La Grange Park artist Robert Sunyog has painted a watercolor for the Nettie J. McKinnon Gallery in La Grange.  Salt Creek Winter depicts the waterway that runs through the woods just north of the gallery, a creek familiar to all residents of the western suburbs.

Sunyog holds a degree from the American Academy of  Art in Chicago and worked as a commercial artist for 34 years.  Sunyog has been a featured artist of the Nature Artists’ Guild of the Morton Arboretum and has exhibited in the Guild’s spring and fall shows.

The Nettie J. McKinnon gallery is located in Park Jr. High, LaGrange.  The collection was acquired through the efforts of Miss McKinnon, principal of Oak School and the many students who sold magazine subscriptions between 1929 and 1960.  Miss McKinnon believed in educating the whole child, including the idea of exposing students to “real” works of art. 

The collection is comprised of more than 120 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, prints and decorative art objects.  Most of the artists are represented in  leading museum collections across the country.  The majority of the works are by American artists, many of whom were exhibited in the annual shows at The Art Institute of Chicago from 1888 to 1950. 

The McKinnon gallery, managed by the SaltCreek American Art Foundation for School District 102, provides opportunities for students, families and the greater Chicagoland area to know and value American Art.  Tours can be arranged by emailing jfitch@saltcreekart.org.  Visit saltcreekart.org for more information on the gallery.