CV
Chicagoland based artist who works and lives in NW Illinois.
Email: cslesperance@gmail.com
Web Site: www.CindyLesperance.com
Organizations / Associations
FUSEDChicago - President (2018-2022)
FUSEDChicago Board Member at Large (Current)
Women's Caucus for the Arts - Member
Robert T Wright Gallery - Member
Selected Awards
4th Fridays Juried Art Event at The Dole, Crystal Lake, IL - BEST IN SHOW
Recent Works 2023, Robert T Wright Gallery, Grayslake, IL - Juror Diana Gabriel - CREATIVITY AWARD
Sweet Sixteen, 16th International Encaustic Conference Juried Exhibition, Truro, MA - Juror Adam Peck - CASTLE HILL AWARD
Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant Award - Individual Artist 2024
Wax Stories II, Niza Knoll Gallery, 915 Santa Fe Dr., Denver, Co – Juror Patricia Aaron - BEST IN SHOW
Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant Award - Individual Artist 2022
Biomimicry – Redefining Nature Through Art, Kavanagh Gallery, St. Charles, IL – ARTISTIC MERIT AWARD 2D
31st Women’s Works, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, IL – Biafarin Artist Management Award
4th Friday’s at the Starline, 300 W Front Street, Harvard, IL – 2nd Place
Expanding Borders: 2nd Biennial ONU Regional Art Exhibition, Bourbonnais, IL–Juror Joanne Aono – 2nd Place
“Women’s Works 2016” 29th Annual Fine Arts Show, Woodstock, IL – ARTISTIC MERIT AWARD
Affair of the Arts Art Show, Spring Grove, IL – BEST IN SHOW
Selected Solo, Small Group, and Invitation Exhibitions
Solo Show, Beloit Art Center, Main Gallery, Beloit, WI - May 2025
Featured Artist Solo Exhibition, 4th Fridays Art Event at The Dole, Crystal Lake, IL - October 2024
HIGH FIVE - An Invitational Group Exhibition, Blue Moon Gallery, Grayslake, IL.
Color, Texture, Life, Quad City Arts Center, Rock Island Gallery, Rock Island, IL
Place & Memory, Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames, IA
Blue Moon Gallery, 18620 E Belvedere Rd., Grayslake, IL - Featured Artist
Encaustic 2017: Rebirth of an Ancient Medium, Bridgeport Art Gallery, 4th Floor Gallery, Bridgeport, IL - Multi-Artist Invite
Building Layers: Modern Techniques of an Ancient Medium, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL - 4 Artist Invite
Winners of Wax Stories II Show, Niza Knoll Gallery, 915 Santa Fe Dr., Denver, CO - 3 Winning Artists
Recent Works, Gallery 821, McHenry, IL - Solo
Unconscious Concepts, Governor's State University, University Park, IL - 2 Artist Invite
Dimension & Translucency in Encaustic & Cold Wax, Gallery 110 North, Plymouth Arts Center, Plymouth, WI - Multi-Artist Invite
Materiality and Mark-Making in Abstraction Online Exhibition, Curators - Jeffrey Hirst and Lisa Pressman
'Beyond Urban' ACS Gallery, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL - 6 Artist Invite
View from Above, Old Court House Art Center, Woodstock, IL - Solo
50 States - 200 Artists, Museum of Encaustic Art, Santa Fe, NM - Invited Artist
'Natural Installations", Quad City Arts @ the Airport, Quad City International Airport, Moline, IL - 3 Artist Exhibition
Sublunary, Old Courthouse Arts Center, Woodstock, IL - 3 Artist Exhibition
'View from Above' Quad City Arts @ the Airport, Quad City International Airport, Moline, IL - 3 Artist Exhibition
Quatern, Gould Gallery, Woodstock, IL - 4 Artist Exhibition
Touch, Old Court House Art Center, Woodstock, IL - Solo
Life/Geometry, Welles Gallery, Woodstock, IL - 3 Artist Exhibition
Publications
EA Magazine, Winter Edition 2017, Volume 8, Issue 1
American Journal of Critical Care, September 2022 Cover
Journal of Financial Service Professionals, January 2019 Cover
ACS Magazine, 'Beyond Urban' Show Featured Artist
50 States/200 Artists, Museum of Encaustic Art Catalog
Wax Stories 2 - An Exhibition at Niza Knoll Gallery Catalog 2018
Abstract National Exhibition - Mary R Koch Arts Center Catalog 2018
10x10x10 Tieton - Annual International Small Works Exhibition Catalog 2017
In Flawed Abundance - IEA Juried Exhibition Catalog, 2017
Galleries
ALMA Art & Interiors, 3636 South Iron Street, Chicago, IL 60609
Plum Bottom Gallery, 4999 Plum Bottom Rd., Egg Harbor, WI 54209
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
ALMA Six (Spring Show) & Art After Hours (EXPO), ALMA Art & Interiors, 3636 S Iron Street, Chicago, IL
INSPIRATION, Truro Center for the Arts @ Castlehill, 10 Meetinghouse Rd., Truro, MA - Juror, Barbara O'Brien
Freeport Art Museum 20th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport, IL - Juror Ari Norris, Gallery Director, Rockford University
Freeport Art Museum, Mini Masterpieces, Freeport, IL.
