The art gallery at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State St., is just one place where women in the community can express themselves.

The gallery features NIU alumna Amy Fricilone this month. She often works with oil paint, but also uses acrylics, chalk and oil pastels to explore her emotions and different aspects of her personality.

The exhibit, titled “An Artist Named Amy: Self-Portraits,” touches on themes such as reality and thought, the observer and the observed and multiple facets of a personality. It will run until 6 p.m. Friday.

“The main purpose of the art gallery is to promote women artists with a DeKalb-area connection,” gallery director Anna Coveny said. “The majority of the artists featured have some connection to NIU.”

The center is an all-volunteer organization that aims to promote the well-being of women in the community. Since September 1994, the center has hosted an art exhibit opened to the community on the first of every month.

“The advantage of being the gallery director is that I’m with the exhibit for a month,” Coveny said. “After that, I feel I know the artist.”

The exhibit is funded through grants and donations. Illinois and Rockford art councils are among the organizations that have donated, and the Mary E. Stevens Concert and Lecture Fund also gave the center a grant for musical entertainment.

In August, the center will host the annual Illinois Art Education Association exhibit, which features many art educators from northern Illinois. The show will include the work of about 12 artists. This is the second year this exhibit has come to the center, but it has traveled to other towns in the area.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for students who are curious about their teachers’ artwork,” Coveny said. “It’s difficult to find enough time to teach and create art. This is an opportunity to recognize those who are doing both.”