<html><head></head><body>Milwaukee's original gallery hop event, <a href="https://gallerynightmke.com">Gallery Night MKE</a>, allows you to experience Milwaukee's vast creative culture and discover local galleries, art, and artists. This free, two-day art event offers you the opportunity to buy original art, dine in outstanding restaurants, and shop at unique boutiques.Gallery Night MKE Hours:&nbsp;Friday, October&nbsp;18th, 5:00 - 9:00pmSaturday, October 19th, 11:00am - 6:00pm &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/php66lhm9cetf7wqhhhb.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/equus-intersections-the-blue-horses-2019-2024">Out of the Blue: The Blue Horse Paintings 2019 - 2024</a>Opening: Friday, October 18, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmKim Storage Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/hkptbwiv6b9tojynr14k.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/mke-gallery-night-how-to-traverse-a-vessel-lauren-woods-nikita-vishnevskiy">How to Traverse a Vessel: Lauren Woods &amp; Nikita Vishnevskiy</a>Opening: Friday, October 18, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmJames May Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/vrtu00ymovdrawsz82rb.png" art="" of="" michal="" patterson.png=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/shadowplay-the-art-of-michal-patterson">Shadowplay: The Art of Michael Patterson</a>Opening: Friday, October 18, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmLily Pad | West&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Gallery Night MKE is October 18 & 19

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/csqra51s88ebudzbyaax.png"></figure>Via PRRhona Hoffman Gallery announces a significant program change following EXPO Chicago and its concurrent gallery exhibit. The gallery will continue working actively with artists, galleries, collectors, and institutions, but will leave its West Town Chicago exhibition space at the end of May. “It’s been nearly 50 years since I became a gallerist, even longer since moving to Chicago, joining the Art Institute’s women’s board, co-founding the MCA store, and 44 years since helping found the first EXPO Chicago –&nbsp;the gallery has&nbsp;been involved ever since. I’ve had the good fortune of witnessing many decades of social and artistic change, and the honor of engaging in how artists and institutions offer voice to their varied points of view. Representing artists and working with so many wonderful people over decades and around the world has been an honor and a great joy in my life.”&nbsp; The gallery remains vibrant in its ongoing exhibitions and will participate in Art Basel Miami Beach, and EXPO Chicago 2025.It’s with enthusiasm the Rhona Hoffman Gallery announces this coming change in May as it allows for new creative opportunities and collaborations.<a href="https://www.rhoffmangallery.com">www.rhoffmangallery.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Announcing a Program Change at Rhona Hoffman Gallery

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/fuyvif4gggpmt3jwldnq.jpg"><figcaption>Hebru Brantley with Midnight Blue. Photo by CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAOn the morning of Friday, September 20 a small group of special guests visiting Fashion Outlets of Chicago in suburban Rosemont toasted THE COLLECTION’s newest permanent commission, Midnight Blue by acclaimed contemporary artist Hebru Brantley. The installation, which features one of Brantley's iconic Flyboys as well as a surface work running along an elevator stack, is the 25th work to become part of Fashion Outlet's permanent collection of public art. &nbsp;&nbsp; Midnight Blue was inspired by the world of Jazz, particularly the atmosphere created in the classic tune titled “Round Midnight and composed in the 1940s by Thelonious Monk. The song has been widely covered ever since.&nbsp;While visitors wander the mall and move between the upper and levels Brantley's art will hopefully draw their attention to something different about this shopping experience, much the way the artist's murals elsewhere around the city invite passersby by to stop for a moment. Midnight Blue aims to convey a state of being lost in the moment, carried away by the interplay of colors and shapes.&nbsp;Brantley is known throughout Chicago and around the country for his distinctive, narrative-driven work that revolves around his conceptualized characters. His art historical references include Robert Colescott, Andy Warhol, Kerry James Marshall and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and he utilizes his characters in a narrative output to address complex ideas around nostalgia, fear, safety, power, and hope. The color palettes, motifs and characters themselves juxtapose this intricacy, creating an air of innocence and accessibility around his layered and multifaceted ideas. In particular the public has come to recognize Brantly's character of the Flyboy. In his Negro Mythos series, Brantley reimagines the super heroes of American pop culture as people of color – as a quest to readdress modern mythology through his lens. Flyboy was also born from this concept. The one that is part of Midnight Blue is the second Flyboy publicly installed in the Chicago area. The first is at Navy Pier near the Chicago Children's Museum, and a third, which will actually be a (20 foot tall) Lil Mama figure, is coming soon to the city's west side, though there has been delays in unveiling it. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/ye826pi4rjd7irnfxa8g.jpg"><figcaption>Photo by CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Brantley himself has become a public figure, with an international reputation that has followed his beginnings in public art. Much of the work he has become known for is outside. He added, As somebody that started in public art, being able to do something in more of a controlled environment was kind of appealing. It's inside versus outside, And it's a challenge to figure out how to create a narrative around an escalator, but it's still wall space. It's just different.When I asked Brantley what he was most excited about for this particular installation at THE COLLECTION, he shared, For me, the thing that's exciting is that I haven't mixed the mediums of sculpture and painting before. I've done installations, murals, sculptures, but now this is the opportunity for that to all come together.&nbsp;As far as the concept of youth passing time walking in a mall, I wanted to know how much time Brantley had spent in malls growing up. While he did mall walk like many kids, he also recalled that he always had two jobs as a kid, and his first was at Water Tower downtown. I've been known to snack and spend a lot of time at the food court when it comes to malls, he admits. That's basically the kitchen, right? It's like when people come to someone's house – the part of the house they spent the most time in is the kitchen. The heart. Brantley wanted his work to be where people would be taking a break and socializing. And for Brantley, Midnight Blue's addition to THE COLLECTION feels good. This is coming home, so to speak, he says. It's really cool.Details on Hebru Brantley and Midnight Blue at the Fashion Outlets may be <a href="https://www.fashionoutletsofchicago.com/TheCollection-HebruBrantley">found here</a>#&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/v8250c8qjjysrpvozuwl.jpg"><figcaption>Photo by CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Hebru Brantley's Midnight Blue Joins Fashion Outlet's Permanent Art Collection

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/bvqk7enjbxj11owvjskj.jpg"><figcaption>Tattoos to prove it! &nbsp;Left: New Co-director of CPC, Lauren Steinert and Co-director and CPC Founder Deb Maris-Lader</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagoprintmakers.com">Chicago Printmakers Collaboration</a> announces New Co-Director Lauren SteinertLauren Steinert received her MFA in printmaking from the University of Arizona. She received her Bachelor of Science and Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in printmaking and glass-working, environmental studies, and German.Prior to joining the CPC, Lauren was an Adjunct at Pima Community College, teaching all of the printmaking classes including relief, monoprint, serigraphy, and intaglio. During graduate school she worked as the printmaking technician and taught relief printmaking at the University of Arizona. As a seasonal Print Coordinator at Pilchuck Glass School since 2019, she has overseen the facilities for vitreography and screen printing. Along with her printmaking experience, she has been a glassblowing instructor at the Sonoran Glass School and an artist assistant for a painter. Lauren Steinert's art practice revolves around documenting and archiving the histories of the community work spaces she occupies.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/k6tkgitlls4vmsne2lno.jpg"><figcaption>Julia Thecla, Hey Diddle Diddle, 1962, Oil on canvas board, 11.5 x 13 inches.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://mailchi.mp/87abb0cc025f/celebrating-womens-history-month-17225815?e=d4bddc3732">Mongerson Gallery Announces Series of Works by Julia Thecla</a>The gallery is pleased to offer a selection of works by the renowned Chicago Surrealist Julia Thecla. Once described as “the mystery girl of Chicago art,” Thecla was known for her dreamlike compositions featuring a world of fairies, dancers, animals, and sprites rendered in her signature jewel-toned blues. As a global movement in 20th-century art, Surrealism sought to unlock the unconscious mind, blending reality with the dream world in unexpected and thought-provoking ways. By exploring these fantastical elements, Surrealist artists challenged conventional perceptions of reality and offered viewers new ways to interpret their inner worlds. A contemporary of other Midwestern Surrealists such as Gertrude Abercrombie, Dorothea Tanning, and John Wilde, Thecla’s approach to fantastical subject matter helped shape Chicago’s unique legacy of visual art through the 20th century.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/hwekhub1scdwf9sypoth.png"></figure>Carl &amp; Marilynn Thoma Named ARTnews Top 200 Collectors<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/behind-the-orange-door-the-thoma-art-foundation-builds-a-collection-to-share-with-the-world">Read CGN's 2020 interview with the Thomas&nbsp;</a>For the fourth year in a row, Carl and Marilynn Thoma have been included in the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list.Click below to hear from the Thomas about what being a collector means and why the Dallas art scene is so special.<a href="https://thomafoundation.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c75de283d0624ecb797b09730&amp;id=6682b9a361&amp;e=4a3982ec44">Read the full article →</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 10/10/24

By CGN Staff<a href=https://www.artencounter.org>Art Encounter</a>, an area nonprofit founded in 1978 by three artists, recently shared that it is expanding its community outreach programming. Currently Art Encounter serves over 1,000 individuals from all ages and backgrounds annually – work that is at the heart of the group's mission and which brings creativity and connection to youth, adults, and seniors throughout the greater Chicago area at no cost to the participants.﻿This fall new and revived programs include an introduction to street art for young adults in Evanston, art discussions and memory-themed projects for Chicago seniors in assisted living facilities, and even a mural project with pre-schoolers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class=image><img src=https://files.constantcontact.com/4fd15233201/6c9bb9dd-52ac-4344-af35-e9a14cf4497d.png?rdr=true alt=><figcaption>Curt’s Café, left; Sholo Beverly working on a mural project with Curt’s Café in 2022, right</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In 2022, AE partnered with Curt’s Café, which works to improve outcomes for young adults living in at-risk situations through work and life skills training, on a rewarding mural project. Led by artist Sholo Beverly, teens and young adults from their workforce development program designed and painted a beautiful mural entitled Elevate on the exterior of the restaurant. This fall AE is renewing their partnership by launching a new, five-week workshop introducing Curt’s Café’s students to the world of contemporary murals and street art. The series will include on-site workshops with professional muralists to explore art techniques through creative projects, a walking tour of Art Encounter’s Evanston murals, and a studio visit with a professional artist.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class=image><img src=https://files.constantcontact.com/4fd15233201/93127a27-bf44-4605-ba8c-f3a66eda989c.png?rdr=true alt=><figcaption>Participants share their work during Art Encounter's 2022 Making for Memory and Connection program</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Last month Art Encounter returned to two Chicago senior homes-- Paul House and Greenview Place-- for a new series in their Making for Memory and Connection program, which first launched in 2022. This nine-week program, called A Special Place, honors each individual’s life by commemorating a special place from their lives. Teaching artists Val McCune and Alex Stevenson are bringing original, professional artworks related to place and memory for discussion, then leading participants in creating a personal mixed media artworks reflecting on their chosen special place. The program will culminate with a reception and exhibition, where friends and family will join the artists to celebrate their projects. The Elizabeth&nbsp;Morse&nbsp;Charitable Trust is the generous sponsor of&nbsp;this program.&nbsp;<figure class=image><img src=https://files.constantcontact.com/4fd15233201/afad9c3c-3166-4123-8df8-5ad51edc4d36.png?rdr=true alt=><figcaption>Theodore Roosevelt High School, left; Teaching Artist Courtney Reed discussing a painting by Sam Onche, right</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In late October, teaching artist Courtney Reed will lead a four-session mini-residency with students from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood as part of a new program at the school called PART: Performing Arts Responsive Therapy. This workshop, focusing on expressive self-portraits, will provide a creative outlet for newly-arrived migrant youth at the school to share their own migration stories and affirm their personal identities in a safe and supportive environment. Students will also discuss and draw inspiration from one of the recent additions to our traveling art collection: a painting entitled Two Pawns by Evanston artist Sam Onche, pictured above.&nbsp;<figure class=image><img src=https://files.constantcontact.com/4fd15233201/c9828909-61fe-4501-91ba-b7f30a08288c.png?rdr=true alt=><figcaption>Two former participants in a past session of Linking Generations, left; one of the program's completed artworks, right</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Thanks to support from the foundation <a href=https://uphksziab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vX1YWGAknTq9Z7Yq8Wi21jvpvxI-FZnVcWOSyb_7jOFy7QDCZtOGLKL3Mvg1zTZTDw21X3LYUKCE9wPhduKslzQK8CsKd7l-9M3c0KROTftVAg_jyYe5d0ZqaIumQYqm2jSSwy2Za-9irYdvGQvg652pRgJm2e9E&amp;c=S9HdhplnXyLkKOXg_4TV7Dfo7EiX8LjJp87VbiwYn2VxwAlrueIofw==&amp;ch=JqAe2-bHEe_tylOC-FJzj5i6hLZhYCVo2ZjtZ9Cdd4g6CSvjf480pg==>Innovation 80</a>, Art Encounter will be reviving a former intergenerational program called Linking Generations this year. In partnership with the social service agency Family Matters of Rogers Park, Chicago. this program pairs youth and seniors living in the same community to get to know each other through a series of hands-on workshops exploring different artistic media. Students and their senior partners interview each other to share life experiences, stimulate visual memory, and build relationships between generations. They then collaborate on a mixed media shadowbox project related to a shared interest, value, or dream that the pair has discovered. The program will culminate in a reception for family, friends, and community to share their work and reflect on their experience together.&nbsp;<figure class=image><img src=https://files.constantcontact.com/4fd15233201/d88cbb09-b7f7-4397-b277-9e7525efe03e.png?rdr=true alt=><figcaption>The future site of a nature-inspired outdoor artwork for nearby preschool students; Unity preschool, right</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Finally, Art Encounter will be working with neighbor artists at the Noyes Cultural Arts Cente on a special outdoor art project. Nearby Unity Preschool has recently created a unique and special outdoor space next to Noyes, giving their students the opportunity to play and explore while connecting with nature. This space is currently bordered by low concrete barriers, which will be transformed into a wildflower garden through a collaborative mural painted by fellow Noyes tenants and Unity's preschoolers.&nbsp;#

