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CAVA is a volunteer not-for-profit organization founded in 1988. It is dedicated to giving our over 200 members throughout Chicagoland the opportunity to exhibit artwork in at least three exhibits annually in such notable venues as the Chicago Cultural Center, Evanston Art Center, Bridgeport Art Center, Beverly Arts Center, and the Leslie Wolfe Gallery in Old Town. Creating art can be a solitary occupation—CAVA provides events for artists to come together through its salon, a member luncheon, a symposium, and special events. For more information, visit our CONTACT page, and sign up for our e-newsletter.
CAVA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:
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Exhibit in the Annual Members Show;
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Enter the juried Later Impressions exhibition;
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Engage in various group and media-focused exhibitions
we organize throughout the Chicago area; -
Participate in membership social and
educational programs, including our
annual CAVA Symposium.
WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE SAYING
FEATURED CAVA ARTIST
Tobi Abrams creates textured paintings that invite the viewer to use multiple senses to appreciate how they capture the essence of nature. She's always had a profound connection to nature, which was reinforced in her academic studies. In college she was a dual major in Biology and Fine Art, with a minor in Chemistry. Her scientific knowledge informs her painting and collage work, and she primarily paints en plein air, where she often finds the collage materials that find their way into her sculptural paintings. "I believe so much of the world is not just what we see, but also what we touch," says Tobi. "I feel a painting should resemble sculpture, even though it exists on a flat surface."
A recent plein air painting created by Tobi in Arizona.
Tobi also earned a degree in Therapeutic Recreation at Triton College. Using that knowledge and expertise, she "brings art to everyone," as a teacher of drawing and palette knife painting in the near north suburbs of Chicago.
Tobi has exhibited at many galleries in the greater Chicago area, including Harper College, Emily Oaks Nature Center in Skokie, Koehnline Museum of Art, Evanston Art Center, Heller Nature Center, and the Buffalo Grove Art League; as well as all around the United States and Canada: in Idaho, Washington state, Florida, Colorado, and Texas. Her recent paintings reflect her love of the mountains, deserts, foliage, and endless skies of those areas.
Tobi drawing Mt. Hood from Trilium Lake, Washington.
Besides being an active CAVA member, Tobi is also a member of Chicago's Art Makers North, as well as the Chicago Pastel Pastel Painters, where her pastel piece Exploding Colors in the Sky won the Blick Art Materials Award in 2015.
Exploding Colors in the Sky, the award-winning pastel work by Tobi Star Abrams
Starting 2020 off with a flourish, she has work in three shows opening in January: one at the Art Center Highland Park (opened Jan. 10); and two shows as part of the Art Markers North group, at the Elmhurst Art Museum, and A.I.R Gallery in Glencoe, IL. Her painting Beautiful Mountains is a finalist is the current online show Bright Spirits at Gallery Ring.
To find out more about Tobi Abrams and see more of her work, click here.