Gigi Stevenson, one of our EAC Interns, writes about June and Maija, displayed in our Second Floor Gallery from August 3 - 25, 2024:
In late August I started interning at the Evanston Art Center. When I first stepped into the building I was amazed by the lively atmosphere created inside the EAC. As a high school intern, I am surrounded by people who help me learn every day, and I get a glimpse inside the world of working with art. Art history being a passion of mine has made my experience fun and exciting. Working at a gallery, like the Evanston Art Center, is something I’ve always wanted to do, and now I can really envision myself doing it.
On my first day, I came across a painting which had been sold, when I asked about the artist I was told she was only nineteen years old. I felt connected to the artist through her art, especially as a teenage girl close to her age. The painting, by June Ahleman, titled June and Maija depicted two young girls gazing into the eyes of the viewer. In those young girls' eyes, I saw the possibilities of their future. I saw the young girls becoming strong women, I saw the artist carving her own path through life, and I saw the possibility for myself too. I heard the painted girls calling out to me, telling me to keep going down my path, to become that strong woman.
As I reflected more on this painting I came to the conclusion that everyone has a path and purpose in life. I’m not sure of mine yet, but I know it will be found in my own time, whether I’m nineteen or thirty-five. However, the one thing I am sure of is that my time at the EAC has been exercising my creative and collaborative side, one that I am sure to see when I grow up and stare back at that strong woman in the mirror, just as those painted girls stare at me.
