Last weekend’s warm weather provided inspiration to take a trip to the Krasl Art Center.  Located in St. Joseph, Michigan, (about 100 miles from Chicago) the Center sits in picturesque surroundings, just blocks from Silver Beach and Lake Michigan. 

Many pieces from Krasl’s permanent collection surround the Center’s property and also dot the beachfront, on view to the public and unsuspecting beach-goers.  Krasl’s contemporary sculpture focus within their permanent collection was established shortly after the Center’s opening in 1980. 

Inside Krasl, visitors find a main exhibition gallery as well as the artlab – a smaller venue dedicated to more experimental installation, time-based media, and sound/light pieces.  On view now through June 2 in the artlab is Brian Knowels’ Spewniverse.  The exhibition consists of site-specific installation and animation using foam board, screenprinted papers, recycled fragments from previous installations and televisions with looping animations. 

Also on view through June 2, the main gallery exhibition is The Floating World: Ukiyo-e Prints from the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, showcasing 50 ukiyo-e prints from Japan's Edo Period; part of a three-year national tour and organized by The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, located in Laurel, Mississippi. 

In addition to rotating exhibitions, a variety of classes and educational programs are offered for children and adults.  Learn more about Krasl Art Center and plan a day-trip to explore for yourself.

Michael Dunbar, Allegheny Drift, 1995, steel

Burt Brent, The Heavyweight, 1994, bronze

Kirk Newman, Gulwave, 1983, bronze

Benik Motevosian/Genzink, Moon Dream, 2001, steel

Attention art (and sculpture) enthusiasts:

Have you registered yet for the 23rd International Sculpture Conference?  We know that you appreciate art, but you may not know about the 23rd International Sculpture Conference in Chicago this October 4th – 6th.  We want to invite you to dive deeper into the world of sculpture, the arts, and to meet other like-minded people!  This year’s multi-track conference, Process, Public, Patron offers something for everyone, whether you are a working artist, teacher, administrator, collector, patron, or simply love sculpture!

Conference events include:

• 7 networking parties and social events
  

• Skill workshops, demonstrations, talks + activities
  

• Intimate mentor sessions

• ARTSlams – share your work with your colleagues and get instant feedback!

• Panels on current topics in the sculpture / art field (including The Transformative Nature of Sculpture on an Urban Community;  Public Art: Alternate Models;  How Can Architects and Sculptors Work Together?;  Relevance of the Gallery System: Galleries, the Internet and Art Fairs in a Changing Market)
  

• Keynote addresses by Sanford Biggers, Sophie Ryder, and Ed Uhlir

• Hundreds of people and professionals who share your interest

 
Conference panels and keynotes will be held at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and the Chicago Cultural Center, and the week of activity promises to be packed with lots to see and do.  Register now as optional tours, workshops and activities are also gauging interest levels – either they fill to capacity or will be cancelled.  Don’t miss out on this experience.  Register today!

Photo by Kevin Shelton / Chicago Loop Alliance

The Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA) is at it again.  The organization behind Tony Tasset’s memorable EYE and CARDINAL (2010) and Kay Rosen’s interactive GO DO GOOD (2011) is bringing a whole lot of color to Chicago this summer.  Chicagoans have been watching the initial phases of Jessica Stockholder’s Color Jam installation slowly start to transform the loop during the install process for the past few weeks, and tomorrow, June 5 is the official opening date for the third installment in the CLA’s award-winning Art Loop series.

Visitors will be immersed in the bright, new installation at State and Adams as they walk on, in, and through the canvas of renowned multi-media artist Jessica Stockholder.  Commissioned by CLA, Color Jam saturates building façades, sidewalks, and crosswalks in bold colors in Chicago’s largest art installation.  Color Jam is also the largest contiguous vinyl project in the U.S., composed of over 76,000 square feet of colored vinyl – think the equivalent of 50,000 vinyl records, or enough material to wrap 130+ city buses or cover 1.5 football fields!

Photo by Kevin Shelton / Chicago Loop Alliance

In creating Color Jam, Stockholder envisioned a “three-dimensional painting”, spilling out of windows, through doors, and into the surrounding landscape.

“The fictive potential of surface, so thoroughly cultivated through the history of painting, is always ready to burst, spilling forth imagined richness, full of emotional, subjective resonance, and wandering focus is here woven together with the more mundane everyday surface of the street corner. [“Color Jam”] celebrates and demands that the evocative surface of this Chicago street corner be expanded. The corner is canvas, stage, pedestal, and frame against which the public can view a parade of shifting color relationships.”

