<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419292/chjuwb0b22yboytra7t8.png"><figcaption>Vera Klement in her studio</figcaption></figure> “...I was born in a small town that was known for its beauty and moderate climate, a renowned resort on the Baltic Sea. It was part of the Free City of Danzig, an independent German Hanseatic city/state, that is now Gdansk, Poland...&nbsp; ...From the beginning I experienced a sense of duality the bright light and rhythmic pounding of the sea, and there, rising behind it, the dark forest that held in its silence the northern European legends of evil spirits: witches, erlkings and poison toadstools. Light and dark - good and evil - life and death - that juxtaposition that eventually became the underpinning of my painting...”&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;from&nbsp;BLUNT EDGE&nbsp;-&nbsp;The Making of a Painter&nbsp;: <a href="http://veraklement.com">Vera Klement</a>&nbsp;From CGN StaffToday we received the following message from Zolla/Lieberman Gallery that artist Vera Klement has died.&nbsp;"We are saddened to announce the passing of spirited artist Vera Klement (1929-2023).&nbsp; In a career spanning over six decades, Klement's work was a reflection of her many influences. From classical music to literature to modern art, these themes are filtered through her early formative experience fleeing the Nazis with her family just before World War II and a lifetime examining that loss of home and identity.&nbsp; Born in 1929 in the Free City of Danzig, now Gdańsk in Poland, Klement’s childhood was imbued with music and literature primarily from her mother, a pianist. The family fled Europe following "Kristallnacht" (the Night of Broken Glass) in 1938 and settled in New York, where she studied art and was exposed to Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. In 1964 she moved to Chicago where she became active in the feminist movement, taught for 25 years at the University of Chicago, and developed her work into the powerful metaphoric and poetic images for which she became known. Vera was a friend and mentor to many in the Chicago arts community and she will be dearly missed." <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2014/4/artist-insights-vera-klement">Read CGN's 2014 interview with Klement here</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419293/jkyeyri3q08bmsbpy5iz.png"><figcaption>Toward the Shade, 2014, oil, wax, gesso on canvas, 84 x 66 inches &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Artist Vera Klement Has Died: 1929–2023

<html><head></head><body><a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/frieze-london-2023-vip-sales-report-2374551">As Frieze London Turns 20, the Art Fair Trades Risk for Reward, Serving Up Palatable Offerings to a Softer Market</a>There was a sense of intensity and focus among the early-bird visitors to the Frieze art fair (October 11–15, 2023) on its 20th anniversary in London’s Regent’s Park, with smooth entry to the signature white tent that offered a marked contrast to the scrum many visitors complained about last year.Via Artnet&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419292/akg6lgupks7dtf24sivk.png"><figcaption>People walk outside the mostly empty Thompson Center on July 19, 2023, in Chicago’s Loop. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-thompson-center-google-demolition-permit-20231018-kavcb44n3ra6lmzy523r2cclh4-story.html">Thompson Center demolition permit approved in step toward Google’s remodeling</a>The Chicago Department of Buildings approved a permit for demolition at the James R. Thompson Center affecting the iconic building’s interior and facade.The Helmut Jahn-designed Thompson Center previously served as a state office building before it was sold in July 2022 to JRTC Holdings, a company led by real estate developer Michael Reschke.Google has a “build-to-suit agreement” with JRTC Holdings to buy the Thompson Center once renovations are complete. The internet giant is expected to begin occupying the building in 2026, the company said in July 2022.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-claudie-miller-nick-cave-movie-1017-20231017-5ok2teqig5alvomoa3qaqlkyue-story.html">Nick Cave invited her to make her first movie about his work, with magical results. It’s part of the CIFF.</a>Of the many films — more than 175 by my count — that are part of the current edition of the Chicago International Film Festival, one of the shortest is also one of the best, for it allows viewers an exciting and intimate visit with one of our city’s most passionate and intriguing artists.That artist’s name is Nick Cave and the woman who made the film is Claude-Aline Nazaire-Miller. Though “376 Days (Nick Cave: ‘Keep it Movin’)” is her first film and only 37 minutes long, it is a brilliant portrait of an artist.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 10/19/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419292/f8wfgd335ekafltdev3k.