Art Encounter Announces Expanded Outreach Programming This Fall

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/fdeqqbhbsobw4ljck04t.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/history-of-the-chess-queen">History of the Chess Queen</a>Opening: Friday, October 11, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmHilton Contemporary - Bridgeport&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/ypgf8tq0mi4dtnnjtgfh.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/semaphoria-an-artist-s-language">Semaphoria: An Artist’s&nbsp;Language</a>Exhibition begins October 11South Shore Arts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/sldmkulxf6vkxg5pee98.jpg" nocturne.jpg=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/surreal-salon-group-exhibition">Surreal Salon: Group Exhibition</a>Opening: Friday, October 11, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmJackson Junge Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/fnrkvm9ee6i9kta5w9km.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/double-ground">Double Ground</a>Opening: Friday, October 11, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmOliva Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/blpva73ygtwoft8zxszn.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/through-a-bipoc-lens-decolonizing-feminism">Through a BIPOC Lens: Decolonizing Feminism</a>Opening: Saturday, October 12, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmWoman Made Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open October 11 - 13 (Part I)

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/qlao6hezljfympsfeuhw.png" y="" deseos="" .png=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/janice-marin-pia-cruzalegui-stories-y-deseos">Janice Marin &amp; Pia Cruzalegui: STORIES Y DESEOS</a>Opening: Friday, October 11, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmEpiphany Center for the Arts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img 2015="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/gmtpzezi2srxahduosuw.jpg" embelleciendose="" (skeleton="" beautifying="" herself),="" reduction="" linocut,="" 22_x30_="" copy.jpg=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/day-of-the-dead-exhibition">Day of the Dead Exhibition</a>Opening: Saturday, October 12, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmDragonfly Gallery &amp; Creative Spaces&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/suhd7yhnuibfx3tgpf8v.jpg" copy.jpg=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/25th-anniversary-show-b29e05f4-8371-4ad6-9b15-a5b604f506a4">25th Anniversary Show</a>Opening: Saturday, October 12, 4 – 6&nbsp;pmBert Green Fine Art&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/kuvhwtwoag1yvbgxltcx.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/cecilia-beaven-flickering-cocoon">Cecilia Beaven: Flickering Cocoon</a>Exhibition begins October 12Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092763/uxxkr2kwidij80eo668q.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/magic-imaginary-realms-selections-from-the-elmhurst-art-museum-collection">Magic &amp; Imaginary Realms: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Collection</a>Exhibition begins October 13Elmhurst Art Museum&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092764/gk210dmkmxhlq3thvh8v.jpg" chicago="" image.jpg=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dialogue-outloud">Dialogue Outloud</a>Opening: Sunday, October 13, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmEvanston Art Center&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open October 11 - 13 (Part II)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img 2024="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/jwh3u3immtoaem83sb9b.png" onecause="" banner="" (email="" header)="" (1).png=""></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffWe heard from James Lynch, Exec. Dir. of The Art Center - Highland Park, recently, since the Center has been busy preparing for its annual recycled art sale, opening next week on October 18.&nbsp;The Annual Recycled Art Sale&nbsp;includes thousands of pieces of art that have been donated to The Art Center from private collectors, galleries, estates, corporate art collections, and institutions throughout the year. Each October TAC organizes, researches, and prices to sell all of these donated items and offers them in a 10-day event that benefits TAC's programming, education, and outreach. A community favorite for over 20 years, the variety of items is vast and of high quality, including paintings, prints, ceramics, decorative objects, vintage posters, sculpture, art glass, jewelry, and more. The event keeps art in a sustainable loop or reuse and re-enjoyment.&nbsp;Because the event is well-known and also seeks to accomplish several goals, there are a lot of questions that come to Dir. Lynch each year. He shared his list of FAQs as TAC prepares to open the sale later this month.&nbsp;Are we still accepting donated art? Yes. We accept art every day, including during the event. It is not unusual for people to drop off art and stay to look over the sale.What kinds of art/things do you accept? We accept 2D and 3D art, collectibles, and jewelry. We have accepted furniture and decorative rugs in the past but we don’t accept them anymore.What do you do with the leftover art? First of all, we hope there isn’t anything left over! Leftover items of high value are held for next year. We also offer unsold items to Affordable Housing residents and other similar not-for-profit groups. Nothing is wasted.Should I attend the opening night? Of course! Opening night has two sections. First Look at 5 PM is a ticketed event ($175) and serious shoppers buy tickets way in advance to have early access to the best pieces. At 6 PM we welcome another round of shoppers ($75 in advance, $85 at the door). Most people agree that the pieces they find, whether for their own collection or for re-sale, more than make up the cost of the ticket. The ticket also includes an open bar and a food truck. It’s a really FUN party where art just happens to be the topic.Should I attend more than once? Absolutely. New items are brought in daily, including in the last hours of the sale!Is it free after opening night? Yes and no. We charge $10 for opening weekend, Saturday, and Sunday, and your admission will get you in all weekend. Beginning on Monday, 10/21, entry is free for the rest of the sale.Is there an evening event? Yes: one. Wednesday, 10/23, we’ll stay open until 8 PM.What is the sale for? All funds collected, admission fees, sponsorships, art sales, donations – all of it – go toward our general operating funds. This is our 65th year and this event goes a long way towards keeping our programming alive!Do we need volunteers? Yes! Volunteers help us make this event possible.&nbsp;Do we need sponsors? Yes. Your sponsorship will be shared according to the level of giving. See below.We hope that sharing this information will welcome more people, make attending easier and more attractive, and of course, help us sell out!&nbsp;The Recycled Art Sale runs October 18-26 at the <a href="https://one.bidpal.net/recycled24/welcome">Art Center Highland Park&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

The Art Center Highland Park's Recycled Art Sale Takes Place Oct 18–26

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/or50azraeazhpjaibe3g.jpg"><figcaption>2024's prints</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffPrinted especially for the Museum by some of the most innovative photographers working today, the sale of editioned Fine Prints directly supports artistic and educational programs at the MoCP.&nbsp; Prints by more than 70 artists are available online including works by artists of local, national and international renown such as Sarah Pickering, Olivo Barbieri, Tony Tasset, Ken Fandell, Brian Ulrich, Anna Shteynshleyger, Anna Fox, Aspen Mays, Kahn and Selesnick, Simon Roberts, Yeondoo Jung, and Tim Davis. Works by internationally-collected artists like Alec Soth, Vik Muniz, Candida Höfer, and Curtis Mann have quickly sold out in recent years.View prints for sale <a href="https://shop.mocp.org/collections/fine-prints?mc_cid=3d4e18252c&amp;mc_eid=d76e1da35a">here</a>.MoCP's annual FIRST LOOK party unveiling its newest prints takes place on Tuesday, October 8. FIRST LOOK is the premier party of MoCP’s 2024 Fine Print Program artists. We welcome you to meet and mingle with friends and artists over light bites, cocktails, activities, and fine print photographs.<a href="https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1871/bp22/interior.aspx?sid=1871&amp;gid=2&amp;pgid=1941&amp;cid=5426&amp;mc_cid=3d4e18252c&amp;mc_eid=d76e1da35a">Buy tickets here and view the new print series</a></body></html>

MoCP Announces This Year's Fine Prints Series

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/l8gdzdtuuibog3l7i0vo.gif"><figcaption>The top floor of Bob Buford’s home is devoted to art. Pictured from left to right are works by Martin Kippenberger, Laura Owens, Peter Halley, and Marc Camille Chaimowicz.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEACGN has been interviewing art collectors for well over a decade. To date we have profiled over 30 collections in print.&nbsp;When CGN was founded in 1982, it was created as a resource for collectors and a guide to area gallery openings. Over time CGN has evolved to be a resource for many players in the art world and beyond. After CGN Publisher Ginny Van Alyea took over from founder Natalie van Straaten in 2007, we began to conduct a series of interviews with many art community leaders, from dealers and artists to curators and local collectors. Some collectors have professional lives unaffiliated with the art world, while others see collecting as a natural extension of a profession they love. A few are anonymous. All have art collections that are lovingly built and cared for, and we are grateful for their generosity and candor.By building a catalog of collection profiles, we aimed to share the range of collecting experiences, practices and focuses, hopefully inspiring others to build their own art collections in their own unique way.&nbsp;You can read past interviews on <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/interviews">chicagogallerynews.com</a> any time, but we wanted to gather our collector profiles in one place and encourage you to revisit each one or read them all for the first time. These collections are proof of Chicago's deep, rich, long collecting history, and CGN's interviews are a means of recording that history for generations to come.&nbsp;&nbsp;2012<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/1/collector-conversations-deone-jackman">Collector Conversations: Deone Jackman</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/9/collector-profile-marilyn-larry-fields">Collector Profile: Marilyn + Larry Fields</a>&nbsp;2013<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2013/1/collector-profile-anne-and-mark-siebert">Collector Profile: Anne and Mark Siebert</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2013/8/collector-profile-an-eye-for-the-outsider">Collector Profile: An Eye for the Outsider</a>&nbsp;2014<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2014/1/collector-profile-eileen-and-peter-broido">Collector profile: Eileen and Peter Broido</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2014/4/collector-profile-janis-kanter-and-tom-mccormick">Collector Profile: Janis Kanter and Tom McCormick</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2014/8/collector-profile-linda-and-paul-gotskind">Collector Profile: Linda and Paul Gotskind</a>&nbsp;2015<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2014/12/a-classic-setting-for-eclectic-art">Carlos Martinez: A Classic Setting for Eclectic Art</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2015/5/ellen-and-richard-sandor-s-art-obsession">Ellen and Richard Sandor’s Art Obsession</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2015/9/helen-zell-s-old-fashioned-approach-to-collecting-contemporary-art">Helen Zell’s Old Fashioned Approach to Collecting Contemporary Art</a>&nbsp;2016<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2015/12/an-art-world-figure-howard-tullman">An Art World Figure: Howard Tullman</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2016/4/nancy-and-bob-mollers-down-to-earth-collectors">Nancy and Bob Mollers: Down-to-Earth Collectors</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2016/8/collector-jason-pickleman-s-creative-life">Collector Jason Pickleman’s Creative Life</a>&nbsp;2017<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2016/12/young-couple-eyes-chicago-s-future">Young Couple Eyes Chicago’s Future: Jessica and Tim Canning</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/4/in-search-of-the-eclectic">Sally Schwartz: In Search of the Eclectic</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/4/the-personal-art-of-collecting">The Personal Art of Collecting: Christopher Slapak and Michael Robertson</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/8/collector-irving-stenn-jr-a-lifetime-of-relationships-through-art">Collector Irving Stenn Jr.: A Lifetime of Relationships Through Art</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/9/seth-stolbun-today-s-collector">Seth Stolbun: Today's Collector</a>&nbsp;2018<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/5/building-a-home-for-art-reviving-an-industrial-space-in-ravenswood">Building a Home for Art: Reviving an Industrial Space in Ravenswood – Brian Westphal and Michael McVickar</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/10/collecting-stories-sebastian-campos-artistic-admiration">Collecting Stories: Sebastian Campos' Artistic Admiration</a>&nbsp;2019<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2019/5/stewards-of-art-and-history-the-expansive-collection-of-lee-wesley-and-vicki-granacki">Stewards of Art and History: The Expansive Collection of Lee Wesley and Vicki Granacki</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2019/9/collector-robert-buford-embracing-the-connectivity-of-art">Collector Robert Buford: Embracing the Connectivity of Art</a>&nbsp;2020<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/art-dealer-ann-nathan-the-perpetual-collector">Art Dealer Ann Nathan: The Perpetual Collector</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/behind-the-orange-door-the-thoma-art-foundation-builds-a-collection-to-share-with-the-world">Behind The Orange Door: The Thoma Art Foundation Builds a Collection to Share With the World</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/8/a-collector-s-personal-focus-discovering-the-value-of-engagement">A Collector's Personal Focus: Discovering the Value of Engagement</a>&nbsp;2021<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/8/stewards-for-generations-the-neal-family-s-influential-support-for-black-artists">Stewards For Generations: The Neal Family's Influential Support for Black Artists</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/6/91a62c27-f078-4b58-977c-464ef44cc966">Vibrant Art Enlivens a Home: Collectors Gary Metzner and Scott Johnson</a>&nbsp;2022<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2022/5/chris-craft-a-collector-discovers-friends-and-history-through-art">Chris Craft: A Collector Discovers Friends and History Through Art</a>&nbsp;2023<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/the-art-dealer-as-collector-and-connector-william-lieberman">The Art Dealer as Collector and Connector: William Lieberman</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/9/building-a-next-gen-collection-zach-smith">Building a Next Gen Collection: Zach Smith</a>&nbsp;2024<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/4/a-living-collection-sundeep-mullangi-and-trissa-babrowski-support-their-city-through-art">A Living Collection: Sundeep Mullangi and Trissa Babrowski Support Their City Through Art</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/9/nurturing-a-garden-of-art-michelle-edwards-tends-to-her-collection">Nurturing a Garden of Art: Michelle Edwards Tends to Her Collection</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN's Collectors: A Recap of Collector Interviews

