DEKALB, IL.- The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to present Regional Illinois Potters I: Northwest on display in the Hall Case Galleries (in Altgeld Hall) through September 30, 2006. Regional Illinois Potters I: Northwest features the work of ten artists known collectively as the Twenty Dirty Hands Group. Artists include Ken Bichell, Ron Hahlen, Doug Reynolds, and Stephanie O’Shaughnessy of the Menominee Wood Kiln, Charles Fach, Kent Henderson, Bill Farrell and Delores Fortuna of Galena, and Paul Eshelman and Adrienne Seagraves of Elizabeth, Illinois. The artists employ a wide range of techniques from slip-cast and hand-built forms to carved and wheel-thrown vessels. This exhibition is the first in an annual program series focusing on functional potters throughout the state.

Travel to see the artists’ studios on Friday, October 13, 2006. The Get-On-the-Bus Trip to the Artists’ Studios and Kilns in Galena and Dubuque will leave the NIU School of Art parking lot at 8 a.m. and return at 10 p.m. The trip is $20 for ceramic students and NIU Art Museum Members, and $25 for all others. Registration and payment deadline in October 6. Please call 815.753.1936 to register or for more information.

The Hall Case Galleries of the NIU Art Museum are located on the first floor, west end of Altgeld Hall, northwest corner of College and Castle Drives on the NIU DeKalb campus. The Galleries are open Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, 12 noon – 4 pm, and by appointment for group tours. The exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information please visit our website: www.vpa.niu.edu/museum or call 815.753.1936.

This exhibition, lecture, workshop, and bus tour were partially sponsored by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; the NIU School of Art Visiting Artists Fund; Friends of the NIU Art Museum; and the Arts Fund 21.