Photo by Kevin Shelton / Chicago Loop Alliance

On display through September 30, Color Jam invites the public to participate in a series of programs - or “jams” - taking the form of concerts, talks, and happenings throughout the Loop.  In addition, several Loop businesses are offering Color Jam-themed specials, ranging from color-tinis to hotel discounts.  For more information about the artwork, public programs, and special offers from Loop restaurants, retailers, and cultural institutions, visit www.ColorJamChicago.com.

____________________________________________________

The CLA also coordinates monthly First Thursdays Gallery Walks.  For the third summer, Pop-Up Art Loop galleries stay open late and invite the public to their spaces for open houses and receptions on the first Thursday of each month.  Walks are free and open to the public, running from 5-8pm.  Mark your calendar for upcoming walks this summer on June 7, July 12, August 2, September 6 + October 4.  For more details and a list of participating spaces, visit popupartloop.com.

Photo by Kevin Shelton / Chicago Loop Alliance

photos by Jason Smith, 2011

It looks like Chicago is really getting serious about its cultural development. This April, yet another opportunity has presented itself to become a part of facilitating the maintenance and stimulation of visual arts in Chicago. In addition to the Chicago Cultural Plan that I mentioned earlier, (see: Chicago Cultural Plan Version 2.0) Hyde Park Art Center invites you to their 11th annual Spring Gala on April 14th, in honor of Dawoud Bey, Anita Blanchard, and Martin H. Nesbitt— three influential role models who have invested their careers in Chicago’s cultural community. Joined by honorary gala chair, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and co-chairs, Penny Pritzker, Bryan Traubert, and Madeline Murphy Rabb, the Art Center celebrates art, artists, and its own dedication to making change in such a flourishing and diverse community.
The event will be located at the Art Center from 7-11pm and includes, cocktails, Hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dancing, and a curated live auction conducted by Sotheby’s, Helyn Goldenberg.

Hyde Park Art Center is an open space that provides educational opportunities, public programming for adults and families, and exhibition space for creative minds and innovative artists to show work and gather collectively. Founded in 1939, the Art Center emphasizes learning and diversity within its community. 

All proceeds from this event will be given to support Hyde Park Art Center’s education, exhibition, and outreach programs that help art-makers and those curious about art, continue to see, learn, discuss, and make art.

Hyde Park Art Center
5020 S. Cornell Ave
Chicago, IL 60615
Individual Tickets: Patron $350, Sustainer $500, Benefactor $1,000  

If you’re like me, you have been anxiously anticipating the day that Chicago’s government would take its art and culture more seriously into consideration as vital resources for rejuvenating and revamping the city’s social economy and community. Well, the time has finally come; and it looks like my prayers (and perhaps yours, too) have been thoughtfully acknowledged and answered. Starting in February, Chicago has begun the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012, a process that has taken the intiative to examine the structural set up of arts in Chicago. The plan strives to engage the community in a conversation that addresses building a stronger cultural plan to further enhance the city and its development.

For the first time, since former Mayor Washington’s administration, in over 20 years, current Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Department of Cultural Affairs is asking residents to come together and share thoughts and ideas on strategic methods for action regarding how to best position art and culture in such a way that will strengthen neighborhood community and refocus attention to Chicago as a major art center and attractive destination for the arts. While the last plan in 1986 made some groundbreaking adjustments, such as the renovation of Navy Pier, transformation of downtown’s Randolph Street into a theater district, and created more incentive and opportunities for film projects, a more consistent and contemporary inspection of Chicago’s cultural capital has since been overdue. Much to my own surprise, Chicago impressively holds the 3^rd largest creative economy in the U.S., generating over $2 billion a year, with 24,000 art enterprises, and over 600 non-profit organizations.

This first step could be an exciting and revolutionary transgression to integrating notoriously segregated communities, improving the quality of education and demand for art in schools, and bringing vibrancy to both thriving and still developing areas in Chicago. As a creative thinker and avid participant in art and art-making here in Chicago, I, for one, am most enthusiastic and looking forward to the growth and improvement of my home city. I find it especially encouraging that the people of Chicago are continuing to be persistent with voicing and expressing their opinions and concerns for what's happening in their own backyards. 

Below I’ve listed the next few upcoming meetings with Chicago Cultural Plan: 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
5:30 - 7:30 PM
Douglas Park - Field House
1401 S. Sacramento Dr.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012
4:00 - 5:00 PM Student Conversation
6:00 - 8:00 PM Community Conversation
DePaul University
Lincoln Park Student Center LPSC Room 120 B
2250 North Sheffield Ave.

Thursday, March 15, 2012
5:30 - 7:30 PM
Austin Town Hall Park
5610 W. Lake St.

To become a part of these fundamentally crucial conversations, visit the Chicago Cultural Plan’s website and reserve yourself (and a friend!) a ticket.
I just reserved mine.
All events are free of admission.
http://www.chicagoculturalplan2012.com