By Igor Studenkov
For the Bugle
A group of artists from Niles, other Chicago suburbs and even other states spent recent months painting used purses – for a good cause.
The Purse-ue Your Dreams [sic] project was a brainchild of Niles arts and storyteller Debi Gajewski. She wanted to do an art project that would use re-purposed materials and would do some good. Since she was a member of the Niles Public Arts Culture Advisory Council, it was only natural that she went there to ask for funding. The council approved the request on May 8.
Over the next three months, the purses will be displayed at several locations throughout Niles. And on Dec. 2, they will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to the Women In Need Growing Stronger (WINGS), a Palatine-based organization that works to help people hurt by domestic violence rebuild their lives.
Gajewski is a professional storyteller and a storytelling coach. She is also a painter and designer. According to her website, she took part in the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2014 roses public arts project. In it, artists were invited to paint ceramic four-foot rose sculptures, which went on display in several locations in Niles before being auctioned off. The proceeds from that auction went to NCCI’s Dollars for Scholars program, the Leaning Tower YMCA and Niles Food Pantry.
Gajewski told the Bugle that she liked the idea of using art to give old objects new life.
That’s just to show that art comes with many forms, and that you take things that are used and make them new again,” she said.
By that point, she was already thinking of selling off purses to raise money for a good cause. WINGS, she was, was a natural fit.
“We’re doing re-purposed purses for re-purposed lives,” Gajewski said. “I like tying the art project with re-purposing; I like that [WINGS] helps women and children who are in domestic abuse. And it’s our very first major project out here.”
WINGS operates several resale shops, that sell donated clothing and other items in order to raise funds for the organization. The shops themselves can be a resource for anyone in an abusive relationship: in-store signs provide resource information. One of those shops is located in Niles at 8349 W. Golf Rd., near Golf Mill Shopping Center.
Gajewski presented the idea to the Art Council in March, then gave a more detailed presentation in April. She asked for $350 to cover the cost of purchasing the purses, the advertising and the auction itself. The Art Council approved it unanimously in May.
“As an independent artist, I am thrilled that they went with my idea,” Gajewski said.
She bought a large number of gently used purses. Gajewski reached out to the artists she knew, asking them to volunteer their time. Some were from Niles and other Chicago suburbs like Mt. Prospect, but others were from as far as Florida.
Each artist could pick the purse they wanted to paint. So long as their work was family friendly and did not infringe on any copyrights, they were free to paint whatever they wanted. Gajewski herself painted 13 of them. Fellow Arts Council member Carol Luc contributed as well.
As the artists sent back purses, Gajewski wrote about them on her blog, www.thestoryspinners.com/blog.html showing before and after photos of the purse, as well as the artist bio and their art statement.
By Sept. 22, all of the purses were in. Starting October, they will be exhibited in several venues throughout Niles. They will be at the Niles Historical and Cultural Center on Oct. 5-24. On Oct. 25-Nov. 20, they will be on display at the Niles-Maine Public Library. They will be displayed at the Holly Jolly Market on Nov. 25 and return to the Niles Historical Center on Nov. 27- Dec. 1.
On Dec. 2 they go up for auction at the Niles Senior Center. Gajewski said that she currently expected the auction to take place at 7 p.m., with a reception half an hour before that.
And the Niles Art Council has more in the pipeline; sponsoring the Niles Twinkle and Lights Holiday Decorations Contest, Dec. 9 – 10.
“ It will be contest for decorating your homes for the holidays,” Gajewski explained. “There will be First, Second and Third places.”