<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418923/kkefd4ynjsv7sj51icgm.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe River North Gallery Tours first started 20 years ago. Yes, 20. In 2001 the Chicago Art Dealers Association thought the regular neighborhood tours would be a great way to make area galleries accessible to the public. The idea was to tour four local spaces that were all in walking distance of one another. By bringing a tour group into a gallery and making interactions between dealers and the uninitiated but curious art visitors more friendly, art buying would be encouraged and developed in the process. CGN interviewed <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2013/1/collector-profile-anne-and-mark-siebert">some collectors back in 2013</a> who got started by attending the tours in the early years.&nbsp;The tours have long been popular. In recent years, the number of galleries in River North has decreased, but the neighborhood has still been ideal for tours. It's close to Michigan Ave., as well as main CTA bus and El stops, and the galleries there are still close to one another and offer a range of art, from outsider to encaustic to craft. Some participating galleries today include Carl Hammer, Zg, Vale Craft, Victor Armendariz, and others.&nbsp;"These gallery tours provide a real personal touch, and we love participating in them," says Carl Hammer. "It's a great way to hear one-on-one stories from the dealers and curators, and it's really one of the coolest art-viewing opportunities out there. It's a hidden gem. It's free, and it's priceless!"&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418924/g130zcr8ohx9po1uidde.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Tours stopped altogether for most of 2020, but gallery owner Dan Addington took up the charge of organizing and leading them again when it was safe to resume in-person events. Now he has a plan to refresh and revive the tours in time for summer.&nbsp;"Leading these tours has been so much fun, and they are a unique way to experience artists, galleries, and exhibitions in a personal and comfortable way. We've met so many art enthusiasts who have become returning participants on the tours, and we look forward to providing this opportunity in the future! What a great way to spend a Saturday morning," says Addington.&nbsp;Tours are taking place <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/free-cgn-saturday-gallery-tours">once a month on Saturdays</a>, leaving from Addington Gallery, 704 N Wells St, at 11am, and visit at least three other galleries. While they won't take place weekly, they'll be more anticipated than ever, even in the winter months.&nbsp;The next tour takes place on Saturday, July 10. Addington asks that visitors please Rsvp by text or phone to 312.664.3406 by 9am the date of the tour&nbsp;in order to give him a heads up for how many people to expect.&nbsp;According to the owners of Zg Gallery, "These tours have been an exciting way to communicate the importance of River North in the history of the Chicago gallery scene, and they allow people to discover art on a personal level while providing a great venue to ask questions in a comfortable context. People remember this tour experience even years later, and they often return with their friends."&nbsp;If you're interested in scheduling a larger group or private tour, please contact the CGN office: 312 649 0064 or <a href="mailto:info@chicagogallerynews.com?cc=ginny@chicagogallerynews.com&amp;subject=Private%20Gallery%20Tour">email CGN</a> More information, including upcoming dates in 2021, may be <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/free-cgn-saturday-gallery-tours">found here.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

River North's Popular Saturday Morning Gallery Tours Are Back, With Updates

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417981/fexibzkql4mnxdnmcfsf.jpg"><figcaption>Ebony G. Patterson, ...a possum rises...a black bear falls...a pattoo takes watch...as children whisper through the leaves, 2019, at the Whitney Museum</figcaption></figure>The Whitney Acquires an Installation by Ebony G. PattersonMonique Meloche Gallery announced that the Whitney Museum of American Art acquired&nbsp;Ebony G. Patterson’s.&nbsp;…a possum rises…a black bear falls...a pattoo takes watch…as children whisper through the leaves (2019). This work is now on view in the exhibition&nbsp;<a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001WIAC3Xlg3qwjLjyJAYvoHu1AtjevMUqz44BlEi8OpfaYSUcn2m6WQXEP3ElQZpbeYcwu-nDE485Kd7aCP6rg9H4QKbfBu0XBZFG1oP_VBWj_QVi9BAAzrsLCBIhHFBomBvWwtg04fxRFVZO4eDmbLE4ehuOV6xpd29PuLYAHxmWHQjwZwh2ZHw==&amp;c=HaMc7aubC6QbXwicCXU5QTjAk7Ql78_oo6rHfzE0KueZDsOswiHwyg==&amp;ch=5OYzsK_LRW4v5iRRlpqGyom0pcz04CnPbm2QOaukya8kzQ3xEalcng==">Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019</a> at the Whitney until&nbsp;February 2022.The Brooklyn Museum has acquired&nbsp;Patterson's&nbsp;...three kings weep…, 2018, now on view in the exhibition The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time at the BMA until March 20, 2022Read CGN's 2020 cover interview with Patterson <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/ebony-g-patterson-the-interactivity-of-visual-appeal">here.</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417982/aysyt436o6btfs7pvae8.jpg"><figcaption>Hank Willis Thomas</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://monumentaltour.org">Hank Willis Thomas and Arthur Jafa Part of South Side Traveling Sculpture Show</a>Kindred Arts and Wide Awakes Chicago are presenting artists Hank Willis Thomas and Arthur Jafa in a group showing of sculptures on Chicago's South Side as a part of Monumental Tour, a traveling outdoor art exhibit empowering social change through the arts. The works will be on display June 18 – August 30, 2021, at two locations in Chicago. Thomas’ All Power to All People will be located in Englewood Square, 5801 S. Halsted St., and Jafa’s Big Wheel will be located at Blanc Gallery, 4445 S Martin Luther King Dr. The installations were made possible with support from Wide Awakes Chicago alongside a coalition of organizations including Grow Greater Englewood and Blanc Gallery.&nbsp;The exhibition can be viewed <a href="https://monumentaltour.org">virtually</a> or in person&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417983/s035f7qnfk7adgfrc3df.jpg"><figcaption>Black Girl Takeover, Douglass Park, Chicago, 2018, Courtesy of A Long Walk Home's Girl/Friends. Photo by Paul Farber</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/chicago/">An Art Program Returns to a Chicago Hotel</a>21c Museum Hotel Chicago, recently reopened, has a new installation of posters designed by Anaya Patrice Frazier, Danielle Nolen and Aliyah Young, 2019 fellows of non-profit art organization A Long Walk Home’s (ALWH) Girl/Friends Leadership Institute, and San Francisco-based artist and designer Cheyenne Concepcion. Visible through the street-facing windows of the hotel through July 31, the installation is part of&nbsp;Shaping the Past, a multifaceted event and program series presented by Goethe-Institut North America.In partnership with Monument Lab,&nbsp;Shaping the Past&nbsp;addresses pressing issues around what, whom, and how to remember in public spaces. Contributing artists have designed posters that overview their projects which expand the vision of what public monuments can look like.&nbsp;On Thurs., June 24 at 6 p.m., 21c Museum Hotel Chicago will present a conversation between Chicago-based director, curator and artist Vincent Uribe of artist-run exhibition space LVL3 and artist, arts facilitator, and poet Hope Wang. To register for the event <a href="https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/chicago/event/curator-conversations-june-24/">click here</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 6/21

<a href="https://www.artprize.org">ArtPrize 2021 Visitors, Jurors To Award $250K In Prizes</a>ArtPrize, the international public art competition, announced that this fall, event visitors and a panel of jurors will award a combined total of $250,000. This includes a $150,000 prize pool to be <a href="https://artprize.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=568226b22d477264c2318619f&amp;id=015cc8ae15&amp;e=4296d6b5b0">awarded by visitors</a> directly to the artists of their choosing throughout the 18-day event, $50,000 in juried awards presented by Haworth, and a $50,000 grand prize decided by the public and presented by Wolverine Worldwide, to be awarded to a single artist at the end of the event. Artists interested in participating in ArtPrize 2021 can register online at <a href="https://artprize.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=568226b22d477264c2318619f&amp;id=6a81fab742&amp;e=4296d6b5b0">artprize.org</a> through June 10.&nbsp;<a href="https://loopchicago.com/explore/things-to-do/muralwalk/">Chicago Loop Alliance announces free self-guided Loop Mural Walk, featuring Chicago-based and international artists</a>Chicago Loop Alliance has launched a brand new, free program to give Chicagoans and visitors an outdoor activity that will lead them off the beaten path downtown: a Loop Mural Walk. The self-guided walk features 21 murals on three routes, for a 2.1-mile combined journey through alleys and other oft overlooked spaces in the Loop. The Loop Mural Walk is available through July 4 at <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUXhkX0UhPogPnfTGmCBMoMiKr8jjjV1B2cev1bN6rFDsWMSr8eWjvUy2SLciNx3oSw-3D-3DMIf8_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiuuTDCWCbvFFcP-2BZ-2Ft6yZw0AYl95zT-2FawsXUF9bauiyLu2f9uGoAOVwkthHw50cB1-2FGu7BmBt9wwqKhAVHYSHDUePCEBfVmVWAQ8ZeQlYFuKDwbfijXhOIanGtcXcSDjwZqyyDV6rcG6RGDnF-2Ft5xKC5Ly3OFQWaC-2BN-2FBcFLqSLw-2B4h-2FgIINXJe0sR2n2DgLDXYdtOUKvEIJ8BfgBT-2B21P82jc8sfZrOEcGvWd-2FSiNPRXGX3rkJOGysMFbtYm875Psl4uJl8qpvv3Xd0-2BEab8aETSkHytP6WUnkviIVQun0s-3D">LoopChicago.com/MuralWalk</a>.Featuring work by international household names as well as emerging artists, the Loop Mural Walk highlights a hidden side of the Chicago Loop many may have never seen before. Participants are invited to use their smartphones to follow turn-by-turn directions or forge their own paths to these masterful works of street art, many by artists of color whose perspectives and stories in these spaces are important to witness. While a few of the featured murals are prominent, well-known pieces, many others are more obscure, often left behind after Chicago Loop Alliance’s popular ACTIVATE alley events.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artdesignchicago.org/adcnow/">Art Design Chicago Now Announces Summer 2021 Programming</a>Art Design Chicago Now&nbsp;is a series of free public conversations, hands-on workshops, behind-the-scenes collections tours, and digital storytelling amplifying the voices of Chicago's diverse community of makers―past and present. Coming up this summer are IGTV Artist Studio Tours with Anya Davidson, and Chris Pappan. ADC Now also spotlights Andrea Carlson and Juarez Hawkins.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/">Hyde Park Art Center Announces 2nd Phase of New Grant Initiative, Artists Run Chicago Fund</a>&nbsp;Hyde Park Art Center announced the second phase of Artists Run Chicago Fund, a new regranting initiative providing more than half a million dollars ($560,000) to offer unrestricted COVID relief for Chicago’s artist community. Taking place in two phases, the first phase in March granted awards of $8,000 to each of the 50 independent artist-run spaces that participated in the Art Center’s popular 2020 exhibition, <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibition-archive/artists-run-chicago-2-0/">Artists Run Chicago 2.0 (ARC 2.0)</a>. Now, an additional 20 Chicago artist-run spaces that applied for the second phase are receiving grants of $8,000. The Artists Run Chicago Fund initiative is being funded by an anonymous donor and is being fully administered by Hyde Park Art Center.&nbsp;The second phase of the grant supports experimental artist-led spaces and platforms with a particular focus on those that are run by artists who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), women, queer and/or with disabilities. Phase two will also expand the network of support that makes artist-driven projects thrive in Chicago.&nbsp;

CGN Art World Recap: 6/10

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/mh9yrnlzkzr9rn1zqq2k.jpg"><figcaption>Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies by Tony Fitzpatrick</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN Staff via PRMost theaters around the world have been dark for much of the past year. Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theater Company’s, like many other local theaters, is &nbsp;slowly coming back online once again, welcoming patrons through their doors to enjoy award-winning theater.&nbsp;The theater shared a major announcement that no matter what the status of the theater's operating hours, art will still be prominently on view from the street, 24/7, thanks to a new, massive public mural by celebrated Chicago-based artist and actor Tony Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has created a vibrant, expansive mural for the exterior of Steppenwolf's new Arts and Education Center at 1646 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park. Commissioned by Steppenwolf as a highly visible public art installation for the southwest wall adjacent to the Center, “Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies” is, at 12-foot-high by 76-foot-long, Fitzpatrick’s largest work to date and his first outdoor mural.The new work pays homage to the leadership of the company’s former artistic director Martha Lavey, highlighting the evolution of the company over its four decades and the thrilling future as it opens the doors of its new theater building and education center. Steppenwolf is proud to be joining the ranks of esteemed institutions that are home to Fitzpatrick’s art including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art (New York City); The Art Institute of Chicago and Old Town School of Folk Music; the Museum of Contemporary Art (Miami) and the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C.).Fitzpatrick shares, “I think of the long and luminous history of Steppenwolf like a garden; every year more color, more thorns, more blooming wonder and more and more seeds planted. The beauty of a garden is the promise it contains—that next year it will be even more unexpectedly luminous and full of wonder and truth.”He goes on to explain his personal connection to Steppenwolf and this project. “This mural is meant to honor Martha Lavey, who was one of my mentors. This company was her garden, and she was the gardener. Spirits like Martha come along maybe once every couple of generations. She was entirely and only like herself, much like this great company.”As Fitzpatrick aims to walk away from institutional exhibitions and pursue more personal artistic endeavors, he adds: “This is my final public artwork for the City of Chicago; I wanted to leave something lasting, life affirming and positive.” &nbsp;He also shared with CGN that he and artist collaborator Danny Torres are planning other murals elsewhere, both around the country and the world.&nbsp;Steppenwolf Theatre Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan adds, “Steppenwolf’s new Arts and Education Center was designed specifically to contribute to the City of Chicago, not only through the addition of our first-ever dedicated education space, The Loft, but also via this monumental new public art installation that will no doubt provide joy to all who pass by.&nbsp; This mural beautifully symbolizes the Company’s past roots and future growth.”&nbsp;Fabricated on ceramic porcelain tiles, “Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies” was designed by Fitzpatrick over a period of several years and then painstakingly digitized by Danny Torres, his frequent collaborator (and partner in the new public art initiative, Fitzpatrick/Torres Humboldt Caballo).&nbsp;&nbsp;The boldly colored mural is comprised of eight themed vertical panels, encompassing dozens of four-foot square tiles digitally printed in Bologna, Italy by the artisans of Imola Ceramica. The installation process is expected to be completed within a week. &nbsp;&nbsp;About the ArtistTony Fitzpatrick's early artistic career focused primarily on multi-colored drawings on slate, followed by printmaking and now his focus is producing mixed media "drawing/collages." Fitzpatrick's drawing/collages often blend central cartoon-like drawings, found images and ephemera such as baseball cards and matchbooks, and poetic or narrative text. His main subjects have been Chicago and memories of his father, although more recent subjects have included Paris and birds. He is influenced by Chicago street culture, cities he has traveled to, children’s books, tattoo designs and folk art. Fellow Chicago artist Ed Paschke once described his work as "autobiographical," saying that "it's in the true spirit of what art is all about. It is an extension of him."&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/fbtntqdnfsjwsojr0lx3.jpg"><figcaption>Rendering of Steppenwolf’s New Building by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture with Tony Fitzpatrick mural placement pictured to the left</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;About Steppenwolf’s New Arts and Education Center at 1646 N. Halsted StreetDesigned by world-renowned architect Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and London-based theater design team Charcoalblue, Steppenwolf’s new Arts and Education Center is a 50,000 sq. ft. building featuring an innovative 400-seat Round Theater only six rows deep—the only one of its kind in Chicago; a dedicated education floor, tripling the reach and impact of Steppenwolf’s nationally recognized education work; a bright and open two-story atrium lobby, a wine bar and a sidewalk lounge, increasing the social gathering spaces where artists and audiences converge.&nbsp;Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America’s ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation’s premier ensemble theater with more than 50 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Tony Fitzpatrick Creates His Largest Ever Mural For Steppenwolf Theatre – Says It's His Last in Chicago

