Featured in the Lure of the Local Art Exhibition are several art works by Our License Plate Gal — Barb Sistak Baur

Sunset on Route 66 by Barb Sistak Baur

Decision Points by Barb Sistak Baur

Barb loves to work with texture and has specialized in creating provocative art that feature found objects and manipulated license plates. Several of her works are included the Lure of the Local Art Exhibition, in Mundelein, IL, from Oct 17 to Nov 16, 2025.

This year’s theme, Portals, invites artists and audiences alike to consider the thresholds, literal and metaphorical, that shape human experience. A portal may be an architectural element, a moment of transformation, a liminal space, or a passage between inner and outer worlds. Portals call attention to the act of transition: the movement from one state of being, perception, or reality into another. In the context of art, they offer a framework for thinking about narrative, spatiality, memory, and transcendence.

EVENT DETAILS

Presented by the Mundelein Arts Commission

Title Sponsor: Tighthead Brewing Company

Location: Archer Business Center - 175 N. Archer Avenue, Mundelein, IL  (New Location! This year's exhibition is located within the same building as in 2024, but in a new space on the west end of the building. Located in Downtown Mundelein near the Metra Station and Tighthead Brewing Co.). 

EXHIBITION HOURS

October 17 – November 16, 2025

Open Saturdays & SundaysTime: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Pop-up events and live music every weekend! View the event calendar at: www.mundelein.org/LUREEVENTS

OPENING RECEPTION

Friday, October 17, 2025

Time: 6:00 to 9:00 PM

Join the artists, patrons and supporters in celebrating the opening of the exhibit with a fun evening of live music, food and beverages from local businesses, raffles, and more!

The Lure of the Local annual art exhibition was established in 2022 to highlight the creative practices of artists who live and work among us, our teachers, neighbors, and friends. Together, their works offer a multifaceted portrait of contemporary art as it emerges within our community.

For this year's exhibtion, local artists were invited to engage with the Portal ideas in their work, interpreting the notion of “portals” through diverse mediums, processes, and perspectives. Now in its fourth year, this juried exhibition is presented by the Mundelein Arts Commission and features awards for Critic’s Choice, People’s Choice, and a Purchase Award.

ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM AT LURE OF THE LOCAL

The Mundelein Arts Commission is pleased to announce a pilot Artist Residency Program, preceding and coinciding with this year’s exhibition, Lure of the Local IV. The Artist Residency invites artists across disciplines a unique opportunity to develop new work in a space of their own that explores the concept of portals—as thresholds, transitions, and openings between states of being, spaces, or ways of seeing.

This residency offers a group of artists studio space for a period of up to 10 weeks. The studios are located within the Lure of the Local space and are intended to be a supportive environment where exploration, experimentation, collaboration, and reflection are encouraged. 

Barb was awarded a residency. You are invited to tour her studio during the exhibition.

-- Barb Sistak Baur

License Plate Garage Art Studio

Note: Information for this post is from the village of Mundelein web site.