This round of Boutique Gallery artists is not one to be missed! From fluid acrylic paintings, sculptures, and monochromatic works to a wonderful juxtaposition of color and metal, check out these artists from our community who put their all into what they love: ART!

Lobby Gallery: Featured in the 3rd-floor vestibule is the work of Daniel Blanco. A Mexican-American artist and educator, Daniel received his B.F.A. from Morelia Institute in Mexico and continued his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and Arte Spani in Barcelona. He currently teaches at Near North Montessori in Chicago. Daniel is showing a selection of monochromatic works in Encaustic and Watercolor. Playing with both line and scale, these meditative color studies invite closer examination.

Long Gallery: Kanthi Kota will have her poured fluid acrylic paintings on exhibit in the third-floor Long Gallery beginning in November. She uses a variety of techniques, resulting in interesting and unusual patterns. 

Stone’s Throw Member Gallery: The member gallery located in the Riverwalk will be featuring the paintings and sculpture of Jerry Ward in November and the paintings of James Bednar in December. 

Alcove Gallery: Mari paints emotion through vibrant color, while Harminder reshapes discarded materials into vessels of memory and spirit. Their works meet in a space between energy and renewal, where pigment touches metal, joy meets resilience, and two cultures merge into one powerful act of creation.

When their paths crossed, they recognized something familiar: a devotion to truth, a fearless curiosity about emotion, and a genuine respect for one another’s stories. Mari’s colors and Harminder’s materials come from different places, yet both arise from the same impulse, to turn life’s fragments into meaning.

Both artists received Community Awards at ArtPrize, Mari the Latin Artist Award and Harminder the Asian Artist Award, recognizing two creative voices united by transformation, friendship, mutual admiration, and a shared passion to touch people through art.

Their meeting is not a coincidence, but continuity, two journeys that began in distant worlds, now converging in dialogue, transformation, and connection. Together, they reveal that art is not about difference, but about unity, the moment when two creative worlds collide and something entirely new is born. This small exhibition is more than collaboration; it is a celebration of renewal, identity, friendship, and belonging, a space where color meets matter, and creation begins again.