Selected Works from A Fox River Testimony, an exhibit of some 50 original oil paintings of the Fox River, its Valley, and its tributaries will be on exhibit at the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk Street, Oswego, through Saturday, May 18.
Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
The exhibit is presented by the museum in partnership with The Conservation Foundation, the Oswegoland Heritage Association, and the Oswegoland Park District.
The paintings were created by The Conservation Foundation’s artist-in-residence Joel Sheesley as part of The Conservation Foundation’s Fox River Education and Outreach Initiative. The program aims to connect residents with the Fox River so they can better understand its issues, and engage them to become environmentally conscious through local projects.
Sheesley spent nearly two years painting river-related scenes along an 80-mile stretch of the Fox that took him from Dundee-Township down to Ottawa. The project took him along the banks, hiking on trails, and even canoeing to some locations, all with his French easel and paint box across his back. He even camped overnight to capture the light from the sunset and sunrise on the river’s surface.
Paintings for the exhibit were selected from the original 73 works commissioned by The Conservation Foundation for its Art of the Fox under the Fox River Initiative, but several new, more recent river paintings have been added especially for the show at the Little White School Museum.
The Conservation Foundation, working with Sheesley, has compiled images of the paintings with text recounting his field experience in a 160-page coffee table book entitled “A Fox River Testimony.” The book, high-quality prints of selected works, and the original oils are available for purchase online by visiting artofthefox.org.
Founded in 1972, The Conservation Foundation is one of the region’s oldest and largest not-for-profit conservation organizations.
—Little White School Museum