Sunday, April 5: Wedding shoes, a hacksaw, medicine bottle caps, and an antique backscratcher all punctuate Beth Elishevah Granton’s storytelling. In witty assemblies of tossed-out stuff, Granton captures personal and social justice struggles.
Her work’s message of interfaith peace earned Granton, an Oak Parker for 18 years, the featured artist spot in the library gallery during the month that the Jewish holiday of Passover is celebrated.
From 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, the Oak Park Public Library is hosting a reception for Granton in the gallery on the second floor of the main branch. The Beth Granton Windows: Contemporary Jewish Art will be on exhibit there from April 2 to April 30.
In addition to found objects that Granton has drawn together into salvaged windows, the show includes some of her paintings, sculpture and photo-derived art, such as the work she calls Let There Be Sight: a painting she did over a photograph of a found object sculpture that she built.
Granton has a bachelor’s degree in studio arts from the University of Illinois and studied for three years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is in private and national collections. She’s a member of the Women’s Caucus for Art, the American Jewish Artists Club and the Chicago Society of Artists.
The reception is free. The main branch of the library is at 834 Lake.
