Fall 2010 CGN Feature: The Fine Arts Building Art and culture come alive in the Fine Arts Building — the oldest building on Michigan Avenue. Stepping through the doors of the 1885 building transports you to another century, to a creative retreat from today’s hustle and bustle. Originally known as the Studebaker Building (1885–1898), the Fine Arts Building (FAB) was converted from a carriage assembly and showroom. Reopened after extensive renovation in 1898, it immediately became the hub of Chicago's Arts and Crafts movement, as well as the headquarters for a burgeoning musical and literary culture. Located on South Michigan Avenue near the Art Institute of Chicago, this longest-running arts colony in the United States is a must-see haven for art lovers. Today, you can ride in one of the ornate, hand-operated elevators to any of the building’s ten floors and rub elbows with many of the dedicated visual artists in the building. Fill your ears with the sublime echoes of vocal and musical talent, or be mesmerized by classic art works by famed greats, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, whose first studio was here. The FineArtsBuilding.com and its web channel, ArtsEntertainment.com, stream live 24/7; the broadcasting and recording studio has an annual international audience of over 12 million, showcasing live Jazz and Classical concerts, Shakespearean recitals, and passionate visual artists. These facilities provide the most unique visual and auditory experience ‘round the clock, round the world.’ Discover this world of culture and art on December 10, 2010 for the Annual Night at the Fine Arts Building open house. During the rest of the year, art enthusiasts can join Second Friday — a night that buzzes with creativity each month when FAB artists open their studios for a building-wide event. The Fine Arts Building’s sister artist colony, Flat Iron Building , is located at the epicenter of Wicker Park & Bucktown. Visit the building’s eclectic art community, including The Flat Iron Arts Organization, each month for the First Friday open house. September 10-12 join the vibrant, bold artists for the Beyond-the-Coyote Art Fair. Chicago is fortunate to have two such artist communities in dynamic neighborhoods. If you’re an artist interested in learning more about these spaces and events, including studios for lease, in the Fine Arts Building or the Flat Iron Building please contact Kyle Walsh, Property Manager of The Fine Arts Building and The Flat Iron Building at 312.566.9800 The Fine Arts Building 410 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60605 Tel 312 335 3000 2nd Fridays from 6-10pm www.fineartsbuilding.tv

• 15 MINUTES WITH A DEALER

Art dealer Tony Wight, looking ahead to 2011, shared some insights and reflections with Thomas Masters: how a part-time storefront gallery in Wicker Park became Tony Wight Gallery in the West Loop; thoughts on artists under 40; the economy’s impact on the art business, and what he thinks of our city’s art fairs. Click HERE to download a PDF of the print article.

• COLLECTOR CONVERSATIONS

Writer Alicia Eler spent some time with Scott J. Hunter, and his dog Tyler, in Chicago’s South Loop to talk about how he gradually came to collect art, what it is about abstract art that intrigues him now, and his own “rule of three” when it comes to really wanting to acquire an artist’s work. Click HERE to download a PDF of the print article.

• ARTIST INSIGHTS


CGN spent some time talking with Ellen Lanyon , hearing about who inspired her to become an artist, and how she began to find wonder in the curious and everyday. Lanyon shared how Chicago’s “L” changed her way of seeing things, what it’s like to have one foot in New York and the other in Chicago, and what’s next. Click HERE to download a PDF of the article.

• PUBLISHER'S LETTER


Publisher Ginny Berg has written a letter to CGN readers about what fall means to Chicago’s art community, and why there’s no reason to despair when the temperature drops. Click HERE to download a PDF of the most recent letter.

DEALERS IN THE NEWS

• Anniversaries
We have some congratulations to extend to several galleries and organizations reaching major milestones this year. Judy A Saslow Gallery in River North celebrates 15 years featuring outsider, folk and contemporary art. Illinois Artisans Shop/Illinois State Museum celebrates a big 25th anniversary. Monthly thematic “Art Sprees” in the James R. Thompson Center Atrium take place from 10am-3:30pm, regularly featuring 12-20 artisans. Printworks marks a significant 30 years as a works on paper gallery specializing in contemporary prints, drawings, photographs and artists’ books. To celebrate, they are hosting a 30th Anniversary Exhibition opening on December 3, Art of the Book Cover, a group show featuring 68 artists who have been part of the gallery’s history.