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/rhi0e4isha77ekidj2qm.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy The Other Art Fair</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffThe Other Art Fair first came to Chicago in <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/8/the-other-art-fair-is-coming-to-chicago">2018</a>, bringing dozens of artists to Mana Contemporary in Pilsen the same weekend as EXPO Chicago. The fair returned in the spring of 2019 and had planned a 2020 edition, which they understandably put off. Now they have announced a return to the fall as well as a new venue.Planned for September 30 – October 3, the delayed third edition of the fair will now occupy the expansive space at Revel Fulton Market in the West Loop.The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art, the mega online art gallery company, marks 10 years in 2021. The fair first launched in London in 2011 as a smaller fair that took place once a year. Pre-COVID TOAF had scaled up to exhibit over 1,000 artists and host over two dozen fairs in cities throughout the United States, UK and Australia.&nbsp;Today TOAF emphasizes that it seeks to offer visitors the opportunity to meet a curated, centralized selection of over 110 independent artists and browse thousands of pieces to suit every budget (with prices starting from as little as $100). In particular TOAF is an appealing fair for first-time art buyers hoping to start a collection, especially after a year spent at home staring at the same (bare or boring) walls. It also aims to give artists exposure, the opportunity to grow their practice and to sell their work independently and a chance to connect directly to buyers, curators, collectors and gallerists.&nbsp;In the lead up to September, TOAF is seeking artist applications (they're <a href="https://www.theotherartfair.com/artists-apply/">free and open now</a>, closing June 19)Visit <a href="https://www.theotherartfair.com/">theotherartfair.com</a> for more information.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/f5u30laex3z7hy7d2azm.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy The Other Art Fair</figcaption></figure></body></html>

The Other Art Fair Returns to Chicago After a 2020 Delay and is Seeking Artists

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417859/kurjngh4ecnndy4svafc.png"></figure>&nbsp;ADAA has announced the addition of 16 new members (including Chicago-based DOCUMENT and PATRON)The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) today announced the addition of 16 new members from across the country, one of the largest new member classes in the Association’s history: Andrea Crane Fine Art (New York), <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/document">DOCUMENT (Chicago)</a>, Andrew Edlin Gallery (New York), Jenkins Johnson Gallery (San Francisco, Brooklyn), Karma (New York), kurimanzutto (New York), Lisson Gallery (New York),Robert Mann Gallery (New York), Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/patron">PATRON (Chicago)</a>, Nara Roesler (New York), Sprüth Magers (Los Angeles), Cristin Tierney Gallery (New York), TOTAH (New York), Various Small Fires (Los Angeles), and Shoshana Wayne Gallery (Los Angeles). They join over 170 members, from more than 30 cities across the U.S., in the nation’s leading nonprofit organization of fine art dealers, which is dedicated to supporting galleries’ cultural and economic contributions, and serves as a resource on the most important trends and issues in the field. Membership in the Association signifies an established standing within the gallery community and expresses a commitment to upholding the highest standards of connoisseurship and scholarship.&nbsp;Via PR, Resnicow &amp; Associates &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417860/nqeu9xcqbnazxknagpf2.jpg"></figure><a href="https://mcachicago.org/Calendar/2021/06/Corporate-Vision-Art-Award">MCA’S Corporate Vision Art Award Honors EXPO CHICAGO and Tony Karman</a>On Monday, June 21, 2021, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago honors EXPO CHICAGO with the Corporate Vision Art Award for its longstanding support of arts education in Chicago. Tony Karman, President and Director of EXPO CHICAGO, will accept the award on behalf of the Exposition which draws a vibrant national and international audience to Chicago each year, while engaging the region’s contemporary art community and collector base.Via PR, MCA Chicago&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417860/dhbtb8nfsndhnx8jjfzj.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.steppenwolf.org/LTAP">Steppenwolf Theater Opens Dedicated education floor for 2021/22 Season, growing reach of programs from 20K to 30K students annually</a>Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is excited to announce initial programming details for <a href="https://www.steppenwolf.org/loft">The Loft</a>, its first-ever dedicated education space that encompasses the entire fourth floor of Steppenwolf’s trailblazing new Arts and Education Center, designed by world-renowned architect Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.Kicking off with a virtual Loft program series this summer and opening to students and educators in the fall, The Loft will inspire the next generation of theater learners and makers, growing the reach of Steppenwolf’s education programming from 20,000 to 30,000 students annually.The Loft includes three dedicated learning spaces for young adults and will feature an expanded range of in-person and digital programming for students and community, as well as showcasing artwork created by Chicagoland youth selected through the Loft Teen Arts Project—a visual art competition for young artists 14–22 years of age that commissions original works for the new education floor. The competition is juried by a panel of acclaimed artists including Nick Cave, Liz Flores, Silvia I. Gonzalez and Santiago X. Submissions are open now through July 1, 2021, with more information at <a href="http://www.steppenwolf.org/LTAP">www.steppenwolf.org/LTAP</a>.Via PR, Silverman Group&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: May 21

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417692/gcqmlzfg0dnoq7zieljr.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Via PRWe’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 Joyce Awards! Four impactful collaborations between BIPOC artists and organizations spanning the visual, performing, and multidisciplinary arts that engage diverse communities in Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee will receive this year's annual awards.&nbsp;The 2021 Joyce Award Winners are:<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/sydney-chatman">Sydney Chatman with Congo Square Theatre Company</a> (Chicago) will present a new community-based theatrical work exploring the journey of Black women and girls healing from intracommunal and state-sanctioned violence.<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/daniel-minter">Daniel Minter with Lynden Sculpture Garden</a> (Milwaukee) will bring together Milwaukee’s artists, refugee, and local Black communities to create a public outdoor sculpture from an ash borer-ravaged tree that explores nature, ecological threats, and the transformational power of art.<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/kameelah-janan-rasheed">Kameelah Janan Rasheed with FRONT International</a> (Cleveland) will collaborate with Cleveland’s teenagers and Cleveland Public Library to create an ambitious civic mural project designed to create space for diverse narratives about lived Black experiences.<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/santiago-x">SANTIAGO X with Chicago Public Art Group</a> (Chicago) will create an augmented reality Smartphone app that brings an interactive digital gallery of Native histories, cultures, and languages to Chicago’s 4000N outdoor trail.This year, the Joyce Awards—now in their 18th year—feature projects that take a creative and compelling look at the timely themes of loss and renewal, identity and cultural sustainability, and healing through nature, art, and community. Each partnership will receive $75,000 to produce and present a new commissioned work in collaboration with community members in their respective regions, with at least $25,000 dedicated for artist stipends. &nbsp;Joyce Awards PanelJoin us on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 4 p.m. CST for a free, virtual panel that will convene all four artist awardees for the first time to discuss their projects. To register for the conversation and learn more, click <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-joyce-award-winners-panel-tickets-154312487805?aff=web">here</a>.2022 Joyce Awards ApplicationsApplications for the 2022 Joyce Awards will open on June 1, 2021, with letters of inquiry due September 13, 2021. There will be a Technical Assistance Information Session on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at noon CST that will offer guidance on the application process. For more information, click <a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/apply">here</a> or contact: <a href="mailto:joyceawards@joycefdn.org">joyceawards@joycefdn.org</a>.&nbsp;About The Joyce AwardsThe Joyce Awards is the only regional program dedicated to supporting artists of color in major Great Lakes cities. Since its inception in 2003, the competition has awarded more than $3.7 million to commission 72 new works and collaborations between emerging and mid-career artists of color and arts and community organizations in six Great Lakes cities: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Read more about the Joyce Awards <a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards">here</a>. &nbsp;About The Joyce FoundationJoyce is a nonpartisan, private foundation that invests in evidence-informed public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Two Chicago Groups Named as Recipients of 2021 Joyce Awards

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418900/nulpvenipyl0xheutmri.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.editionschicago.com/about">UPDATE SUMMER 2021: EDITIONS WILL TAKE PLACE IN 2022</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;By CGN Staff via PRWhile EXPO CHICAGO is not taking place in person this coming September – fair organizers announced recently <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/4/expo-chicago-announces-return-to-spring-time-slot-after-a-decade-as-a-fall-mainstay">a permanent move to April</a> – EXPO's parent company Art Expositions LLC, led by Tony Karman, announced the launch of a new art fair that will take place this fall in the city: EDITIONS Chicago – The Print, Photography &amp; Art Book Fair. The new fair is set for September 23 – 26 at Navy Pier.&nbsp;EDITIONS Chicago will host international print, photography, and art book dealers and publishers to present an exceptional range of artwork, multiples, and books, alongside an expansive four-day program. The fair has been created in affiliation with leading international arts associations – the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) and the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) – and has been designed to engage a wide range of collectors and audiences.&nbsp;Having a fair in Chicago in the fall has become sort of a cultural and seasonal reference point, so while EXPO has moved to the spring, having a dynamic fair in town will be welcomed by many throughout the region and the print community.&nbsp;“With the increasing interest and scope of limited-edition prints, photographs, multiples, and art books, we felt that it was the right time to launch this fair to engage new audiences while developing an unprecedented collaboration between leading international associations," said Karman, President of Art Expositions LLC. “As we build EDITIONS Chicago, we look forward to working with the members of the IFPDA and AIPAD, broadening the scope of collaborations and exhibitors, and engaging our existing network of institutional partners and supporters in Chicago to add an exciting new event for established and emerging collectors in this region," he added.EDITIONS Chicago will collaborate with Chicago’s institutions, galleries, and artist-run spaces to herald Chicago on Friday, September 24th and Saturday, September 25th. Participating spaces will offer local and visiting patrons the chance to view a broad range of new exhibitions and participate in events taking place concurrently with the fair. Special Chicago events produced in partnership with Newcity are forthcoming."The tradition of printmaking has long been grounded in the Midwest with strong university-based programs, many community-based and collaborative workshops, and all the small press and independent publishers which make up the Chicago zine scene," said IFPDA Executive Director Jenny Gibbs. "The IFPDA is delighted to be a part of this inaugural celebration of prints and editions in the Midwest. After this most trying of years, we are especially happy to invite our members from across the United States to participate in this new venture and to provide collectors, curators, and friends new and old with an opportunity to experience the best of 500 years of printmaking in person!"“AIPAD is decidedly excited to emerge from this pandemic and long drought of art fairs to participate in EDITIONS Chicago," said AIPAD President Michael Lee. "The opportunity to show our pictures alongside so many other art professionals is a wonderfully unique opportunity. The inclusive and collaborative big tent EDITIONS is raising will provide a special platform for AIPAD galleries to bring the joys of photography to Chicago.”For more information on EDITIONS Chicago (September 23 – 26, 2021) visit <a href="http://editionschicago.com">editionschicago.com</a>&nbsp;Fair Schedule:Opening Night | Thursday, September 23: 4:00pm Opening Benefit • 6:00pm VIP Opening&nbsp;Friday, September 24: 11:00am – 7:00pm&nbsp;Saturday, September 25: 11:00am – 7:00pm&nbsp;Sunday, September 26: 11:00am – 5:00pm&nbsp;Ticket Prices: Single ticket $15 | Three Day $25 | Student &amp; Senior $10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

