GILL — Illustrators from western Massachusetts are coming together to show their work at the Rhodes Arts Center gallery at Northfield Mount Hermon School until Nov. 22.

In the world of illustration, the region is known for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst and The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum in Springfield. However, the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild is a group that comes together monthly to celebrate not only children’s illustrations but also fantasy and editorial work by its members. The group began as an offshoot of the Society of Children’s Book Writers’ Hatfield chapter in 1978 before evolving into the support and networking group for illustrators that it has become today.

The gallery features work by artists Elisabeth Alba, Robin Brickman, Nancy Carpenter, Diane deGroat, Linda Graves, Yoshi Kogo, Gary Lippincott, Beth Roberge, Ruth Sanderson, Dick Walz and Sean Wang. Those who are interesting in booking a visit by Nov. 22 can email Gallery Coordinator Jamie Rourke at jrourke@nmhschool.org.

While Rourke invites the general public to visit the gallery, its primary audience consists of NMH students, with exhibits often themed in accordance with their studies. Although the gallery has traditionally focused on fine art in the past, Rourke wanted to experiment this semester.

“I’m committed to bringing different artistic approaches and perspectives on display by inviting an illustration show into the space,” Rourke said. “It challenges the notion of fine art because illustration crosses over between fine art and commercial art.”

Rourke expressed that not much emphasis is placed on art education when it comes to actually marketing yourself and building a career off your work. The illustration show allows for NMH students to see professional illustrators and how they’ve adapted to operating in the 21st century.

“Whether it’s online sales or conventions, there’s a lot of different ways artists can market themselves,” Rourke said regarding revenue streams that modern artists can find.

Rourke himself has been gallery coordinator for two years, however, he’s been on the NMH visual arts staff for eight years and has used what he’s learned from his own fine art education to create opportunities for other artists to be seen, and for his students to see artists that are diverse in both experience and background. When it comes to choosing art for the gallery, Rourke said he wants to showcase artists who will inspire young minds to take action in their own creative journeys.

One of the artists with work on display at the gallery is Beth Roberge, a member of the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild who has been pursuing her passion of fine art since she was 7 years old. Her favorite piece that she has displayed in the gallery is a painting of multi-colored glass jars on a windowsill.

Roberge, who was one of the featured artists to attend the Oct. 25 opening reception, said she appreciated getting to connect with the students.

“It was nice because you got to talk to all the students. They looked at the art and picked all the artists they wanted to talk to,” Roberge recounted. “We don’t do gallery shows all that often, and so I think the artists that participated were thrilled with how it all turned out and how classy it all looked. It was nice to have our work out there for people to see, and to talk to the students who were so interested in what we were doing.”

Roberge also mentioned the vast array of media used by the featured artists, including watercolor, 3-D, oil paintings and scratchboard, which introduced the NMH students to a range of styles.

The next seasonal show at the Rhodes Arts Center gallery will be on display from Dec. 2 to Jan. 24 and will feature ceramic and installation work by Anne Thiam.