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/italian-excellence-illustrations-for-italo-calvino">Italian Excellence: Illustrations for Italo Calvino</a>Exhibition begins October 19Istituto Italiano di CulturaIn response to the theme "Italian language and sustainability" the exhibition provides an insight into the Calvinian world and nature, through the contemporary interpretation of young illustrators from around the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419293/kycygqlkeys7mqyvjhw4.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/affen-segun-for-we-are-kings-timeless-transfers-of-generational-joy-happiness-and-swag">Affen Segun: For We are Kings: Timeless Transfers of Generational Joy, Happiness and Swag</a>Opening: Friday, October 20, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmElephant Room GalleryAs an artist, Affen is heavily inspired by culture, motherhood, family and love. For this exhibition in particular, he has found inspiration through the people he has met and has felt compelled to tell their stories. Each piece contains a character reimagined by Affen, accompanied by thoughtfully placed objects, patterned backgrounds or abstract elements, all within a setting or occasion. Incorporating color, strong composition and Ankara patterned fabrics, Affen’s art is visual poetry, bursting forth with relentless energetic expression.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419294/htcqoyhfsokxtdmos7mo.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/no-artificial-ingredients">No Artificial Ingredients</a>Opening: Friday, October 20, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmEast Erie GalleryFeaturing nine Chicago area based artists showcasing their painting, collage, sculpture, pastel, glass, and watercolor.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419295/my2sve8yekvsw2qnrjgj.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/reception-for-masters-of-different-eras">Reception for Masters of Different Eras</a>Opening: Saturday, October 21, 3 – 8&nbsp;pmExpression Gallery of Fine ArtPresenting Masters of Different Eras featuring paintings by Nikolay Blokhin, and graphics by Pierre- Auguste Renoir. View the evolution of Impressionism, tradition and expression from the 19th century to modern day.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419296/k3lvwselhouj4nnxywli.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/don-t-close-your-eyes">Don’t Close Your Eyes</a>Opening: Saturday, October 21, noon – 4&nbsp;pmUkrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art is proud to present Don’t Close Your Eyes, a collection of work by 26 artists responding to the war in Ukraine. How do artists depict war?&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open Oct 19 - 22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/kboq9uso5bmqqidczvbl.jpg"><figcaption>AIC Lion</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By Ginny Van AlyeaHalloween can be enjoyed in many ways beyond trick or treating, and one distinctly artistic way to celebrate this year is to attend the 9th annual Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade, a family-friendly happening presented by <a href="https://luma8.org">LUMA8</a> (Light Up My Arts), an independent not-for-profit that strives to elevate Chicago as a focal point of artistic innovation to enrich the lives of its citizens and create economic impact. The parade takes place at night and features unique floats, spectacle puppets and all forms of creative performance.&nbsp;The co-founder and artistic director of Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade is former Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Mark Kelly. Kelly shared, “I am very excited to have the League of Chicago Theatres, in partnership with BandWith Chicago, leading the parade,” this year. On some of the specific featured groups, he commented, “Reinvent Ability and their wheelchair dancers will join over 40 dance organizations, while several striking IATSE film locals will remind us of their importance to the cultural life of our city. The amazing creative life of our city is truly captured in this playful and singular event.”Arts in the Dark came about when Sharene Shariatzadeh, the then Executive Director of the Chicago Cultural Mile organization, was tasked with producing a Halloween parade and she contacted Kelly because of his work leading the&nbsp; Columbia College Wabash Arts Corridor initiative. Kelly remembers, "Having thought for many years about the creative potential of Halloween for Chicago’s arts community, the question struck me like a thunderbolt." Within 24 hours he had prepared a vision statement proposing a Halloween parade celebrating Chicago’s cultural landscape and declaring Halloween as the artists' holiday. The rest of the plans came together just as quickly, with the Chicago Cultural Mile board endorsing Kelly's plan and Kelly and Shariatzadeh forging a partnership as co-founders of what began as "The Halloween Gathering" and shifted a few years later to the "Arts in the Dark" parade, produced by LUMA8, the company Shariatzadeh founded in 2017. Kelly is currently the Artistic Director and a Board Member of LUMA8.*This year the celebration takes place Saturday, October 21, from 6–8pm in the Loop. Attendees are urged to arrive early to find a good spectating spot and attend a pre-Parade candy giveaway starting at 5pm featuring HARIBO’s Goldenbear (that's a gummy bear) and more. Of course creative costumes are definitely encouraged; many attendees come dressed in their own colorful and creative costumes to join in the festive fun while watching the parade of participants celebrate Halloween as the “artists’ holiday”. Parade members include participants from major cultural organizations, inspiring youth programs, and aspiring artists in every field. Named ‘One of the best Halloween celebrations in the world’ by UK-based Wanderlust magazine – this dazzling production annually delights an audience of 50,000+ gathered along historic State Street, from Lake to Van Buren Streets.This year’s parade holds a record number of applicants, with a selection of approximately 90 arts organizations participating. Families can expect to see well over 4,000 parade participants with virtually every neighborhood in Chicago represented. Colorful costumes, masks, installations, lighting, fire, acrobatics, puppetry and spectacle, dance moves and choreography, music, theatrical performances, street arts, circus arts, and cultural traditions will fill State Street.A parade could take place any time of year and for a range of holidays, but the timing of late fall, and the choice of Halloween is key. Says Kelly, "This is a time which is embedded deeply within the history of human culture as we acknowledge that light is fading and darkness looms, a time when we don masks and costumes, wrestle with our mortality, engage the spirits, take on personas, and seek playful connection with each other. Halloween is the great American holiday with little of the weight which comes from our holidays framed with religious, nationalistic and family expectations."As the parade nears a decade in existence, Kelly says he thinks that several key ideas are fundamental to its success. "Chicago is a world cultural capital," he explains, "but it lacks a special moment when it celebrates the breadth and depth of its cultural landscape. We encompass film, museums, schools, theater, music, dance, the visual arts, architecture, design, teaching artists,&nbsp;literature and so much more. We are a universe of creative practice invisible to ourselves and to the larger world. Arts in the Dark creates a celebratory moment in which we come together in playful solidarity and expand and excite our audience’s imagination about who we are and how important we are to the vitality of our city." "With Mardi Gras and Carnivale as our North Star," he says, "we seek to build a mission driven and curated parade that brings artistry, creativity and performance to the street. There will be no waving politicians, traditional beauty queens, or sponsorship floats in our parade. Bringing together a mix of masks and costumes, light and fire, theater, music and dance, an array of puppets and spectacle, circus arts, and ethnic cultural traditions, we will create a sense of collective joy for our audience and our performers."&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/qpc8mdqot3x2vrypbnxs.jpg"><figcaption>Rogue Llama, 2022. Raf Winterpacht Photography</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;* This year marks the parade’s inaugural bilingual emcee, Spanish-speaking WGN-TV journalist and co-anchor Lourdes Duarte, who will provide commentary on the parade from her staging between Monroe and Adams Streets.&nbsp; This year’s parade will feature close to a dozen Mexican contingents, many of which choose to represent their cultural heritage by showcasing the traditions surrounding Dia de los Muertos. Noteworthy as well are the remarkable contributions of Chicago’s Black cultural organizations and traditions to the parade. A wide array of ethnic and cultural traditions will be represented as well, including Brazilian, Columbian, Irish, Indonesian, Peruvian, Caribbean, Jamaican, Polynesian, and Indigenous groups.Chicago’s diverse dance community will be well represented with a selection of 40 dance organizations including Reinvent Ability dance group and their wheelchair dancers, The Joffrey Ballet, Forward Momentum Chicago, Ballet Folklorico de Chicago, Astronaut Flee, Trinity Dance School, Aztec Dance, and more. Dance genres will include footwork, tango, hip hop, house, stepping, clogging and ballet. And this year, audiences can expect a collection of 12 marching bands and drumlines and several music ensembles. Select music groups include everything from the South Side Jazz Coalition to the Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles. The parade showcases a variety of music genres including hip-hop, jazz, gospel, opera, Mariachi, house, pop, steel pan, rock, punk and more.For Kelly this creative coming-together is an important work in progress. "While we speak proudly of Chicago’s cultural landscape, we also recognize that we are divided by race and class and further divided by genre, neighborhoods, the lack of resources, and the grind of our daily work. Arts in the Dark recognizes these fissures but also seeks a moment when we all come together to celebrate our collective ethos."