SOAR CHICAGO PAINT AND SIP FUNDRAISER
Join us as renowned artists Silva* and Shanoor* Varjabedian lead us on a magical trip creating a piece of artwork that will allow each attendee to express their own inner artist!
Learn more about the Maternal and Newborn Health Fund HERE
Can’t attend but would still like to donate? All donations no matter how big or how small are greatly appreciated!
* Silva worked as an art director for Polaroid in Boston after graduating from the Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in design and marketing. She also held creative positions for Boston’s McBer Marketing Firm, Thompson and Thompson and the Slide Center before marrying Shanoor her partner in life and moved to Chicago’s Lincoln Park Neighborhood.
Silva initially freelanced as a designer for various companies like Frankel & Company, Women’s Healthcare Consultants, the National PTA and Needham Worldwide. That’s when the light bulb went off. Their partnership not only made sense in their personal lives but also professionally as well. In 1984, Silva and Shanoor formed the marketing design agency Devarj Associates. The business grew by quickly, and a decade later they changed to Devarj Design Agency Inc. reflecting the addition of several new services to their repertoire. They have earned 28 awards of excellence in photography, fine arts, graphic design, digital marketing, corporate communications and illustration since 1984.
As long-distance lovers and artists, Silva and Shanoor founded their bond with mutual love for art. Shanoor expressed his love by writing handwritten notes sending them from Chicago to Silva living in Boston. They started as simple, charming letters but turned into a means to share their talents by adding sweet illustrations inside each note. The letters became a weekly pick-me-up for the both of them as one would await for their next keepsake. After a month of dating, Silva decided to paint directly on the front of the cards and would send Shanoor a blank one to paint and send in return. She would paint flowers, butterflies, you name it – Quickly, the hand-painted cards turned into beautiful collections that the two of them would frame to forever keep.
Thus, NEKTER CARDS was born. For that special someone you can always visit Nektercards.com to purchase hand glittered cards, matching gift bags, magnets, or framed cards.
* Shanoor is an American Neo-symbolic expressionist, artist, designer, creative director, photographer, CEO, Owner of Devarj Design
Agency, Inc. and speaker who has been making art for five decades. His artistic career began at the tender age of 16 in Beirut, Lebanon, where he lived until 1975 when, because of the Lebanese civil war, he migrated to the United States.
Shanoor was educated in advertising design with a BFA at London’s Barking College and following Shanoor’s move to Chicago in 1975 he was educated at the Art Institute of Chicago. He began a career in art direction, branding, and design for advertising agencies such as Leo Burnett, BBDO before eventually opening his own design firm in 1984 called Devarj Design Agency. Alongside his fruitful career in design, Shanoor continued to develop his personal artistic practice.
He began experimenting with painting on a range of new materials, including large un-stretched canvases, shower curtains, and found paper, and has been in solo shows at various alternative and traditional art spaces and Worldwide Gallery tours. His work is traveling as we speak in first class galleries such as Casa Del Arte Palma, Spain, Thomson Gallery Fine Art, Switzerland, Johnathan Schultz Gallery, Miami, Lelie Gallery, Amsterdam and New York Art Week, New York, Nicoleta Gallery, Berlin, Andie Art, Greece, Landakulova, Dubai, Biennale, Venezia, NY. He also has held exhibitions in Chicago, Boston, LA, SC, NC, Missouri and Indiana.