EDITIONS Chicago Launches at Navy Pier

Via PRChicago Artists Coalition (CAC) announces today&nbsp;a total of 30 SPARK Grant awardees&nbsp;who will&nbsp;each receive $2,000 in unrestricted funds during the 2021 grant cycle. In its third year, the SPARK Grant program continues to expand the number of awards, in the effort&nbsp;to support more Chicago artists.The SPARK Grant&nbsp;began in 2019 as an annual, unrestricted award opportunity for Chicago-based visual artists who identify as ALAANA (Asian, Latinx, Arab, African diaspora, Native), an artist with a demonstrated need, an artist with a disability, or as a self-taught or informally trained artist who is striving to make their art practice a primary vocation.In its first year, the SPARK Grant was awarded to&nbsp;15 artists and in the subsequent year&nbsp;to 25 artists.&nbsp;Each year there is a continuous increase of SPARK applications indicative of the need within the artists community.&nbsp;With the generous support of the Joyce Foundation and an anonymous donor, the SPARK&nbsp;Grant&nbsp;this year expanded to 30 unrestricted awards of $2,000 each.Celebrating its 47th&nbsp;anniversary this year, CAC has a strong recent&nbsp;history of supporting emerging Chicago-based visual artists through unrestricted grant funds, and has administered&nbsp;a total of $140,000 in unrestricted SPARK Grants to 70 artists in three years.Congratulations SPARK Grant Recipients!SPARK GRANTS&nbsp;2021&nbsp;- $2,000 per artistA.Martinez Ariella Granados Cherrie Yu Cristian Roldan darien R Wendell Deborah Awwad Elnaz Javani Hankyeol Song Jada-Amina Jade WongJanelle Miller Jennifer Villanueva Jiayi Chen Jon Veal Jory Drew Joshua Jackson Kris Casey Mercedes Cardenas Miao Wang Qais AssaliSasha Phyars-Burgess Shirien Damra Sky Cubacub SUNGJAE LEE Sydnie Jimenez Tariyawn Knighten Tattiana Howard Youree Kim Yuge Zhou zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o'neal&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Chicago Artists Coalition Announces Awardees for Spark Grant 2021

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417658/uatdzqaynkxt7w8p4ga2.png"><figcaption>via <a href="https://www.instagram.com/corbettvsdempsey/">Corbett vs Dempsey</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEACorbett vs Dempsey, the gallery that has represented Karl Wirsum, an internationally known artist and co-founder of the Hairy Who, announced Thursday via Instagram that the artist has died at age 81.&nbsp;They shared, "We are mourning the loss of one of Chicago's true originals. [We] celebrate Karl Wirsum's joyful life and work and his profound generosity as a teacher and colleague. We are so proud to have known him and to represent his rich legacy."&nbsp;Wirsum passed away early in the morning of May 6th after a long illness.*Edited from Artic.edu:Wirsum, raised on the South Side of Chicago, was a member of Chicago’s Hairy Who, a group magically organized by a handful of artists in the 1960s and borne of a shared vision and electrified, figurative artistic style that is still highly recognizable today and forever associated with Chicago itself.Even as a child Wirsum was drawn to rhythm and blues music and the Maxwell Street Market, an open-air flea market. Inspired by his visual and sonic experiences and memories, drawing poured out of Wirsum in much the same way as sound does from an improvising musician. And like improvised music, his direct drawings rarely show correction or revision. He often depicted musicians in his artwork and took inspiration from source material he scavenged at the flea market.Wirsum enrolled at the School of the Art Institute in 1957 and was the first of the Hairy Who artists to graduate. It was through Wirsum’s friendship with Don Baum, the exhibition chairman of the Hyde Park Art Center, that he became part of the Hairy Who. Baum recommended that Wirsum be included in the small group exhibition that Jim Falconer and Jim Nutt proposed to him, and it was Wirsum who unintentionally coined the name Hairy Who. Over a period of four years the six artists of the Hairy Who—<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/110896/james-falconer">Jim Falconer</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/34732">Art Green</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36022">Gladys Nilsson</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36059">Jim Nutt</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36413/suellen-rocca">Suellen Rocca</a>, and&nbsp;Karl Wirsum—exhibited their work together, and as a group they began mounting unconventional displays of bright, bold graphic work in the mid-1960s, transforming the art landscape of Chicago, injecting&nbsp;their new and unique voices into the city’s rising national and international profile.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417659/c3inr5ydncqhijmohj2t.jpg"><figcaption>Karl Wirsum, Courtesy of Madison Museum of Contemporary Art</figcaption></figure>*The Art Institute of Chicago mounted the exhibition, Hairy Who? 1966–1969, in 2018, the first-ever major survey dedicated solely to the Hairy Who.When interviewed in 2018 about AIC's exhibition, Wirsum's Hairy Who colleague Suellen Rocca said of her relationships with the group, "Don Baum...had a series of thematic shows called Animal, Vegetable and Mineral. Each show had a wide variety of work with only a single piece by each artist. Jim Nutt and Jim Falconer went to Don with a proposal to have a show composed of Falconer, Nutt, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, and me. Don thought it would be good to add Karl Wirsum. We all were in school together but we didn’t know Karl. Our work was very compatible, and showing as a group gave us each the opportunity to show more work."Rocca credited the link with Wirsum and his work at the time as pivotal for her artistic future.&nbsp;"As a young artist getting to see my work alongside my peers’ work that I was excited and enthusiastic about was so important at that stage of my development. Then, of course, planning and installing the shows was a very creative experience. Together we made a comic book and poster for each of the shows."For decades after the friends remained in touch with each other, and, as Rocca who passed away in 2020 said, they continued to support one another by going to each other’s exhibitions, truly because of their shared interest in the work, not just out of good will. They were really interested in each other as artists.*&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417660/cbkfivta4qvylnc7bcxc.png"><figcaption>Karl Wirsum at the Art Institute of Chicago, via <a href="https://www.instagram.com/zackwirsum/">@zackwirsum</a></figcaption></figure>Wirsum <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2011/1/artist-insights-karl-wirsum">shared with CGN in 2011</a> that it was a 1-month stay in the hospital, when he was a young boy, that first connected him to the wonder and escape drawing could offer. It was a love that would last his whole life. A few weeks ago I was scrolling through Instagram and came across some photos from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNGuIVYFEwd/">Zack Wirsum</a>, Karl's son, who is also an artist in Chicago. Zack and his dad had come back to visit the Art Institute of Chicago when it reopened and were able to get a tour of Bisa Butler: Portraits."Thank you James Rondeau and the entire @artinstitutechi extended family for arranging for Karl and the Wirsums to see the stunning Bisa Butler: Portraits exhibit today with ease and grace. We are all extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to enjoy this extraordinarily meaningful family experience at our home away from home and collective happy place. Thank you @litemootz for astutely recognizing that Karl would connect with Bisa’s creations, the parallels in sensibilities and for being instrumental in getting him in front of the wonderful work. Thank you @connoisseurofcomfort for taking the time to walk us through the exhibit and for providing insightful context to the incredible visuals. Appropriately, given their shared interest in the figure, color, shape and pattern, one of Karl’s favorite works was the 2019 cotton, wool and chiffon, quilted and appliquéd assemblage, Kindred. The artist suggested accompanying track of Sly and the Family Stone’s Family Affair also seemed poetically fitting. Karl told me during his second intense exploration of the work that the striped background and palette reminded him of his printed fabric inspired mid 60s Awning series and mused that using the actual eye catching textiles to construct the composition could be “a better way to do it”.&nbsp;Today was truly the kind of magic that can only happen at a museum and I am so happy this magic happened at our home museum."Wirsum will be greatly missed but his legacy is sure to continue on.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2011/1/artist-insights-karl-wirsum">Read CGN's 2011 interview with Wirsum HERE</a>&nbsp;Top thumbnail via <a href="https://www.instagram.com/corbettvsdempsey/">Corbett vs Dempsey</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Karl Wirsum Has Died at Age 81

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/icidnpwsni8ianry0y4b.jpg"><figcaption>Frida Kahlo, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN Staff via PRThe City of Chicago keeps rolling through its cultural to-do list this week. This latest update brings together Art on theMART, Cleve Carney Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Art on theMART announced in partnership with Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, two major new additions to its summer program: The Obama Portraits (debuting June 17) and Frida Kahlo (starting July 5). All projections will be shown nightly at 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. The Obama Portraits, (June 17 – September 16) You thought the former President and First Lady hailing from Chicago were already larger than life?&nbsp;In conjunction with the Art Institute of Chicago’s presentation of The Obama Portraits, Art on theMART will present a dynamically animated projection of the portraits of President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively. Former Chicago residents, the Obamas have a unique connection to the city. Wiley painted President Obama against greenery, with chrysanthemums; the flowers have symbolic meaning as the official flower of Chicago. Amy Sherald captured the former first lady against light-blue ground, sitting and gazing directly at the viewer. Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald are the first African American artists commissioned to paint portraits for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery's collection of a former President and First Lady. &nbsp;A musical score will accompany the piece.&nbsp;The paintings can be viewed at the Art Institute of Chicago June 18-August 15. Frida Kahlo, (July 5 – September 16) Frida Kahlo: Timeless, was originally planned for summer 2020. A lot of things were. However, its now back on for this June, and the downtime allowed for some extra collaborative plans.&nbsp;On July 5, the eve of iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s birthday, a new piece celebrating her work will be unveiled. On the occasion of the Frida Kahlo: Timeless exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage (June 5 – Sept. 6, 2021), the piece will feature several of Kahlo’s most recognizable works including Self Portrait with Small Monkey (1945) and Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress (1926). Accompanied by an orchestral score from Mexican composer Arturo Márquez, recorded by New Philharmonic, the projection commemorates Kahlo’s artistic legacy, which will be further explored in Frida Kahlo: Timeless, the most comprehensive presentation of Kahlo’s work displayed in the Chicago area in over 40 years. About Art on theMARTArt on theMART can best be experienced for free from the jetty section of the Chicago Riverwalk on Wacker Drive between Wells Street and Franklin Street, where accompanying audio is also available. Current social distancing practices, based on recommendations from the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois, must be observed by all Art on theMART visitors. For more information, visit <a href="http://artonthemart.com/">artonthemart.com</a>. Art on theMART is the largest permanent digital art projection in the world, projecting contemporary artwork across the 2.5-acre river-façade of theMART. This expansive permanent piece of public art continues Chicago’s legacy of providing both residents and visitors with exceptional art that is both free and accessible to all. Projections are visible to the public from Wacker Drive and along the Chicago Riverwalk. The program content rotates seasonally and is selected with the assistance and expertise of the Curatorial Advisory Board. The City of Chicago and theMART work in partnership to manage and curate the projected artwork over the course of a 30-year agreement. Privately funded by Vornado Realty Trust, owner of theMART, Art on theMART marks the first time a projection of its size and scope is completely dedicated to digital art with no branding, sponsorship credits or messaging. The permanent projection system illuminates theMART with 34 state-of-the-art projectors totaling almost one million lumens.&nbsp;For more information, visit <a href="http://www.artonthemart.com/">www.artonthemart.com</a>.&nbsp;Thumbnail, from spring 2021: The Adler Planetarium, Astrographics 04. Photography courtesy of Art on theMART&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Preview of Summer's Art onTheMART: Frida Kahlo + The Obamas

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/rclduqx5yysvy9a6buzi.png"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oldtownartfair.org">New this year, pre-registration will be required for entry to the Fair and will open Saturday, May 8 at&nbsp;10 AM.</a>&nbsp;CGN Staff via PRWe just heard today that the Old Town Art Fair and its sponsoring organization, the Old Town Triangle Association, plan to host an in-person event this coming June after cancelling the 2020 edition due to COVID-19, the first time the fair had to miss a year in 70 years.&nbsp;Last spring the fair and association looked ahead to an unpredictable summer and opted to return booth fees to the 250 participating artists and automatically invite all 2020 jury-selected artists to take part, they hoped, in the 2021 fair. As a result no new applications were accepted for this year.Now those plans for a re-do are happening. Organizers celebrated the announcement from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and DCASE that OTAF will return during the second weekend in June. The announcement recognized “the thoughtful application and adherence to city and state guidelines for re-opening.” Art Fair Chair Anne Giffels noted that more than 200 artists have confirmed their participation and are looking forward to returning to Old Town. Numerous visitors are also making plans to visit, after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 shutdown. “We are thrilled to share this great news with the many neighbors and visitors who have contacted us about planning their trip to Chicago. We receive messages daily, asking us if the Fair is a certainty and wondering when they can pre-register and make plans for the Art Fair. The Old Town Art Fair is a destination for the people of Chicago as well as out-of-town visitors and we are happy to welcome them.” Safety measures for the 2021 Art Fair include a larger footprint for adequate room to move around as well as to accommodate spaced artist booths, plus &nbsp;other measures that are standard practice by now. There will also be additional space for food vendors. The OTAF suggests a $12 donation to allow the Old Town Triangle to continue funding for multiple organizations throughout Chicago. Proceeds from the Art Fair are given to the community through grants to schools, charities, and other non-profit organizations. The OTAF is juried by local art professionals, curators, gallery owners, and artists and is offered by the Old Town Triangle Association, a 501(c)(3) Illinois corporation. First mounted in 1949 as the Old Town Holiday Arts &amp; Crafts Fair, the OTAF brings fine art to the tree-covered streets of Chicago’s Old Town Triangle neighborhood. Until 2020, it had been held continuously since its first offerings (on the fences of homes).&nbsp;In-person fairs have yet to make a solid return to Chicago yet, but this week has brought news from City Hall about attempts at loosening regulations and opening up the city in time for summer. The Hyde-Park based 57th Street Art Fair, the city's oldest, announced that it will be virtual now through May 2022. Other neighborhood fairs in the city and suburbs are bound to make a reentry plan in 2021.&nbsp;International expositions like Intersect Chicago (formerly SOFA) and EXPO CHICAGO plan to return in late 2021 (Intersect) and spring 2022 (EXPO).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Old Town Art Fair Will Return for 2021 on June 12