&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/wwt3pfqpf3y4wfdll6de.jpg"><figcaption>Ballet Folklorico Xochitl girls in a line, 2019. Distract Your Face Photography</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;LUMA8 President &amp; CEO Sharene Shariatzadeh shared that her company will provide over $70K in grants to parade groups who might not otherwise be able to participate.&nbsp;“Our priority is to ensure that Arts in the Dark is a true reflection of Chicago’s diverse cultural and ethnic community,” she says. “Thanks to the support of our sponsors and a 2023 Chicago Presents Grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), we are able to offer the assistance that allows organizations from every corner of Chicago to celebrate together in the heart of the city.”Arts in the Dark is presented by LUMA8 and the City of Chicago. And Halloween also wouldn't be halloween without candy. Apparently Chicago is known as the ‘Candy Capital of North America.' In recognition of this sweet title, the parade is co-sponsored by two giants of the candy industry: Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, and HARIBO, the world's leading manufacturer of gummi products. The event also has Major Support from the Chicago Loop Alliance, is produced in partnership with DCASE and is a proud recipient of a 2023 Chicago Presents Grant. Additional support is provided by Choose Chicago, Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park, and William Blair.&nbsp;For more information visit <a href="http://www.artsinthedark.org/">www.artsinthedark.org</a>&nbsp;#&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419290/vwca4rwqcar5jkv6zqhr.jpg"><figcaption>2022 Dancers</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Arts in the Dark 2023: An Artistic Way To Celebrate Halloween

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419292/zwalbtpe5nsvnqfqpbwl.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ARCGalleryChicago">ARC Gallery Fundraises Following Vandalism in West Town</a>ARC Gallery posted over the weekend that their street facing window had been totally smashed and there was damage to the gallery. Their 50th anniversary exhibition is currently on view. Just a few weeks ago, a few blocks west on Chicago Ave., Andrew Rafacz Gallery had a truck drive through the front of their space.&nbsp;The gallery shared on Facebook: "ARC Gallery was vandalized late last night. This is the 2nd time this year that the windows of the gallery have been broken! We are saddened by this incident during the 50th Anniversary of this Women's co-operative gallery. Please support our mission to continue for the next 50 years!" <a href="https://qrco.de/beR3wJ?fbclid=IwAR2ijw1ooTtUkRgesREtCBdmuuaTDzkj4oHNty1PrsMrATixFBA8r82m_4c">https://qrco.de/beR3wJ</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419293/sixskgnmorn5wqtaednf.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.newberry.org/news/tantillo">Newberry Names New President</a>The Newberry Library is pleased to announce the appointment of Astrida Orle Tantillo as its tenth President and Librarian. Tantillo was named following an international search that employed the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. She joins the Newberry from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where she served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) from 2012 to 2022 and is currently Professor of Germanic Studies and History. As Dean, Tantillo oversaw a budget of $100 million, 25 academic departments and programs, approximately 700 tenure and non-tenure track faculty members, and more than 200 staff members. She was recruited to the Newberry's Board of Trustees in 2022 due to her extensive experience in academic administration in Chicago.&nbsp;&nbsp;During her tenure, LAS supported a variety of new centers and initiatives, including the Freshwater Lab, an interdisciplinary freshwater policy and research initiative; the Inter-University Program for Latino Research/UIC Mellon Fellows Program; and the Center for LatinX Literature of the Americas. She raised $50 million as part of IGNITE: The Campaign for UIC, while strategically investing in faculty hiring, recruitment and retention, and expanding the number of endowed chairs and professorships. She strengthened and expanded collaborations with cultural institutions including the Field Museum and Chicago Humanities.