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/ugteocn119l9ndaptjrm.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Via PR(Chicago, Illinois — October 4, 2024) — Floating Museum is proud to announce The Burroughs Residency Pilot (The Burroughs), a pilot residency program that will foster innovative connections between art, community, architecture, and public institutions. In line with Floating Museum’s organizational vision of creating a “museum without walls,” The Burroughs envisions a “residency without walls,” that serves local and international creatives of color and strengthens our local and global creative communities.To develop The Burroughs, Floating Museum will initiate a three-year pilot development phase, consisting of an asset-driven and community-engaged research &amp; development (R&amp;D) process and two pilot residency cohorts. The research phase will explore how a “residency without walls” might work, including how to leverage and reinforce the many cultural assets in the South Side and across Chicago. The proposed R&amp;D will also ask how The Burroughs might respond to the growing demand to strengthen ties between creative communities and creatives of color across the globe. During this phase, an open call for residents will not be initiated.This groundbreaking initiative is possible with the generous support of the Terra Foundation for American Art and Wagner Foundation. Floating Museum is deeply grateful to these foundation partners for their unwavering commitment to the arts and their invaluable financial contributions to this pilot. Their support has been instrumental in bringing this residency to life, ensuring that emerging and established creatives alike can thrive in an environment that nurtures creativity.“The Burroughs offers a promising model of multivocal and collaborative ways of working locally and globally that will benefit the residents and enrich the arts ecosystem in Chicago and in the residents’ locales, said Sharon Corwin, President and CEO of the Terra Foundation for American Art. Putting artists and thinkers from across geographies in dialogue and in community with one another is critical to developing nuanced understandings of American art and contemporary creative practice.”“Wagner Foundation is thrilled to be supporting this visionary project to build new models for artist residency programs that recognize and amplify the assets in community as an integral part of the experience, which we see as having ripple effects across the field.” said Abigail Satinsky, Program Officer and Curator, Arts &amp; Culture of Wagner Foundation.We’re beyond grateful to our supporters the Terra Foundation for American Art and Wagner Foundation for their dedication to the arts and their belief in the power of artistic expression, said Faheem Majeed, Co-Founder/Co-Director of Floating Museum. Their support allows us to offer this unique opportunity to creatives, helping them to grow and create work that resonates with our community and beyond.The Burroughs Residency Pilot pays homage to the late poet, printmaker, activist, and advocate Dr. Margaret T. Burroughs and is located at Dr. Burroughs' former home in the heart of Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood. The site is also where Dr. Burroughs founded the DuSable Museum of African American History–the first museum of African-American history in the world–in 1961.For more information on The Burroughs Residency, visit: <a href="https://floatingmuseum.org/Residency">https://floatingmuseum.org/Residency</a>Read the full press release <a href="https://files.cargocollective.com/c103156/FloatingMuseum_Burroughs-Residency-Announcement.pdf">here</a></body></html>

Floating Museum Announces The Burroughs Residency Pilot

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/ls0zbabgvpmqjkjilfpf.jpg" copy.jpg=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/elefante-leopoldo-gout">Elefante: Leopoldo Goût</a>Opening: Thursday, October 3, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmPovos – West Town&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/eoid3isdc0qkn5ajqszd.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/departed-a-patrick-jilbert-solo-show">Departed: A Patrick Jilbert Solo Show</a>Opening: Friday, October 4, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmChicago Truborn&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/prlqiffmxevur9yt7bb3.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/blake-jones-solo-show">Blake Jones ‘B-Sides’ Solo Show</a>Opening: Friday, October 4, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmVertical Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/nqmpi9hilidb8optrfxv.jpg" design="" (13).jpg=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/beneath-the-surface-spirituality-in-art">Beneath The Surface: Spirituality in Art</a>Opening: Friday, October 4, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/yrtkkmwvxcx8vyjsvg7o.png" jacoby="" hidden="" cove.png=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/susan-jacoby">Susan Jacoby: Quietude</a>Opening: Friday, October 4, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmVivid Art Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092763/cilsmlbgysx1prjnhpkq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/susan-isaacson-and-katsy-johnson">Susan Isaacson and Katsy Johnson: The Power of Place: Geographical Memories and Identity</a>Opening: Saturday, October 5, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmPerspective Photo Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092764/tnyz4ilyljmngzjhizxa.png" stories.png=""></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/from-dakar-street-stories">From Dakar: Street Stories</a>Opening: Saturday, October 5, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmT. Mari Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092765/hwpjldivajztarbyh210.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/phyllis-brodny-the-secret-life-of-gourds">Phyllis Brodny: The Secret Life of Gourds</a>Opening: Sunday, October 6, 1 – 3&nbsp;pmGallery Seven&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open October 3–6

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/dcweoa5hhlkd19kyjajr.jpg" copy.jpg=""><figcaption>Artist and educator Theaster Gates pushes flat the bound copies of magazines on display in “When Clouds Roll Away: Reflection and Restoration From the Johnson Archive,” as he prepares for the exhibition’s opening reception Sept. 12, 2024, at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/19/how-the-offices-of-ebony-and-jet-became-the-latest-theaster-gates-exhibition/">How the offices of Ebony and Jet became the latest Theaster Gates exhibition</a>Theaster Gates stared hard at a room full of furniture.There were credenzas, chairs, desks, chests, a cube resembling an office refrigerator. Behind them, framed correspondence, photographs. Much of it came to him in 2010 after Johnson Publishing Co., home of Ebony and Jet magazines, vacated South Michigan Avenue. An office tower’s worth of furnishings, loose magazines, books, art and history needed a new home, and fast. Johnson Publishing was going through the final pains of watching its traditional place on newsstands vanish. So Columbia College stepped in and bought 820 S. Michigan. Johnson had occupied it since the early 1970s. It was the first building in downtown Chicago owned by a Black man. It’s still the only downtown skyscraper from a Black architect (John Warren Moutoussamy).Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-09-30/ucla-hammer-museum-new-director-zoe-ryan">Former AIC Curator Zoe Ryan Named Hammer Museum new director</a>One of the highest profile jobs in L.A.’s art world has officially been filled: The UCLA Hammer Museum in Westwood announced Monday that its next director will be Zoë Ryan, who arrives from the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania.Via LA Times&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/the-top-10-most-searched-artists-which-stars-are-rising-which-are-dimming-2546195">The Top 10 Most Searched Artists: Which Stars Are Rising? Which Are Dimming?</a>Over the last decade, there haven’t been many dramatic shifts among the most frequently searched artists in the Artnet Price Database. Compared with 10 years ago, mainstays like Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter, and Andy Warhol even maintained the exact same spots on the new list, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall and Joan Miró are close enough. But the Yayoi Kusamajuggernaut is newer, reflecting her meteoric rise in the market and the public consciousness.Via Artnet&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 10/3/24

<html><head></head><body>A tip from a friend during a spring trip to Cambridge introduced us to a collection of everlasting flowers.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/u0iutjlvr87gy4a5m2sa.jpg"><figcaption>An apple blossom detail. Photo from HNHM website</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEADuring a trip to Boston earlier this year, my family and I knew that since April can be a harsh month on the East Coast, we would do well to sightsee indoors. While visiting Cambridge friends suggested we make Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History our first stop. Even with the clear preview of what we were going to see – “the Glass Flowers” – we had no idea that this sprawling antique collection, located on the second floor of a quiet academic museum, would be a spring explosion that would trick the senses and also give us a science lesson. The floral models on display looked so realistic that my husband asked the security guard where the glass ones were. She responded that at least half of visitors to the exhibit ask the same thing.&nbsp;The internationally acclaimed Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants was made by Leopold (1822-1895) and Rudolf Blaschka (1857-1939), a father and son team of Czech glass artists over a period of 50 years, from 1886 through 1936. During that time the Blaschkas produced 4,300 glass models that represent 780 plant species of flowering and nonflowering plants represented by nearly 850 life-sized models and over 3,000 highly accurate enlargements that detail plant anatomy and morphology, including many paper-thin crosssections, each with a label indicating the magnification level. A single hair of a Butterfly Flower from Chile, the “Schizanthus pinnatus”, was magnified 600 times, with the model measuring a couple of inches.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/mqenhakbdxleq3kkvz2d.jpg"><figcaption>The collection is displayed in rebuilt, original historic wood and glass display cases. Photo by CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Today the models make up one of Harvard University’s most famous treasures, equal parts artistic marvel and gift to science. We spent around 45 minutes peering through the exhibition’s display cases, and after we left, despite now trusting my eyes to believe the flowers were in fact glass, I wanted to know a little more about how these crystalline botanical studies were created. The Blaschkas, first working in the 19th century, came from a Czech family of jewelers and glassmakers that could trace their profession as far back as the fifteenth century. To create the models the Blaschkas, working out of their studio near Dresden, Germany, would usually heat the glass to soften it and then shape it into a particular flower. In other cases they would blow glass into hollow shapes or components. To add the correct pigments, colored glass was used for many, while other early creations were “cold painted” – a process that uses a thin wash of colored ground glass or metal oxide(s) and heated until the material fused to the model. Later versions created by Rudolph after his father’s death used glass enamels for color instead of paint.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/ntx3eqow22lq78xnpipe.jpg"><figcaption>Several examples of both life-sized models alongside magnified plant sections. Photo: CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;A Harvard Professor and founder of the Botanical Museum, George Lincoln Goodale, saw a need for life-like, long-lasting representatives of the plant kingdom for teaching botany. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Ware and her daughter Mary Lee Ware financed the creation of the collection and presented it to Harvard University as a memorial to Dr. Charles Eliot Ware, Class of 1834. The synthesis of a gifted family of artists as well as professor’s vision and a benefactor’s generosity ultimately cultivated a marvelous historic collection of plant models that have significantly contributed to scientific study and to an appreciation for art and science. There is much to behold and to learn for all ages during a visit to the Glass Flowers.&nbsp;&nbsp;Harvard Museum of Natural History • 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138<a href="https://hmnh.harvard.edu/glass-flowers">hmnh.harvard.edu/glass-flowers</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Harvard’s Glass Flowers

