Lake County Gazette

Randy Sweitzer, who teaches AP Art & Design and digital illustration at Grayslake North High School, is continuing to pursue his own creative work outside the classroom. This fall, Sweitzer’s mixed-media portrait was selected for the Recent Works juried exhibition at the Robert T. Wright Gallery at the College of Lake County.

The artwork combines hand-drawn ink illustrations with collaged elements and photographs from Sweitzer’s hikes in local forest preserves. The piece aims to evoke a sense of solitude associated with the Midwest landscape. A notable detail is a cord woven into the composition, which Sweitzer says is inspired by knot-tying activities he shared with his sons in scouts. “I’m intrigued by how knots can both hold things together and restrict,” he said. “There’s a juxtaposition there, connection and constraint, that I keep coming back to.”

Sweitzer spent 25 years as a professional illustrator before moving into fine art more recently. He noted the difference between illustration and fine art: “Illustration is about the final image. Fine art is about the object itself, how it’s made, how it feels in a space,” he explained. “It’s been good to feel uncomfortable again, and I’ve shared that openly with my students.”

He said his main motivation is to show students what it means to take creative risks. “We ask students to put themselves out there all the time,” he said. “So I do the same. I show them my work, my process, and sometimes even my frustration. I want them to see that art isn’t about perfection, it’s about curiosity, vulnerability, and joy. It’s about embracing the idea that we’re always unfinished, and that’s where the magic is.”

Sweitzer’s piece will be on display through October 30 at the Robert T. Wright Gallery, which is open to the public Monday through Saturday.

Grayslake North High School is part of Grayslake Community High School District 127, which also includes Grayslake Central High School and serves Lake County (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education, District 127 employs 195 teachers with an average salary of $79,647; 59.8 percent are women and 40.2 percent are men, and there are no teachers in the district with more than 10 absences per year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The student population is made up of 58.5 percent White, 4.3 percent Black, 25 percent Hispanic, and 7.2 percent Asian students (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, District 127 spent $31,874 per student for a total expenditure of $88 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).