NO COLOR, Jackson Junge Gallery, 1389 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
2024 Robert T Wright Gallery Member Exhibition, Grayslake, IL
2023
4th Fridays Juried Art Event at The Dole, Crystal Lake, IL - BEST IN SHOW
Recent Works 2023, Robert T Wright Gallery, Grayslake, IL - Juror Diana Gabriel - CREATIVITY AWARD
Connections, ARC Gallery, 1463 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL - Juror Barbara O'Brien
Sweet Sixteen, 16th International Encaustic Conference Juried Exhibition, Truro, MA - Juror Adam Peck - Castle Hill Award
Bridgeport Art Center 11th Annual Art Competition, Chicago, IL - Juror Maggie Ledbetter & Hereaclitus Vernon
Freeport Art Museum 19th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport, IL - Juror Joshua Johnson
Small Wonders, Blue Moon Gallery, Grayslake, IL
It's Not All Black & White, Blue Moon Gallery, Grayslake, IL - Juror Mimi Peterson
Tranquility, Lincoln Room, Wauconda Public Library, Wauconda, IL - Juror Cindy Lesperance & Tammy Haman
2022
10th Annual Bridgeport Art Center Art Competition, 4th Floor Gallery, Chicago, IL - Juror Bana Kattan, Mark Jeffrey, William Amaya Torres
Abstraction, The Art Center Highland Park, IL - Juror Cleveland Dean
(re)Building, Atlantic Gallery, 548 West 28th St., Suite 540, New York, NY - Juror Jerry McLaughlin
Recent Works Juried Art Competition 2022, Robert T Wright Gallery @ CLC, Grayslake, IL - Juror Lee Stanton, ARC Gallery
Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy, The Starline Factory, Harvard, IL
Beyond the Surface, Brushwood Center @ Ryerson Woods, Riverwoods, IL
Women Artists of the Midwest, Maquoketa Art Experience, Maquoketa, IA - Curator Beverly Hight
"Metamorphosis" A National Juried Exhibition, Tubac Center of the Arts, Tubac, AZ - Jurors Lisa Pressman & Susan Stover
Big Little Art Show, Peninsula School of Art & Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
2021
Waxing, Now Waning Pandemic: A Juried Encaustic Show - Juror Kaveh Mojtabai, Founder and Publisher of Artscope
Bridgeport Art Center 9th Annual Art Competition, 4th Floor Gallery, Chicago, IL - Jurors Jeff Hirst & Yaounde Old
Beyond 100: A National Juried Art Exhibition, Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL - Jurors Sergio Gomez & Gina Lee Robbins
Art on Lockdown, Quad City Arts, Rock Island Gallery, Rock Island, IL - Juror/Curator Dawn Wohlford-Metallo
'Together', Old Court House Art Center, 101 N Johnson St., Woodstock, IL - Jurors Joe & Kathleen Isaacson
2020
Bridgeport 8th Annual Art Competition, Bridgeport Art Center, 4th Floor Gallery, Chicago, IL - Juror Ilze Arajs & Alan Leder
Abstract National Exhibition 2020, K.T. Wiedemann Gallery, Mark Arts, Wichita, KS - Juror Roberta Dyer
MMXX: Beginnings Encaustic Exhibition, Museum of Encaustic Art, 632 Agua Fria, Santa Fe, NM - Juror Kathleen Waterloo
Women's Works 33, Old Court House Art Center, Woodstock, IL - Judge Helen Smith-Romer
Seeing Double a Diptych Show, Old Court House Art Center, Woodstock, IL
Greenwich Village Art Fair, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
Castle Hill Virtual Small Works Show, Castle Hill Art Center, Truro, MA
Heaven & Hell National Exhibition, Old Court House Art Center, Woodstock, IL
7 , Side Street Studio Arts, 15 Ziegler Ct., Elgin, IL
The Sum of the Parts, Oesterle Gallery, North Central College, Naperville, IL
Recent Works, David Adler Center, 1700 N Milwaukee Ave, Libertyville, IL
4th Fridays @ The Dole, 401 Country Club Road, Crystal Lake, IL - Honorable Mention
2019
Anything but Flat, Castle Hill Main Gallery, Truro, MA –Juror Joanne Mattera
Painting with Fire, Zhou B Art Center, 2nd Floor Gallery, Chicago, IL
Variations in Wax, State Street Gallery @ RMU, 401 S State Street, Chicago, IL
Freeport Art Museum 15th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport, IL - Juror Kathy Knapp
IMPACT: Color, Black & White, The Art Center, Highland Park, IL - Juror Rhonda Brown
Unsolicited Submissions, Ejecta Projects, Carlisle, PA - Jurors Anthony Cervino and Shannon Egan
Later Impressions, Evanston Art Center, 1717 Central St., Evanston, IL - Jurors Judy Koon & Gabriella Boros
FireWORKS, The Dole - Sage Gallery, 401 Country Club Road, Crystal Lake, IL
Women's Works 32, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, IL - Juror Ginny Sykes
Beyond Fayum, Hugh N Ronald Gallery, Arts Place, Portland, IN - Juror/Curator Carrie Baxter
Contemporary Ancients, South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI
Mini Masterpieces Fundraising Exhibition, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL
