CLOSING RECEPTION JUNE 14TH from 6 - 9 PM

Following her arrival in Chicago, she met the artist, Penny Michel, who encouraged her to investigate American culture and to pursue what she always wanted to do (‘’no it is never too late!’’) : ART.
From classes in chalk and paint on wood, she began working with watercolor at the Ed Hinkley studio in Chicago over 20 years ago then Ceramics at Lillstreet Art Center and Drawing classes at Sora, (School of Representational Art).
Mapie has since exhibited in Southwest France, (Marmande, Clairac, Luz Saint Sauveur…..) as well as Chicago (Three Arts Club, Alliance Francaise, Stone Building, August House Gallery and her own Studio, now called Atelier54Chicago).
The current show is derived from her enjoyment of good food and company and walking along the lakefront and seaside observing birds … Born of French parents from Tunisia, she has always found the light and colors of the Mediterranean and Southern France to be inspiration for her paintings.
VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!

In 2005 Gama was featured in Poetas y Pintores, a traveling exhibition featuring contemporary Latino art and poetry. In 2006, she became the first Latina to exhibit at the Union League Club Gallery of Chicago. On exhibit was the series Los Magicos. Also in 2007 Gama’s piece Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was part of the Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead : A New Beginning Exhibition. In 2008 her work was included in an exhibition called Catholicism in the City at the Chicago History Museum.
Her work is also shown in and collected by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, considered the most important museum of Mexican Art in the United States. Her work is in their permanent collection. She also has work in the permanent collection of the Snite Museum of Art. Gama’s work was included in the exhibition Soldaderas y Adelitas at Women Made Gallery in Chicago in 2010. In 2012 Gama was featured in a joint show at Galeria 147 in Phoenix, Arizona.
She has been the recipient of several awards and grants among them the Sor Juana Achievement Award for Visual Arts (2003, Chicago, National Museum of Mexican Arts), Illinois Arts Council Partial Support Grants (2005, Chicago), and an International Artists Residency Program Grant (Guadalajara, Mexico, 2007). Gama has lived and worked in Chicago since 1994.