Lake Geneva arts foundation offers discount at latest downtown exhibit
ART
Susan Disbrow Schroeder is near her painting, "Geo abstract," which is also part of the winter show happening at Gallery 223 in downtown Lake Geneva.
Lori Indovina Valus stands next to "snowy Owl," one of her paintings in the latest exhibit and sale from the Geneva Lake arts Foundation.
The Geneva Lake Arts Foundation is ringing in the new year with a winter show. Lasting through Feb. 15, the show also offers guests the chance to purchase art at a 10% discount at Gallery 223.
All of the various types of art in the exhibit were made by members of the foundation, a nonprofit that owns and operates the downtown Lake Geneva gallery.
Two of the foundation members whose works are featured in the show are Susan Disbrow Schroeder and Lori Indovina Valus.
Disbrow Schroeder is a native of Arlington Heights, Illinois. She has lived in Lake Geneva for over a decade.
Working primarily in oil while exploring pastels, encaustic wax and sketching, Disbrow Schroeder has been drawing and painting in oil since early grade school, developing a lifelong connection to creative expression.
She is a professional interior designer and has overseen numerous commercial, healthcare, educational and residential projects throughout her career.
After years of working within the structured demands of architectural and interior documentation, she now focuses on her lifelong love of creating more personal artwork across a wide range of subject matter.
Her inspiration comes from travel, walking the surrounding environment and architectural spaces near her home, and photographs shared by her sons and their wives from across the country and abroad, including Japan.
Creating art has always felt like home to her—both challenging and restorative—and offers a sense of freedom beyond the constraints of her design background.
Currently on display in the show is an abstract oil painting that reflects her enjoyment of working intuitively with color and shape. Also featured are oil giclée prints inspired by photographs taken by her son at a butterfly haven in Virginia.
Disbrow Schroeder is a juried artist and a member of Oil Painters of America and the Geneva Lake Arts Foundation, which she joined in the fall of 2025. She was educated at the Illinois Institute of Art and the SIU Carbondale School of Interior Design, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Indovina Valus has been involved in art, design, and photography throughout her life.
A graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, she has spent more than a decade teaching art in elementary and secondary schools in McHenry County.
Her graphic design and illustration work has been published for over 25 years and has earned numerous awards from professional newspaper associations at the state, national and international levels. Her wildlife illustrations have also been exhibited and published in wildlife rehabilitation manuals.
Indovina Valus prefers watercolor, which she has focused on for over 30 years. She also continues to create pen-and-ink drawings that reflect her background as a commercial illustrator.
Nature is her primary source of inspiration. Living behind Moraine Hills State Park in McHenry — and with a marsh in her own backyard — she is surrounded by an abundance of natural subjects that influence her work.
Her nature photography has gained recognition within the conservation community, and her images of wildlife from the Black Crown Marsh are currently being used by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to support fundraising efforts for preservation of the entire wetland basin.
Indovina Valus has been a member of the foundation since its early days at the indoor mall on Main Street, also in downtown Lake Geneva.
Located at 223 Broad St., Gallery 223 is open Fridays-Mondays 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