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/v8y6rus1frklsyjfcgq8.png"></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffCPS Lives announced their 2025 Artist Residency Cohort, featuring 20 talented artists, including 9 returning residents and 11 new residents bringing fresh perspectives. This year’s cohort promises an inspiring journey of creativity and collaboration with Chicago Public Schools!Founded in 2018 by Chicago photographer, Suzette Bross, CPS Lives is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that pairs Chicago artists, designers, creatives, thinkers, makers, and educators with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project, sharing the unique and individual story of each Chicago Public School. Each story will be celebrated and exhibited through local Chicago Public Library branches, as well as existing on the CPS Lives website as an accessible digital archive of history for students, families, community members, educators, administrators, policymakers, and the general public.CPS's mission builds on Chicago's long history of being an incubator for various industries: manufacturing, theater, architecture, music, science, literature. As a classic urban center, this city has provided opportunities and support for an array of industries. Now, as we enter the 21st century, this library of industrial and creative venues is transforming into a new range of digital industries. Providing educational resources to help develop an educated society is not a new issue, but one that changes and develops as the urban environment transforms itself. Public schools are key. If a city is to continue to develop and prosper, it must provide superior public services including schools and libraries.<a href="https://cpslives.org/artists?utm_source=CPS+Lives&amp;utm_campaign=7878f54125-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_09_26_04_52&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_-7878f54125-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D">Details</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

CPS Lives! Announces 2025 Artist Residency Cohort

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/db4v6x7hfc1znzqmxuir.png"></figure>&nbsp;Via PRCongratulations to <a href="https://t8j4tqkab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0016uP_BbuIpNfrdySlTiXGXFRejiRecC-J-uP4YtCodvdB2hta6e2Rbfsq67ppW3eiPHz4ybab6rTy0ZSibhFXKBb9UiWvel7s1oxl1N6bHdmet0thrgW5zzueYXkXB3pMOwSZD4yslNt9FcMV66O3G22VXqIAfiZceL8Ja1Q1kkFjRq5O_Cvxgs5NPEbT7Xc1HzE-n2fbRP-w2OTIUEDYMosnBzLIv4An&amp;c=NzXn9j3APTOa30ZmH7z0vnDJlduKON8EVnRmgMbI3bXYPIaY2YsDFg==&amp;ch=Hbu8S_kA3RbrlON8-dQxTAfTLsDcWFFbPvM2TUDtOMaPQ1FVHiNOMw==">Ebony G. Patterson</a> on the prestigious honor of being selected as a 2024 MacArthur Fellow.Twenty-two new geniuses were anointed today as the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation announced the 2024 winners of its MacArthur Fellowship, an award commonly known as the “genius grant.” Four visual artists, three performing artists, six writers and a filmmaker are among this year’s winners, who hail from 15 states and Washington, D.C. The grants, given annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, are considered one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for intellectual and artistic achievement; this year’s winners also include historians, activists, scientists and social scientists. Along with bragging rights, fellows receive $800,000, paid in quarterly installments over five years, with “no strings attached” or requirements for how the money is used. The foundation says the money is given to “talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential.”<a href="https://t8j4tqkab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0016uP_BbuIpNfrdySlTiXGXFRejiRecC-J-uP4YtCodvdB2hta6e2RbQWEHr5LCIzsvf8k-6Ms_1Vya99o1j0gfMuhch1h-oq7VJ-k0q1CP4dA0H6yDSWmn8zouhCt0JuE_XiZM1Wp0g3sVKvnBm_emQ5M0KCJ9jIBEhAhwXX97X93dfTwixdrtinCZ1SWH3DzSD8feiiBL-D6SU_IdBBRTw==&amp;c=NzXn9j3APTOa30ZmH7z0vnDJlduKON8EVnRmgMbI3bXYPIaY2YsDFg==&amp;ch=Hbu8S_kA3RbrlON8-dQxTAfTLsDcWFFbPvM2TUDtOMaPQ1FVHiNOMw==">learn more</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/ebony-g-patterson-the-interactivity-of-visual-appeal">Read CGN's 2020 interview with Patterson</a>&nbsp;Ebony G. Patterson's&nbsp;expansive practice addresses visibility and invisibility, through explorations of class, race, gender, youth culture,&nbsp;pageantry&nbsp;and acts of violence in the context of postcolonial spaces. With the strong sensibility of a painter, Patterson works across multiple media - including tapestry, photography, video, sculpture, drawing and installation - united by her consistent visual language and intention.&nbsp;Each work is intricately embellished and densely layered, in order to draw the viewer closer and to question how we engage in the act of looking.&nbsp;Patterson states: I aim to elevate those who have been deemed invisible/un-visible as a result of inherited colonial social structures, by incorporating their words, thoughts, dress, and pageantry as a tactic to memorialize them. It is a way to say: I am here, and you cannot deny me. Entrancing and colorful, Patterson's works command the viewer to look beyond their rich formal characteristics and to acknowledge the realities of social injustice. Using the paradoxical to convey important messages, she draws on far reaching vernaculars of art history, religious&nbsp;imagery&nbsp;and popular culture. Patterson explains that she uses beauty to trap the viewer 'physically, psychologically and emotionally' in intricate and seducing compositions. Shrouding figures&nbsp;almost completely, the artist creates a presence of bodies no longer there, which raises pertinent questions about those who are not visible.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Patterson (b.1981, Kingston, Jamaica) received an MFA degree in Printmaking and Drawing from the Sam Fox School of Design &amp; Visual Arts at Washington University St. Louis (2006) and a BFA in painting from Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica (2004). Patterson has taught at the University of Virginia; Edna Manley College School of Visual and Performing Arts; the University of Kentucky and was the Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her major survey exhibition&nbsp;...while the dew is still on the roses...&nbsp;opened at Pérez Art Museum Miami in 2018; then toured to Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (2019);&nbsp;and the Nasher Museum at Duke University, NC (2020).&nbsp;Other notable solo exhibitions include …things come to thrive…in the shedding…in the molting…,&nbsp;New York Botanical Garden, NY (2023); Hales Gallery, New York, NY (2022);&nbsp;moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL (2021);&nbsp;Kunsthal&nbsp;Aarhus, Denmark (2020); Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (2020); Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (2018); SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA (2016); The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (2016);&nbsp;Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, GA (2016);&nbsp;Nerman&nbsp;Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS (2014); Bermuda National Gallery (2012);&nbsp;among others. Select group exhibitions include&nbsp;Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage&nbsp;which originated at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (2023) and traveled&nbsp;to MFA Houston, TX (2024) and the Phillips Collection, DC (2024);&nbsp;Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990-Today,&nbsp;which originated at the MCA Chicago, IL&nbsp;(2023) and&nbsp;traveled&nbsp;to ICA Boston, MA&nbsp;(2023) and MCA San Diego, CA&nbsp;(2024);&nbsp;Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys,&nbsp;which originated at the Brooklyn Museum, NY&nbsp;(2024) and&nbsp;traveled to&nbsp;High Museum, Atlanta, GA (2024).Her work is in the public collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; the High Museum, Atlanta, GA; The IndianapolisMuseum of Art at&nbsp;Newfields, Indianapolis, IN; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, NC; National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; 21c Museum and Foundation, Louisville, KY; among others. She has been the recipient of several awards and fellowships including the David C. Driskell Prize (2023); Tiffany Foundation Grant (2017), the United States Artist Award,&nbsp;Painter&nbsp;and Mixed Media Artist (2018) and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Art Grant (2015). Patterson lives and works between Kingston, Jamaica and Chicago, IL.&nbsp;</body></html>

Chicago's Ebony G. Patterson Selected as a 2024 MacArthur Fellow

<html><head></head><body>*This feature and is from CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;This fall we will move through a warm and busy September season opening into a crisp but fleeting October, followed by frenzied holidays and the end of year crush. Following are a few places to visit for the first time or to return to, hopefully they are reminders of just how fabulous Chicago itself is as well as how wonderfully close it is to so many regional art destinations. These exhibitions, installations and events, are down the street or within a day’s drive, each worthy of an adventure this fall. – GV&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/doodfj7a3riou2n4hhkk.jpg"></figure>Grand Rapids, MIAn annual celebration of autumn, Mums at Meijer Gardens, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, is the largest of its kind in Michigan, featuring expansive chrysanthemum displays, fall foliage and family-friendly activities. Don’t forget to see the world-class collection of sculpture on site while you’re there.&nbsp;October • <a href="https://www.meijergardens.org/mums/">meijergardens.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/vpoolqlc9kfxahu9tdqy.jpg"><figcaption>Stanley William Hayter, Flux, 1969, Chazen Museum of Art permanent collection &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Madison, WIMadison’s vibrant arts scene shines against a backdrop of fall foliage, when the trees around the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus and Lake Mendota provide a picturesque setting for just about anything. Take a walk or bike through the UW Arboretum, and don’t miss the long-time Madison arts tradition that is the free fall Gallery Night on October 5, organized by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. While you’re there the University’s Chazen Museum of Art boasts an impressive collection ranging from ancient to contemporary works.&nbsp;• <a href="https://arboretum.wisc.edu">arboretum.wisc.edu</a>&nbsp;• <a href="https://www.mmoca.org">mmoca.org</a>• <a href="https://chazen.wisc.edu">chazen.wisc.edu</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/tq8abbllaecjqdr6oa7p.jpg"></figure>Chicago, IL – South LoopThis fall, find a blue-skied morning when the leaves are changing to visit Grant Park in Chicago’s South Loop and wander into a forest of 106 towering figures made from cast iron. Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created the installation, titled Agora–meaning meeting place in Greek–for the City in 2006 as part of her ongoing artistic exploration of the image and meaning of crowds. The work is meant to be walked through, as it imprints a special magnificence as well as somberness that can only be experienced by standing among these headless figures, especially as the seasons change.&nbsp;South Michigan Ave. and Roosevelt Rd.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/hfgul6sceuivztbsciem.jpg"><figcaption>Deborah Maris Lader during construction on Wing, at 4883 N Lincoln Ave. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Chicago, IL – Lincoln Ave. North Arts DistrictChicago Printmakers Collaborative turns 35 this fall and is thrilled to introduce its new Co-Director, printmaker/glass artist/educator Lauren Steinert, formerly of Tuscon, AZ, where she ran the printmaking program at Pima College. Lauren will work together with Founder/ Director Deborah Maris Lader through March 2025, after which she’ll take the reins of the world renowned community printmaking workshop and nurture it into its future iteration. The CPC will continue serving the needs of area printmakers, and classes and gallery hours resume in full tilt in September, along with events like Open House Chicago (Oct) and the 35th Annual Small Print Show (Dec). Lauren’s glass experience will likely bring fresh programming to CPC, including workshops in vitreography and other multi media print processes.Amidst all of this activity, outgoing Dir. Deborah Maris Lader has built an addition, called “Wing”, which will house her studio and feature an arty storefront facing Lincoln Ave., anchoring the new Lincoln Avenue North Arts District (LANA). Deborah’s studio will debut during Open House Chicago (Oct 19-20) and then be open by appointment and feature its own programming and printmaking demonstrations.&nbsp; •&nbsp; <a href="https://chicagoprintmakers.com">chicagoprintmakers.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092763/ac38orxbiuf1dqnoa9bs.jpg"></figure>Three Oaks, MIThree Oaks, Michigan is known for its creative community as well as its scenic lakeside location just an hour and a half from Chicago. One gallery that opened a couple of years ago on the main street is arbor3 arts, a space that celebrates female artists while offering affordable art and programming for the Three Oaks community.&nbsp;On September 25 at 11am Chicago-based photographer Jessica Tampas, who exhibits with the gallery, will lead a workshop on how to take dramatically better iPhone photos. The class runs for one hour and will be held on the gallery’s outdoor patio, where the lighting (and likely fall foliage) is perfect.The class is $65/per person.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.arbor3arts.com">arbor3arts.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Sightseeing In Search of The Season’s Colors

