The Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery is a meeting ground for students of Moraine Valley, the local community, and the contemporary art world. Our mission is to present significant works, through exhibitions and programming, by local, national and international artists.
Gallery Hours
Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless noted; summer and holiday hours vary.
Free and open to the public.
2025-26 Exhibitions
Juried Community Art Exhibition
May 29-July 30
Reception: Saturday, May 30 | 1-4 p.m. Awards at 1:30 p.m.
Gallery Summer Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
EXHIBITION TIMELINE:
Artwork drop-off: May 19-21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Artists notified of acceptance: May 26
Pickup of Unselected Artwork: May 27-28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Pickup of Exhibited Artwork: Aug. 4-5, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
View and download the entry form for full rules and details.
Join us for the 23rd annual exhibition, a vibrant celebration of local artistry! Discover a stunning array of styles, perspectives, and media from talented artists in your community. This is a unique opportunity to appreciate and support the diverse creative expressions that make our local art scene so special.
2026-27 Exhibitions
A Twist in the Tale
Guest Artist: Tatsuki Hakoyama
Aug. 11-Sept. 20
Reception: Thursday, Sept. 3 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Throughout history, fables, folklore, and fairy tales have functioned as a way to pass down morals. The paintings from this series reimagine those familiar narratives through a contemporary lens, revealing the tension between the past and present. Through whimsical compositions that merge representational and flat rendering styles, these paintings reflect cultural and generational shifts in our values.
Artist Website:
Ulterior Motives
Faculty Artist: Tyler Hewitt
Sept. 23-Oct. 25
Reception: Thursday, Oct. 1 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Moraine Valley Studio Art Faculty Tyler Hewitt鈥檚 retirement exhibition after 27 years consists of work in a variety of photo-based media. Hewitt鈥檚 work explores photography as both a concept and a medium, and photographic objects as material for creative intervention. His work is an interrogation of photography, how we conceive of and use it, how and why we believe and trust it.
Leather: A Problem of Context
Guest Artist: Samuel Schwindt
Oct. 28-Dec. 13
Reception: Thursday, Oct. 29 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Leather鈥檚 typical鈥攗nremarkable. They鈥檙e animal skins, a byproduct of the meat industry. Yet it鈥檚 always mired in problems of context. Whether it鈥檚 football or leather harnesses, it鈥檚 encapsulated in pleasure, desire and power. An encounter with leather can be luxurious: a Birkin bag. It can be sexual: a dominatrix in a BDSM dungeon. It can be despicable: books made of human skin (or, purported to be). It can be controversial: protests of animal cruelty. It can be hypermasculine: a pigskin ball crushing a skull.
When attached to a human host, leather becomes a cunning sidekick. For destruction or construction is what follows: is it a tool of liberation, or domination? And what are the fringed edges that reveal a grunting grimace at its winking history? The work presented in Leather: A Problem of Context is about what could鈥檝e been, should鈥檝e been, or once was: but never fully materialized. Schwindt excavates and then conceals the legacies of leather, compressed into pleasantly claustrophobic figures and surfaces.
The exhibition is an epidermis, exposed and weathered, and showcases the history of a material often made contentious and convoluted.
Artist Website:
Juxtaposition: Natural vs. Manmade Landscapes
Faculty Artist: Amy Lubke
Jan. 4-31
Reception: Thursday, Jan. 28 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Tenured art faculty Amy Lubke鈥檚 solo exhibition features photographs captured throughout the Chicagoland area, highlighting the region鈥檚 diverse and compelling landscapes. The collection includes images of natural, untouched environments that demonstrate the beauty and power of nature. In contrast, Lubke also presents landscapes shaped by human hands, including cityscapes from the heart of Chicago. By placing these images side by side, the exhibit explores the relationship between the natural world and the built environment. Through each photograph, Lubke aims to capture the distinct beauty found in both worlds鈥攁nd hopes that sense of appreciation resonates with viewers.
Fractured Attention
Guest Artist: Chris Beaty
Feb. 3-28
Reception: Thursday, Feb. 4 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Fractured Attention presents a series of paintings and drawings that explore the fragmented nature of perception in an age of constant visual interruption. Drawing from personal experiences with ADHD, Chris Beaty鈥檚 work reflects the way images, memories, and observations collide and overlap within the mind. Layered compositions, abrupt shifts in imagery, and moments of visual disruption mirror the instability of attention and the complexity of contemporary image culture. Through a collage-like approach to painting and drawing, the work embraces fragmentation as both a limitation and a generative force.
Artist Website:
43rd Annual High School Art Exhibition
March 5-11
Reception: Friday, March 5 | 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Open House: Saturday, March 6 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Featuring a variety of聽artistic media, the annual high school exhibition showcases students from local high schools including Victor J. Andrew, Argo Community, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Chicago Christian, Carl Sandburg, Evergreen Park Community, Oak Lawn Community, and Reavis. Gallery hours are extended March 8-11 until 7 p.m.
Moraine Valley Juried Student Art Exhibition
March 23-April 18
Reception: Thursday, April 1 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Celebrate the college鈥檚 emerging visual artists from across all areas of study including painting, drawing, ceramics, photography, printmaking, design and digital art. A guest juror selects best of show, honorable mention, and Agree-to-Degree award to a student graduating that will be displayed in the hallways of the Center.
Inherit America
Guest Artist: Carlos Javier Ortiz
April 21-May 23
Reception: Thursday, April 22 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Inherit America is a long-term photographic exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Carlos Javier Ortiz that examines the continuity of structural inequality in the United States through intimate, relationship-driven documentary work. Rather than focus on crisis as spectacle, the exhibition reveals how inequity persists through daily life鈥攕haping safety, opportunity, visibility, and belonging across generations and neighborhoods. Ortiz鈥檚 work is grounded in a humanist approach influenced by social realism. The images invite audiences to sit with complexity and to recognize how systems of harm operate quietly, beyond the immediacy of headlines. Inherit America asks viewers to stay present with the emotional and structural realities that define American life for many communities, particularly those impacted by urban violence, disinvestment, and the long aftermath of public policy.
Artist Website:
Juried Community Art Exhibition
June 3-July 30
Reception: Saturday, June 5 | 1-4 p.m. Awards at 1:30 p.m.
Gallery Summer Hours: Monday to Thursday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Experience the 24th annual Juried Community Art Exhibition, celebrating the talent and creativity of local artists. Explore a diverse collection of styles, media, and perspectives, and discover the unique voices shaping our community鈥檚 art scene. Join us to be inspired, support artists and celebrate local creativity.
Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery