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="www.wndrmuseum.com/artistday">WNDR Museum Announces Free Day for Artists</a>WNDR Museum, Chicago’s original immersive art and technology experience will celebrate International Artist Day on Wednesday, Oct. 25 with free admission at all three locations. For one day only, WNDR will open its doors and welcome visitors to experience more than 20 interactive artworks by cutting edge artists, collectives, technologists, designers and makers from around the world. Hours vary by location.&nbsp;Guests visiting WNDR Museum on International Artist Day on Wednesday, Oct. 25 are encouraged make reservations in advance via <a href="https://u56787.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=NrnrG0O-2BDJoeMfmwX6fgM8kgDAm3a4IUVIpi91dSY6YExgErCqAu3yC-2Bo5DsBQywSwhbfwhm1rRhiw7teegmHLhLtx-2BF8JXy39s3CxZJKojhwL7iGCTGK4uf1JPE3-2BfVGWF4546iFbstYMSf6SB3QQ-3D-3D24qP_xxAoLhAhtcHLpzoert8wLdy8LhslUpMxoeAEp22rbZeZNuvURfS1ekW5Lf-2FQ7lrRTMvPAEYjJomxeqK6QjbnoC23UM94NYkaFTuNpMmIXARmZnLWrsey7MF7qhU-2FA53xp5IU3D7DMDXkvWiwmKh876Rh4oqicridU-2Bz-2Bp50iKvVlb32Zyvca6tfuKoBojVccM2P-2FebNrWrdtNYp-2F0jPxfJja74YNcFgE-2B8-2BwEZlQQIdU60SiuICo4DvqmeS5h-2F55DWXO1XRP0OAO4VUko8DFiPfH0swcexT-2BI6Qg5LHNk8NKmj8woU-2BCUivARpqYlTvncP4CKjWFrvS-2BW4eg4-2FnDaGe9pLLjJX-2B9NXctUuCwficVjndfiacCZHYyDmTaC6VoAk91MJKFMxbHaOKswQSqFOe7eIYhFAG9C5KKx7SSm4d7T5LNNnw1cyLfsUHQanJzxUHhAcgv1hRC5pAeccsxLFRwEmdK5B6fjlCSiR6aVTt9iEkTFI9OGPZtDlXR1Jn3S4lPfd-2Fy-2BfmM6-2BqsijagAqj1BKLcMqOsgu9IPrmGXE485vvNBcyozh8-2FJenK4KbfMyE9TLuxMFtFgNOVF1-2B-2BB5YXT6ksmukxlEKTj3Ips4Mza7uTbV-2F-2FcSQkiVxcw3p4nYmClTdY505U0drV7X7QKQ-3D-3D">www.wndrmuseum.com/artistday</a> to guarantee entry. Walk-ups are welcome on a first-come-first-serve basis as space allows.WNDR Museum International Artist Day Hours Wednesday, Oct. 25, 12 to 8 p.m.WNDR Museum Chicago, 1130 W Monroe St.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419294/rbpk706p2yxwakeuqozm.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bacachi.org">Renamed Black Arts &amp; Culture Alliance of Chicago</a>The nonprofit African American Arts Alliance of Chicago has announced a new name, effective immediately: the Black Arts &amp; Culture Alliance of Chicago.President Charlique C. Rolle and Vice President Vershawn Sanders-Ward spoke at a recent event of the service organization’s 26-year legacy and mission to support, showcase and advance excellence in the vibrant Black arts and culture sector in Chicago.&nbsp;“We are immensely grateful to our founders for creating this space for us. As the next generation of Black voices and artists in Chicago, our goal is that the Black Arts &amp; Culture Alliance is truly a hub for artists and voices of the diaspora, where we can see ourselves represented through all of the nuances of our history and our future. Art-making and storytelling have always been a vital tool for liberation in our community and a driver of our cultural experience and community-building efforts. The Alliance will continue to build and support the intersections of how Black artists influence and stimulate our culture, society and economy,” said President Charlique C. Rolle.In 1997, African American Arts Alliance co-founders Jackie Taylor, Joan Gray, Chuck Smith and Ron O.J. Parson saw a great need for community interaction and development, and incorporated the African American Arts Alliance to build upon the rich history of the original Black Theatre Alliance, expanding the organization to serve the needs of Black performing, visual, literary, technical and design art forms.&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 10/12/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/n7qpeuaw4jfcocyo8aax.jpg"><figcaption>Offices of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Inland Steel Building, Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill, 1958. During OHC 2023 visitors will be escorted through the lobby to the elevators and sent directly to the 4th floor where they can explore the space. Employees will be on hand to answer any questions. Pop-up-style presentations will be given throughout the weekend featuring many of the firm's innovative projects. &nbsp;<a href="https://openhousechicago.org/sites/site/adrian-smith-gordon-gill-architecture/#controls">More info.