The Red City by Tita R. Brady, oil on round canvas

Water Towers, Mixed media on wood, by Jill Kolker

Past Exhibitions

Tita Recometa-Brady & Jill Kolker
“Landscapes / Cityscapes”
February 2 – March 16, 2024

The next exhibition at SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art, Landscapes / Cityscapes, features Filipina American artist, Tita Brady-Recometa and Chicagoan, Jill Kolker. The exhibition runs from Friday, Feb 2 through Saturday, March 16, 2024.

Tita Recometa-Brady’s academic training in fine arts includes a bachelor’s degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and a master of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her signature style is paintings on round canvases to reflect in part that we are all bound together in what she calls a Circle of Existence. She is fascinated to work in this form as she subdivides a circle with a chord, then starts freely on an arc on the circumference, and uses radius to balance the elements of the design. Recometa-Brady’s paintings in the current exhibition feature several works from her Sun, Land, City series. They are images of the Sun as the silent witness to the takeover of Lands, and their eventual transformation into Cities. The paintings examine the promise of “progress” and its effects on the natural environment. We also feature paintings from her Word series. They contain beautiful designs that bring out the meaning of a word. The complete set of paintings are reprinted with inspirational quotes in her Art-Word book, "IF NOT NOW, WHEN?” which will also be at the gallery for viewing and purchase. Read more about Tita Recometa-Brady in this interview by Myra Kalaw.

Jill Kolker has been creating mixed media paintings and collages out of her home and studio on the north side of Chicago for many years. She believes that art is a powerful conduit for sharing our thoughts and ideas. Her multimedia artworks feature texture, color and collage. She works with acrylic paint, molding paste, and imagery on wood panels. Jill briefly studied graphic design at Drake University. She then took art classes in the community for 10 years to enhance her technique and find her personal style. After that she began working at the Highland Park Art Center where she deepened her knowledge of texture and the many other techniques she uses in her current work. Kolker’s artworks with their grid designs and scenes of people of all walks of life evoke cityscapes that show in contrast to the lush landscapes of Tita Recometa-Brady’s paintings. Both artists’ work contain geometric details and color that bring them together in a visual display that can enable the viewer to reflect on how rural and urban environments are complementary and part of an interdependent world. 

The exhibition “Landscapes / Cityscapes" runs from February 2 — March 16, 2024. The closing reception is on Saturday, March 16 from 2-4 pm.

We welcome “installment plan” proposals for artwork purchases at a pace that works with your budget. This is a great way to support the artists and the gallery.

“Landscapes / Cityscapes” Exhibition at SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art

We welcome “installment plan” proposals for artwork purchases at a pace that works with your budget. This is a great way to support the artists and the gallery.

Book cover of Progression,
published in 2021

Architecture Talk - Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido - Sat., Feb 24, 1:00 -2:00 pm

Amplifying one of the themes of the exhibition about caring stewardship of land as the environment is transformed by architecture, we are pleased to have Chicago-based Mexican architect, Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido, as our guest speaker. Francisco began his career working with famous architect, Helmu Jahn, joining the Chicago firm Murphy/Jahn Architects in 1999 (later named JAHN). Francisco eventually became the firm’s first partner in 2009 and then president in 2012. In 2017, he left JAHN to establish his own international architectural practice, FGP Atelier. Francisco’s work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and the U2 Studio in Dublin. In 2021 he wrote a book that shares his philosophy of building design, which he will discuss, along with stories and examples of projects he has worked on around the world.

Ceramic Seeds by Sharon Bladholm

Aura Ray (Beyond the Veil), Acrylic and collage on wood, by Monica J. Brown

Sharon Bladholm & Monica J. Brown

Of Earth and Spirit
Oct. 27, 2023 - Jan. 13, 2024

October 23, 2023 – SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art, located at 1527 N. Ashland Avenue, launches a new exhibition featuring Sharon Bladholm and Monica J. Brown, "Of Earth and Spirit." The show runs from October 27, 2023 – January 13, 2024. The opening reception will be held on Friday, October 27 from 6-9 pm.

