For Art’s Sake

By Lisa Arnett
July 2025 View more Discover

Enrich your day at these three local art galleries

Water Street Studios

160 S. Water St., Batavia

Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, this community arts center is housed in a historic former windmill factory in downtown Batavia. Inside, you’ll find multiple gallery spaces as well as studios for resident artists, a school of art, and a clay lab for making ceramics. Named for longtime supporters of the center, the Dempsey Family Gallery on the first floor features exhibitions that change monthly. On the second Friday of every month (except November), art fans gather from 6 to 9 p.m. in the gallery to celebrate the latest exhibition. “Second Fridays are a great time to visit for the first time,” says Jessica Jecmen, interim executive director and president of the board of directors. “Oftentimes the artists are with us so you can meet them, and we have a bar and other demos going on. It’s a very low-key event and great for if you’re having a date night or want to go out with friends.” Upstairs, in the Community Gallery, you might find work on display from students or other local art groups.

Good to Know: Art classes offered include watercolor, drawing, ceramics, and more.

Galleria Azul

239 S. Washington St, Naperville

“Art without borders” is the guiding philosophy behind this gallery in downtown Naperville located above Beidelman Furniture. Owner Inga Orolin studied art history in her home country of Lithuania and pursued a career in graphic design after moving to the United States. She always dreamed of opening an art gallery and, in June 2024, achieved that with the debut of Galleria Azul. “I wanted to have a place not just to gather artists but to be a cultural hub,” she says. “We are very welcoming to everybody and we try to create events that bring different people together.” Orolin has sourced paintings, drawings, photography, and sculpture from around the world to showcase alongside work from Chicago-area artists, including oil paintings by Rashmi Ranganath, charcoal, pastel drawings by Teresa Zawitowska, and mixed-media works by Pat Nunez. Overall, Orolin’s goal is to provide a welcoming, judgment-free space. “You don’t have to know anything about art to enjoy visiting,” she says. “If you’re feeling scared to not understand it—it’s OK, you don’t have to. Everybody perceives art through their own experiences, and you don’t have to see what the artist sees. There are so many different kinds of artwork here that I promise you are going to see something that you connect with.”

Good to know: Stay tuned on social media to learn about events hosted here, including weekend yoga classes, North Central College student exhibitions, and more.

Expression Gallery of Fine Art

10 E. First St., Hinsdale

If you thought you had to trek to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the work of masters such as Rembrandt, Picasso, and Miró, you’d be mistaken—you can find them in Hinsdale, thanks to gallery owner Eva Jaroszewicz. With a background in economics and absolutely zero experience selling art, she managed to land a job at Merrill Chase Galleries in Water Tower Place in Chicago back in 1992. “I didn’t even know what the title ‘art consultant’ meant at the time,” she says. She worked her way up to gallery director and moved on to work at Colletti Gallery, Martin Lawrence Gallery, and Hilligoss Gallery. Along the way, she met her late business partner, Tim DeWine, and they opened their first gallery in Chicago’s River North neighborhood in 2005 and then this Hinsdale outpost in 2006. Though the list of artists showcased here reads like a who’s who of art history—lithographs and etchings by Renoir, color linocuts by Picasso, and pencil-signed works by Chagall—Jaroszewicz is the opposite of intimidating. “You don’t need to be knowledgeable in art to come in. That’s my job!” she says. “Art should be about enjoyment first.”

Good to know: Jaroszewicz also offers museum-quality framing services. “If you frame a work of art and your eyes go to the framing, then you’ve made a mistake,” she explains. “The frame is just there to protect the work, but the focal point should be on the art itself.”

Photos: David Morris (Water Street Studios); Galleria Azul; Eva Jaroszewicz (Expression Gallery of Fine Art)