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAWhen we shared an update about the upcoming 5th edition of <a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com">Sculpture Milwaukee</a> back in February, plans were just beginning to be shared with the public. Now as summer feels like it's almost here – we're ready for anything happening outdoors not to mention as much public art as we can handle – the annual outdoor exhibition of public sculpture in the city's downtown has shared the roster of artists who are going to make it happen as well as an exhibition title chosen by co-curators Theaster Gates and Michelle Grabner.&nbsp;Sculpture Milwaukee launches next month and has an extended run this time, concluding in fall 2022. The exhibition has become one of the largest annual outdoor exhibitions to focus on​ ​contemporary sculpture and public art practices.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417624/ycfki1ci36fphmbyswxe.webp"></figure>there is this We, the title chosen by guest curators Gates and Grabner, refers to what perhaps can happen through collective creativity after a year largely spent apart, particularly at a time when artists are looking to the future and expressing their visions for change. The exhibition features exhibiting artists Kevin Beasley, Betty Gold, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Allison Janae Hamilton, Kara Hamilton, Brad Kahlhamer, Deborah Kass, Thaddeus Mosley, Matthias Neumann, Virginia Overton, Dan Peterman, Jason Pickleman, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, John Riepenhoff, Christine Tarkowski, and Lauren Yeager.The exhibition will feature newly fabricated works by eight artists, including those by SMKE’s inaugural Guest Artist Lauren Yeager, the first large-scale sculpture by Jason Pickleman, and the debut of a new cast bronze work by Thaddeus Mosley.Of the exhibition, Grabner says:“The poetics of perseverance and determination vibrate in the art that Theaster and I have selected. There are exciting and palpable energies at work in these sculptures; we feel it in the sonic reverberations of Kevin Beasley's acoustic mirrors, in the foliage quietly growing in the bed of Virginia Overton's pick-up truck, and in the rattling cry of the tambourines that comprise Allison Janae Hamilton's tower. The exhibition's title reflects the collective power of the works included in the 2021 exhibition, and honors a belief in social change through the provocations of the artistic imagination."Sculpture Milwaukee has also rolled out a membership program. They state on their website that in order to bring an exhibition of world class art to Milwaukee each year, they rely on public support. Sculpture MKE memberships support the exhibitions, programming, and community engagement in place while also offering subscribers new opportunities to discover and experience Milwaukee. Individual memberships cost $29 and include sculpture tours with SMKE's expert team, partners, and artists, discounts on Sculpture MKE Merchandise, special offers from partners, and a digital exhibition catalogue. Business memberships start at $2,500.&nbsp;Illinois has classified Wisconsin as a 'yellow state' as far as COVID statistics are concerned, the city's downtown hotels have reopened, and a day or weekend trip to Milwaukee in the coming months is an ideal chance to see new public art outside of Chicago by artists known around the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417625/zauqgnqkk7yrpbtp4tex.png"><figcaption>Tony Tasset | Blob Monster | 2010, fiberglass | 96 x 96 x 96 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago. Part of Sculpture Milwaukee 2020</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Guest CuratorsTheaster Gates is a Chicago-based artist and curator whose practice encompasses sculpture, performance, and land development-based projects. His work has been widely exhibited in museums, galleries, and biennials nationally and internationally, including recent solo exhibitions at Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago and Gagosian Gallery, New York.Michelle Grabner is a Wisconsin-based artist, writer, and curator. She co-curated the 2014 Whitney Biennial and was named a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow. Her work has been the subject of several national museum surveys. She is presently represented by James Cohan, New York and Green Gallery, Milwaukee.Sculpture MilwaukeeSculpture Milwaukee is an annual outdoor exhibition of public sculpture in downtown Milwaukee that serves as a catalyst for community engagement, economic development, and creative placemaking. Sculpture Milwaukee is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization funded through private grants, in-kind donations, and sponsorships. ​All of the artworks are available for purchase.<a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com">sculpturemilwaukee.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Sculpture Milwaukee Announces 2021 Participating Artists Ahead of Next Month's Opening

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418232/bm4bo3rx2dvacmbdnfv7.png"><figcaption>The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCASE) accounted they are beginning a one year renovation of the Chicago Cultural Center's Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Memorial Hall and Rotunda. (Provided by DCASE)</figcaption></figure>Via PRCHICAGO, IL — Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) today announced the historic restoration of the landmark Chicago Cultural Center to reclaim two lost interiors decorated by the celebrated Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company: the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R) Memorial Hall and Rotunda. The museum-quality restoration of the art glass dome and decorative finishes is made possible by a generous grant of services valued at $15,425,000 to the City of Chicago. (The Chicago Cultural Center is home to two magnificent stained-glass domes; the restoration of the Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall was completed in 2008.) The celebrated “People’s Palace” will reopen to the public on June 2, 2021, after closing its doors last March — with new health and safety protocols to be announced soon, new art exhibitions and new visitor amenities. Restoration work will continue until early 2022.“Throughout the pandemic, our residents and partners in the public and private sector have remained generous supporters of our cultural institutions,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Thanks to their support and this incredible grant, we will be able to restore and revitalize our landmark Cultural Center — which remains critical to our tourism and recovery efforts and our ability to bring our creative community together.”The grant (the largest private donation given to DCASE) provides access to a highly specialized team that are uniquely qualified to undertake the restoration. An intricate process will expose the original 1890s surfaces by methodically separating layers of paint. The project also includes the conservation of a 40-foot diameter, 62,000-piece, art glass dome that will return natural light that has been blocked since a renovation in the 1930s. Long-lost lighting fixtures that were custom designed for the rooms will be recreated using early photographs and original architectural drawings.“With its sparkling mosaics and hovering art glass dome, the Chicago Cultural Center's Preston Bradley Hall has been a must-see attraction for decades. But it’s about to get some stiff competition when restoration of the G.A.R. rooms is completed next year,” said Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian Emeritus for the City of Chicago.“This project reminds me of hunting for buried treasure. Instead of being buried under the ground, it’s a treasure of Tiffany coloration buried beneath layers of paint — and just waiting to be revealed in all its 1890s glory. This is no ordinary preservation project. It’s an undertaking beyond belief, assembling the absolute top talents in historic restoration to revive one of the great lost treasures of decorative arts.”When completed next year, the rooms will reflect their historic appearance, but also more ably facilitate a wider range of free and diverse cultural programming. This includes upgraded lighting, electrical, Wi-Fi and more as well as opportunities for artists and organizations to activate the space through a variety of performances and exhibitions.This project is part of Culture in My Neighborhood, a new collaborative initiative that supports cultural programming at the Chicago Cultural Center, 18 Chicago Park District neighborhood cultural centers, and the Chicago Public Library regional libraries — through grants and commission opportunities for artists and organizations. It seeks to expand access and participation in South and West Side neighborhoods that have lacked traditional cultural infrastructure such as museums and theaters. This program complements an over $40 million capital investment that will break ground in 2021 in the City’s network of cultural centers to upgrade theater, music, dance, and visual art presentation capabilities at these facilities. Artists and organizations will receive financial support — including those who were displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic — and community residents will enjoy free and affordable, high-quality cultural experiences in their own neighborhoods. Culture in My Neighborhood is part of Arts 77, a citywide arts recovery and reopening plan for all of Chicago’s 77 community areas.“I am thrilled to see the magnificent restoration of the G.A.R. rooms come to fruition. The work will not only improve the building and physical structures, it will enhance the public programming in the building,” said Mark Kelly, DCASE Commissioner. “With this restoration, we also herald a new mission for the Chicago Cultural Center as we link our efforts with the 18 Chicago Park District neighborhood cultural centers and the Chicago Public Library’s regional libraries. We no longer stand alone, but instead are part of a citywide cultural center ecosystem, bringing cultural vitality to all of our citizens.”&nbsp;The Chicago Cultural Center will reopen to the public on June 2, 2021, with the exhibitions “Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford: League of Nations” and “what flies but never lands.” Soon after, “Chicago: Where Comics Came to Life, 1880–1960” will open on June 19. Visitors will also be greeted with new visitor amenities including a reimagined Welcome Center and Learning Lab — and Buddy, a new shop created with the Public Media Institute (online for now at <a href="http://hi-buddy.org/">hi-buddy.org</a>) to give Chicago's artists and small manufacturers a place to showcase and sell their goods and artwork. Visit <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ9uoiykuNvHH2UN6PS6y-2BNyfiuFdSrabk1CvrywjEZUL6GXW_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361QxVkZz8qTDmYI6mxUWhXz7Djal7qPD-2FaqDUTz-2FnSmI7J3mtB6UmcHjOGnPC9RkxqH6VkPN2frzk9GGSpsBJv9jEZvP16-2BoNx3SoOrsKUmAoWcbiEjpeTApfrOCNaBCZ0uGYsBR7g5UUUv6Tx6MYTjaOQUJ1m7n7-2B3jwq6C94p3Ng0Me0H8cnhdDP0pGSiwhrtnBwQ1lF88jHTCFttbA-2Bz-2F6UJWpTiSl9UxW70h-2FbIUWJlqSSuKs37OqhOB15zPZwoJpGoOm9bORIYQqG-2FJJN6A-3D-3D">chicagoculturalcenter.org</a> closer to the reopening for updated visitor information including reduced schedule.The Chicago Cultural Center restoration, which began in February following an intensive year-long study, will take approximately 12 months to complete. The G.A.R. rooms will remain closed to the public during this time. The project is being executed by Harboe Architects and a team of highly specialized preservation experts and artisans, in partnership with the Department of Assets, Information and Services (AIS) in consultation with conservators and Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian Emeritus for the City of Chicago. The Landmarks Commission reviewed and unanimously approved the project and will provide additional oversight.About the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Memorial Hall and G.A.R. Rotunda Dedicated in 1898, the rooms were created as a place of gathering for Union Civil War veterans and their families, and a place of memory honoring those who died. Reliefs in decorative plaster reflect iconography of war through the ages, richly finished in silver leaf shaded with layers of translucent color. The overall design was a collaborative effort of architect Charles A. Coolidge, partner in the Boston-based firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, and the New York studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany — a respected and influential American master of color and decorative design.&nbsp; Local artisans executed the work under the supervision of Coolidge and Tiffany’s project manager J.A. Holzer, a notable participant being the Chicago art glass and decorating firm of Healy &amp; Millet who fabricated the 62,000 piece art glass dome. Healy &amp; Millet’s other notable work in Chicago included collaborating with architect Louis H. Sullivan in creating the art glass and painted decorations for the Auditorium Theatre and the trading room of the Chicago Stock Exchange — now reconstructed at the Art Institute of Chicago.The decorated plaster surfaces were created to meld with lower walls of rich natural marbles — a green-tinted Vermont marble in Memorial Hall and gray Tennessee marble in the Rotunda. All marble is to be cleaned and returned to their original polished finish&nbsp; Also restored will be massive richly-grained mahogany doors.Dark tinted exterior window glass installed during the 1970s will be replaced with protective filtered clear glass, allowing views of the room to be obtained from the outside.&nbsp; When illuminated at night by re-created period lighting fixtures, the G.A.R will be a highly visible attraction seen both from streets and sidewalks, as well as from Millennium Park.</body></html>

