Collective Serendipity
Art Show
WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, October 3, 2026 · 4–8 PM
Gorton Center · 400 E Illinois Rd, Lake Forest, IL 60045
FREE ENTRY
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Reach out at mmmanifestations03@gmail.com
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Three Local Artist
CJ Atlas
Ceramist
CJ Atlas is a ceramicist and mixed media visual artist born and raised in the north Chicago suburbs. Growing up gardening with their mother, they spent hours playing with plants, bugs, and dirt, so it’s no wonder they were eventually drawn to ceramics. Working with clay is a practice in slowing down—their way of escaping the chaos of the world around them. They focus on hand building and sculpture, with each piece carefully planned and pieced together with intentional functionality. They infuse their work with the whimsy of the natural world, bringing organic shapes and motifs into pieces designed to be used and enjoyed every day.
They are currently preparing for their debut gallery exhibition this upcoming spring, focusing on mixed media oil painting and papier-mâché sculpture. Their work is driven by nostalgia—the soft, colorful haze of memories and the bittersweet lingering of the past. By combining two- and three-dimensional elements, realism, and abstraction, they attempt to capture the wonder and complexity of the human experience.
MM
Woodworking + Mixed Media
At the center of MM’s practice is the belief that the artist is a vessel rather than a doer. He resists defining himself by the act of making, believing that labels can confine a person to what they do rather than allow them simply to be. For MM, creation comes through listening—to spirit, intuition, the materials at hand, and the present moment. Rather than forcing an outcome, he allows the work to unfold through him, responding to what is there and what emerges.
This philosophy extends to his relationship with materials. MM often works with what finds its way into his surroundings, including discarded wood collected throughout his neighborhood and pallets he carries home by bicycle. He also dyes his own fabrics using natural materials derived from earth to incorporate into his tables and constructed forms, allowing the process of transforming the material itself to become part of the work.
There is no fixed boundary between painting, mixed media, woodworking, and constructed forms; each is another possibility that can emerge through exploration. His practice remains deliberately open, driven by curiosity and a desire to continually experience, learn, and discover.
Tami H.
Jewelry
Tami H. is the multidisciplinary artist behind Chicagoland’s upcycled jewelry and décor brand ecoBoutiquo. Inspired by generations of resourceful makers in her family, Tami uses intriguing reclaimed and rescued items as raw materials, transforming them into modern, sustainable jewelry that feels like wearable art. ecoBoutiquo began from a moment of rescue when Tami saved much of her late grandfather’s workshop from ending up in a landfill – including the “junk” that she recognized as an endless supply of creative possibilities.
Today, ecoBoutiquo, with unique designs such as the popular “Upcycled Lightbulb Earrings,” has earned highly positive reviews on Etsy as a Star Steller under the name ecoBoutiquoShop, boasting a 5-star rating. The artist is just getting started and is excited to design more pieces that carry the playful, spunky spirit she shares with her predecessors and pieces that invite viewers to see discarded materials not as waste, but as beginnings.
