ART ENCOUNTER'S BIENNIAL Spring Benefit & Art Auction
SILENT ART AUCTION | WINE RAFFLE | FRENCH BUFFET | OPEN BAR
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 | 6:00–9:00 pm
LeTour Brasserie, 625 Davis Street in Downtown Evanston
Tickets: $165 for one; $550 for a quartet of four; tickets will go on sale in early March.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Join us at the beautiful LeTour Brasserie in Evanston this May for our spring benefit and art auction, Kaleidoscope. Enjoy delicious French-Moroccan fare, cocktails, a wine raffle, and a silent art auction, all while supporting Art Encounter’s broad menu of community art programs and initiatives. We will be celebrating the impact and legacy of our 2025 Art Impacts Honorees: Natalie van Straaten, Founder of Chicago Gallery News, and her successor Ginny B. Van Alyea, Publisher of Chicago Gallery News. We will also recognize Community Partner of the Year Andy Vick, Executive Director of Downtown Evanston, for his commitment to advancing public art in Evanston and his support of Art Encounter’s mission.
Kaleidoscope will provide essential funding for our work throughout the greater Chicago area, which includes educational outreach programs for schools, senior homes, and social service agencies; art discussion programs for the public in artist studios and exhibition spaces; and a local mural program that makes art accessible to everyone in our community.
Meet our ART IMPACTS HonoreeS
Natalie van Straaten | Chicago Gallery News, Founder & Publisher from 1982 to 2007
Natalie van Straaten was founder and publisher of Chicago Gallery News (CGN) from 1982–2007 and served concurrently as Executive Director of the Chicago Art Dealers Association (CADA). A co-founder of van Straaten Gallery in 1969, Natalie was professionally active in the Chicago visual arts community for nearly four decades. Also devoted to Chicago’s broad cultural community, Natalie served as a docent for the Chicago Symphony, was Executive Director of the Chicago Coalition for Arts and Education (1986–1989), and judged theater as a member of The Jeff Awards for 25 years (1995–2020). She is currently writing a book on the history, growth and impact of Chicago galleries and dealers, 1967–2007.
Ginny B. Van Alyea | Chicago Gallery News, Publisher since 2007
Ginny B. Van Alyea has been the publisher and owner of CGN since 2007. She began working at Chicago Gallery News with founding publisher Natalie van Straaten in 2002 after graduating from Hamilton College. Ginny also worked for the Chicago Art Dealers Association (CADA) from 2002–2007. Ginny has written extensively about collecting art in Chicago and has interviewed dozens of artists and gallery owners over the years. She has been a featured speaker at national art fairs and panels, sharing the importance and joy of collecting contemporary art and antiques and of supporting living artists. In addition to publishing CGN and regularly attending gallery and museum events, Ginny is a mother to two busy and creative children, whom she likes to bring on trips and adventures to see art whenever possible.
THE STORY OF CHICAGO GALLERY NEWS
In the early 1980s, Natalie van Straaten was running a gallery with her husband, William van Straaten, in the up-and-coming Chicago neighborhood of River North. Fortified by a journalism degree from the University of Michigan, Natalie was a sort of “gallery mother” and natural organizer serving the changing needs of a small but rapidly-growing community of peers in Chicago. She first founded the Superior/Huron Gallery News in 1982 as a means of centrally promoting local art openings. It didn’t take long for the art guide to expand and evolve alongside the spaces it listed, ultimately becoming Chicago Gallery News, the publication of record that today has covered four decades of local and regional culture and art history.
Fast-forward to 2007, when Natalie passed the baton to Ginny B. Van Alyea, who had begun working with her five years prior after receiving her BA from Hamilton College. Under Ginny’s leadership over the past two decades, the publication has exceeded both of their expectations and become an invaluable resource for the entire Midwest. In spite of trying times in the art world as well as the publishing landscape, Ginny has managed to modernize CGN digitally while remaining committed to print. The foundation Natalie laid in the early ‘80s made CGN’s strong present-day reputation and industry relevance possible.
To read more about Natalie, Ginny, and the history of CGN, check out CGN Turns 40: Charting Four Decades of Art and Changes.
MEET OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER OF THE YEAR
Andy Vick | Downtown Evanston, Executive Director
An Evanston native with strong connections to the local community, Andy joined Downtown Evanston in 2023 after working for almost 20 years as a nonprofit Executive Director at local arts agencies in Maryland and Colorado. Earlier in his career, Andy and his wife were full-time visual artists and successful small business owners, and he worked in marketing and human resources for several companies in the Washington, DC area. Over the years, Andy has also been an engaged board member for a number of chambers of commerce, local and state tourism offices, a variety of cultural organizations, and a downtown development authority. Andy is passionate about economic development and community vitality, and intentional about working to foster a culture of equity and inclusion across the Downtown Evanston business district.
Kaleidoscope 2025 SponsorSHIP
We are pleased to offer sponsorship opportunities for this exclusive event. Sponsorship levels are listed below, and more information is available in this sponsorship packet. Please contact Executive Director Lea Pinsky for further information.
THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 SPONSORS
This list is continually being updated as we add new sponsors.