City to Begin 12-Month Restoration of the Chicago Cultural Center

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418222/l3phi91cay1iokm5lzkh.jpg"></figure>CGN Staff via PRMayor Lightfoot and DCASE are banking on art. Eager to put the city back on track following a terribly challenging year, they've announced plans to invest in the arts to help bring people and businesses back via a program they're calling “Arts 77” —&nbsp;a citywide arts recovery and reopening plan&nbsp;for all of Chicago’s 77 community areas, representing an initial investment of&nbsp;over $60 million to support local artists and organizations. Additional&nbsp;updates regarding&nbsp;financial&nbsp;grants&nbsp;and programs to&nbsp;support&nbsp;arts&nbsp;recovery&nbsp;will follow&nbsp;in the upcoming weeks.There's even talk of a multi-million dollar, 30 Chicago-area artist public art plan as part of the Terminal 5 expansion project at O’Hare&nbsp;International Airport that would make art one of the biggest first impressions &nbsp;international visitors have of our city.&nbsp;"Before the pandemic struck, our arts and culture sector was a significant employer and economic driver that generated thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for our city," said Mayor Lightfoot. "With this incredible program, we will not only be able to revitalize this critical sector and provide support to&nbsp;our artists, creative workers and organizations, but also place the arts at the center of our city’s recovery efforts.”“Arts 77”&nbsp;signals&nbsp;a new direction&nbsp;for&nbsp;Chicago’s cultural policy,&nbsp;in which the arts are&nbsp;embedded in initiatives&nbsp;and strategies&nbsp;across&nbsp;City government.&nbsp;This&nbsp;plan seeks to expand access and participation in the arts citywide, prioritize employment of creative workers through City programs and services, and deepen public sector investment in the creative sector though financial support and cultural&nbsp;policy. Today’s&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;launches&nbsp;new and expanded programs including&nbsp;the&nbsp;Neighborhood Access Program, the&nbsp;Chicago Band Roster and Chicago Presents grant programs, Culture in My Neighborhood (a $40 million collaboration by DCASE, the Chicago Park District,&nbsp;and Chicago Public Library),&nbsp;Individual Artists Program&nbsp;grants,&nbsp;Artist Response Program&nbsp;grants, and $18.5 million in art&nbsp;and&nbsp;infrastructure investments.&nbsp;“Chicago’s arts sector has been decimated by the global pandemic. We have assembled an unprecedented array of resources to bolster our vital arts sector, and today's announcement is the first of several to follow,” said DCASE Commissioner Mark Kelly.&nbsp;“These new programs will strengthen the arts and culture landscape, support the City’s reopening, and advance Chicago’s economic recovery. DCASE will lead these comprehensive citywide efforts as we animate our neighborhoods with cultural life and position the arts as central to Chicago’s future.”“The arts are uniquely&nbsp;positioned&nbsp;to aid in&nbsp;Chicago’s&nbsp;recovery efforts, and&nbsp;creative&nbsp;workers stand ready,” said Amina J. Dickerson and Alison Cuddy, Cultural Advisory Council Chair and Vice Chair. “To thrive post-pandemic, the City&nbsp;must leverage the power of its arts and culture sector, putting&nbsp;artists&nbsp;to work rebuilding, reimagining, unifying, and healing&nbsp;our&nbsp;neighborhoods.”For details&nbsp;and upcoming Arts 77 webinars for the cultural community, visit <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ4TXG4aEpmBXWyior40nHaWAo1VE03LSQKj1M6FDUhuWuWJ9_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvj0v-2Bq-2BvJLFN3pMpEo3Uu4qdxY-2BZn5isqNnFzRlPp186tcyURXdTVTCQGbVU0VcHfZPmDgXwc8hdYYPCMa-2BaEGoYvjaGBuylnfYtss-2Bd1ZFrXIkXfGMSkKqd30G1iWd2YYwLvk7jXxGifYEdUKn0QcvBBtXIi3nRHcckvTUvEqXbw-3D-3D">Chicago.gov/Arts77</a>.&nbsp;Expanding&nbsp;Access and Participation in the ArtsBeginning this summer, the City will&nbsp;rollout&nbsp;new guidelines, funding&nbsp;opportunities, and programs to increase access and reopen&nbsp;the cultural sector.&nbsp;DCASE&nbsp;is currently accepting&nbsp;idea&nbsp;submissions for its new&nbsp;Neighborhood Access Program, representing&nbsp;$1 million in financial grants (up to 40 grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000) designed to be responsive to the complex needs of individual communities. The program was created to support the&nbsp;cultural vitality in neighborhoods with a focus on those that have traditionally not&nbsp;received funding through&nbsp;the&nbsp;City’s&nbsp;Cultural Grants Program —and to collaborate with other City departments&nbsp;to make a collective impact in&nbsp;INVEST South/West communities. The application opens April 20&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ-2FOfdVALjpYZsEGm6zCd-2Bgd4qbfTXA6h20a3N6YR0-2FVRPXdV_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvhQmhR2vn8lMEFF8g0u7j4K1f-2BvcI0KBN-2F5p2km9aHtrRrRY0WQH2p8tkYziPS3GILk2ZQRB48rvUOdfrL7dNwFQOLgnocVY655Q5WEMO5NJ9iSQEBbw1EhHYL3xxy3WxglCOnCKLXMHPCSKnla1hrkVrwIx307-2F93DX15WvNOuVw-3D-3D">ChicagoCulturalGrants.org</a>.&nbsp;Through&nbsp;Chicago Presents, DCASE will provide&nbsp;up to 100 grants&nbsp;(ranging from $5,000&nbsp;–&nbsp;$30,000)&nbsp;to activate&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;programs&nbsp;that comply with public health guidelines&nbsp;in neighborhoods&nbsp;throughout Chicago in Summer 2021.&nbsp;Emerging and established cultural presenters are invited to submit proposals for free live, in-person concerts and events, spanning&nbsp;all music genres, performance,&nbsp;and dance that activate Chicago’s streets, plazas,&nbsp;and parks. Additionally, presenters may select up to&nbsp;two&nbsp;solo musicians and/or bands from the&nbsp;Chicago Band Roster&nbsp;to play at their event. The&nbsp;Band Roster is a new&nbsp;resource listing&nbsp;over&nbsp;200 Chicago-based musicians of all genres&nbsp;— created as part of the 2021 Year of Chicago Music.&nbsp;Application opens April&nbsp;20&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ1JPtLnvcS2xUVsnlfkRMPHl2Bj2LDJ48-2Bx11LK-2FpTV-2BFLWC_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvjqo6FZFqehQUjdkYTcpsoxTYhhGuaetBQp8S1kZSwtkj1a6vym92sesXIoONzeVI1j-2FhiGW-2B9y9bMa2BdiJmvynOuIam5YaWFg3QvqoE5KeGHpetDIS268hhP0OH3sAvg2Veupv650vSwmNh3T9dwVfOvys9dxz92Y3GDzVuYmlA-3D-3D">chicago.gov/music</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;Culture&nbsp;in My&nbsp;Neighborhood&nbsp;is a new&nbsp;collaborative&nbsp;initiative&nbsp;that&nbsp;supports&nbsp;cultural programming at the Chicago Cultural Center,&nbsp;18&nbsp;Chicago&nbsp;Park District&nbsp;neighborhood cultural centers,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the Chicago Public Library&nbsp;regional libraries —&nbsp;through grants and commission opportunities&nbsp;for artists and organizations. It seeks to expand access and participation in South and West Side neighborhoods that have lacked traditional cultural infrastructure&nbsp;such as&nbsp;museums and theaters. This&nbsp;program&nbsp;complements&nbsp;an over $40 million capital investment&nbsp;that will break ground in 2021&nbsp;in the City’s network of cultural centers&nbsp;to upgrade&nbsp;theater, music, dance,&nbsp;and visual art presentation capabilities at these facilities.&nbsp;Artists and organizations will receive&nbsp;financial support — including those who were&nbsp;displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;—&nbsp;and&nbsp;community residents will enjoy free and affordable, high-quality cultural experiences in their own neighborhoods.“Chicago parks have long provided affordable access to the arts,” said Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO Michael Kelly. “We are excited to partner with our sister agencies to expand existing resources. Culture&nbsp;in My Neighborhood and the broader Arts 77 plan will celebrate Chicago’s vibrant culture while fueling public engagement in our communities. From Austin to West Pullman, our 18 neighborhood cultural centers will continue to serve as important cultural assets for years to come.”Supporting&nbsp;Artists and Creative WorkersRecognizing that artists have always played an important role in advancing the causes of justice and racial equity, DCASE will support artists in developing projects that engage the public in a constructive, civic dialogue that will propel our collective action, facilitate progress, and make Chicago a model city for the nation as it faces the difficult work ahead.Through its new&nbsp;Artist Response Program, DCASE has awarded five artists and artist teams $100,000 grants. Artist awardees announced today are:&nbsp;Tonika&nbsp;Lewis Johnson; Santiago X; Kirsten&nbsp;Leenaars&nbsp;with Circles and Ciphers; Pilsen Housing Cooperative with Hector Duarte, Nicole&nbsp;Marroquin, and Gabriel Villa; and an artist team with Aquil&nbsp;Charlton, William Estrada, Andrés&nbsp;Lemus-Spont, and&nbsp;Marya&nbsp;Spont-Lemus. In addition to individual artist grants, seven arts organizations will receive grants ranging from $50,000 – $100,000 to re-grant funds to approximately 60 artists. Re-granting partners announced today are:&nbsp;ConTextos, Folded Map Project/Englewood Arts Collective, Full Spectrum Features, Greater Southwest Development Corporation, Jazz Institute of Chicago,&nbsp;Kartemquin&nbsp;Films, and the National Museum of Mexican Art. The Artist Response Program represents a $1.2 million investment, including&nbsp;over&nbsp;$600,000 in support available soon through re-granting partners.&nbsp;DCASE is also pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of its annual&nbsp;Individual Artists Program&nbsp;grants,&nbsp;supporting&nbsp;Chicago's practicing artists in creating work that develops their craft and elevates their careers while adding to the cultural vitality of the city of Chicago. This year, 162&nbsp;project-based grants between $800 to $5,000 will be awarded to resident Chicago artists over the age of 18 across all artistic disciplines including film &amp; media arts, literary arts, performing arts (theatre/dance), music and visual arts/design.&nbsp;In addition to the Individual Artists Program&nbsp;project&nbsp;grants, 13 high-qualified artists will receive the Esteemed&nbsp;Artist Award, a special $10,000 grant for expenses associated with an artist’s practice within the 2021&nbsp;grant period, including studio rental, supplies, travel and equipment. In celebration of 2021&nbsp;as the Year of Chicago Music, half of the Esteemed Artist Awards are going to local musicians –&nbsp;Afinca’o,&nbsp;Jeff Baraka,&nbsp;Billy Branch,&nbsp;Joelle&nbsp;Lamarre,&nbsp;Vivian McConnell,&nbsp;Matt&nbsp;Ulery, and&nbsp;Wanees&nbsp;Zarour. Award recipients in other disciplines are&nbsp;Colette&nbsp;Ghunim (Film &amp; Media Arts),&nbsp;Anuradha Rana&nbsp;(Film &amp; Media Arts),&nbsp;Natasha&nbsp;Tarpley (Literary Arts),&nbsp;Cat Mahari (Performing Arts),&nbsp;Daris Jasper&nbsp;(Visual Art &amp; Design) and&nbsp;Anke&nbsp;Loh&nbsp;(Visual Art &amp; Design).Investing in Arts&nbsp;and InfrastructureThe following programs recognize the talents of artists as creative problem solvers&nbsp;who&nbsp;can help inform, enhance, and support the work of City departments. They will also be significant jobs generators.&nbsp;Under the leadership of Mayor Lightfoot, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Department of Assets, Information,&nbsp;and Services,&nbsp;the&nbsp;new multi-year, needs-based Capital Plan&nbsp;will not only leverage capital improvements to spur local economic development and job creation,&nbsp;but also mark a major advancement&nbsp;in&nbsp;the standard of public asset maintenance, and,&nbsp;consequently, the quality of life and livability of all Chicago communities.Public art will be integrated into the Capital Plan to turn the everyday into the extraordinary, physically,&nbsp;and symbolically communicating connections between neighborhoods, histories, people, and futures. Public art projects will become major destinations and cultural landmarks, contributing to the&nbsp;city’s economic development.&nbsp;For the first time, the&nbsp;City&nbsp;incorporated public art into the Capital Plan,&nbsp;investing&nbsp;at least&nbsp;$15 million in public art over the next&nbsp;five years.Additionally,&nbsp;DCASE and the&nbsp;Chicago&nbsp;Department of Aviation today announced a $3.5 million public art plan as part of the Terminal 5 expansion project at O’Hare&nbsp;International Airport. The project presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the work of Chicagoland artists&nbsp;through large-scale commissions&nbsp;and acquisitions,&nbsp;and&nbsp;to provide international visitors a dynamic and welcoming first impression of our city. Up to 30 Chicago-area artists will&nbsp;participate in&nbsp;this program&nbsp;— the&nbsp;largest single acquisition of works by Chicago artists&nbsp;by the&nbsp;City&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;last 30 years.&nbsp;In the coming weeks, the City will launch more&nbsp;programs&nbsp;to aid Chicago’s creative recovery, including&nbsp;a new&nbsp;program to support arts education&nbsp;providers and students;&nbsp;additional grant programs&nbsp;to&nbsp;increase&nbsp;arts&nbsp;access&nbsp;for&nbsp;people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people living in institutions; workforce&nbsp;development&nbsp;programs&nbsp;to help stabilize and grow Chicago’s&nbsp;creative economy, including recommendations outlined in the report produced by the Chicago COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to support employment in the film industry; additional direct financial relief&nbsp;programs for individuals and organizations; artist engagement in We Will Chicago —&nbsp;the first citywide plan where artists will play a central role&nbsp;in creating public policy; and a public awareness and advocacy campaign reiterating the importance of the local arts sector, developed with global communications agency FleishmanHillard&nbsp;and the Cultural Advisory Council.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</body></html>

We Built This City On... The Arts. City of Chicago Pledges $60 million for Recovery and Reopening

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418881/l5rmboirddwvgl3hp38x.png"></figure>By CGN Staff via PRAfter wrapping up its first entirely online-only edition this week – EXPO CHGO Online – EXPO CHICAGO today announced the dates for its next in-person edition at Navy Pier for April 7 – 10, 2022. April will host the fair for the foreseeable future as well, returning to a time of year that hosted international art exhibitions like Art Chicago for decades.&nbsp;Last May Tony Karman announced the fair, planned for September 2020, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/expo-chicago-to-move-from-september-to-april-8-11-2021">would move to April 2021</a>. Then plans were adjusted once again to <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/1/expo-chicago-to-go-virtual-for-spring-2021-dates">move the fair online</a>. Moving forward, the exposition will be presented annually in April. Dates beyond 2022 include April&nbsp;13 – 16, 2023 and April&nbsp;11 – 14, 2024 for the 10th and 11th editions at Navy Pier.&nbsp;EXPO CHICAGO will continue to develop and present year-round programming initiatives leading up to its ninth edition, to be announced.“We feel strongly that focusing on presenting the next edition of EXPO CHICAGO in April of 2022 respects both the current global recovery process and provides sufficient time for galleries, curators, and collectors to fully ramp back up for in-person presentations in their galleries and at fairs," said Tony Karman, President | Director. "I'd like to express my deepest appreciation for the sound advice and continued support we've received from our Selection Committee, key institutional stakeholders, leading galleries, Navy Pier and Chicago’s civic leaders. I am confident that our new dates will enable us to welcome friends and exhibitors from around the world back to Chicago."&nbsp;EXPO CHICAGO’s commitment to rigorous programming, critically acclaimed curatorial initiatives, institutional partnerships, and VIP events remain core to the exposition. Furthermore, the exposition will continue its partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, co-presenting the Vernissage opening night benefit, with proceeds supporting the institution. The previously announced program curators for IN/SITU Marcella Beccaria – Contemporary art historian and Chief Curator and Curator of Collections at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Turin) – and Humberto Moro – Deputy Director and Senior Curator at Museo Tamayo (Mexico City) – for the EXPOSURE section will be joining as planned for the ninth edition.“A treasured annual tradition at Navy Pier for nearly a decade, EXPO CHICAGO is one of our most highly anticipated events each year, and we are thrilled to officially welcome it back to Chicago’s lakefront in 2022 and beyond,” said Navy Pier President and CEO Marilynn Gardner. “The exposition’s return next spring will surely signal a renewed sense of hope and optimism as we make strides toward a full recovery from the pandemic and once again host guests from around the globe for this important and unique art experience.”We have missed attending EXPO this past year but are grateful for their efforts to continue offering programming all year and to bring collectors, artists and dealers together virtually. We can now look forward to spring 2022. – GV&nbsp;Want to go back in time? Read CGN's posts from 2012 about EXPO before it even began.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/2/mmpi-cancels-art-chicago-after-30-year-run-chicago-looks-to-fall-art-fair-on-the-horizon">February 2012: MMPI Cancels Art Chicago after 30-year run... Chicago Looks to Fall Art Fair on the Horizon</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/9/expo-chicago-to-revive-windy-city-s-glorious-art-fair-legacy">September 2012: Expo Chicago to revive Windy City’s glorious art-fair legacy</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

