ABORIGINAL ART COLLECTION OPENS ITS DOORS TO CHICAGO AND ITS HEARTS TO CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ON APRIL 11

Aboriginal Art Collection, a New Gallery Devoted to Showcasing
Established and Emerging Aboriginal Artists, to open April 11

CHICAGO – Aboriginal Art Collection, the only gallery in Chicago devoted to contemporary Aboriginal fine art, will officially open with an opening night reception April 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at their River North space, located at 226 W. Superior, 3rd floor. With the opening, Aboriginal Art Collection will support Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago by donating 10% of their opening day sales to the Judith Nan Joy Integrative Medicine Initiative which investigates new and successful treatments to enhance wellness in children.

“Mina Mina Dreaming” By: Betsy Lewis

“We are inspired by the research and work being done by the Integrative Medicine Initiative,” explains Founder and Galley Director Rena Pulido. “We believe that alternative therapies have the potential to compliment and enhance traditional Western medicine and offer to the children and their parents another dimension to their healing that is holistic and non-intrusive. We are extremely encouraged by the positive impact they are having at Children's Memorial and wish to raise awareness so that they may continue.” Inspired by cultural traditions and a strong spiritual connection with their ancestry, Australian Aboriginal art is a distinct and narrative art form that is frequently exemplified by vibrantly striking colors, dotted motifs and intricate designs. Founded by Sydney natives Rena and Manuel Pulido, Aboriginal Art Collection features a wide array of work by many of Australia’s established and emerging artists. Aboriginal Art Collection features work by established artists like Gloria Petyarre, Dorothy Napangardi and Betsy Lewis, whose art reflects 40,000 years of Aboriginal tradition and history, providing rich insights into the lives of Australia’s Indigenous people. Paintings by the younger, emerging artists like Jeannie Long Petyarre and Samantha Hobson are less tied to traditional themes and techniques, but are equally impressive in their emotional impact with sweeping strokes and a more abstract style.

With a 1,500 square-foot studio space in the heart of Chicago’s Gallery District, Aboriginal Art Collection is able to provide a home to some of Australia’s most decorated Aboriginal artists. With a constantly changing collection of more than 40 works which range from $600 to $30,000, Chicagoans are not only able to experience Aboriginal art first hand at the gallery but learn the rich culture which influences it.

“Night Waves” Samantha Hobson

Aboriginal Art Collection launches their collection with an opening night reception on April 11 from 6-8 p.m. at their gallery located at 226 W. Superior, 3rd floor. For more information about Aboriginal Art Collection or their art, call (312) 475-9766 or visit www.aboriginalartcollection.com About Children's Memorial Hospital The Judith Nan Joy Integrative Medicine Initiative at Children’s Memorial Hospital was initiated in 2003 through a generous donation from Judith Nan Joy and the Jack and Audrey Miller Family Foundation to provide a highly innovative model of holistic pediatric care. Through cutting-edge scientific research, clinical trials, and education, the Initiative is investigating new and successful treatments to enhance wellness in children. More than 600 patients have participated in over 2000 interventions in preliminary studies measuring patient and parent response to energy healing and massage therapy. Unique to Children's Memorial's Integrative Medicine Initiative is a deep commitment to scientifically quantifying the body’s response to natural supports, including the profound importance of human touch.

Founded in 1882, Children's Memorial Hospital is recognized as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country in rankings published in U.S. News & World Report. Its physicians are on faculty at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. As a not-for-profit organization, Children’s Memorial relies on philanthropy to help provide care to more than 113,000 patients and their families every year. To learn more, go to www.childrensmemorial.org

About Aboriginal Art Collection

Aboriginal Art Collection's mission is to promote and support Australian Indigenous artists and to enable non-Indigenous people to embrace this rich culture while engendering increased knowledge of and respect for Australia’s unique heritage.

The gallery provides an opportunity for a non-Indigenous audience to have exposure to an Indigenous philosophy, culture and people that have co-existed in harmony with their environment for more than 40,000 years. Aboriginal fine art is unique in that it codifies memory and knowledge of landscape, the spirit world and tribal history. The gallery offers contemporary paintings of extraordinary quality that are both rich and affecting.

Founders Rena and Manuel Pulido were first exposed to contemporary Aboriginal art when given a copy of the Dreaming Their Way Exhibition: Australian Aboriginal Women Painters’ catalogue which was on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. and the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. in 2006. Rena and Manuel were drawn to the art’s beauty, ambiguity and contemporary abstraction. The real power of the art overwhelmed them, inspiring further research and fuelling an interest that culminated with the opening of Aboriginal Art Collection - a vehicle to feed what had become an all-consuming passion.

Contact:

Allison Yates
773 327 3830 x111
allisony@carolfoxassociates.com

Nick Harkin
773 327 3830 x 103
nickh@carolfoxassociates.com

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