Our series Gallery After Dark at the Oak Park Art League is creating a space for creative community to meet, make, connect and share with fellow artists and the broader community in the gallery after dark, Thursday evenings, 6-8pm.

Cosmic Art Tour
with Jim Sweitzer, PhD

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to visit the incredible things our most advanced telescopes have discovered? Or maybe you’ve dreamed of capturing the beauty of outer space with your own art? Join Oak Park’s very own PhD astronomer - artist on an interstellar aesthetic adventure in immersive 4K Ultra-HD! This isn’t just about drawing the Moon or Saturn’s rings; we’ll journey over a billion light-years to witness wonders only the Hubble Space Telescope and our most advanced space probes could reveal. While we’ll cover the science behind these amazing sites, we’ll also focus on the artistic appeal of these incredible places. If you’re interested, you’ll even be taught how to create your own space art along the way. Plus, you’ll learn how to download free reference images from the most advanced space telescopes so you can keep revisiting the great gallery in the sky later. This session will be both informative and inspiring, even for the most abstract artists. And don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re safely back in Oak Park at the end of the journey.

Materials

You don’t have to draw to join this tour but, if you want you may bring whatever you like for quick fly-by sketching of light onto dark backgrounds. Those who do decide to sketch will find bright oil pastels on black paper work best. A basic astro-artist set will be provided for you to keep for just $25 if you don’t have the materials already. You must sign up for these materials in advance, however, so we have enough to go around. Register here