EXPO CHICAGO Announces Return to Spring Time Slot After a Decade As a Fall Mainstay

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418870/mxqcecktlcw3zv4fwrqf.png"></figure> &nbsp;By CGN StaffWith the news that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is planning to move to the long-awaited fifth phase of reopening in the not so distant future, we have already been thinking about art fairs like EXPO Chicago and when and how they will return to business. Phase five promises “all sectors of the economy reopen” and “conventions, festivals, and large events can take place.”Coming up sooner is EXPO's online, five day slate of public panels and events, featuring 80+ local and international galleries, plus some starry artist, musician and performance names (Jeff Tweedy and Theaster Gates). We can't help but think that were this event to have taken place in person (as sort of planned as the first plan B when EXPO 2020 was postponed) these people would not have actually come together in the same way, making this seem like a glass half-full alternative opportunity we are grateful for after a year of closures and suspensions.&nbsp;EXPO CHGO ONLINE&nbsp;runs April 8–12, 2021 and is a curated digital exposition of contemporary and modern art complemented by five days of virtual programming. EXPO CHGO ONLINE will feature 81 galleries in a focused online presentation, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA). The site will include a “Dealer’s Choice” feature, inviting exhibitors to select one artwork on view from an artist outside of their roster, emulating casual recommendations made at a physical fair. Additionally, notable international curators, museum directors, and critics including Renaud Proch (Independent Curators International), Humberto Moro (Museo Tamayo), Marcella Beccaria (Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea) and Eric Shiner (Pioneer Works) will curate a selection of works from EXPO CHICAGO ONLINE, to be featured on the exposition homepage (<a href="https://hookart.com/expo-chgo">hook.art/expo</a>).Each gallery will also be invited to present one artwork that contributes to a broad rethinking of the environment, to be exhibited within a focused programming section. Accompanied by a curatorial statement from Katie Pfohl (Curator, New Orleans Museum of Art), the exposition’s Environmental Curator, this section is conceptually linked to the fair’s recent symposium Alternate Assembly: Environmental Impact in the Era of Pandemic, and will connect to a virtual panel organized by Pfohl as part of EXPO CHGO ONLINE’s program.“With EXPO CHGO ONLINE we welcome the world to explore the artwork offered by our participating exhibitors, and to utilize the numerous features included in our virtual programming we’ve built to encourage the interplay between galleries, collectors, curators and patrons like one might experience at an in-person fair,” said Tony Karman, President | Director of EXPO CHICAGO. “We are deeply grateful to our exhibitors and for our partnership with Hook to present this unique platform. We pledge to continue to enhance our virtual offerings to better serve our participants and patrons,” he added. “In addition to maintaining our longstanding Curatorial Forum initiatives and our commitment to supporting local and international art institutions and partners, I am also proud that EXPO CHGO ONLINE will introduce a series of performances and talks that further highlights Chicago’s rich cultural community.”&nbsp;Alongside the virtual exposition, EXPO CHGO ONLINE will offer a series of dynamic discussions, film screenings, exhibition tours, music and dance performances reflecting Chicago’s interdisciplinary arts scene.&nbsp;Programs taking place during EXPO CHGO ONLINE will be free and open to the public via <a href="http://program.expochicago.com/">program.expochicago.com</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Schedule highlights include:THURSDAY, APRIL 8&nbsp; &nbsp;o&nbsp;&nbsp; The Curatorial Forum brings together curators from across the US with two main goals—promoting collaborations and knowledge-sharing across the country, and advancing civic-minded practice among curators and in the institutions they work for. For the last four years, convenings have addressed issues of racial inequities in the museum and curatorial fields, a topic which will remain at the center of this special interim session of the Forum.&nbsp;12 p.m. CST: ICI |&nbsp;Race and Representation in Museums&nbsp;(virtual, Closed Door Session).&nbsp;Presented in partnership with Independent Curators International (ICI)&nbsp;&nbsp;o &nbsp;Framing the Moment: On Music, Architecture and Improvisation.&nbsp;Featuring David Brown (Artistic Director, Chicago Architecture Biennial), Ken Vandermark (Musician), Rosa Barba (Artist), and moderated by John Corbett (Gallerist, Corbett vs. Dempsey), this panel convenes thought leaders from visual art, jazz, and architectural backgrounds to discuss the ways improvisational techniques influence their diverse practices in the creation of visual, sonic, and constructed spaces. Panelists will explore how improvisational methods impact both collaboration and community.&nbsp; 5 p.m. CST: EXPO CHGO Kick-Off Program.&nbsp;Presented in partnership with Chicago Architecture Biennial&nbsp;FRIDAY, APRIL 9o&nbsp;&nbsp; Attend&nbsp;a&nbsp;Curator-Led Digital Tour with&nbsp;Humberto Moro, deputy director and senior curator at the Museo Tamayo and EXPO CHICAGO’s EXPOSURE curator, for a tour&nbsp;of EXPO CHGO ONLINE. Since 2016, Moro has been an adjunct curator at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia and has previously held curatorial positions at the Park Avenue Armory in New York and Museo Jumex in Mexico City. In this program, Moro will present a selection of works by emerging artists from a range of galleries featured in the EXPOSURE section of the digital exposition, in addition to key pieces from emerging artists throughout the exposition.&nbsp;11 a.m. CSTo &nbsp;Enjoy&nbsp;An Evening with Theaster Gates,&nbsp;a program led by artist, and Founder and Executive Director of Rebuild Foundation, Theaster Gates.&nbsp;6:30 p.m. CST Program&nbsp;SATURDAY, APRIL 10o&nbsp;&nbsp; Featuring the premiere of a new film and other new works, Jill Magid's Tender: Balance at the Renaissance Society thinks about the circulation of currency and measures of absence and loss, with dimensions that are both intimate and attuned to larger systems. This exhibition is the second manifestation of a larger unfolding project by the artist, set against the backdrop of the pandemic. While developing new threads, Tender: Balance parallels Magid's monumental but nearly-invisible public artwork, Tender, produced by Creative Time in New York last fall, for which Magid engraved the edges of 120,000 new US pennies with the words ‘THE BODY WAS ALREADY SO FRAGILE' and quietly put them into everyday circulation. On the exhibition's opening day at the Renaissance Society, artist Jill Magid joins curator Karsten Lund to discuss the project and its various manifestations, in Chicago and beyond.&nbsp;6 p.m. CST: Artist Talk&nbsp;&nbsp;o&nbsp;&nbsp; Tune in for a special live performance of solo sets by&nbsp;Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche and Nels Cline&nbsp;at&nbsp;7 p.m. CST: Performance.&nbsp;Presented in partnership with Corbett vs. Dempsey’s Sequesterfest 5, part of the Experimental Sound Studio’s The Quarantine Concert series&nbsp;&nbsp;SUNDAY, APRIL 11&nbsp;o&nbsp;&nbsp; With The Arts Club of Chicago in a pandemic-induced hibernation during the cold winter months, three polymath artists explore the club’s rooms and think experimentally about how to perform in an empty institution.&nbsp;Tiny Performances in Empty Rooms features musical artist Angel Bat Dawid collaborating with composer and multi-instrumentalist Isaiah Collier, dance-maker/performer/choreographer Jasmine Mendoza collaborating with filmmaker Keaton Fox, and theatre artist/performer Kurt Chiang collaborating with performer Livia Chesley.&nbsp;5 p.m. CST: Performance.&nbsp;Join for an in-depth follow-up with the artists on Monday, April 12 at 11:30 a.m. CST on the EXPO CHICAGO microsite.&nbsp;Presented in partnership with The Arts Club of ChicagoAlso: EXPO CHGO ONLINE will be complemented by a thematic selection of short films on the environment by emerging contemporary artists, curated in partnership with&nbsp;Daata (daata.art). The works will be screened together as a compilation on Sunday, April 11, and will be available to view throughout the weekend on a dedicated page on the EXPO CHICAGO microsite.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;MONDAY, APRIL 12o&nbsp;&nbsp; In his first solo museum exhibition, artist and musician Omar Velázquez (Puerto Rican, b. 1984) presents recent paintings and sculptures that address the intersection of painting, music, and folklore at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Velázquez speaks with Carla Acevedo-Yates, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, from his studio, giving a peek into his painting and instrument-building practice and inspirations including Puerto Rican painter Francisco Oller. &nbsp;2:30 p.m. CST: Artist Studio Visit |&nbsp;Music and Art with Omar Velázquez.&nbsp;Presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago&nbsp;The Online Dispatch will be presented daily to relay the program offerings. Subscribe to The Online Dispatch <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/online-dispatch">here</a>.A full schedule of EXPO CHGO ONLINE programming and events including dates, times and streaming links will be available on March 22 via <a href="http://www.program.expochicago.com/">www.program.expochicago.com</a>.&nbsp;</body></html>

EXPO CHGO ONLINE Programming Announced; Online Fair Runs April 8-12

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418870/iur5lj1wzqwcepsw7sh6.jpg"><figcaption>Richard H. Driehaus. Courtesy Richard Driehaus Museum</figcaption></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEARichard H. Driehaus, Chicago investment titan, philanthropist, and party planner extraordinaire, has died. He was 78.&nbsp;Driehaus was a rescuer of historic and beautiful treasures. He even made a sort of time–travel possible for many when his namesake museum opened more than 12 years ago, with a mission to explore&nbsp;the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a focus on the Gilded Age. The Museum, located within the meticulously restored 1883 Nickerson Mansion, was Gilded Age Chicago’s “Marble Palace.” Period pieces from the Driehaus Collection, rotating exhibitions&nbsp;and cultural programs further illuminate the era.&nbsp;When the museum first opened its doors – following a <a href="https://driehausmuseum.org/about/restoration">top to bottom rescue</a> from 2003–2008 to make up for decades of grime and neglect – the Driehaus quickly established itself as a unique addition to Chicago's cultural community. What at first was a restored jewel box that made the case for historic preservation in the heart of one of the world's centers for modern architecture, eventually matured into an immersive visual time machine.Visitors to the museum,&nbsp;hidden&nbsp;just off of the city's busiest tourist highway, the Magnificent Mile, are able to experience another era as soon as they climb the museum's limestone steps and enter its stained glass doors. As they climb three levels of carpeted stairs and wander&nbsp;room to room they behold countless prime examples of furniture and decoration from the 19th century. Today the Driehaus's line up of period-relevant exhibitions provides additional context as well as opportunities to visit again and again.Driehaus began collecting decorative arts in the 1970, and his personal collections ranged from American masters like Tiffany and the Herter Brothers; to Hector Guimard and Alfonse Mucha, at the pinnacle of French art nouveau; to Weiner Werkstatte’s Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser….and to classic American automobiles. Among his greatest pleasures was sharing his collections with the public. He is also a philanthropist who supported historic preservation, modern classical architecture, arts, culture, democracy and economic opportunity through the Richard H. Driehaus FoundationThis past fall, in advance of the opening of <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/9/a-tale-of-today-connecting-past-present">A Tale of Today: Nate Young and Mika Horibuchi</a>, a contemporary exhibition at the museum featuring site-specific works by Chicago artists Nate Young and Mika Horibuchi, Mr. Driehaus shared with us that he hoped to reach new audiences by giving them a chance to view the Gilded Age’s legacy through new perspectives and connect the abundant history of the Nickerson Mansion with our current times. He said the new series could “demonstrate the importance of architecture and sense of place from the incomparable vantage point of the Nickerson Mansion, while also showcasing new artists in this historical setting.”Outside of business, Driehaus focused his attention and energy on a variety of philanthropic and community service-oriented projects, individually and through the efforts of The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Trusts.The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards also celebrate the best of the best in historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and the re-imagining of historic buildings for the future. They are a part of the National Preservation Awards, which are presented annually at the PastForward conference. The coveted Driehaus Awards are bestowed on distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and corporations whose skill and determination have given new meaning to communities by preserving their architectural and cultural heritage. The Driehaus Awards recognize efforts such as citizens saving and maintaining important landmarks, companies and craftsmen restoring the richness of the past, public officials supporting preservation projects and legislation in their communities, and educators and journalists helping Americans understand the value of preservation.Mr. Driehaus used his eye and passion to carefully and respectfully ensure that objects and buildings from the past may continue to be appreciated in the future. What he sought to collect and preserve will undoubtedly be enjoyed for generations to come.&nbsp;</body></html>