<html><head></head><body>*This interview was conducted in August &nbsp;and is from CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/wdlxn3pv3akeptjjcdt1.jpg"><figcaption>New graduate Tom McCormick in 1971 in the communal kitchen of the Lakeside Inn, his boss john Wilson’s headquarters &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEATom McCormick hails from Kansas–he graduated from the University of Kansas in 1971 with a printmaking degree and an obsession with antiques collecting and old stuff–but he’s been just about everywhere. For a time he was a professional “picker”, sourcing quilts, furniture, folk art, ceramics, prints, paintings, even Navajo rugs and oriental carpets, wherever he could unearth them, honing his eye and learning the joy of turning a profit from secret treasure. Eventually McCormick found himself more mainstream employment working for a print dealer in Lakeside, Michigan, who happened to be John Wilson, the eventual founder of Art Expo. The job involved crisscrossing the country and enough motel stays in two years for a lifetime. Once he tired of being on the road, McCormick got his MFA and sold off the collection he had built, catching the bug that would lead to a life and career as a dealer. He also established himself and his family in Chicago.Today McCormick still spends much of his free time in Michigan, but it’s clear Chicago maintains a hold on him. Nearly 25 years after opening a gallery in the up-and-coming West Loop, McCormick could reasonably retire and write a tell-all about the art market, sharing secrets and witty observations about shifting peaks and valleys of Chicago’s gallery world and its characters and creatives. Instead, for now, he is embracing change while keeping his feet planted in the city. This July McCormick moved his namesake gallery from its longtime home on West Washington Boulevard and migrated to the still-evolving West Town. A new address of his own and a fresh space has re-energized McCormick, though he doesn’t seem to ever run out of energy.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: So Tom, what’s new with you and the gallery?&nbsp;Tom McCormick: Well…as you know, we moved [in July] to a new location in West Town, 2251 W. Grand Ave., and are busy getting ourselves organized and settled in. A big job to move after 24 years in the old place. Because of partnership issues surrounding the Washington Blvd. building, of which I’m a half owner, I knew a change was inevitable and I began shopping for a new home this time last year. I ended up buying Tyler Mongerson’s building after he tragically, and unexpectedly died last summer. Really awful. Tyler had been helping me look at West Town real estate, and I eventually worked a deal with Sara, his wife, to acquire their property. It’s a terrific space and we spent the last year slowly renovating it to fit our needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: The gallery has been around for 24 years. Why make a big move now instead of just saying, “It’s been a great run.”&nbsp;TM: OK, I have been doing some version of this (art dealing) for over 50 years, and I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. You know, practice makes perfect. Seriously… I love doing this job and am reasonably good at it. I have a great Director in Mary Beyer and a wonderful group of artists that we represent. I also continue to nurture my long interest in historic art. As long as I am healthy and can arrive at work in an upright position, I think I’ll just keep on showing up. I think they keep an oxygen tank somewhere in the closet, just in case.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/cixwin2zv2mrgopvhult.jpg"><figcaption>The exterior of the new gallery space at 2251 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago’s West Town. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure> &nbsp;CGN: What attracted you to West Town? What are you excited about after so many years in the West Loop?&nbsp;TM: Honestly, I grew disenchanted with the West Loop years ago. Since we own the building we didn’t get forced out by high rents, as usually happens to galleries, we stayed put as others moved on. The neighborhood was raw and funky in 1999. My car mechanic was across the street, there was a great hot dog place on the corner, and you could buy a mop bucket next door. Perfect. There was a community of galleries within walking distance. That’s all changed. So many good galleries have moved west: Rhona Hoffman, Andrew Rafacz, Carrie Secrst, Corbett vs. Dempsey, GRAY, PATRON. West Town is the place to be now.&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about the first show planned in the new space.&nbsp;TM: John Santoro, who we have shown for years, will be opening with new paintings on September 12. John was also a huge help in the move, he’s quite a handy guy. Eventually I want to do an inaugural type show featuring all our contemporary artists. &nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What are you spending time on outside the gallery these days?&nbsp;TM: I guess the short answer is Michigan. We have had a place in Sawyer for over 30 years and it has become more and more central to our life. [My wife] Janis lives there pretty much full time and actually changed her residence so she can vote there. Smart lady. She also has chickens, her art studio and she has joined the board of the Lubeznik Art Center in Michigan City. We have a native prairie and about 25 sculptures sited around the place. We just added a commissioned piece by Gwen Yen Chiu, a fantastic young artist.&nbsp;So, we are blessed with a beautiful 13 acre property, which keeps us busy, often on our bellies in the dirt–pruning, weeding, planting, and cussing.&nbsp;Visit McCormick Gallery's new location at 2251 W. Grand Ave. in West Town.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thomasmccormick.com">thomasmccormick.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/se7frktsourmz2c9kkfl.jpg"><figcaption>A painting by John Sontoro, whose exhibition opens September 12, 2024 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Moving Out and On: An Interview with Tom McCormick

Gertie Makes No Little Plans: Chicago Exhibition Weekend 2024, and Beyond

<html><head></head><body>By BIANCA BOVAMany Chicago galleries have a remarkable longevity. This year three celebrate the milestone of reaching (or in some cases, surpassing) 20 years in business. Dealers John Corbett and Jim Dempsey of Corbett vs. Dempsey; Scott Speh of Western Exhibitions and (Northern) Western Exhibitions; and Bert Green of Bert Green Fine Art share the origins of their respective operations, how they’ve crafted programs and fostered long-term relationships with artists, and what they see for themselves in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/zgvwzzsldg5scknp7qb7.jpg"><figcaption>Jim Dempsey and John Corbett, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2021.&nbsp; (Photo: Terri Kapsalis) &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, Corbett vs. Dempsey&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What led to the decision to found the gallery? Has its focus changed in the 20 years you've been open?&nbsp;Corbett: We met because we attended a lot of the same events around town, art and music wise. We hit it off immediately, then started talking about how little we knew about the Chicago art scene—given that we’re really both kind of culture-vultures, it felt a little weird that there was so little information readily available about the visual art scene that we were both part of. Our first collaborative exhibitions were at the Roger Brown Study Collection, on the ground floor of the late artist’s home. I was interim chair of the exhibition studies program at the School of the Art Institute at the time, and just kind of commandeered the space between SAIC shows. Then in 2004, we opened Corbett vs. Dempsey in the space above Dusty Groove.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about the long-term relationships you've had with artists over the gallery's tenure.&nbsp;Dempsey:&nbsp;A couple of artists that we work with now–Gina Litherland was Phil Hanson were some of the very first we worked with, we showed them all the way back at the Roger Brown space. The thing is, we were and are both interested in the historical part of Chicago, but we realized that the artistic output in the last 50 or 60 years in this city can be really hard to parse sometimes. We just thought, maybe we can find ways to put the puzzle together on our end a little bit to present it to other folks, and start to develop a narrative that seemed a bit spotty at that moment. That has led to some long-term engagement&nbsp;CGN: The gallery moved locations after 15 years. What led to the decision to expand?&nbsp;Dempsey: Initially, when we moved into the first space in Wicker Park, we thought we would have more of a private dealership model, but that space naturally felt more like a gallery. And we had a good run in that space. Eventually, we just had to acknowledge that we were up against the limitations of that space. No elevator, small doors, and there were things that we just couldn't do there. But it was also such a big part of our identity that it took a lot to kind of get our minds around like, we need to make this move. And then to find a space that had the warmth of the space that we had before that wasn't just like a white cube or a traditional gallery. Ultimately, we found what we needed in our current space. We’ve been able to realize programs and exhibitions we could not have done before.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What's next for Corbett vs. Dempsey?Corbett: On September 14, we opened <a href="https://corbettvsdempsey.com/exhibitions/hubcap-diamond-star-halo/">“Hubcap Diamond Star Halo: Corbett vs. Dempsey at Twenty,”</a> a program of events and exhibitions in honor of our twentieth anniversary. It includes a survey exhibition in the primary gallery space, as well as a revolving exhibition in the north gallery space which will change over weekly for the seven weeks of the show. That will be featuring thematic and one-, two-, and three-person exhibitions. There will also be a robust slate of book launches, conversations with artists, and musical events accompanying the exhibitions, which will run through November 2. Come back often.&nbsp;<a href="https://corbettvsdempsey.com">corbettvsdempsey.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/jkdhghq0g7mvyhpfhb7t.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Speh. Photo by James Prinz &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Scott Speh, Western Exhibition | (Northern) Western Exhibitions&nbsp;CGN: What led to the decision to found the gallery? Has its focus changed in the 20 years you've been open?&nbsp;Speh: I was a failing artist who became more interested in organizing shows than making my own work. I was living in Brooklyn but a day-job kept me on the road a lot. When I’d return to town, I’d find myself wanting to connect with artist friends, often in their studios, instead of holing up in my own studio. I moved to Chicago in late 2001 and became frustrated that friends of mine who I thought were great artists weren’t getting the recognition they deserved, so I decided to open a gallery.&nbsp;The early focus was presenting the work of friends and some college colleagues whose work excited me, and I felt it deserved a larger audience. As the gallery continued, several themes began to develop (though this wasn’t necessarily a conscious plan of mine, my instincts led the curatorial development, not a unified mission), themes I didn’t really place until I overheard a conversation in our booth at the first EXPO on Navy Pier between curators Shannon Stratton and Mark Pascale, with Stratton urging her colleague to consider “Western Exhibitions' especially rich program devoted to drawing” (or something to this effect. Also, Mark, when I used this anecdote elsewhere professionally, strongly told me that he already knew this). This led me to the realization that Western Exhibitions prioritizes drawings and works on paper, an organic development. It took an outsider to notice this, as at that point, I didn’t perceive that the gallery had a particular focus other than work I thought was good and important. From there, I realized that gallery artists and the shows we’ve presented often pull from the following paths — personal narratives, unique cosmologies and world views; LGBTQ artists and issues; Feminist art/fighting the patriarchy; pattern, decoration and surface concerns; works on paper (especially drawing); and artist books.&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about one or two of the long-term relationships you've had with artists over the gallery's tenure.&nbsp;Speh: One of the first artists I encountered in grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994 was Stan Shellabarger. As I was scoping out the print media studio (my area of focus), I noticed a tall, thin man with a long beard, slowly pacing the hallways, nearly hugging the wall. Upon further examination and explanation, Stan was using the performative practice of walking in public to make a drawing, in this case, by dragging his fingernail against the wall, the repeated accumulation of scuffs ultimately making a visible mark down the wall. I was FASCINATED. I didn’t necessarily become close with Stan during grad school but I made it a point to see his work every time it was presented.I stayed in Madison for three years after grad school, curated a bunch of shows there, self-published an art criticism zine, got divorced, moved to New York, lived there for two years, moved to Chicago in 2001 to find that Stan and his partner Dutes Miller had also moved to Chicago. Stan was still making this sort of ‘70s conceptually driven performance work that resulted in handsome, rough-hewn, hand-made minimalist objects, yet with pretty much no interest from the Chicago art world.&nbsp; When I started up the Western Exhibitions nomadic gallery project, I made it a point to work with artists like Stan who are compelled to follow their artistic path even if no one is paying attention. We had several shows with Stan and then started showing the collaborative work he and Dutes make, under the separate artistic persona, Miller &amp; Shellabarger. We’ve placed Stan’s work in several prestigious institutional collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: The gallery moved to various locations in Chicago several times before settling down at 1709, and then subsequently opening a second location in the north shore. How has it grown over the years as it occupied new spaces, and what led to the decision to expand to the suburbs?&nbsp;Speh: Every move was driven by circumstance, not strategic growth. From 2006 to 2008, I shared another space in West Town (1821 W Hubbard) with Lisa Boyle, a full-time dealer. Then, Shannon Stratton at threewalls asked me if I’d be interested in taking over their lease in the 119 N Peoria Building in the West Loop as they were moving to a bigger space in the same building. I leapt into running a gallery as my full-time job in the fall of 2008 in the West Loop, then the heart of Chicago’s contemporary art scene, just in time for the stock market to collapse and The Great Recession to begin. Fun.I then moved across the street to 835 W Washington to take over Tony Wight’s space when he decided to downsize and met the proprietors of Document and Volume Gallery there. When all of our leases were up in 2016, we decided to seek out a space together. After striking out on a bunch of possibilities, our landlords pulled a deus ex machina and offered us the second floor at 1709 W Chicago, then a cross-fit gym, as they planned to put a restaurant on the first floor. We invited David Salkin Creative to join our new art commune.(northern) Western Exhibitions in Skokie started as and continues to be an experiment and was definitely not something I envisioned or planned for. Zach Williams, a client of the gallery, came by the gallery for a visit one day and proceeded to tell me his life story which culminated into him winding down his law practice to do something cool and personally meaningful — opening a modern design store, seeded from his own collection as he strives to buy from living artists going forward, with a gallery attached, in Skokie. Zach told me “I want a gallery there but I don’t know how to run a gallery nor do I want to learn” and said that he appreciated my vision and work ethic and asked if I wanted a gallery in Skokie. To which I replied, “Wut? This thought has never occurred to me!” But I decided, why not? I am using (northern) Western Exhibitions to scratch my curatorial itch, as it is, to comb through gallery artists’ pasts to put together a show that they may not have envisioned themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What's next for Western Exhibitions?Speh: We’re officially celebrating our 20th year milestone with a show derived from the archives. <a href="http://westernexhibitions.com/exhibition/20-years-of-western-exhibitions/">20 Years of Western Exhibitions</a> will present every press release from every show at all 6 of our locations over the years, plus printed ephemera, some on loan from the Anthony Elms Art Ephemera collection as I somehow did not save the postcard from the first bricks-and-mortar show, plus reviews of shows and a pile of notebooks containing my to-do lists from over the years. And at the same time, in Gallery 2 in Chicago, I’m excited to present Zhi Ding’s first solo show in Chicago. Zhi is a Chinese artist, educated at the Art Institute, now living in New York, who makes seemingly whimsical paintings, which resemble illustrations from a children’s picture book, but are full of drama and darkness. At (northern) Western Exhibitions at the end of October, I am presenting a show devoted to <a href="http://westernexhibitions.com/exhibition/sigils/">Elijah Burgher’s practice</a> of creating painted mystical symbols, sigils, which is an early 20th occult practice of recombining the letters that spell out a wish into a new abstract symbol.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/ipybn3qaal3qvuqzc90p.jpg"><figcaption>Bert Green. Photo by John Ellis.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Bert Green, <a href="https://bgfa.us/index.html">Bert Green Fine Art</a>&nbsp;CGN: What led to the decision to found the gallery? Has its focus changed in the 20-plus years you've been open?&nbsp; Green: I started my first gallery in 1999, which is coming up on 25 years now, at the end of 1999 in Los Angeles. I first opened in Hollywood, then moved to downtown LA. Then moved to Chicago in January of 2012. There was a core group of people, about 30 galleries in the district then. When that scene peaked in the mid 2000s, the real estate obviously followed, then the gallery scene shifted to a different part of downtown a more industrial area. Then there was that push in the mid to late 2000s, where it became very international and very high end. That's where it is now, LA has become this major international art center. It was not like that at the time, but it was beginning, you could see it coming, it just it just hadn't happened yet when we were there.&nbsp;My late partner [Aric Lasher] was an architect, and was lured back here for a job that led to us making the move to Chicago. Initially, I saw myself as an opportunity to introduce artists to Chicago that might not have had an opportunity to show here–artists I was working with from California, a few international artists. The gallery has two rooms. For the first five years the program revolved around showing one out-of-town artist and one in-town artist.&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about one or two of the long-term relationships you've had with artists over the gallery's tenure.&nbsp;Green: The two that come to mind are Sandra Yagi. She's a Japanese American artist in San Francisco. We've been working with her pretty continuously since the gallery opened. She does sort of fantastical work that combines naturalistic imagery with scientific imagery. She's mainly a painter, but we've done some prints, and she also does works on paper.&nbsp;The other one is Grey James, he's based in L.A. Grey James is a transgender artist who had a previous identity, which was Jennifer Heaslip. I've been working with Grey since probably 2003. He transitioned from female to male in the year 2013, and in that year, we did a show here in Chicago where one of the rooms was the work from the previous identity and the other room was work from the new identity. Even though he is not well known in Chicago, it did really, really, really well. I felt that was a highlight for that sort of relationship between L.A. and Chicago.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Yours is one of the few galleries still operating in the Loop. What made you decide on a downtown space, rather than a space in the gallery district?&nbsp;Green: Yes, I'm on an upper floor in an office building. When I first moved to Chicago I looked all over. At that time the West Loop was still where lots of galleries were, the West Loop and River North. River North was waning and West Loop was kind of at its peak or near its peak. I couldn't find a space that worked for me. Either the prices were too high or the cost of renovation was too high or just wasn't the right space. I live downtown, and I thought well wouldn't it be nice to just have a place that I can walk to work? My partner who was also an architectural historian made a suggestion to me to look at the street wall of Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park. All of those buildings are designed in such a way that they maximize light and views of the lake, but every one of those buildings has usually a tier in the back that doesn't get any light that's against the brick wall or, you know, it's very dark, and for a gallery that's kind of perfect. So I looked at three or four of the buildings and I found a very good deal in the Willoughby, very, very inexpensive rent at the time, which hasn't really gone up all that much.I also got a little bit tired after being on a street level space in LA. I had a very large space in downtown LA. The majority of people who walked in the door were, you know, just looky-loos and it really felt like the business was changing in such a way because online is such a important way that people look at art and connect with galleries now. I wanted something that was not quite by appointment only, but a destination. The majority of my business is done privately or online or by appointment, but I am open to the public, one day a week. And that balance has worked out really well for me.&nbsp;CGN: What's next for Bert Green Fine Art?Green: In October we open our <a href="https://bgfa.us/resources/bgfa_release_2410.pdf">25th Anniversary show</a>. It's really a look back. It includes people that I've worked with from the beginning and throughout the whole 25-year period, and also includes some artists that I've only started recently working with, a couple of artists in the show that I've maybe only worked with for two or three years. There’s about 30 artists in the show. A good number of them–probably a good half of them–are people that we've published prints with that we don't necessarily represent. People such as Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Shepard Fairey, people from California who have bigger names–don’t necessarily exhibit their work, but we’ve worked with them publishing prints. So they'll be in the mix as well. There's a good number of local artists from Chicago, like Industry of the Ordinary and Mac Pierce, who's a recent graduate from SAIC, Mikey Mosher, who's also a recent graduate from SAIC, Morgan Sims, who worked in Chicago for many years before he moved to Philadelphia. Jesse Howards as well. They're all pretty prominently featured. It’s a mix of lots of people, a good look at what the gallery has been doing for 25 years.&nbsp;#&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Three Chicago Galleries Navigate Their Twenties