Morpho 8th Encaustic Exhibition, Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL
Fayum 21, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
2018
Abstract National Exhibition 2018, Mary R Koch Arts Center, Wichita, KS - Juror Jerry McLaughlin
Biomimicry - Redefining Nature Through Art, Kavanagh Gallery, St. Charles, IL - Artistic Merit Award - 2D
31st Women's Works, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, IL - Biafarin Artist Management Award
Artists of Illinois: Bicentennial, Seven Gallery, Lockport, IL
31st Northern National Art Competition, Nicolet College, Rhineland, WI - Juror Mark Steven Greenfield
4th Friday's @ the Starline, 300 W Front Street, Harvard, IL - 2nd Place
Contemporary Nature, Union Street Gallery, Chicago, Heights, IL - Juror Richard Benoit
Creative Insights, Addison Center for the Arts, 213 N Lombard Rd., Addison, IL
Compendium, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, IL
Radiance, Monroe Art Center @ the Hospital, Monroe, WI
Bijou @ the Brickton, Brickton Arts Center, Park Ridge, IL
2017
Wax Stories II, Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver, CO - Juror Patricia Aaron - BEST IN SHOW
Bridgeport Art Center, Fifth Annual Art Competition, 1200 West 35th St, Chicago, IL - Jurors Fred Camper & James Yood
Small but Mighty, Prairie State College, Christopher Art Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL - Juror Aron Packer
Freeport Art Museum, 14th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport, IL - Juror Dan Addington
Sense of Place, 11th International Encaustic Conference, Castle Hill Gallery, Truro, MA - Juror Patricia Miranda
In Flawed Abundance, International Encaustic Artists Annual 2017, New Art Center, Newton, MA - Juror Miles Conrad
6th Annual Encaustic Exhibition, Morpho Gallery, 5216 N Damen, Chicago - Juror Kathy Blankley Roman and Dan Addington
Biennial Quad-State Exhibit, Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL - Juror Lauren Haynes
30th Anniversary Women's Works, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, IL
Elmhurst Artist League Fall Member Show, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL - Honorable Mention
10 x 10 x 10 Tieton 2017, Tieton Arts and Humanities, Tieton, WA - Jurors Lloyd Herman & Gia Hamilton
Peer Pressure & Collaboration, Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL
Visions, Celebrating the Arts at Friedman Place for the Visually Impaired, Chicago, IL
Textures of Life, William Reif Gallery, 3333 Maria Linden Dr., Rockford, IL
Mini Masterpieces Fundraising Exhibition, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL
Beneath the Surface, The Art Center Highland Park, Highland Park, IL
Seeing RED, ARC Gallery, 2156 N Damen, Chicago, IL
The 5x5x5 Art Show, River Oaks Square Arts Center, Alexandria, LA - Juror Mark Tullos
2016
74th Rockford Midwestern Biennial, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL - Juror Sarah Krepp
Expanding Borders: Regional Art Exhibition, Brandenburg Gallery, Bourbonnais, IL - Juror Joanne Aono - 2nd Place
13th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL - Juror Sergio Gomez
Women's Works 2016, 29th Annual Fine Arts Show, Woodstock, IL - Artistic Merit Award
Dangerous Lullabies II, Historic Dole Mansion, Crystal Lake, IL
Art of the Land, 8th Annual Signature Fundraising Event, Starline Factory, Harvard, IL
5th Annual Encaustic Exhibition, Morpho Gallery, 5216 N Damen, Chicago, IL
Intersect National Art Exhibition, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, IL
4th Annual Abstract Show, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL
5th Annual Creek Gallery International Art Show, Crystal Lake, IL
2015 - Past
Affair of the Arts, Spring Grove, IL – BEST IN SHOW
4th Fridays at the Starline Gallery, Harvard, IL - Honorable Mention
35th Annual Art Competition, Robert R Wright Gallery of Art, Grayslake, IL
5th Annual National Encaustic Exhibition, Santa Fe, NM - Juror Brue Helander
Edges, 4th Annual Encaustic Exhibition, Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL
Annual Creek Gallery International Art Show, Crystal Lake, IL
Season Finale, 4th Fridays at the Starline Gallery, Harvard, IL - Honorable Mention
Daily Practice, Willow Creek Arts Gallery, Crystal Lake, IL
Out of the Darkness, Willow Creek Arts Gallery. Crystal Lake, IL
Season Opener, 4th Fridays at the Starline Gallery, Harvard, IL - Honorable Mention
Solo Projects, Willow Creek Arts Gallery, Crystal Lake, IL
Commission & Collections
Permanent Collection, Encaustic Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Private Collections throughout the Chicagoland area and across the country.