Richard Driehaus Has Died at Age 78

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418862/d9l4uqryd1dmn4xmuodt.png"><figcaption>CAC will honor Nick Cave and Bob Faust this Summer</figcaption></figure>Chicago Artist Coalition's Work In Progress Benefit is Set for June 2021CAC announced&nbsp;this week they have set a new date for WORK IN PROGRESS 2021: Wednesday, June 9. The event is central to sustaining&nbsp;CAC's mission,&nbsp;and this year (after 2020 was cancelled) it will honor&nbsp;the illustrious work of Nick Cave and Bob Faust and recognize&nbsp;the exceptional contributions by&nbsp;Jeff Shapack to CAC's development. <a href="https://chicagoartistscoalition.org">More details to come.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418863/lzo6jc8gbwysggvi7snf.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.colum.edu/news-and-events/articles/2021/a-hidden-gem?fbclid=IwAR0QJvcpF1YnrpGI4Lhw-1BIdfjhziX1Y7nrfKpAJIUK0afXD5JGTRCFxGY#.YEEZAC1h2iv">MoCP is Turning 45</a>In the world of contemporary art museums,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mocp.org/">The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)</a>&nbsp;at Columbia College Chicago is a rarity. Nestled in the shadow of Chicago’s most iconic buildings sits a pride of the city— the only museum in the Midwest dedicated to the art of photography. Now celebrating its 45th&nbsp;year of operation, the MoCP has distinguished itself as a tri-level museum with an outsized reputation for living at the cutting edge of art and innovation.While the pandemic has created uncertainty for many industries, including museums, it has also opened windows of opportunities. For the past 45 years, the MoCP has been confined to its physical space on Columbia’s campus at 600 South Michigan Ave. Now, its exhibits and events can now be experienced virtually by visitors from around the globe.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418864/o3s2zlydzj9evu1cxpq2.jpg"><figcaption>Aron Gent of DOCUMENT</figcaption></figure><a href="http://newartdealers.org">NADA Announces New Board Members – 1 From Chicago</a>NADA is pleased to announce new board members Danny Baez of <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=6d0766f68c&amp;e=a3f64d3727">Regular Normal</a>, Joeonna Bellorado-Samuels of <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=ddcfb5fb49&amp;e=a3f64d3727">We Buy Gold</a> and <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=a0597595c8&amp;e=a3f64d3727">Jack Shainman Gallery</a>, and Aron Gent of <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=dbe4bd80f6&amp;e=a3f64d3727">Document</a>, and welcome 24 new Gallery Members, hailing from 12 cities in 7 countries, to its international community of art galleries, non-profits, and artist run spaces.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418865/kbzp1wnubypzexr0va9p.png"><figcaption>Ceramicist Natalie Steinmetz at work in her studio</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artencounter.org/night-visions">Art Encounter Announces New Night Visions Series</a>Night Visions returns this spring with after-hours visits to exceptional artists’ studios, all in real-time via Zoom! Grab a glass of wine, get comfortable, and join Sarah Packer and Leslie Luning online as they host local artists in lively group conversations about their work and artistic journeys.&nbsp;Additionally, each artist will&nbsp;do live demonstrations&nbsp;of&nbsp;their chosen medium.This season includes virtual visits to the studios of seven Evanston artists: Karen Ross, Socorro Muciño, Candice Johnson, Bryana Bibbs, ﻿Pat Gordon, and Natalie Steinmetz.&nbsp;Prices start at $25.&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 3/5/21

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418858/kscuqwggsekfrbay2rel.png"></figure>By CGN Staff via PRChicago has long been known for its unparalleled collection of public art. That collection is receiving new, thoughtful attention now as The City of Chicago, in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Chicago Park District (Parks) and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), launches the Chicago Monuments Project website <a href="http://chicagomonuments.org/">chicagomonuments.org</a>, kicking off the public engagement phase of the Chicago Monuments Project that will conclude in April 2021.The new website identifies monumental sculptures, artworks and commemorative plaques on the public way and in Chicago parks selected by the Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee for further review. Chicagoans are encouraged to join the conversation by submitting feedback through the website, virtual events and one-on-one conversations."This project is a powerful opportunity for us to come together as a city to assess the many monuments and memorials across our neighborhoods and communities—to face our history and what and how we memorialize that history," said Mayor Lightfoot. "Given the past year and in particular the past summer that made clear history isn’t past, it is essential that residents are a part of this conversation. This project is about more than a single statue or mural, it’s about channeling our city's dynamic civic energy to permanently memorialize our shared values, history and heritage as Chicagoans in an open and democratic way."The Chicago Monuments Project is the City’s first effort to grapple with the often unacknowledged – or forgotten – history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections and provides a vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history, confront the ways in which that history has and has not been memorialized and develop a framework for marking public space that elevates new ways to memorialize Chicago’s true and complete history.Using feedback collected through the upcoming public art and engagement efforts, the City, along with various stakeholder groups, will create a plan to erect a series of new monuments that equitably acknowledge Chicago’s shared history.The Chicago Monuments Project also seeks project ideas from individual artists and/or community groups for the development of new monuments that rethink the place, purpose and permanence of monuments in our public spaces. Deadline for submissions is April 1, 2021.*Leading this review of monuments is the Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee, a group of community leaders, artists, architects, scholars, curators and city officials who have dedicated their time, experience and expertise.&nbsp; The committee, announced in August 2020, is co-chaired by Mark Kelly, Commissioner of DCASE, Bonnie McDonald, President &amp; CEO of Landmarks Illinois and Jennifer Scott, Director/Chief Curator of Jane Addams Hull-House Museum."The Chicago Monuments Project <a href="https://chicagomonuments.org/committee">Advisory Committee</a> – a group of community leaders, artists, architects, scholars, curators, and city officials, who are dedicating their time, experience, and expertise to lead this effort – has considered hundreds of the city’s sculptures and plaques in this critically important process,” said DCASE Commissioner and Advisory Committee Co-Chair Mark Kelly. “The City’s public art collection is a defining characteristic of Chicago and it should reflect and respect all Chicagoans. The public’s input will now help us evaluate the collection and to commission new works.”Several local artists and cultural leaders serving on the committee include: Faheem Majeed, Amanda Williams, Teresa Silva, Michelle Boone, Michael Rakowitz, and others.*&nbsp;Out of a collection of over 500 monumental sculptures, commemorative plaques and artworks on the public way and in Chicago parks, 41 listed online have been identified for public discussion.The project states that everyone is welcome and encouraged to share feedback on specific monuments, monuments in general or what monuments might look like in the future. The website is currently <a href="https://chicagomonuments.org/participate">accepting public feedback</a> and Chicagoans are also invited to pre-register to participate in discussions with Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee Members, where they can ask questions, share their thoughts and learn more about the Chicago Monuments Project. Space will be limited to 20 community members per drop-in session.The Chicago Monuments Project also seeks proposals from community partners to host and facilitate public conversations about the city’s monuments. Programs can address a specific artwork(s) identified by the Chicago Monuments Advisory Committee and/or present open platforms for a constructive dialogue about previously untold, erased or obscured narratives in the telling of Chicago’s history and the development of new monuments. Program proposals will be reviewed by the Advisory Committee, and a select number of proposals will be identified to receive a $1,500 stipend toward program production.Additional public program details will be updated in the upcoming weeks.The Chicago Park District is excited to help launch and facilitate the Chicago Monuments Project," said General Superintendent and CEO Michael Kelly. "We urge residents and groups to share their perspectives, in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Public participation is critical to our success, not only in examining Chicago's public art collection but also healing our city."CPS will lead a separate, but aligned, process to review their extensive collection of artworks. CPS is currently in the final stages of creating a Works of Art Steering Committee that will meet quarterly to review concerns about specific works of art raised by members of the CPS community. The committee will work with students, teachers, school leaders and advocacy groups to recommend and advise school communities on actions related to the collection."Chicago Public Schools is committed to ensuring works of art in our schools represent the diversity, history and heritage of the communities we serve," said CPS Chief Education Officer, LaTanya McDade. "CPS is proud to participate in this joint effort to better reflect and honor the diversity of our city through public art."*The first drop-in Zoom discussion takes place next week, February 23 from 10–11am, with Commissioner Mark Kelly &amp; Jon Pounds.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/141329437151">REGISTER</a> &nbsp;</body></html>

City of Chicago Launches The Chicago Monuments Project, Led By Several Local Artists

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418858/hrm6wsk5o56snbngmxv6.png"></figure>&nbsp;By CGN Staff via PRSculpture Milwaukee,​ an annual outdoor exhibition of public sculpture in the city's downtown, has announced that its 2021 exhibition will be co-curated by artists Theaster Gates and Michelle Grabner. Launching in June 2021 and running through November, the exhibition is now in its fifth year and has become one of the largest annual outdoor exhibitions to focus on​ ​contemporary sculpture and public art practices. Sculpture Milwaukee serves as a catalyst for community engagement, economic development, and creative placemaking. ​The exhibit creates a free, open-air art gallery, which captivates residents, tourists, downtown employees, students, and art lovers alike.&nbsp;<a href="www.sculpturemilwaukee.com">Sculpture Milwaukee</a> is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization funded through private grants, in-kind donations, and sponsorships. ​All of the artworks are available for purchase.Michelle Grabner, whose ​Untitled ​sculpture appeared in Sculpture Milwaukee’s inaugural​ ​exhibition in 2017 stated, "It is exhilarating to co-curate Sculpture Milwaukee with​ ​Theaster, knowing that the process will result in wholehearted and attentive conversations between two artists who are deeply invested in sculptural form, materiality, and the urgent political and aesthetic issues embedded in a large-scale public exhibition.”The organization will continue​ ​with virtual artist talks, and, if conditions improve around the ongoing pandemic,​ ​in-person programming may resume. ​Sculpture Milwaukee will continue to celebrate sculpture​ ​by knitting together an offering of artwork that imparts artistic perspectives, material​ ​imagination, and creative expressions within a city-landscape that foregrounds civic​ ​engagement and diverse cultural histories.Past participating artists have included Jim Dine, Tony Tasset, Julian Opie, William Kentridge, Paula Crown and many others. A complete list of artists and artworks that will be part of the <a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com/2021">2021 exhibition</a> will be released this coming Spring.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418858/r0pq8h4qhe5se7r0jw96.png"></figure>&nbsp;ABOUT THE CURATORS<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418859/p5hyp7hfkc0352klwvp1.jpg"></figure>Theaster Gates ​is a ​Chicago-based artist and curator whose practice encompasses sculpture, performance, and land development-based projects.​ His work contends with the notion of Black space as a formal exercise – one defined by collective desire, artistic agency, and the tactics of a pragmatist. Drawing on his training in urban planning and preservation, Gates is known for investing in the revitalization of urban spaces. In 2010, he advanced this aspect of his practice by establishing ​Rebuild Foundation, a nonprofit platform that provides free arts programming and cultural amenities to communities on Chicago’s South Side.Gates is ​a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and at the Harris School of Public Policy, and is Distinguished Visiting Artist and Director of Artist Initiatives at the Lunder Institute for American Art at Colby College. ​His work has been widely exhibited in museums, galleries, and biennials nationally and internationally, including recent solo exhibitions at Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago and Gagosian Gallery, New York.Read CGN's 2018 interview with Gates <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/8/the-evolution-of-a-vision-what-s-next-for-the-stony-island-arts-bank">here</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418860/v0vi29osrpcauf5ruqo7.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Michelle Grabner​ is a ​Wisconsin-based artist, writer, and curator. She co-curated the 2014 Whitney Biennial ​and was the Artistic Director for the inaugural 2018 FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. Her practice spans a variety of media including drawing, painting, and sculpture, and finds a creative center in operating across platforms and towards community. ​Her work has been the subject of several national museum surveys. She is presently represented by James Cohan, New York and Green Gallery, Milwaukee, among others.Grabner is the Crown Family Professor of Art and the Senior Chair of the Painting and Drawing Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she has taught since 1996. She has also held teaching appointments at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cranbrook Academy of Art; Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts—Bard College; Yale University School of Art; and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine.&nbsp;</body></html>

Theaster Gates and Michelle Grabner to Curate 2021 Edition of Sculpture Milwaukee 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418194/xuoytdbvf4tmwlexezoc.jpg"></figure>-- Via PR&nbsp;The New Art Dealers Alliance and Printed Matter are pleased to present a new limited-edition artwork produced by artist Karl Wirsum. The fundraising edition will debut as part of <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=919743ea02&amp;e=c90a0cc501">Printed Matter’s Virtual Art Book Fair</a>, to take place February 24–28, 2021.The 9-color screen print borrows an outlandish and provocative character from a recent series of drawings by the artist, depicting a grinning but friendly figure that is both animal and human, composed from bright block colors and abstract shapes.&nbsp;Karl Wirsum, “The Gift Horse’s Mouth,” 2021, 9-color screen print, 24 x 20 inches, Edition of 100Numbered and embossed with the artist’s signature. Tiered pricing starting at $500. Printed by <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=f05001e4c6&amp;e=c90a0cc501">POP!NK Editions</a><a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=6fe94993e4&amp;e=c90a0cc501">BUY NOW</a>&nbsp;About​ Karl​ WirsumKarl Wirsum is one of the original Chicago Imagists known as the Hairy Who, a group of six artists who decided to join forces and exhibit together in the mid-1960’s. Wirsum is a Chicago native, creating paintings, drawings, and sculptures, that are broadly influenced by his interest in comics, his time spent living in the southwest, urban environment, and decorative forms. His work was featured prominently in a major survey of the Hairy Who at the Art Institute of Chicago, in 2019. His works are in numerous public collections such as the Whitney Museum, Museum of Modern Art, High Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and RISD Art Museum. Karl Wirsum is represented by <a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=c6d0b99ecc&amp;e=c90a0cc501">Derek Eller Gallery</a> in New York.<a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=bd04b49c3a&amp;e=c90a0cc501">About​ Printed​ Matter’s​ Virtual​ Art​ Book​ Fair</a><a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=ad488ecea8&amp;e=c90a0cc501">Printed Matter’s Virtual Art Book Fair (PMVABF)</a> takes place from February 25–28, 2021, with an Opening on Wednesday, February 24.Since 2005, Printed Matter’s Art Book Fairs have hosted international exhibitors featuring a wide variety of works—from zines and artists’ books to rare and out of print publications, and contemporary art editions. This new Fair expands upon the rich tradition of our longrunning and beloved NY and LA Art Book Fairs, including over 400 exhibitors from 43 countries, with online programs, performances, games, and more.<a href="https://newartdealers.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3493a38a571991d5c278569e7&amp;id=7ab9fcbe41&amp;e=c90a0cc501">Printed Matter, Inc.</a> is an independent 501©(3) non-profit organization founded in 1976 by artists and art workers with the mission to foster the distribution, understanding and appreciation of artists’ books and related artists’ publications.&nbsp;About​ NADAFounded in 2002, New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) is a not-for-profit 501c(6) collective of professionals working with contemporary art. Its mission is to create an open flow of information, support, and collaboration within the arts field and to develop a stronger sense of community among its constituency. Through support and encouragement, NADA facilitates strong and meaningful relationships between its members working with new contemporary and emerging art. In 2020, NADA hosted the New York Gallery Open, FAIR, the Chicago Gallery Open, and NADA Miami.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