• CGN Welcomes New Galleries
We always have fun welcoming new galleries and spaces to our pages. This fall, we welcome back ArchiTech Gallery , specializing in architectural art and drawings, located on the 2nd floor of 730 N. Franklin in River North. We also welcome Holby Gallery to the River North district. Specializing in American art, Holby is located near Jennifer Norback, and Nicole Gallery on Huron Street.

Robert Bills Contemporary joins us from Lake Street in the West Loop/Fulton Market area. The original gallery was founded in 2001 as J.J. Searcy Fine Art, a private dealer in old master and twentieth century master prints. Robert Bills is dedicated to exhibiting emerging and internationally recognized established artists. 2ND FLR Gallery comes to us from 19th Street near the Chicago Arts District in Pilsen East. Floating Gem , featuring fine art, as well as the jewelry of Christine Simpson Forni, is located in the Zhou B. Art Center in Bridgeport. BLOOM 3 in Evanston joins us to highlight a group exhibition featuring the work of artist Connie Gillock, and others, this fall. And from Milwaukee, we welcome Gallery 218 , a fine art artists’ cooperative located in the historic Third Ward within Milwaukee’s Marshall Building.

4Art, Inc. also highlights their framing services in our Art Service section. We welcome Callahan Art & Associates to Art Services as well. Callahan is celebrating 25 years providing fine art services.

• Moves and Updates
Colletti Gallery , specializing in antique posters and art, recently moved across the street to 102 East Oak Street in the Gold Coast.

Walter E. Massey, Ph.D. will serve as President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Elissa Tenny, Ed.D. has been appointed to the newly created position of SAIC Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. Anthony Jones, CBE will continue to serve as Chancellor for SAIC, while Lisa Wainwright, Ph.D. will continue as Dean of Faculty.

• Artist Awards, Commissions & Exhibitions Elsewhere
Printworks artist James Mesplé recently exhibited his paintings in a one-man exhibition at the Shingoethe Museum at Aurora University in Aurora, IL. Mesplé was also represented in, Pathways and Portals – Art, Nature and Science, which presented the work of 14 artists who use mythology, religion, and science as portals to other realms at the Lockport IL Museum as well as the Illinois State Museum in Chicago.

Printmaker/painter René Arceo is the focus of a richly illustrated, large format book celebrating 25 years of his career. The book, the first one to be published by Casa Michoacan/FEDECMI, represents a milestone in efforts to document and disseminate information about the Michoacan and Mexican artists living in the City of Chicago. The 150-page book includes more than 160 images in color and black and white. The book is available at Prospectus Gallery, among other area locations.

ebersmoore proudly sent in some announcements about gallery artists. Stephen Eichhorn and Alexis Mackenzie recently had work on view at Northeastern Illinois University Fine Arts Center Gallery's in New Directions in Collage. Eichorn was also busy as Columbia College Chicago's Summer 2010 Digital Artist-In-Residence. Rob Carter's Metropolis was featured in July on MTV's HD screen in Time's Square. Deborah Boardman's exhibition A Porous Space was at the Gahlberg Gallery, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage this summer.

News about Zolla/Lieberman Gallery artists includes the following: John Buck has an exhibition at The Yellowstone Art Museum: Iconography + Kinetic Sculpture, up through January 9, 2011. Richard Notkin’s work will be shown at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, spring 2011. Vernon Fisher: K-Mart Conceptualism, a survey of Fisher’s career to date, will be at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, September 25-January 2. The University of Texas Press will release a monograph, Vernon Fisher, with an introduction by Frances Colpitt, an interview with Michael Auping, and a foreword by Ned Rifkin. Julie Farstad and Vernon Fisher’s work will be included in the group show Tethered to My World, Contemporary Figure Painting: Location, Chicago at The Art Center, Highland Park, IL, September 3-October 1.

