Art groups collaborate for art exhibitions in area businesses

OC Creative and the Kishwaukee Valley Art League are collaborating on a new series of art exhibits that will be on display at local businesses and public spaces. The project will begin April 1.

DeKALB – OC Creative and the Kishwaukee Valley Art League are collaborating on a new series of art exhibits that will be on display at local businesses and public spaces throughout DeKalb County.

KVAL’s Occupational Creativity Project, also known the KVAL OC Project, will allow area businesses to display work by local artists in their space. Every three months, the art will be swapped out for fresh pieces, creating seasonal interest year-round.

The KVAL OC Project will begin April 1. Artwork will be on display until the next quarter begins July 1.

The league’s President Alec Rossiter said the art league has collaborated with OC Creative in the past. The branding company created KVAL’s logo, brochure and gallery signage.

“The project was Brian Oster’s idea,” Rossiter said. “The project will start as a rotating art exhibit in their office building, and we’re planning on expanding to other businesses and organizations as well.”

Rossiter said that there are more than 130 artists involved in KVAL.

“This will allow our artists to have their art on display and exhibited around the community,” Rossiter said. “It will be a way for local artists’ artwork to be seen by everyone.”

“Having creativity around someone’s place of work can spark a team’s inspiration,” Brian Oster, creative director at OC Creative, said in a news release. “It helps keep everyone’s day a little more unique and exciting. At the very least, creative art should make you pause and ponder for a moment, resetting your mindset.”

The blank walls at OC Creative provided Oster inspiration for the project, which will turn the company’s DeKalb office, 1600 E. Lincoln Highway, Suite D, into an exhibit space. The office is open Monday through Friday, where viewers can go enjoy the art.

According to the release, the idea was born out of a desire to expand the art league’s exhibits beyond its space in downtown Sycamore.

While offices like OC are a start, ideal locations for the project would be public buildings that get regular foot traffic, including restaurants or municipal buildings. The mission of the KVAL OC Project is to engage the community with art, decorate public spaces and give artists a place to exhibit.

To participate, businesses and organizations can start by buying a standard hanging kit. The kits, which use the same hardware KVAL uses to hang art in its gallery, cost $100 to $150, depending on how many pieces on display.

For a donation of $100 per quarter to the art league, a business will receive four to six pieces of art to display. Businesses and organizations can select the artists for each exhibit, ranging in size from 1-foot-by-1-foot to 3-feet-by-4-feet. The artwork will rotate each quarter, so each year a location can display 16 to 24 unique pieces of art. Should an artist sell a piece on display, they will replace it with a new one.

“The investment is minimal but the payoff is a win for the artist, the employees, and the community,” Oster said in the release. “Whether art provides someone a momentary escape or inspiration, joy or reminisces, the hope with this project is to bring art to the masses.”

For information about the KVAL OC Project or to participate, visit KVAL-nfp.org, email kvalnfp@gmail.com or call 815-762-0885.

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