The Benefit of Art 2025: Tour D'Artistes

On Sunday, September 14, The Benefit of Art 2025: Tour D’Artistes will kick off from 1pm-4pm, with Highland Park’s Caren Helene, Deerfield’s Karen Ross and Roslyne Smith each opening her private studio space to meet tour guests, to discuss her art process and and learn more about how art-making benefits her life, and view her collection. These artists are dedicated supporters of Art Impact Project’s work in Lake County, and champions of the mission.

After event registration online, ticket buyers will receive their confirmation packet via email by the 1st of September containing a map of the studio locations and after-tour venue, timeline of when to visit each artist and parking information, and profiles on each artist. At registration check-in at the first studio, guests will receive a wristband as entrance to the tours and reception.

At 4:30 pm, guests will gather at Genesis of Highland Park to continue the event with a community-activated installation and reception to celebrate how art changes, enhances and enriches lives. The 2025 Vickie Marasco Impact Award will be presented to Rose Kostan-Schwartz, who will be present to accept her award. Sponsorships and tickets are available now.

TICKET INFO

• Early Bird thru 8/24: $100.00 per person
• Regular Pricing starts 8/25 and at the door: $125.00 per person

Click here to register or text BOA2025 to 76278 to purchase tickets.

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ARTISTS’ PROFILES

Karen Ross

Karen Ross [American, 1972] creates vibrant and engaging abstract paintings using an ancient method of encaustic painting where molten filtered beeswax combined with resin and pigments are burned into wood substrates. A comprehensive list of techniques is employed in working with wax, including incising, carving, burnishing, image transfers, and scraping. Her work is luminous and highly textured, allowing the viewer to contemplate meaning through many layers of wax that both reveal and hide previous layers. Combining mixed media with wax, she finds the intense color, imagery, luminosity and exciting tactile impressions to be her most personal form of expression. It's a medium that's best viewed in person to grasp the depth and surface that no other medium can achieve.

As a former psychotherapist and mother to a blended family of 5 children, Karen is aware of how art serves as a conduit to emotional wellness. As a result, she has been a volunteer for Art Impact Project to help bring this message to the community at large.

Her most recent exhibitions include The Art Center Highland Park, Evanston Art Center, Laughlin Gallery, and A.I.R. Gallery. Her paintings have found a forever home in many private residences throughout the country. She has been featured in Sheridan Road Magazine, JUF News, Deerfield Neighbors Magazine, and The North Shore Weekend News.

Caren Helene

Caren Helene (b. 1964, Chicago) is an established artist and curator whose work investigates the interconnections between mind, body, art and science. With over three decades of artistic practice, her work is recognized for its layered composition, psychological depth, and symbolic storytelling.

She earned her MA from New York University through a selective 56-credit program in partnership with the International Center of Photography (ICP). Since then, her work has been exhibited widely in solo and group shows and is part of private collections across the United States and internationally.

From 2010 to 2024, she served as the staff curator at The Art Center Highland Park, where she led the conceptual direction of exhibitions and community outreach. Whether as an artist or curator, she works under the auspices of the power of art to heal, communicate deeply, and foster connection.

In recent years, her market visibility has grown significantly, with strong sales at high-profile fairs including The Hamptons Art Fair and Aqua Art Miami.

Artist’s Statement

For over 30 years, my work explores the fragility and resilience of the body when facing illness and mortality. As a BRCA gene carrier, my personal experience with cancer has shaped my artistic focus on health, wellness, and the effects of inherited generational trauma. I continually ask: How far do we go to stay healthy?

Recently, I partnered with fellow artist Kelly Mathews to present A Whisper 2 A Scream in collaboration with the NeuroArts Blueprint. Our project explores the intersection of mental and physical health, emphasizing art’s unique role in helping us see—and heal—the whole self. We are not just minds or bodies; we are both at once. Art helps us remember that. I feel that art impact broadens the reach to wide range of participants expanding on the power of not just art but of the creative process and that makes it accessible to all. 

Roslyne (Ros) Smith‍

Artist’s Statement

I am Roslyne Smith, a South African-born artist now based in Chicago, and I've been creating art since I was five years old -- the kid who always got picked to draw on the chalkboard in school. What began as joyful play has grown into a lifelong passion and purpose. Though my career began in digital design, I missed the tactile, messy freedom of real paint.