<html><head></head><body>*These highlights are from CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/vbd4is3l3m3arrenqkem.jpg"><figcaption>Taylor Ana Valdez</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;VSG Contemporary• Untitled Omakase, Opening September 27• Listen, Listen, Opening November 1&nbsp;VSG Contemporary opened in 2022 as A Very Serious Gallery, a leap of faith by founder Allan Weinberger. This fall, VSG is set to showcase two highly anticipated exhibitions. Kicking off on Friday, September 27, Untitled Omakase, curated by renowned artist and Chicago native Lefty Out There, will feature a dynamic collection of 18 national and international leading contemporary artists with a strong influence from street art and graffiti. The show will highlight global talents, many of whom are exhibiting in Chicago for the first time, including Portugal’s HelioBray, Brazil’s Rafael Sliks, Denmark’s Mikael B, the internationally acclaimed Bisco Smith, alongside Louis de Guzman, Whisbe, and several other renowned artists. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity for Chicago’s art community to experience fresh, groundbreaking works from both established and emerging figures in the global street art scene.Lefty Out There's curatorial debut at VSG Contemporary promises to celebrate urban art's influence on the global stage while positioning Chicago as a vital platform for international talent.Full Artist List: Astro the Baptist, Bisco Smith (USA/Portugal). Defer, Dot, Dont Fret, Fatal Attraction, Fidia (Italy), Heliobray (Portugal), Lalo, Lefty Out There, Louis de Guzman, Marcos Alvarado, Mikael B (Denmark), Rafael Sliks (Brazil), Saute, Sechor, TJ Kiser, Whisbe.*Later this fall on Friday, November 1, Montana-based artist Taylor Ana Valdez will present her second solo show, Listen, Listen, where she invites viewers to connect with the wisdom of nature and seek guidance from the spirit world, fostering healing and harmony within ourselves and our relationships.673 N. Milwaukee Ave.&nbsp; (West Town)<a href="https://vsgcontemporary.com">vsgcontemporary.com</a>Hours: W 12–5pm, Th 1–8pm (Open Late), 12–5pm&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/fc7uhq2aoxzggyfwksz5.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;MAYFIELDYawn Sigh, Oct 6–Dec 1Public opening Oct 6, 2–6pm&nbsp;Mayfield is a multi-use space housed in a near west suburb of Chicago. It’s a private residence and public site collectively organized by Madleine and Alberto Aguilar. This fall it will host a group exhibition with a cheeky title that plays on the word Lawn Sign. 13 artists will make a public declarations using the format of the lawn sign (it’s an election year, ‘tis the season), but the nature of the sign can be anywhere between political, directional, street, protest, picket, hand painted, classified, advertisement, billboard, motivational, marriage proposal, lost pet, for sale, for rent, or otherwise.&nbsp;Participating artists include: Andi Crist, H Schenck, Regin Igloria, Jeremy Carter, Jesse Malmed, Jordan Knecht, Mae C. Bishop, Atlan Arceo-Witzl, James Jonkowiak, Luba Mendelevich, Pedro Trueba Ramirez, and Berenice Vargas Bravo.505 Marengo Ave. (Forest Park, IL)<a href="mailto:mayfieldartspace@gmail.com?subject=CGN%20Highlight">mayfieldartspace@gmail.com</a>&nbsp;Hours: by appointment only&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/kgjwmhtu5hyrrmd4febu.jpg"></figure>OLD FRIENDS GALLERY• Ambulance Chase, September 27–November 16. Opening September 27, 6–9pm.• Luis González Palma, Opening late fall&nbsp;Located almost under the Paulina Brown Line El stop, on the border of Roscoe Village, Old Friends Gallery was founded earlier this year by Fawn Penn with the intention of highlighting artists working in diverse or historically overlooked materials. The gallery aims to showcase harmonious intersections between disciplines, embracing experimental materiality and its legacy within Abstraction as a throughline.Owner/Founder Fawn and Director Delia Pelli-Walbert have hosted several exhibitions to date. In late September the gallery will host Bianca Bova as curator for Ambulance Chase, which will include works by Peter Fagundo, Michelle Grabner, and Jonathan Worcester. The gallery’s last show of 2024 will be a&nbsp; review of portraiture by the Guatemalan photographer Luis González Palma, centering his Bodyguard daguerreotypes.&nbsp;3405 N. Paulina (W. Lakeview/Roscoe Village)<a href="https://www.oldfriendsgallery.com">oldfriendsgallery.com</a>Hours: Th–Sa 12–6pm&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/ktoqyf8g9qmqvgc4mtbq.jpg"><figcaption>Anne Lindberg</figcaption></figure>Secrist Beach• Anne Lindberg: Of All Colors• Manifest, a group exhibitionSept 20–Nov 9&nbsp;Carrie Secrist has had a gallery for 30 years, but she started fresh this spring when she opened the doors to her 10,000 square foot space in West Town, renamed Secrist Beach. Expansive and fabulous, the warehouse is like the space Carrie must have dreamed of when she first opened Gallery A in River North in the 1990s. After many years in the West Loop, Secrist’s new gallery home on West Hubbard feels like both a destination and a destiny. After an appearance at the Armory show in New York in early September, the gallery will open a show of new work by Anne Lindberg on September 20, running through November 9. Lindberg’s exhibition will be all about the color blue, centered on a 54 foot long thread installation. Running concurrently is Manifest, a group exhibition featuring a combination of artists and architects and will be about light, color and space.&nbsp;1801 W. Hubbard (West Town)<a href="https://secristbeach.com">secristbeach.com</a>Hours: Tu–F 10am–6pm, Sa 11am–5pm&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/rjfeihu3agmoyo675x4t.jpg"><figcaption>Photo by Steven Piper (@prezpipe)&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>TALA• Blinked Twice by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_muneco/?hl=en">@_muneco</a> – Thru October 6• Group Exhibition curated in collaboration with Rupture and Verge Frames – October 18–December 16. Opening October 18, 7–10pm&nbsp;Tala is proud to present a group exhibition curated in collaboration with <a href="http://rupturechicago.com/">Rupture</a>, a Chicago BIPOC Maker/Visual Artist database working to create opportunities and representation in the fine art sectors of Chicago founded by Roland Santana. Framing provided in&nbsp;partnership&nbsp;with <a href="https://vergeframes.com/about-us">Verge Frames</a> (who support the artist's work with complimentary framing).&nbsp; 1644 W. Chicago (West Town)<a href="https://talachicago.com">talachicago.com</a>Hours: Th–Sa 1–7pm &nbsp; &nbsp;</body></html>