Metropolitan Capital Bank honored art dealer Ann Nathan at a special June reception for the installation of Art Works Chicago, a progressive corporate exhibition of Chicago artists. Paintings and sculptures from over 15 artists were hand selected from Ann Nathan Gallery to be displayed at the Bank through September 22.

Five dramatic sculptures by Perimeter Gallery Chicago artist Neil Goodman are on display at the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park (NMSP) at Governors State University. Neil Goodman in the Park is a collection of five sculptures produced in 2004: Wind, Ballast, Ray, Four Corners, and Alcance.

Artist Ben Whitehouse obtained special access to spend four days in rural England attempting to film a complete, 24-hour loop of the world famous Stonehenge. The completed footage will be part of an exhibition at Perimeter Gallery opening September 10.

Artist Diana McKnish will be exhibiting her signature driftwood and steel figurative sculptures at Chicago’s Salvage One as part of Diana McNish’s Women, September-December. The exhibition is a celebration of McNish’s 40 years as an artist as well as her 80th birthday.

Ox-Bow and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) announced a $1,000,000 gift from the LeRoy Neiman Foundation to support Ox-Bow, the Saugatuck, Michigan–based school of art and artists’ residency currently celebrating its 100-year anniversary as an internationally renowned haven for visual artists, writers, and scholars. The LeRoy Neiman Scholarship Fund at Ox-Bow will provide student scholarships and support Ox-Bow’s Fellowship Program, which provides studio space and funding for 12 to 14 students from art schools across the country to spend their summer at Ox-Bow. Neiman—a world-famous artist known for his images of athletes, sporting events, and sociological settings—and his wife Janet are alumni of both SAIC and Ox-Bow.

From October 15-29, the Chicago Artists’ Coalition and the Chicago Loop Alliance will transform the Loop into an interactive, multi-venue public art museum: Art Loop Open. ALO invites Chicago’s diverse, talented visual artists to apply and potentially win $50,000 in prizes. Visit artloopopen.com. for more information.

Zygman Voss Gallery hosted several charity events during the spring. In April Zygman Voss Gallery hosted a scholarship reception for Northwestern University for the Department of Physical Therapy & Human Movement Sciences. Later in April, they hosted a book signing for Get Capone by Jonathan Fig, also a fundraising event for the ALS Les Turner Foundation for Lou Gherig’s Disease. In May the gallery hosted a reception for the Painted Violins exhibit, presented by the League of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

**More news and feature articles are added to this page all season, so visit often! And congratulate our dealers and artists on their news!

• ONGOING TOURS, WALKS & EVENTS:

1st Thursdays Gallery Nights
River North / West Loop.
Participating galleries open 5-7pm
Aug 5, Sept 2 (check w/ galleries for participation), Oct 7, Nov 4, Dec 2

1st Fridays at the MCA
6-10pm • 220 E. Chicago Ave.
Visit website for ticket info
Aug 6, Sept 3, Oct 8, Nov 5 (SOFA shuttles run from Navy Pier to MCA to River North Galleries), Dec 2

1st Fridays, Flat Iron Arts Building
6-10pm • 1579 N. Milwaukee
Aug 6, Sept 3, Oct 8, Nov 5, Dec 2

2nd Fridays, Chicago Arts District
6-10pm • Around 18th & Halsted
Aug 13, Sept 10, Oct 15, Nov 12, Dec 9

2nd Fridays, Fine Arts Building
4:30-9:30pm • 410 S. Michigan
Sept 10, Oct 15, Nov 12, Dec 9

3rd Fridays, Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour
6-9pm • Various locations
Sept 17, Oct 15

3rd Fridays, Oak Park Arts District
6-9pm • Harrison St.
Aug 20, Sept 17, Oct 22, Nov 19, Dec 16

3rd Fridays / Bridgeport Art Walk
7pm • Zhou B Art Center
1029 W. 35th
Aug 20, Sept 17, Oct 22, Nov 19, Dec 16

Free Weekly Gallery Tours of 4 Galleries
• River North: Every Saturday morning meet @
750 N. Franklin • 11am-12:30pm
• West Loop/Fulton Market: Every 6 weeks, 1:30-3pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Next up: October 9 for Chicago Artists Month. Contact for additional info & future dates.