Today, I work primarily in impasto oil paint, using palette knives to create texture-rich, expressive pieces full of energy, movement, and pattern. My art is loose and intuitive-I don't copy images or plan compositions. I simply grab paint, throw it, draw into it, and play until something begins to emerge. I often work on multiple pieces at once, layering them over time until they reveal themselves to me.

Emotion is at the core of my work. I paint to release feelings--joy, passion, and love -- and sometimes just for the sheer pleasure of play. I want viewers to fall in love, to feel something stir inside them, to look at a piece and say, 'I have to have that'. My process is deeply influenced by life: my international and domestic travels often spark new series, as do art classes and the inspiring teachers I encounter. I work in bursts-when something lights me up, I paint a collection. And when inspiration wanes, I return to older pieces and find it again.

A rollerblading accident in 2001 left me with two broken wrists. After surgery and recovery, using fine brushes became painful, so I embraced palette knives-and that challenge helped shape my signature style. My biggest artistic influences include Modigliani-whose elegant minimalism captivates me-and the Impressionists, especially Monet. While my work is abstract, my love for blue, water, florals, and dabs of light connects my practice with theirs in spirit.

Over the years, my work has been exhibited at Laughlin Gallery, Tremain Gallery, Lake Forest Art Fair, The Gallery, and The Guild, and collected through designers, word of mouth, and my website. A passionate lifelong learner and educator, I regularly attend and teach art workshops and was recently invited to lead an art retreat in Normandy, France -- an exciting new chapter I'm deeply grateful for.

SPONSORSHIP DETAILS

The Benefit of Art 2025: Tour D’Artistes offers a broad range of sponsorship levels to meet every promotional objective. This event is designed to reach a North Shore/Chicagoland audience of supporters and advocates of the healing powers of art making, who are inclined to contribute to Art Impact Project’s mission via donations, volunteering and attending The Benefit of Art 2025. Your exposure via sponsorship will positively influence this audience and position your business or service as a champion to the Art Impact Project mission.

Sponsorship Opportunities  

$10,000 * Exclusive * Cassatt | SOLD – Genesis of Highland Park

• Special announcements recognizing YOU and your business as the Signature Event Sponsor during the event and prominently displayed in recognition signage.
• Your name and logo featured as our Signature Event Sponsor on all event materials including email invitation, signage, table cards, event program, press release, and thank you letters. Time permitting, you will be included on the print invitation.
• Promotional material and/or product samples displayed at the event.
• Your logo and website featured on Art Impact Project marketing materials and website for one year.  
• Prominent recognition in two exclusive social media posts, and top billing on our social media advertising.
• 10 complimentary tickets to The Benefit of Art 2025.

$5,000 Dali

• Your name and logo featured as Dali Sponsor on all event materials, including email invitations, signage, table cards, event program, press release, and thank you letters.  Time permitting, you will be included on the print invitation.
• Special announcements recognizing your business during the event.
• Your logo and website featured on Art Impact Project marketing materials and website for 3 months.
• Prominent recognition in event advertisements, e-mails, and on social media sites.
• One exclusive social media post, and inclusion on all event social media posts.
• 8 complimentary event tickets.
  

$2,500 Kahlo

• Your name and logo featured as Kahlo Sponsor on all event materials including email invitation, signage, table cards, event program, press release, and thank you letters. Time permitting, you will be included on the print invitation.  
• Special announcements recognizing your business during the event.
• Prominent recognition in event advertisements, e-mails, and on social media sites.
• One exclusive social media post, plus inclusion in all social media posts.
• 6 complimentary event tickets.

$1.000 Matisse

• Your name and logo featured as Matisse Sponsor on all event materials including email invitation, signage, table cards, event program, press release, and thank you letters.  
• Inclusion in all social media posts.
• 4 complimentary tickets

$500 Banksy

• Your name and logo on all event materials, including email invitation, signage, table cards, event program, press release, and thank you letters.  
• 2 complimentary tickets

$250 Judy Chicago

• Your logo printed in the event program and in social media posts.