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CAVA is a volunteer not-for-profit organization founded in 1988 to serve artists aged 50+. We're dedicated to giving our over 375 members throughout the greater Chicago area the opportunity to exhibit artwork in at least four exhibits annually in such notable venues as the Chicago Cultural Center,
MANA Contemporary, Evanston Art Center, Bridgeport Art Center, Art Center Highland Park, and Leslie Wolfe Gallery in Old Town.
Creating art can be a solitary occupation—CAVA organizes and presents events for older artists to come together through its exhibitions, salons, member luncheons, workshops, annual Symposium, and special events. For more information, visit our CONTACT page, and sign up for our e-newsletter.

CAVA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:

  • Exhibit in the Annual Members Show;

  • Enter the juried Later Impressions exhibition;

  • Engage in various group and media-focused exhibitions
    we organize throughout the Chicago area;

  • Participate in membership social and educational programs, including our Critique Events; Artists' Studio Visits; and the annual CAVA Symposium.

Check out CAVA's video interviews!
FEATURED CAVA ARTIST
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MARK NELSON began his formal arts education in the Republic of Panama, where he was mentored in painting and live theater. After twenty years in Panama, he returned to the U.S., continuing his formal studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studying painting, performance, and methodologies in teaching. After completing his BFA, he pursued an MFA at the University of Illinois, where he reincorporated theater, video, and statistical analysis to his artistic practice. “I have no specific medium of choice, but rather choose the media to use based on the task, project, or object,” says Mark. “My work has incorporated parody and cathartic consciousness, analyzing the systematic tactics of inhumanity.” His studio consists of multiple flexible creative spaces: a digital media room similar to Dr. Who’s Tardis; a printmaking and painting space; a mixed media mosaic room; and an outdoor work space to use in good weather.

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Untitled, synthetic polymer and enamel paint on plexiglass panel, 2025

​Last year, as a means of cleansing his creative palette, Mark stepped away from using literal images of chaos and fascism to re-explore abstract painting on plexiglass. “I began each piece with an ‘automatic drawing’ using black markers to map out a less-biased composition,” he says. “From there I extracted forms using reverse painting with synthetic polymer, visually relying solely on impulsive pareidolia to form an ambiguous narrative unique to each viewer.” As he completed each piece, he would prime the back with black gesso, then flip the glass-side up and remove the earlier marker lines. 

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Untitled, synthetic polymer and enamel paint on plexiglass panel, 2025

Mark’s studio and residence is Chicago's vibrant Pilsen neighborhood. Creative time in his home studio spaces is interspersed with motorcycling journeys across the continent, and he often returns to Panama in summer. 
His artwork has found its way into many international and domestic collections, including an 18 x 6 foot canvas mural at the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Panama.

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Untitled, synthetic polymer and enamel paint on plexiglass panel, 2025

To learn more about Mark and see more of his artwork, CLICK HERE to visit his website, and follow him on Instagram here.

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