Artist Spotlights: Greektown’s Lighthouse Exhibit
Greektown recently installed a beautiful community art project titled “Re-Imagining Pharos – The Greektown Lighthouse Display.” Along Halsted Street, you will find 16 lighthouse sculptures that bring the enchanting and beautiful history of Greece’s lighthouses to the neighborhood. Below we have spotlighted a few talented artists that created some of the vibrant works of art that line the streets of Greektown. Read more to find out where they got their inspiration!
Vasiliki Valkanas
Vasiliki is a Chicago-based artist and graphic designer. In the exhibit, you can see her clean, modern aesthetic that is consistent across her other work. Vasiliki is inspired by nature and organic textures and tries to work that aesthetic into her other pieces. While Vasiliki focuses on graphic design and large-scale paintings, she also touches on drawing, mixed media, sculpture, installation and murals. Throughout her work, it is clear she brings a strong technical approach.
Tracy Ostmann-Hashke
Tracy’s art can be seen throughout Chicago, including a 3D Piranha sculpture at the Shedd Aquarium and exhibits at Eastwick Gallery. Her work is often inspired by her native roots in rural Missouri. The constant company of wood workers, clock makers, furniture builders, ceramicists and painters has contributed to the way Tracy perceives art. Tracy completed her B.F.A. from Webster University in St. Louis Missouri and received a grant and merit scholarship from The Art Institute of Chicago to attend the Post Baccalaureate certificate program. Since then, Tracy has received numerous accolades, including a Chicago Arts Assistance Program grant award and first place at the Wells Street Art Fair in 2016. Check out her lighthouse in Greektown and other works of art throughout the city!
Diane Thodos
Diane has always been drawn to the expressionist art movements of the Modernist era, most specifically the Abstract Expressionism from the 1940’s-1950’s and the German Expressionism from 1906-1924. She works to bring emotional depth to her artwork despite the times of crisis and transformation. You can see the inspiration of the Modernist era as Diane’s paintings and prints embody both an element of lyricism and one of tragedy. Through her art, Diane strives to reveal outward states of inward feeling.
