10/18/25 Joan Ladendorf's "Abstraction" Exhibit Reception from 1-4 PM at Addison Center for the Arts Gallery -- All Welcome!

The Addison Center for the Arts is excited to announce its upcoming show "Abstraction" by the award-winning artist Joan Ladendorf. Her solo exhibition, featuring a wide variety of mixed-media work that includes paper collages, photos, and wood and printed fabric panels, will be on display at the ACA Gallery from October 11 through November 8, with the artist's reception on Saturday, October 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. The admission is free and open to the public.

About the Artist

Joan Ladendorf is a self-taught artist who has been exploring a variety of media and subject matter on her artistic journey over the past forty-odd years. At the heart of it all is color and shape. This “Abstraction” show at the Addison Center for the Arts is a celebration of those qualities without anything recognizable getting in the way. Joan enjoys the abstract work of other artists, and it has always been her favorite to create. 

Joan began with theatre costuming and graphic design, then progressed through traditional quilt making and various art quilt techniques and styles. She developed an innovative technique using cotton batik fabrics hand cut with scissors and assembled with a sheet of mounting adhesive. These works featured abstract shapes and transparency effects accomplished with careful fabric choices.

Joan then returned to photography, a place she had visited before, back in the old days of film and darkrooms, but the digital offered so much more. She focused on local sites, collecting thousands of images from her backyard creek, auto junkyards, the Chicago Botanic Garden, Spring Valley Nature Center, the Illinois Railway Museum and many other great facilities. She used her collection originally as stand-alone images but quickly moved into using Photoshop’s layering capabilities to create composite work.

Currently, she is creating what she likes to call “Photo Collage,” imagery made from pieces and part of her photographic collection of textures and landscapes. Hand-painted and hand-altered repurposed papers are scanned and used as ingredients as well. Using extracted shapes drawn with the computer mouse or sometimes selecting just a certain color from an image. Joan combines them to create her abstract designs. The elements are digitally assembled and further enhanced with dimensional effects.

Joan’s work has been featured in area galleries since 2005, and she has participated in juried fine art shows for many years, winning multiple awards. Previously, Joan’s abstract quilts were featured in Quilters Newsletter Magazine, American Quilter and Fiberarts Design Book 7, and her photography has been featured in B& W Magazine and Practical Photoshop Magazine (UK). Her art is also in private and public collections, including Harper College (Palatine) and Edward Hospital (Naperville and Plainfield locations). You can view current and past work on her website https://joanladendorf.com.

About the Addison Center for the Arts

The Addison Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit hub for artistic expression and cultural engagement, dedicated to fostering creativity and enriching the community through diverse exhibitions, educational programs, and events. Located in the heart of Addison, the center serves as a platform for both emerging and established artists, promoting a vibrant and inclusive arts community.

Addison Center for the Arts

(adjacent to Addison Trail High School)

213 N. Lombard Rd., Door #4

Addison, IL 60101

630-458-4500

Gallery Hours: Fridays – 6-9p.m. & Saturdays – 1-4p.m.

The Addison Center for the Arts acknowledges the support of this program by the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Village of Addison.