Sharon Bladholm has long explored the interfaces of art, nature, science, and conservation in numerous series of artworks in diverse mediums including glass, bronze, ceramic, and works on paper. She has participated as an artist on scientific expeditions to remote ecosystems of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. She finds peace and connection by spending time in the natural environment where she documents known and unknown species and finds inspiration for drawings,  paintings, ceramics, and sculpture. When she speaks about her work she will often discuss climate change and the need to protect the environment.

Monica J. Brown is an interdisciplinary artist who explores the intersections between visual art, sound, movement, poetry, prose and performance. She is interested in how stories of our personal history live in our bodies and also how the stories of our ancestry shape the way in which we view the world and our place within it. Her work is an investigation of genetic memory and generational healing. She explores how the experiences from the past, knowing them, and sharing them can be a means for releasing learned dysfunctional patterns and for embracing inherited strengths and gifts. Brown's illustrations of seeds, sticks, stones, and trees represent her spiritual connection to the earth, the elements of nature, and the wisdom of her ancestors.  

SoNa Chicago is proud to feature the work of these two wonderful artists. "Sharon works in multiple media to bring messages of the importance of the precious natural resources around us,” said gallery owner and co-curator, Laura Botwinick. “The exhibition also features several major pieces, her bronze hearts, brains, and lungs. They are shown with seedlings and embedded live flowers and vines to convey that our hearts, minds, and physical being are interdependent and connected to nature."

“Monica’s artwork also has representations of the natural environment, as the exhibition features her images of seeds, stones, sticks, and trees in addition to the ancestry collages,” said co-curator Molly O'Donnell. “Her portraits of her ancestors are moving and beautiful and we view them as if through keyholes or through veils to hope to glean the wisdom they can convey to us.”

The work of other SoNa Chicago artists is on view in the Gallery Annex. They include Kermit Berg, Tita Brady, Jill Kolker, Loralyn Kumlin, Tom Robinson, Nicholas Sistler, and Paul Somers. Beautiful work by jewelry artists Melle Finelli and Christy Klug are also featured at the gallery.

The exhibition "Of Earth and Spirit" runs from October 27, 2023 – January 13, 2024.

Chicago Gallery News Listing

We welcome “installment plan” proposals for artwork purchases at a pace that works with your budget. This is a great way to support the artists and the gallery.

“Of Earth and Spirit” Exhibition at SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art

Wood Mosaic “DeLawn” by Tom Robinson, one of the works in his Twins Series

DeLawn with the artist

Loralyn Kumlin with two of the paintings and the imagery box from her Resist series. Top: Rosa Parks; bottom Amelia Earhart

Tom Robinson & Loralyn Kumlin
Creative Emergence from the Pandemic: Paintings, Miniatures, Wood Mosaics, and Imagery Boxes
August 11 - October 14, 2023

In the early months of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tom Robinson and Loralyn Kumlin began renovating a large vintage dollhouse that had been discarded in a Chicago alley. First Tom did major structural repairs to the dollhouse. Then both Loralyn and Tom worked on the interior, starting with Tom’s elaborate wood and ceramic flooring for each of the rooms. Together they furnished the rooms with miniature furniture and accessories, and then they began making miniature copies of their full-scale artwork to adorn the walls of the dollhouse. A new sense of creativity began to flourish.

After collaborating on the dollhouse they created two room boxes together and then they began creating their own miniature structures, which they continue to make. Tom makes small-scale galleries and other structures, each with a different series of his artwork in miniature. Loralyn designs imagery boxes that evoke feelings conveyed in her work and which include miniatures of her original paintings.

This show also features one of the pieces from Tom’s “Twins” series. These are beautiful large wood mosaics made of natural wood - no stains have been used to create the variety of colors in the work.

Since the beginning of the pandemic Tom and Loralyn have made over 30 miniature galleries and imagery boxes. The dollhouse they renovated and the two room boxes they collaborated on are on view in the Gallery Annex.

Read more about the popularity of miniatures in this article, ‘A place where millennials can own a home: why doll’s houses are having a big moment.” #rethinkdollhouses #moderndollhouse

Chicago Gallery News Listing

We welcome “installment plan” proposals for artwork purchases at a pace that works with your budget. This is a great way to support the artists and the gallery.