There's a new limited-edition artwork by Karl Wirsum starting at $500

<html><head></head><body>(February 1, 2021) <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/">Hyde Park Art Center</a>, the renowned non-profit hub for contemporary art located on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, announces the Artists Run Chicago Fund, a new regranting initiative providing more than half a million dollars ($560,000) to support Chicago’s artist community. Taking place in two phases, the first will immediately grant awards of $8,000 to each of the 50 independent&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;artist-run spaces that participated in the Art Center’s popular 2020 exhibition, <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibition-archive/artists-run-chicago-2-0/">Artists Run Chicago 2.0 (ARC 2.0)</a>.&nbsp; Later this month, Chicago artist-run spaces that did not participate in ARC 2.0 are invited to apply for 20 additional grants of $8,000. The Artists Run Chicago Fund initiative is being funded by an anonymous donor and is being fully administered by Hyde Park Art Center.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417773/jarrjdjzzw19ewnfdccb.png"></figure>Recipients of the first phase of the Artists Run Chicago Fund include 062, 4th Ward Project Space, 65Grand, ACRE Projects, Adds Donna, AMFM, Annas, Apparatus Projects, Bad At Sports, Blanc Gallery, boundary, Chicago Art Department, Chuquimarca, Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Clutch, Co-Prosperity Sphere/Public Media Institute, Comfort Station, Compound Yellow, D Gallery, Devening Projects, Document, Experimental Sound Studio, F4F, The Franklin, Heaven Gallery, Iceberg Projects, Ignition Project Space, Julius Caesar, Lawrence and Clark, LVL3, Mujeres Mutantes, Ohklahomo, The Nightingale Cinema, Practise, Prairie, Roman Susan, Roots &amp; Culture, Rootwork Gallery, The Silver Room, Slow, The Suburban, Sweet Water Foundation, table, Terrain Exhibitions, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Trunk Show, TRQPITECA, VGA Gallery, Wedge Projects, and Western Pole.“The Artists Run Chicago Fund presents a proud moment for Chicago,” said Allison Peters Quinn, Hyde Park Art Center Director of Exhibitions &amp; Residency.&nbsp; “In the city, artists freely share their resources, time, space, and ideas to create unforgettable experiences that unite people through art in their neighborhoods. This fund proves to artists that this city and its people value artists and the relentless work they do to make Chicago a place where art, experimentation, and community converge.”Added Mark Jeffrey, founder of Ohklahomo and Artist Run Chicago 2.0 participant, “This extraordinary donation for artist-run spaces here in Chicago is unbelievable. Artists and community need resources right now to continue and to begin again. And as we enter this new year, this fund gives light and hope and allows for artist run spaces to reimagine and to create new communities and a new sense of belonging, inclusion and being together. &nbsp;For this I am so grateful and so humbled.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417774/a45oxalujaoxzv2h2xwp.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;The second phase of the Artists Run Chicago Fund program will award 20 unrestricted $8,000 grants to artist-run spaces, collectives, and platforms from the Chicagoland area that were not included in the ARC 2.0 exhibitionand founded before 2020. The second phase of the grant will support experimental artist-led spaces and platforms with a particular focus on those that are run by artists who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), women, queer and/or with disabilities. Phase two will also expand the network of support that makes artist-driven projects thrive in Chicago. Applications for Artists Run Chicago Fund grants will be available starting March 1, with a submission deadline of March 31, 2021; for more information, please visit <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/get-involved/artist-opportunities/artists-run-chicago-fund">https://www.hydeparkart.org/get-involved/artist-opportunities/artists-run-chicago-fund</a>&nbsp;About the Hyde Park Art CenterHyde Park Art Center, at 5020 South Cornell Avenue on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering and production space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Since its inception in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has grown from a small collective of quirky artists to establishing a strong legacy of innovative development and emerging as a unique Chicago arts institution with social impact. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for today and tomorrow’s creative voices, providing the space to cultivate and create new work and connections.&nbsp;For more information about Hyde Park Art Center and the Artists Run Chicago Fund, please visit&nbsp; <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/">https://www.hydeparkart.org/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Hyde Park Art Center Announces ‘Artists Run Chicago Fund’ to Award $560K to 70 Chicago Artist-Run Spaces

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418851/ui3grim80cou44q7cm6e.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;CGN Staff via PRWhen the pandemic hit nearly a year ago, arts organizations of all sizes and types, from galleries and museums to theaters and dance studios, were impacted. Nearly all had to work very quickly to shift to full-time online programming while the public was required to stay at home. What began as a temporary, survival-response has since become more sophisticated and far reaching. The programming and business impacts of such a shift also may be here for the long term.&nbsp;We recently learned that the Chicago-based Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation—an organization that offers unrestricted grants to 175 small arts organizations in Chicago with budgets under $1 million—recently surveyed 61 of its arts grantees to garner insights on 2020 virtual programming. An overwhelming number of arts leaders cited that the main benefit to producing events virtually was the ability to engage new, broader audiences well outside their usual geographic reach, thanks to the accessibility of the virtual format at a time when people across Chicago and the nation are seeking at-home entertainment options.Other significant findings include:·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 100% of the arts organizations surveyed presented virtual programming in 2020, ranging from socially distanced concerts and artist talks to livestreamed performances·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 70% of arts organizations said their virtual programming received far more engagement than anticipated·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 46% of arts organizations saw a boost in their social media and website traffic as a result of virtual programming&nbsp;Leaders from theatre, music, dance and visual arts organizations provided a wealth of insight regarding the specific programs that proved to be successful in a virtual format and shared how these successes have informed their plans for 2021.2nd Story, an organization that elevates storytellers to deliver literary-theatrical experiences, has also found the virtual shift to be a constructive alternative to their usual in-person performances, and over the course of the pandemic 2nd Story reached audiences in 110 Illinois zip codes, 36 states, and seven countries, with each virtual show exceeding revenue goals and setting revenue records that surpass their previous in-person programming. 2nd Story’s upcoming virtual events are listed online at <a href="http://www.2ndstory.com/upcoming">www.2ndstory.com/upcoming</a>.“One of the things that has made these virtual events successful is that we are not trying to mask the medium, we are embracing Zoom for its reach and functionality,” said Lauren Sivak, Managing Director of 2nd Story. “We cannot ignore the fact that virtual programming provides a certain level of accessibility that our in-person programming will never offer, especially now that we are in colder months. We will still see a demand for virtual programming even when things open back up.”Water People Theater (WPT), an organization dedicated to expanding the boundaries of Latin-theater, engaged a global audience of more than 7,000 people who virtually attended WPT productions in 2020. The virtual model has enhanced WPT’s artistic collaborations as well, as the organization featured 156 global theatre professionals on its virtual stage this past year. WPT’s International Festival of Latino Theater begins March 19, 2021. More information can be found<a href="http://www.waterpeople.org/">www.waterpeople.org</a>.&nbsp;“We have done several productions where all artists involved are in a different country and time zone!” said Rebeca Alemán, Founder and Executive Director of WPT. “We have featured artists from Los Angeles to Argentina, performing on the same ‘stage’ at the same time. It is humbling to see the Latino theater community’s commitment to take on challenges to continue transforming people through art and, by doing so, keeping live theater active.”&nbsp;In the summer of 2020, while several dance companies were rebroadcasting past works, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, a multicultural dance collective, was quickly creating new productions including Wilfredo Rivera’s Identity City, focused on themes of isolation and metamorphosis, and Rivera’s Mood Swing, a series of duets between musicians and dancers that responded to the pandemic and social justice movement. Due to popular demand, Cerqua’s 2021 season will include both virtual and in-person performances, including an evolved version of Mood Swing. Cerqua will announce its upcoming season in the next month via their website at <a href="http://www.cerquarivera.org/">www.cerquarivera.org</a>.The Neo-Futurists—a non-illusory theater company whose work is a combination of sport, poetry and living newspaper—moved their flagship late-night show to a digital platform the week after the pandemic started and have been presentingThe Infinite Wrench Goes Viral every week since. Welcoming digital subscribers on a Patreon platform, the company was making 100% of the show’s weekly pre-pandemic revenue as of the end of 2020, with hundreds of subscribers across the country and beyond. This support has enabled the company to broaden its overall offerings, from entirely original music albums to feature-length films to videogames. They will continue the show’s virtual format in 2021, and upcoming performances can be found at <a href="http://www.neofuturists.org/2020-2021-digital-season">www.neofuturists.org/2020-2021-digital-season</a>.Fifth House Ensemble, known to reach beyond the perceived limits of classical music, reimagined its annual “Fresh Inc. Festival” in 2020. The event was their farthest-reaching festival to-date, welcoming a global audience of over 5,300 participants, nearly five times the usual number. In 2021, Fifth House will continue their Deep Listening sessions every weekday at 10 a.m. via Facebook Live. Deep Listening is a creativity and mindfulness technique that teaches one how to listen in every dimension, and Fifth House’s daily virtual sessions have created a space for participants to deeply reflect on current events, reconnect to the playfulness of childhood, and remember loved ones who have passed. More information can be found at <a href="http://www.fifth-house.com/deep-listening">www.fifth-house.com/deep-listening</a>.“I have been really impressed by how meaningful Deep Listening has been,” said Melissa Ngan, Founder and CEO of Fifth House Ensemble. “The opportunity to build individual mindfulness and well-being via people’s computer screens, has really exceeded all of our expectations. It’s nice to see how something that we thought of as primarily an educational process is now infused throughout our educational, social, and performance work.”Silk Road Rising’s artistic output has included digital media, particularly video plays, for over ten years. This experience proved invaluable when the organization moved entirely to virtual programming over the last nine months and launched their newest project, Black Teen Lives Matter, in response to the pandemic and this era of racial awakening. The first of four acts debuted in November 2020 and the series will resume February 27, 2021. More information about the series can be found at <a href="http://www.silkroadrising.org./">www.silkroadrising.org.</a>Video Game Art (VGA) Gallery—an organization that seeks to increase cultural appreciation, education of video games and new media—released a new monthly digital publication in 2020, VGA Zine, comprised of interviews with staff, artists and community members, as well as discussions around media from the video games in VGA’s collection. After VGA Zine readership skyrocketed upon the creation of the publication, seeing 7,877 page views with the first five issues, the organization will launch VGA Fireside, an artist-speaker series beginning on January 27, 2021, with hopes that it can be a hybrid program, both in-person and virtual. VGA Zine can be accessed at <a href="http://www.videogameartgallery.com/vga-zine-home">www.videogameartgallery.com/vga-zine-home</a>.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418852/odkrzgmfsfornxmj7foo.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Given the focus on digital entertainment, several organizations also made concerted efforts to develop strategies surrounding their social media pages and websites, resulting in an extreme increase in traffic.&nbsp;Experimental Sound Studio, an international hub for sonic experimentation, will be using data from their extensive 2020 engagement analysis to inform marketing decisions in 2021. In a year over year comparison between 2019 and 2020, ESS's YouTube channel saw a 668% increase in engagement, their website a 270% increase in traffic, and their Instagram a 135% increase in followers. Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art compared 2020 website stats versus the year prior, and saw a 110% increase in searches, a 247% increase in social media referrals and a 380% increase in referrals from other sites. The week of their Candlelight Carols in December 2020, St. Charles Singers’ Facebook page saw a 1,035% increase in reach and 401% increase in engagement as compared to the week prior.In addition to revamping social channels, webpages, and online publications, multiple organizations explored the podcast world in 2020. Artemisia Theatre launched a female-driven podcast in 2020 entitled We Women that challenges audiences to see women in a new light. Thanks to the podcast’s rising listenership since its launch in May, Artemisia’s 2021 season will offer eight audio performances of classic and all-new feminist plays, streamed through We Women, featuring discussions with creative teams, intriguing social justice interviews with community leaders, and more. Information about We Women can be found at <a href="https://artemisiatheatre.org/podcast">artemisiatheatre.org/podcast</a>.The full list of the 61 organizations surveyed can be found at <a href="https://gddf.org/2020-virtual-success/">gddf.org/2020-virtual-success</a>.&nbsp;Emergency Funding During COVID-19 PandemicAcknowledging the cataclysmic financial situation which hundreds of beloved regional small arts faced in response to COVID-19 related shutdowns, the Board of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation met in March 2020 and unanimously voted to immediately put in place a series of funding mechanisms, including expediting a total of $2 million in general operating funds to its roster of 175 arts grantees in the Chicago region and 40 in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.&nbsp;In addition to expediting individual grants to existing Foundation grantees, the Foundation contributed $200,000 to the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund providing unrestricted grants from $6,000 to $30,000 for groups to be administered by the Arts Work Fund; created an initial $100,000 Lowcountry Arts Emergency Fund to be administered by the Foundation; and seeded a $200,000 relief fund for small collecting organizations in both regions, providing public access to regionally-focused collections.&nbsp; And looking ahead to grantees’ future financial needs, the Foundation will continue its ongoing Cash Reserve Challenge offering arts organizations in both regions the opportunity to receive up to $25,000 in matching funds to assist with maintaining a cash reserve.&nbsp;About Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley FoundationThe Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and regional collections for the people of the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. GDDF awards $1.7 million annually to 175 creatively accomplished small arts organizations in the Chicago metro area. For more information visit <a href="http://www.gddf.org/">www.gddf.org</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;The Foundation supports its grantees with multi-year general operating grants ranging from $2,500 to $13,500 annually, plus an array of additional organizational development opportunities including one-on-one feedback from staff and consultants, reimbursements for trainings tailored to grantee needs, and a cash reserve program.&nbsp;</body></html>

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