Gallery to display works of Illinois artist

Drawings and ceramics by G.E. Colpitts, an art professor at Judson University in Elgin, Ill., will be on display Oct. 30 through Nov. 21 in Northwestern College’s Te Paske Gallery. An opening reception with the artist is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 29, at 6:30 p.m.

Colpitts’ drawings, “Terra Cotta Fragments,” and ceramics, “Vessel Forms,” both explore the discarded clay pieces from her work on the potter’s wheel. “I believe seeing ‘failures’ or ‘mistakes’ or ‘discards’ not as dead ends but as opportunities for new growth and learning is imperative,” she says. “Reworking and remaking what others perceive as failures or as useless is central not only to the process of making art, but to all of life, learning and—ultimately—to full spiritual maturity.”

A member of Judson’s faculty since 1996, Colpitts is chair of the university’s Department of Art and Design. She also taught at Columbia College and Harold Washington College in Chicago, and at Vermont College of Norwich University in Montpelier, Vt. She is a graduate of Greenville (Ill.) College and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Northern Illinois University.

Colpitts’ art has been included in juried exhibitions in 11 states, as well as in a number of invitational exhibitions. Her entry in the 2004 annual regional exhibition of the Beverly Art Center in Chicago won Best of Show, and she holds several merit awards for work entered in the Quad-State Regional Exhibition in Quincy, Ill.

Colpitts is a member of Christians in the Visual Arts and the Chicago Artists’ Coalition. She serves on the board for the Illinois Higher Education Art Association.

The Te Paske Gallery is located in Northwestern’s Korver Visual Arts Center on Highway 10 at 214 8th St. SW in Orange City. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to midnight Sunday.