“Creative Emergence from the Pandemic” exhibition

Making Space book by Mark Ballogg

Past Events

Mark Ballogg Book Talk, Making Space, December 16, 2023

Mark is a Chicago-based photographer who created a beautiful book based on his visits to 162 studios of Chicago artists. Sharon Bladholm’s gallery is one of the studios featured in the book. The photographs of artist studios are intermingled with 80 artists' quotes. His interviews with the artists touched on topics such as the individual artists' relationship with their studio and how that studio models their practice outward to such questions as what art is, why make art, and art's personal and public impact. Mark will discuss his book and share what he learned from the artists in the process of making the book. The books are currently on sale at the gallery and will be available on the day of his talk.

Image: Making Space, 191 pages, 9.5" x 13", released August 2023

See article about Mark and the book by Rick Kogan in the Nov 19, 2023 Chicago Tribune

Signed copies of Mark’s book are available for sale in the gallery.

Sharon Bladholm Artist Talk, November 18, 2023 

Artist Sharon Bladholm spoke about her work at SoNa Chicago on November 18, 2023. She discussed the meaning and lessons learned in the process of creating her numerous series of artworks in diverse mediums including glass, bronze and ceramic, as well as works on paper.

Ms. Bladholm's work has been profoundly influenced by her participation as artist, on scientific expeditions to remote and biologically diverse ecosystems of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon on expeditions with the Field Museum, Conservation International and Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program. She has long explored the interfaces of art, science, conservation and nature in her artwork.

Chicago Gallery News Listing

Nicholas Sistler Artist Talk, July 1, 2023 

Artist Nicholas Sistler spoke about his work at SoNa Chicago on July 1, 2023. He shared examples of his artwork over the years, and discussed his development as an artist and his process for creating.

Mr. Sistler’s work has appeared in more than 160 exhibitions, including 31 solo shows. Sistler has received several grants from the Illinois Arts Council, four residencies from the Ragdale Foundation, and an Honorary Fellowship from the Djerassi Foundation. Sistler’s artwork is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Illinois State Museum, Rockford Art Museum, Elmhurst Art Museum, Block Museum at Northwestern University, and others. He received a BFA degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Chicago Gallery News Listing

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art – New Gallery opens in Wicker Park Bucktown in Chicago

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art Gallery opens on the North Side of Chicago to create a space for interaction with different media and global conversations. 

CHICAGO (PRWEB) April 21, 2023 – SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art celebrates its grand opening on Saturday, May 6, from 5-8 PM. The gallery, located at 1527 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago, opens with a survey of 11 artists the gallery represents. The artwork carried by SoNa Chicago reflects the creativity and abundant energy of the human spirit. Art, in itself and in its creation, reminds us of the potential for joy and the advancement of humanity as a force for good.

"Artists play an important role in society both to comment on events of our day and to reflect the world back to us in ways that provoke thought or that can still our minds," said gallery owner Laura Botwinick. The creation of art is a reflection of the human spirit, and we celebrate this spirit in all of its forms at SoNa Chicago.

"Although we will put a spotlight on Chicago artists, we want the dialogue between artists in the gallery to be global," said curator Molly O'Donnell. We view our space as a venue for conversation, community, and a celebration of the arts. 

The West Town - Wicker Park - Bucktown - East Village area has become a thriving gallery scene in recent years, and SoNa Chicago has found a home in this vibrant and vital community. SoNa Chicago is named after "South of North Avenue" (SoNa) in Chicago. The gallery is located on N. Ashland Avenue, just South of North Avenue and a few blocks east of the iconic intersection of Damen, Milwaukee, and North Avenue. The name signals our appreciation for being rooted in a place rich in history, architecture, and culture. And yet, while grounded here, our sights are set on expanding thought and perspectives.

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art is a new art gallery on the north side of Chicago. The gallery features paintings, ceramics, photography, jewelry, textiles, sculpture, and mixed media and will feature music, poetry, literature, and theater.

Contact: Laura Botwinick
Phone: (773) 513-4436
Email: lkbotwinick@gmail.com
Gallery website: sonachicagoart.com
Facebook & Instagram: @sonachicagoart

News from the Inaugural Exhibition at SoNa Chicago:

Survey Show of 11 SoNa Chicago Gallery Artists