</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffChicago hardly needs to add to its architectural bonafides, but the Chicago Architecture Center's free annual public festival, Open House Chicago, is an opportunity to focus attention on what has given Chicago its global reputation as a progressive and dynamic city. For one free weekend, a rich range of the city's architectural treasures are open to the public in celebration of the city's very special, and beautiful, history and architecture - showcasing its past and future.One of the largest events of its kind, 2023’s OHC in-person visits occur October 14 and 15 and highlight more than 20 neighborhoods. Visitors will encounter themes of neighborhood investment, community engagement, historic preservation and more. talks and programs, and behind-the-scenes access to 150 architecturally, historically and culturally significant sites. For free visitors gain access to some of the city’s most historically, culturally and architecturally important sites in 170+&nbsp; locations across 20+ Chicago neighborhoods. Normally many of these sites are closed to the public during the year.&nbsp;Additionally, for the first time, the CAC will host two Friday events, including one exclusively for CAC members. On Friday, October 13, a kickoff party takes place at the CAC, where visitors can experience the Center’s exhibits for free and purchase official OHC merchandise. CAC members will also be invited to an opening night party on the 33rd floor of the Willis Tower. The event will feature light bites and a performance of an original piece of music inspired by the Willis Tower and commissioned by CAC (so become a member now!)&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/udo13d4flfolh7dcvn7k.jpg"><figcaption>2022 site Avondale Bowl</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The rest of the weekend will feature self-guided tours across the city’s diverse neighborhoods, allowing OHC participants to experience Chicago’s deep architectural history firsthand. This year’s program will enable visitors to tour the childhood home of Walt Disney in Hermosa and the National Cambodian Heritage Museum in Ravenswood. Also new to OHC this year is Uptown’s historic Riviera Theater, an ornate concert venue originally built in 1917 as a movie theater.&nbsp;“Open House Chicago makes architecture and design accessible and is a free program for all,” said Eleanor Gorski, CEO &amp; President, Chicago Architecture Center. “The event is a true community venture, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with chambers of commerce, neighborhood organizations, arts and culture organizations and historical societies across the city to bring the festival to life.”&nbsp;In addition to the tours, Open House Chicago sites will also host programming and activations during the weekend. This year, CAC has enhanced the festival experience by launching a new app that provides information on programming and allows attendees to create their own itineraries of OHC sites.&nbsp;&nbsp;Open House Chicago runs Oct 13–15, 2023Details at <a href="https://openhousechicago.org">openhousechicago.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/kesfcoouvlh6qllgdb70.jpg"><figcaption>Edgewater Beach Apartments. Photo Allix Rogers.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;#</body></html>

Open House Chicago Celebrates Architecture Oct 14 and 15

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/yz40w1ko65s4jp4amara.jpg"><figcaption>Jina Valentine, a murmuration, &nbsp;600 wall-mounted convex aluminum discs of varying sizes on display in the Passenger Level Concourse. <a href="https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/ServicesAmenities/amenities/Pages/art-.aspx?artid=10">More info</a></figcaption></figure>By CGN Staff via PRChicago has built an international reputation as a center for public art over the course of several decades, from Picasso's sculpture in Daley Plaza to Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate in Millennium Park. Recently the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) announced that several works by more than 20 Chicago artists have been installed in Terminal 5 (the international terminal). The $3.5 million public art commission is the City’s largest single acquisition of works by Chicago artists in the last 30 years, and the visual investment is a significant way to introduce visitors to the city's collection as well as a reminder for those traveling home to Chicago of all that is right here. It doesn't hurt that much like "O'Hare itself, the art on view is large-scale, varied and seems to go on forever.&nbsp;“Public art tells the story of our city—its beauty, its resilience, the soul of Chicago,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “We’re proud to share Chicago’s story and the power of the arts with visitors from across the globe—at O’Hare and in diverse communities across this great city. This is the kind of innovative and unique opportunity that can help continue to bolster and support our public arts scene in Chicago and beyond.”A dedication event with the artists and City officials will take place in the coming months, and airport professionals are enjoying tours of the extensive commission this week as Chicago plays host to the annual <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=jd8-2BsLkKeKzJJH-2F5YciLh-2F8XsDSu3-2BAGJSQqIGK6Q2H-2B5FNd5SXwc-2BvuzXXPcNwZTPPGHwgmdxHVQf764XRyDQ-3D-3DzRFC_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361ZFFV65A9Az3RUog55WiIspvYZdYPGenMGiys3q-2FF2FOBxmJEzeMWd5kEkLGLMYqifkGPVUU-2FXKgCgU9ZbmSiSMzjH6Y-2F5QaudO-2FReEECXH5PmqPkgMEgitWukpg-2FH7vd-2BYEDR-2FV2EqyzRrlyrSte0JNgYwmG8UHJDWDOoJf4k1zl7B1lmayYljW-2F2lcriwjfdWHrF899mD6L7fJorGP1QRy-2F-2FDgdu7KAPyBthd-2Ftkz6Sd93DmrfOv0e408mnzJfvptE7trVDKO0qbLH3eFkivw-3D-3D">Arts in the Airport</a> conference organized by the American Association of Airport Executives.