We saw several personnel / gallery / programatic changes announced this week and are excited to share them below. -CGN

Photo by Evan Jenkins

Chanelle Lacy Named Managing Dir. of Gertie

Gertie announced the appointment of Chanelle Lacy as Managing Director of Gertie. Lacy, who previously held the roles of Director of Art Initiatives and Head of Programming, Partnerships & Membership, has served Gertie alongside founder Abby Pucker since 2023.

“Gertie has changed the way I think about what it means to build something in the art world,” said Lacy. “Taking on this role feels deeply meaningful because I believe so much in what we’re building and the people we’re building it with. Alongside Abby, I’m excited to keep pushing

Gertie forward by creating new models, opening doors, bringing unexpected people and ideas together, and reminding the people in our orbit that there is always more possibility than we think.”

As Managing Director, Lacy will lead Gertie’s partnerships, global programming, and membership initiatives, while assuming an expanded purview over the organization’s strategic growth. Her expanded leadership will also support the development of a new initiative designed to deepen Chicago’s engagement with the international community, cultivating new opportunities for commercial exchange.

Arts of Life Artist Dave Krueger Has Died

Vincent Uribe shared that artist Dave Krueger has died. Krueger was a familiar and joyful part of the Arts of Life community. Arts of Life is a creative nonprofit for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

From Block Club Chicago: "When Vincent Uribe joined the organization 13 years ago, Krueger gave him a tour of the West Town studio. Located in an industrial corridor, the unassuming, warehouse-style building had little signage at the time, Uribe recalled.

Krueger “was so warm and welcoming to people who entered this otherwise, I think, fairly intimidating location,” said Uribe, the nonprofit’s head of art partnerships and events. “He was the most hospitable, the most outspoken and just wanted to meet people and welcome them in.”

It was like that for nearly two decades, since Krueger joined in 2007 as a resident artist. In that time, he established himself as a multi-disciplinary artist — working in the studio five days per week for over a decade, painting canvas and murals, creating music with the Arts of Life Band and collaborating on comics with artist and publisher Ben Marcus.

New Arts Designation Planned for North Lawndale. Mural by Dorian Sylvain Introduced.

There will be an official announcement this week with details and an unveiling of plans for a new arts destination in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, planned to open summer 2027.

The world-class mural park will introduce its inaugural installation: Bring It With You, a 50-foot-tall (x four-foot diameter) illuminated steel pillar adorned with a vibrant mural designed by Dorian Sylvain, in partnership with Chicago Public Art Group.

The site is at 3216 W. Ogden Avenue

Ms. Sylvain was recently recognized for her work at the Obama Presidential Center. She describes the elaborate new mural as drawing primary inspiration from textiles, needlework, ceramics, pottery, and woodwork—such as the intricate beadwork of the Potawatomi and the Czech tradition of decorative Easter eggs—recognizing the waves of ethnic and national populations that settled in North Lawndale before expanding throughout Chicago to create a “City of Neighborhoods.”

Virgil Marion Gallery Opens in West Town

Virgil Marion Gallery opens its doors for the first time this month at 2003 West Fulton Street, Suite 402. Its inaugural exhibition is titled Give Them Their Flowers, opening October 23rd in West Town, with an opening reception from 6 to 9 PM. The show brings together GOGO, Chris Arnold, and Guy Stanley Philoche.