What's Next: On View in Chicago’s New Spaces

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/kub0fwjrccpowbhiogkn.jpg"></figure>Via PRCHICAGO – A captivating surrealist painting, <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.iLq7DOSrsnpvrEmu8Fg-2BNMWM2lTpvyMoM6o39HlMyRBUNUkFazHWPpuN4Dwx-2BesxAXvwInr9wwic8-2F3ZEgYvwoNpqxz7cqBcolzjRm-2FEVfwpOy520lg5aWsmfbzJCG34fNGl_0g5QiKQ3ANfCkWXxwzczn1phIok0-2FnBF8GNWXrNhq2-2B4ftGj9DI8Jn4AfRAGeAJVn7gGoI0v4yHfyxNzcTgWoPEaLRzm-2F78kaJkURE3JvKd21AkP2t70-2BHtWbUdqbTMupZeZoNi02np7lyTIIa17QIdWmdi-2FiPfn55lIOSseb7r2OCqat3o-2BHaCNvMwAgtdj4YHZrIkilp8kIwWZFMcPNPDuAo-2Bt06dN5ZUwTefpVWkhXSifJFWyuyBtkVDpGe28igtToH1ZXpPYSDD8SN4KuGRczXD6THf9qc2rZ5Lk-2Foj-2Bx610R8hN0S-2FFSujWPI7gskX3Jmy-2B3FhypSAnfQFa3a-2B8RBON2waYzcp0P7WVikqU7dfJM46anbGMAoZqwZ8mZ-2FWfS0moMSV-2FyRIM-2Fg-2BoxQ-3D-3D">The Magician</a>, by Chicago artist Gertrude Abercrombie levitated past expectations at Freeman’s | Hindman’s September 25 Post War and Contemporary Art auction, achieving a remarkable $469,900—over six times its pre-sale estimate of $70,000–90,000. The sale, fueled by an intense bidding war via phone from the firm’s Chicago saleroom, marks yet another record-breaking moment for Abercrombie's work. Freeman’s | Hindman, the leading auction house for Abercrombie, surpassed its own record for the artist for the second time, following the sales of The Dinosaur for $387,500 in February 2022 and Untitled (Woman with Tethered Horse and Moon) for $437,500 in December 2022.Commenting on the sale, Zack Wirsum, Senior Vice President and Head of Department, Post War and Contemporary Art, said: The title of the work withstanding, it was no magic trick to realize a new world record price for the artist with the sale of Gertrude Abercrombie's spellbinding painting The Magician. Masterpieces just have a way of rising above and beyond any occasion and even lofty expectations.”Making MagicThe Magician, housed in its original frame, features a woman levitating above a sleek black chaise lounge reminiscent of one from Abercrombie’s own apartment. The scene is set against a backdrop of an austere interior, complete with a vibrant green rug and a black cat seemingly raising its paw to conjure the act of levitation—a testament to Abercrombie’s sharp wit and imaginative vision. This work is part of a broader exploration of levitation in Abercrombie's oeuvre, alongside notable pieces such as Floating Lady (1958) and Untitled (Levitation) (1964).The sale of The Magician highlights Freeman’s | Hindman’s commitment to promoting Abercrombie’s legacy and leadership in the market following the success of the Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer auction in September 2022, which represented the most extensive offering of her work at auction to date. The heightened interest in Abercrombie's art is further amplified by the upcoming major retrospective titled Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is a Mystery, set to debut in early 2025 at the Carnegie Museum of Art before traveling to the Colby College Museum of Art.Additional Highlights | Post War and Contemporary Art Auction<ul><li>Magdalena Abakanowicz (Polish, 1930-2017) | Dark, 1970-80 | Sold for $177,800</li><li>Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988) | Night Image 1, 1964 | Sold for $165,100</li><li>Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914-2003) | Maquette II for Jubilee III, 1984 | Sold for $133,350</li><li>Claire Falkenstein (American, 1908-1997) | Untitled (Large Fusion) c. 1960 | Sold for $95,250</li></ul>&nbsp;</body></html>

Sale of Gertrude Abercrombie Work at Freeman's | Hindman Sets New World Auction Record

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/mbokkwjpqthbgesukcs9.jpg"><figcaption>Lynnea Holland-Weiss, Embrace, 2022, Acrylic Mural on Drywall, 25’ x 20’. Photo courtesy of Nic Lehoux Architectural Photography. From the permanent collection of the MetroHealth Glick Center in Cleveland, OH.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By LAURA M. METTAMI left Chicago in 2015 after working in the River North gallery district for ten years with Chicago Gallery News. Fresh out of college and immersed in Chicago’s art community, this was a pivotal time in my life. I loved the city’s public art and world-class museums, and I got to know many wonderful people and artists from the gallery world. Season after season, year after year, I felt the excitement of opening nights in the galleries and the buzz of crowded art fairs.&nbsp;Art had this power to connect the community and bring people together. To excite and to move people. After working in other industries over the past few years, I recently found my way back to the arts. While the setting is different, I’m witnessing the same powerful impact that the arts can have on people in the environment of care.&nbsp;I’m proud to work with the Gifts of Art (GOA) program at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center. Home to one of the largest healthcare complexes in the state, Michigan Medicine has been a premier site of groundbreaking medical and technological advancements since it was founded in 1848.&nbsp;Michigan Medicine’s Gifts of Art program was designed as an innovation in healthcare delivery as part of the new University of Michigan Hospital that opened in 1986. One of the first and most comprehensive arts in health programs nationwide, GOA’s programming aims to transform the hospital experience in support of health and wellness for patients, guests, faculty, caregivers, and learners.&nbsp;GOA’s multifaceted programs include rotating art exhibitions in nine separate gallery spaces, concerts and performances, and one-on-one bedside visits from artists and musicians. Our Art Cart program offers a lending library of art prints for patient rooms, and we maintain the Friends Meditation Garden as a tranquil space in the hospital courtyard. Michigan Medicine staff is encouraged to participate in an annual employee art exhibition, hospital-wide art projects and drop-in workshops. We reach the greater community through programs such as the Life Sciences Orchestra, our symphonic orchestra for members of the U-M life sciences community.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/mhmu4buz9znm1mydey8q.jpg"><figcaption>Gifts of Art Gallery featuring photography by Takeisha Jefferson in Michigan Medicine’s University Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<blockquote>The arts and humanities give expression to that aspect of human health not readily accessible or quantifiable. They reinforce and encourage the presence, in a health care setting, of communication, courage, hope, understanding, compassion, humor, acceptance, and peace.”&nbsp;- Ralph Snyderman, MD, Former Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University Medical Center</blockquote>&nbsp;The World Health Organization’s research supports the role of arts in the environment of care and recognizes its positive impact on holistic health and wellbeing. We witness this firsthand when we hear touching stories from families recounting the rich impact that GOA has had on patients. We also see a ripple effect when we meet people who want to give back after being on the receiving end. Creating art is a means to express ourselves as well as provide a sense of control and autonomy. Neuroscience research on mental health, cognition and development is plentiful and shows that listening to live therapeutic music can reduce stress and promote emotional healing while stimulating the brain and long-forgotten memories.&nbsp;Elaine Sims, Director of the Gifts of Art program, elaborates on why art in hospitals has such a profound effect, “We might say it’s&nbsp;because art in healthcare has a job to do. It is not intended to merely hang on the wall and look pretty. It is a workhorse whose job is to distract, engage, comfort, calm, maintain a presence, provide clues to social support, and help retain personal identity.&nbsp;Some permanent pieces stand the test of time, but additional energy, pleasure and surprise comes from art that is ever changing. In this environment, art is a powerful presence and is experienced quite differently than when viewed in a museum or gallery. The relationship between the viewer and the art object is more visceral, immediate, and intimate.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/msbae4fyrpcubuefzczh.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured here is a bedside art watercolor kit and one of GOA’s bedside musicians playing harp in the background. GOA’s bedside art and music services provide an intimate experience for patients and guests right in the hospital room.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Recognizing New Needs in HealthcareThe arts in health field has evolved over the past several decades and continues to grow. The Society of Healthcare Arts Administrators was founded in 1989 during the first convocation hosted by the Cultural Services Program, Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. This original group of arts administrators and practitioners was born out of a need for peer support and inspiration from other institutions. After several name changes over the years (from Society for the Arts in Healthcare; Global Alliance for Arts in Health; Art and Health Alliance) this organization ultimately disbanded in 2014. The National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH) was formed in 2016 and picked up where the previous arts in health organization left off.&nbsp;NOAH provides leadership for organizations such as GOA with a research-based focus on arts, health, and wellbeing, and a mission to unite and advance the field. NOAH produces professionalization resources, member support, and guidance intended to define industry standards and ethical practices. Annual conferences are held throughout the US as a chance for participants to connect and learn about emerging research and topics; this fall Houston, TX, will host. I attended my first NOAH conference last fall in Cleveland, OH, where I toured two impressive examples of robust arts in health programs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/hwqerskvm3adjvwhpstc.jpg"><figcaption>A captive audience enjoying a musical performance from the Gifts of Art program at Michigan Medicine in the late ‘80s.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Cleveland Clinic boasts more than 81,000 caregivers worldwide in 23 hospitals and 276 outpatient facilities, with around 14 million patient visits per year. Cleveland Clinic Arts &amp; Medicine was created for the purpose of integrating the visual arts, music, performing arts and research to promote healing and to enhance the experience of patients, families, visitors and caregivers. Cleveland Clinic’s contemporary art collection creates a museum-like environment, which viewers can interact with through their custom art and architecture app, AR+, that allows exploration of their flagship locations.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/fu9j5rhsiu1sxlc79ty3.jpg"><figcaption>Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin, 2014, fiberglass-reinforced plastic and urethane paint. Gift of Robert M. Kaye; © Yayoi Kusama; Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo and Singapore / Victoria Miro, London / YAYOI KUSAMA Inc. On display in Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;“The artwork at Cleveland Clinic humanizes spaces that can feel unfamiliar or overwhelming,” says Ellen Rudolph, Senior Director &amp; Curator for the Cleveland Clinic Art Collection. Rudolph continues, “Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin,&nbsp;for example,&nbsp;has become iconic within the collection. Located in the Miller Family Pavilion entrance, it is a welcoming beacon when you enter the hospital and the sculpture also serves as an important wayfinding tool and meetup spot.”I was moved by the poignant large-scale mural in MetroHealth’s Glick Center in Cleveland, OH. Linda Jackson, Director of the Center for Arts in Health at MetroHealth provided more insight, “Embrace is about empathy, support, hope and lifting each other up, physically and emotionally. It is about encouragement and getting through whatever life brings us, together. There is a sense of tenderness and patience in the faces of these figures, as they are in motion, adjusting to one another and moving as one. The warm and cool color combinations within the bodies emphasize the emotion but also allow room for the figures to become whomever the viewers see them to be. It invites the viewer to relate to what they might be experiencing and reflect on our collective humanity, on healing, and what brings us together.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/bzmizgftcxazvvfi6ino.jpg"><figcaption>The University of Chicago Medicine’s permanent art collection in the Center for Care and Discovery includes work from well-known Chicago artists including Michiko Itatani and this piece, Untitled, from her Cosmic Theater series.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The MetroHealth System’s Center for Arts in Health integrates the visual, performing and therapeutic arts in its hospitals, clinics, schools and neighborhoods for the benefit of patients, families, caregivers and the greater community. Uniquely embedded within MetroHealth’s Institute for H.O.P.E.™ ensures the arts play a valuable role in addressing the social determinants of health. Innovative programming and partnerships with artists, arts organizations, academic institutions and community-based organizations are strategically aligned and employed within their walls and in the community.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092763/hxacbsgazdcijyvdxchr.jpg"><figcaption>Snow City Arts music workshops focus on the gratifying experience of creating music, regardless of skill or exposure level. Photo by Jaclyn Silverman.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Chicago’s Snow City Arts is an arts in health organization that brings art education and programming to children and youth in local hospitals including Rush University Children’s Hospital, Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Children’s Hospital University of Illinois, and Cook County Health. To enhance their arts and education offerings Snow City Arts has a long history of partnerships with cultural organizations including the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Columbia College Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago, the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and more. Their team empowers and encourages children and young adults through programming in visual arts, media arts, music, creative writing, theatre, and dance.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092764/ipxwdfgu3h0cex8yrole.jpg"><figcaption>University of Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra with Nicholas Bromilow, the Drs. Spindler &amp; Juran Music Director, May 2024. Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The University of Chicago Medicine’s (UCM) Healing Arts Program was developed as an extension of UCM’s commitment to excellence in patient care, research and education, and offers artistic and aesthetic opportunities for its patients, guests, and UCM staff. The program’s mission is to enrich lives, assist and support the healing process, and reduce the stress and anxiety associated with healthcare environments. Healing Arts coordinator, Monica Hork explains, “The ability to comfort, console and sustain is one of the most enduring qualities of the arts. They can give voice to our deepest fears, our feelings of loss, and our hopes for the future.”Enhancing the environment of care through art is also an important consideration for medical staff. The topic of burnout has become more widely acknowledged over the years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Chronic stress, PTSD, and high levels of emotional exhaustion or depersonalization contribute to burnout - these stressors are also an occupational hazard that many healthcare workers struggle with. Art interventions benefit patients and guests, but they also benefit the tens of thousands of caregivers working within the facility. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092765/ngvtysqnpyucvfyzzoeo.jpg"><figcaption>Saraswathi Ranganathan performing Indian veena instrumental music in the University of Chicago Medicine’s Sky Lobby.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Hospitals can be hard places to be. When you or a loved one needs care and the future is unknown, feelings of isolation, helplessness and uncertainty can quickly become overwhelming. Our sense of identity can fade when the ground feels unsteady. In challenging moments like these when we feel weak or lost, there’s something transcendent about experiencing music or art. The arts can mitigate stress, provide levity, build resilience, and remind us of our humanity. Much like public art which can be impactful after just a fleeting moment when we pass by a beautiful mural or eye-catching installation, experiencing art in the environment of care has the same meaningful potential to shift our focus, lift our mood, and linger in our minds long after the encounter.#&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092766/uljivx4dvqkjz2kjqmyd.jpg"><figcaption>Jaume Plensa, Cleveland Soul, 2007, steel and stone. © Jaume Plensa; Courtesy of Jaume Plensa and Galerie Lelong &amp; Co. Photo by Thom Sivo. On display in Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

