Hundreds of people attended Art Night 2025 on April 3 at Highland Park High School as part of the 60th anniversary of the FOCUS on the Arts initiative.
Focus on the Arts 2025 was a consecutive multi-day festival starting on April 1 that allowed students to work beside and learn from professional artists across multiple disciplines.
The 90-minute Art Night event was held inside and was free to the community. The public could check out the work of more than 40 professional Chicagoland artists and more than 30 Highland Park High School student artists.
“I think the arts are essential to the growing brain of a young person, there are many, many studies showing that arts education helps students with math, with science,” said Tamara Jenkins of Highwood, FOCUS director and director of arts festivals for Township High School District 113. Jenkins is also of the Deerfield High School Class of 1980.
“It helps them develop creative thinking, critical thinking and the ability to collaborate with other people,” Jenkins said. “And it just makes life beautiful. Art brings us together.”
Exhibiting silversmith and painter Margoth Vargas Moreno of Highland Park, of the Highland Park High School Class of 1976, said, “I like to give back to my community.”
Families could participate in hands-on art activities and observe artists working on the spot.
Highland Park twins Louisa-May and Elliot Kramer, 4, painted a tapestry in the booth of Highland Park artist Chris Falcon.
“One thing that I hope the kids take away is that, there is no bad art,” Falcon said. “There really isn’t. When it comes to artistic expression,” Falcon added, “…there really is no one to judge you. It’s your own personal expression.”
Louisa-May and Elliot were shown how to add paint to the fabric. With its neon lighting, the booth featured inspirational words which read, “I am not classically trained I feel and I paint.”
“Art is so important,” said the children’s parent Bryan Kramer. “I just want our kids to get out and experience the community.
“We love Highland Park,” Kramer added, saying the city, “has so many things to offer.”
The twins’ grandparent Jill Weinberg of Highland Park, said about Art Night, “This is amazing.
“This is really an extraordinary gift to the community.”
A big hit that evening was the appearance of the oversized Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur puppet handled by the Jabberwockey marionette and puppet Chicago mother daughter team of Lolly Extract and Amber Marsh.
Lolly Extract also wore the Winston the Rooster puppet design, another handmade puppet.
“The puppets are just so unique,” Extract said.
Charlotte Burke, 7, a second-grader from Vernon Hills, had a photo opportunity with the Tyrannosaurus rex with the youngster’s head inside the dinosaur’s mouth.
Charlotte said she had never had her head inside a dinosaur’s mouth before.
It felt, “weird,” Charlotte said. “The teeth almost like blocked my eye.”
About the dinosaur puppet, “I like it, I have no idea how they made this,” Charlotte added.
Also presenting one-of-a-kind artwork was fashion designer Peach Carr of Lake Forest. Carr is renowned for appearing on the hit reality competition show Project Runway (Season 8 and All Stars Season 2).
Care presented a handmade garment featuring a theme of “Shop Local” at Highland Park stores, using Highland Park shopping bags and logos.
“I did this because Highland Park has been through the worst tragedy any town could ever have,” Carr said, referring to the mass shooting at the July 4, 2022, Independence Day parade.
“And I call this (art piece) ‘A Stroll Through Highland Park,’ that there’s still so much joy and so much community here,” Carr said. “The whole country wept for this town, I mean, I get choked up just talking about it.
“It’s horrible,” Carr said, “so like this, I said, ‘Let’s just celebrate what Highland Park still is,’ and that’s what this is.”
Dana Silver of Highland Park, Art Night co-chair, said, “Art Night is more than just an event, it’s a bridge between professional artists and the community, opening doors to creativity, collaboration and inspiration.
“By allowing people into the artists’ creative world through hands-on projects, it fosters a deeper appreciation for the arts while igniting the imagination of aspiring artists and undiscovered creatives,” Silver said. “I am truly honored to be a part of Focus.”
Visit http://HPHSFOCUS.ORG.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
