide expert insight on poetry, literature, and artistic methods and techniques inspired by prairie ecosystems designed to frame participant’s compositions. 

This is a six-week program–each week builds on previous work.

This program has been generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Forces initiative.

REGISTER HERE

Related Events

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie

April 10 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie (Visit 3)

Returning in 2026, Black Moon Trio once again invites Veterans and their family members to create and perform their own original musical compositions in Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie. Grounded in the ecology and literary traditions of the prairie, this program explores how our own root systems run deep to withstand tumultuous storms and provide support in shaping individual and collective identity.

Using resources from Brushwood Center’s At Ease and Art Supply Exchange programs, Veterans participate in a six-week graphic score and poetry composition residency culminating in the creation of 15 original pieces of music performed and recorded by professional musicians. 

Black Moon Trio is honored to again be joined by poet and creativity expert, Kathryn Haydon and world-renowned botanical artist, Heeyoung Kim and members of her Botanical Art Academy. Together, they help provide expert insight on poetry, literature, and artistic methods and techniques inspired by prairie ecosystems designed to frame participant’s compositions. 

This is a six-week program–each week builds on previous work.

This program has been generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Forces initiative.

REGISTER HERE

Related Events

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie

April 17 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Initiatives

At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans
Free

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States + Google Map
224.633.2424

Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie (Visit 4)

Returning in 2026, Black Moon Trio once again invites Veterans and their family members to create and perform their own original musical compositions in Water(color) for the Soul: Sounds of the Prairie. Grounded in the ecology and literary traditions of the prairie, this program explores how our own root systems run deep to withstand tumultuous storms and provide support in shaping individual and collective identity.

Using resources from Brushwood Center’s At Ease and Art Supply Exchange programs, Veterans participate in a six-week graphic score and poetry composition residency culminating in the creation of 15 original pieces of music performed and recorded by professional musicians. 

Black Moon Trio is honored to again be joined by poet and creativity expert, Kathryn Haydon and world-renowned botanical artist, Heeyoung Kim and members of her Botanical Art Academy. Together, they help provide expert insight on poetry, literature, and artistic methods and techniques inspired by prairie ecosystems designed to frame participant’s compositions. 

This is a six-week program–each week builds on previous work.

This program has been generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Forces initiative.

REGISTER HERE

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