The Healing Power of Art: Art’s Impact on Healthcare

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/jgpjvy9blxlixd2h6fuj.jpg"><figcaption>Photo courtesy of Jonathan Worcester</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By BIANCA BOVA&nbsp;In 2008, the artists Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam acquired the Waupaca County Poor Farm in the rural environs of Little Wolf, Wisconsin. In addition to their respective practices as artists and careers as educators, the couple was, by then, well known for their long tenure as the proprietors of The Suburban, the storied backyard gallery space in Oak Park, Illinois (which later followed them to its current location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin). The Poor Farm was to become, Killam said at the time, The Suburban’s “rural cousin.”&nbsp;The Waupaca County Poor Farm was established in 1876. Its poor house, which still stands on the property, once housed Wisconsinites who, considered public charges unable to support themselves, were sent there and provided barebones room and board in exchange for their labor on the land. It operated as such in tandem with the larger American Outdoor Relief system–prevalent throughout the Midwest at the time–and shuttered when the system was discontinued with the advent of the Social Security system in the late 1930s.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/q69pplh2ldeaoljkaivt.jpg"><figcaption>Poor Farm Artist Residents. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Worcester</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Once they came into ownership of the 2.7 acre compound, Grabner and Killam set about making the necessary renovations, which included the removal of decades worth of junk from the building (ten dumpsters worth, to be exact), the addition of a new roof, and an overhaul of its heating and plumbing systems. While conditions may still seem austere by comparison to some other artist residency centers, those who stay have access to a kitchen, a bathroom, a space to sleep in the 2,500 square foot dormitory, and, of course, to workspaces. If they stay inside, they may at any time find themselves in the company of the colonies of chimney swifts and brown nose bats that the building by circumstance serves to shelter. Those so inclined are welcome to camp outside on the grounds, if preferred. This primitivity offers fidelity to the history of the property, which remains intact to the point of still housing a jail cell in the building’s fieldstone basement, and whose back acreage is still graced by a cemetery alongside the cornfields.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/lz8oj8zjjian4fbic6pi.jpg"><figcaption>Exterior view of the Poor Farm with a resident tent out front. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Worcester</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The Poor Farm as an art space has always been billed as an experiment, and it remains true to form as such without ever having sacrificed a sense of overarching structure. Exhibitions are mounted on its ground floor, as well as in the small upper story bedrooms. Since its inaugural exhibition in 2009, the space has played host to shows honoring art historian, poet, and artist Moira Roth; an iteration of Keil Borrman’s Bunker/Repository comprised of an installation designed to hold preserved foods made in collaboration with farmers in Wisconsin and New York State, as well as a seed library, and facilities for fermentation; a historical survey of Gretchen Bender’s video works, including the re-staging of the video performance Total Recall, which later traveled to The Kitchen, New York; and Model Home, an exhibition paying homage to Michael Lesy’s sinister 1973 volume Wisconsin Death Trip, among many others.&nbsp;While the artists whose works have been included in the last 15 years of exhibitions are far too numerous to name in their entirety, notable among them are: Nelly Agassi, Gregg Bordowitz, Assaf Evron, Francisco Goya, Sky Hopinka, Dorothea Lange, Louise Lawler,&nbsp; Miller + Shellabarger, the Denmark-based multi-dependent exhibition phenomenon Piscine, Cauleen Smith, Faith Ringgold, and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung. &nbsp;&nbsp;<blockquote>“The Poor Farm attends to the idea and truth of art even more than my combined energies as a studio artist, professor, critic, and curator.”– Poor Farm Co-Founder, Michelle Grabner</blockquote>&nbsp;A commitment to openness of form has allowed for a wide range of more amorphous projects to gain a foothold at the Poor Farm as well. It serves, for one, as the home of the David Graeber Institute, an organization devoted to the recognition of the American anthropologist and anarchist activist David Graeber’s (remembered as one of the leading figures of Occupy Wall Street movement) research and scholarship on debt and the wealth gap. The Institute is comprised of a space that is dedicated to the discussion of inequities, social welfare, and the history of the Poor Farm/Poor House system in North America.The Open Fund, a Milwaukee-based utility conceived of to support ephemeral art-makers and social platforms founded in 2016 is another close collaborator of the Poor Farm. The Open Fund Artist Project Grant supports visual artist initiatives that are experimental, collaborative, and public oriented in a manner unique to individualized communities as well as the culture at large. Intended as an experiment in durational cultural investment, it foregrounds the importance of place and alternative economic exchanges. Funds awarded to recent grantees yielded the presentation of creative and experimental work via film screenings, exhibition series, pop-up presentations, zines and media, educational models, and civic sites in addition to other inventive models of artistic engagements. In 2024 with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Re-granting Program as well as the Ruth Foundation for the Arts the Open Fund was able to award grants for visual arts projects at both the $5,000 and the $10,000 level, for a total potential of $120,000 in funds distributed.&nbsp;Through the first decade of the Poor Farm, Summer School, a project led by Minneapolis-based artist and educator Aaron Van Dyke was also on site. Gathering artists and engaging in dialogues around art making, teaching, and learning, Summer School aimed to be “an antidote to the shortcomings of formal education, stressing openness, experimental forms of education, and educational and artistic agency,” according to its founder. Over the course of its tenure, faculty and students from University of Wisconsin, Madison; Minneapolis College of Art and Design; the School of the Art Institute Chicago; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Northwestern College, Minnesota; Columbia College, Chicago; and St. Cloud State University, Minnesota all participated.&nbsp;Since 2018, the Poor Farm has been committed to hosting a long-term research residency known as Living Within the Play. Directed by Mark Jeffrey and Kelly Kaczynski of Chicago, the initiative explores, per its directors, “the contingent nature of hosting and gathering, the fleeting and the reverberating, particular to the moment of temporary, intentional assembly.” In addition to the various lengths of group and independent residencies the project hosts at the Poor Farm, an annual summer sister-residency is now on offer in the Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio, Italy, where Grabner and Killam maintain another property.&nbsp;Closer to home, mainstay Wisconsin artist, dealer, and curator John Riepienhoff’s Beer Endowment series, now well-known for apportioning the profits of beer sales to help support artist-run organizations, inaugurated their partnership with Milwaukee’s Company Brewing with the production of Poor Farm Pils. It remains the oldest and best selling beer in the series.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/utkhbiho7m2qncppnkv5.jpg"><figcaption>2019-2020 installation view from Sky Hopinka and Living Within the Play</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In addition to the residencies, exhibitions, and programming taking place throughout the year, the Poor Farm operates its own publishing imprint, known as Poor Farm Press. The Press has produced exhibition catalogs including Tracking the Thrill: Gretchen Bender; Sky Hopinka; and All Over the Map, the lattermost a catalog documenting a festschrift exhibition celebrating the work and professional achievements of the art historian Moira Roth. Additional publications of note include MOTHERNISM, a work of literary nonfiction by Lise Haller Baggesen examining the intersection of feminism, science fiction, and disco, co-published with Green Lantern Press, and ON PTG, a volume published in conjunction with the College Art Associations annual conference, with papers by Rebecca Morris, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Sabina Ott, Peter Halley, Thomas Lawson and others. Poor Farm Press has also produced two attendant publications, Can I Come Over to Your House?, a sprawling 1,200 page review of the first ten years of exhibitions and programming at The Suburban, produced in collaboration with designer and artist Jason Pickleman, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Original Jokes about The Suburban and the Poor Farm by Artists Who Have Exhibited There, produced in conjunction with a project at Yale School of Art. Forthcoming from the press is Wisconsin, What a Joke: The Indignity of the Cheesehead State, an artist publication that examines Wisconsin as a traditionally progressive pioneer turned riotous partisan fighting ground. Believing in the power and inherent truth of the joke, the publication is a collection of insights, critiques, and observations on the State’s troubling identity.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/xqzgbrrlq6cdaxn3d0ti.jpg"><figcaption>Poor Farm Artist Residents.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;It is perhaps the complete lack of delimitation on the space’s use by its stewards, and their laissez-faire approach to its day-to-day goings on that sets the space apart the most dramatically from its peers. &nbsp;“The Poor Farm attends to the idea and truth of art even more than my combined energies as a studio artist, professor, critic, and curator,” notes Grabner.&nbsp;Those visiting in 2024 will be treated to a two-person exhibition of new works by Katharina Grosse and Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, as well as continuing iterations of Living Within the Play. While the works on view are reason enough to make the roughly three hour drive from Chicago, and the proliferation of tangential projects make for a compelling backdrop to any visit, the property itself remains a worthwhile destination in and of itself. By maintaining an uncompromising commitment to foregrounding the history of the site by way of leaving all that can safely be left in its original condition where it lays at the Poor Farm, Grabner and Killam pay deep respect to a dark remnant of our country’s history that in less earnest or sincere hands might have been at best forgotten, and at worst intentionally eradicated in the name of moving on.&nbsp;In Grabner’s words, “Today the Poor Farm is a perpetual site of humility, wild imaginings, and the perennial unmaking of the instrumentalizing values that underpin many aspects of contemporary transactional culture. Today’s Poor Farm is intentionally the unsettled ‘other’ that lives in opposition to the out-come driven moral values that produced the Poor Farm System.”If there is a unifying facet to all that its proprietors have done across the many and varied projects they have touched throughout their shared and respective decades-long careers, it is perhaps this: with an unflinching gaze, they have looked upon our collective Midwestern past for all its hideousness and all its heart, and met it with unwavering commitment to acting as a resource for those who continue to be drawn to excavate meaning from it. Nowhere, perhaps, can this be felt more keenly than on a warm summer’s night, camped out on the grounds of the Poor Farm, beneath the dark and star-filled sky in Waupaca County.<a href="http://poorfarmexperiment.org">poorfarmexperiment.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092763/xn1kkni116jc8pvpoj5k.jpg"><figcaption>Photo courtesy of Jonathan Worcester</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>