By Annie MartinThe Daily Northwestern

Art is everywhere – in the El stations, streetside murals and even in the commercialized strip malls. But this week Evanston residents are getting an inside view of the art they don’t always see.

Both the Dance Center Evanston and the Noyes Cultural Arts Center opened their doors on Saturday and invited visitors to watch dance ensembles rehearse, tour the studios and speak with the artists themselves.

The row of stores at the intersection of Dempster Street and Dodge Avenue houses take-out restaurants and grocery stores. But in the midst of pizza delivery cars racing around and people hurrying to finish their shopping in time for dinner lies Dance Center Evanston, where more than 650 children study a multitude of dance styles, from ballet and jazz to hip-hop.

The studio held an open house Saturday as a part of Arts Week Evanston, a 10-day arts festival that features a variety of visual art, music, theater and dance events through Sunday.

“All my life is art, so I think it’s a great thing for the community,” said Bea Rashid, director at Dance Center Evanston.

Julie Chernoff came to watch her daughter rehearse in the ensemble but said she plans to attend other Arts Week events.

“There are so many wonderful cultural events available in Evanston, so it’s important to expose them,” Chernoff said.

The studios at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., also opened their doors to visitors Saturday. Evanston artists showcased their work and offered guests an inside look at their studio.

Professional artist Kate Friedman displayed her “dark matter” exhibit, which was partially inspired by the term physicists use to refer to matter that cannot be detected by the light it emits.

Her abstract paintings use dark colors and have a bumpy texture. She said her work is based on “ideas about nature.”

Friedman said she likes the opportunity the week gives her to share her work and see the public’s reaction.

“(Arts Week) is a way to introduce the community to what’s going on in Evanston arts,” she said.

Arts Council Director Jeff Cory said Evanston starting having Arts Week every year during the 1980s but stopped it for about 10 years before starting again in 2000. The Evanston Arts Council has increased its involvement in Arts Week over past years, Cory said, which has helped publicity.

“We want to make people aware of the wide variety of arts and celebrate the role they play in the community,” Cory said.

At the Noyes Center, students as well as teachers were present to encourage others to try art. Evanston resident Bonnie Hanover started taking art classes at the center nine years ago.

“I think there’s a lot of people who think they can’t draw but they can,” Hanover said.

Having no artistic background, she began experimenting with different media and now spends several hours each week drawing and painting.

Skokie resident Al Lieberman came to the event primarily to see his son’s photographic work but explored other exhibits, as well, including Bill Frederick’s graphite drawings, currently featured in the Noyes Gallery.

“(The drawings) are really interesting because they look like a photo but turn into a drawing when you look closely,” Lieberman said.

Art Encounter, a nonprofit organization designed to expose people to visual art and increase public awareness and appreciation for art, invited families to help create a “totem pole” from shoe boxes.

Jill King, who teaches adult painting and drawing classes for Art Encounter, said about 20 kids contributed to the totem pole.

“It was a really nice way to engage families in a project together,” King said.

King said Art Encounter uses the Socratic Method to teach people of all ages about art. Using this technique, she and other teachers encourage their students to ask themselves questions about the works of art they see. Since no one views art the same way, this allows them to discover how they interpret each piece.

“Art brings spaces and places to life,” King said. “When we realize how important our creativity is, we open ourselves up to new ideas.”

Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].