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/ipl3d8crzwcgwsloioui.jpg"><figcaption>Bernard Williams, "Buffalo Chart at O'Hare". <a href="https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/ServicesAmenities/amenities/Pages/art-.aspx?artid=24">More info</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;“For millions of passengers, Terminal 5 is their first impression of not only Chicago, but our entire country — and there is no better way to showcase the essence, the diversity, and the beauty of Chicago than through the arts,” said Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie L. Rhee. “I thank Mayor Johnson, Commissioner Harkey and the diverse and creative artists for their dedication to this commission, and I look forward to building upon this successful public art program as work begins on our core passenger facilities through O’Hare 21.”“The recently completed artworks at O'Hare reflect the immense talent and creativity present in Chicago's artists and cultural communities,” shared DCASE Commissioner Erin Harkey. “The public art in Terminal 5 joins recently completed artworks in the airport’s Multi-Modal Facility and adds to Chicago’s more than 500-piece Public Art Collection on display throughout the city’s 77 neighborhoods.” &nbsp;“DCASE’s collaboration with CDA on the $3.5 million public art commission is one of more than 60 new art projects and collaborations currently taking place in neighborhoods throughout Chicago,” shared DCASE Director of Public Art Jimmy Castillo. “Community engagement is the cornerstone of the City’s public art program, which enriches the lives of all Chicagoans and is a critical investment in Chicago’s creative economy.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/awb58s0mzl5jtggrimxy.jpg"><figcaption>Mayumi Lake, Shinsekai Yori (新世界より) | From the New World. Terminal 5 - International Arrivals Corridor. <a href="https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/ServicesAmenities/amenities/Pages/art-.aspx?artid=16">More info</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;O’Hare International Airport New Terminal 5 (T5) Commissions:&nbsp;<ul><li>The exhibition Del Otro Lado / The Other Side featuring 17 original works curated by Behar X Schachman is now on view throughout the International Arrivals Corridor.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul><li>…a murmuration by jina valentine consists of 600 wall-mounted convex aluminum discs of varying sizes on display in the Passenger Level Concourse.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul><li>The final commission Immigrant Owned by Jonathan Michael Castillo will finish installation in 2024 in the Baggage Claim of Terminal 5.</li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/jpxtebsxh5ukthfua1za.jpg"><figcaption>Nick Cave, Palimpsest, Installed in the Multi-Modal Facility - South Escalator Hall ​A dimensional tapestry is constructed of hand-strung, beaded shoelaces, woven with memory-steeped iconography and patterns, through a nylon fishing net base layer. Palimpsest represents travel to understanding, the web of humanity, and future memories. Its colors come directly from Chicago’s unique skyline and is a continuation of the images taken in through an airplane window upon descent in Chicago.&nbsp;​</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The new projects at T5 join recently completed projects at the O’Hare Multi-Modal Facility (MMF):<ul><li>Installed in April 2023, REACH is a large-scale sculpture by New York-based artists Hank Willis Thomas and Coby Kennedy consisting of two arms, approx. 27 and 31 feet long, suspended between nine and 34 feet off the ground in the North Escalator Hall of the MMF.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul><li>Palimpsest by Chicago’s own Nick Cave was installed in 2019 in MMF. The multi-story beaded and bustled tapestry is made of plastic pony beads, shoelaces, and nylon fishing net, with patterns and colors meant to emphasize the collective power of connectedness.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul><li>Horizon Light by New York-based James Carpenter Design Associates, installed in 2019, consists of 196 color-anodized ellipses with subtle variations in color temperature and integrated LED lighting programmed to run light sequences along the length of the sculpture.