Wesley UMC hosts artist’s tribute to his disabled daughter
Elk Grove Village artist and vocalist Tim Lowly will lead his Baby Mountain Quartet in a free concert of his works at 7 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 14 N. May St. in Aurora.
Lowly will be joined by Jonah Boutell, Rhiannon Hammer and Thew Elliott of Aurora, Wesley director of liturgy and music, in the concert.
The event is in conjunction with “Temma at Wesley UMC in Aurora,” seven Lowly paintings displayed at the church through May 16. Lowly artworks are open for public viewing in the church sanctuary, Gathering Place room and other areas. Viewing times are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to noon Wednesdays and 9:30 a.m. to noon Sundays.
The self-guided exhibit is an extension of “Temma in Aurora,” an exhibit at Aurora University's Schingoethe Center Museum to May 16.
Temma Day Lowly, Tim Lowly's profoundly disabled daughter, is the focus of 40 paintings, drawings, sculpture and installations by the artist at AU.
Lowly is an artist, curator, musician and teacher. Since 1985, his works have focused on representing his daughter. He says, “Part of my agenda is to say that disabled children are a part of life. These are not freaks.
“We should advocate for eyes of compassion that see human beings as human beings, rather than separating them into the beautiful, the ugly, the normal, the freak,” Lowly says.
Lowly’s art depicts Temma as a profoundly meaningful human, representing a significant population that is unseen and unconsidered in society. Influenced by European Renaissance and Baroque painting and drawing, Lowly creates highly skilled realistic drawings and paintings depicting Temma as loved, valued, dignified and mystical.
His art has been widely exhibited throughout the U.S. and worldwide. His works are included in collections including the Frye Museum, Seattle; The Minneapolis Institute of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He has also had solo exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center, Notre Dame’s Snite Art Museum and Art Space Seoul in Korea.
Lowly sang and played guitar Sunday (March 30) during Wesley's 10:30 a.m. worship service. Sherrie, his wife, preached on “Now We Know in Part.” A retired United Methodist pastor, she served the denomination from 1997 to 2020 at five UMC churches. They were Galena, Chicago Berry Memorial, Itasca Bethany, Waukegan Living Faith and Northbrook.
At a post-worship reception, Tim Lowly invited attendees to take cuttings from a jade plant.
Wesley holds Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. online at wesleyumcaurora.online.church/ and in-person at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. Past services are archived on the church’s YouTube channel.
For more information, call (630) 896-1033 or visit wesleyumcaurota.org.