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul><li>Field Lines by Los Angeles-based artist Rob Ley, installed in 2018, consists of painted aluminum strips along the wall above the rental car counters in the MMF’s main hall. The piece is sculpted to evoke the steady flow of a breeze through a field, inspired by the dynamic air currents that shape wind and weather patterns across the globe.</li></ul>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419291/qiqevbrcl1ubrd7xq2qf.jpg"><figcaption>Yvette Mayorga, "Pilgrimage to the Isle of Pink". <a href="https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/ServicesAmenities/amenities/Pages/art-.aspx?artid=18">More info.</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;View the entire O’Hare International Airport Public Art collection at <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ-2BWo5H-2Bgrwc4b45xdM1-2B8rPn3CbKoG2cQzEGtuurg1F3Zunh_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361ZFFV65A9Az3RUog55WiIspvYZdYPGenMGiys3q-2FF2FOBxmJEzeMWd5kEkLGLMYqifkGPVUU-2FXKgCgU9ZbmSiSMzjH6Y-2F5QaudO-2FReEECXH5vK9LrfMEIttobJu1wffgARRg0jAgsEJVwAvwehdQaPo9bF0YtEYHbp4RuG9h7sCg89x25IeNP-2FjqMj3ME-2FVOJFclO2sMJvLZB4uApmhDjHGSnqSKsHxj1WUm-2BaeMKFB8cAKNNmiHXP2rM5JWWwLgCaUcOY6fRZkuFVRfzyqrFUw-3D-3D">flychicago.com/ArtORD</a>.&nbsp;For more information on the City’s Public Art Collection, visit <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=jd8-2BsLkKeKzJJH-2F5YciLh6tttf-2B1J48YQf9-2F23T8GrDLjarIxjBh5-2F2BPzPfSss16gatxD11ZvJ0lFzu4FVOsTWt7ghVFBjPMkA4nK9bZiMuQ9OCzS00K3ULRF7izOSda4vE_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361ZFFV65A9Az3RUog55WiIspvYZdYPGenMGiys3q-2FF2FOBxmJEzeMWd5kEkLGLMYqifkGPVUU-2FXKgCgU9ZbmSiSMzjH6Y-2F5QaudO-2FReEECXH63CCDFdmxa6WpfPaGAkr83A27PErikV4ph3WOn9deYuyhG8oowu0G5ba54CpVxT6wQv2qcQ48pN8oVmSer893MkjC0xAwCliGBsMvM5T1WC7Z8N4kJRn5CMH9ByRai-2BOptcswtHbiD1yNgLDJOa-2FwnWqZ4uKnx8vPQzeIu0MdExQ-3D-3D">Chicago.gov/DCASE</a>#</body></html>

See The New Public Art Commissions at O'Hare Airport

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/ilnzurzxhiujez52vp2a.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/stitched-time">Stitched Time</a>Opening: Friday, October 13, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmOliva GalleryThis exhibition highlights the idea of extreme kinship between artists separated by time and space. The showing artist found cultural phenomena from different corners of the world that feel to them like home. They re-use, morph, reinvent concepts and ideas, created, heard, tasted, and sung somewhere else or during some other time.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/mvfum60ffmvbalilwyif.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/difference-machines-technology-and-identity-in-contemporary-art">Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art</a>Exhibition begins October 13Wrightwood 659Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art addresses the complex relationship between the technologies we use and the identities we inhabit. The exhibition presents the work of seventeen contemporary artists who ask some of the most urgent questions we face today: How is technology changing the way we see ourselves, and each other? In what ways does it contribute to—or allow us to resist—prejudice and systemic forms of oppression? What role should it have in our lives and in our communities?&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/xxuenatqjepxnmfdbhoj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/time-memory-mythos">Time Memory Mythos</a>Opening: Saturday, October 14, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmWoman Made GalleryJuror Monica Brown said, “Memory is an abstraction. It holds our entire history, but how much of that is our “real” story? What stories do we tell ourselves about this story? Which stories do we own and which ones own us? And how do we break free of those that don’t serve our greatest good? In what ways do time and memory inform the larger mythos that shapes life philosophies and religious beliefs?”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/mbkiyd5hoxd8oqt0if6d.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/a-cornucopia-of-prints">A Cornucopia of Prints</a>Opening: Saturday, October 14, 3 – 5&nbsp;pmBert Green Fine ArtA collection of works both new and recently exhibited at the gallery by a variety of our artists, including works on paper published by the gallery in recent years. The newest works are by William Powhida, Sandra Yagi, Eleftheria Lialios, Laurie Hassold and Doug Fogelson.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open Oct 13 - 15

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/gtdklyqkox71erb73ton.jpg"><figcaption>Artist Jennifer Presant, Credit: Yancey Hughes</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;This weekend there is a lot happening in Evanston just north of Chicago. Openings and tours are taking place in multiple venues and many are centered around the 9th annual Evanston Made, a self-guided tour of over 40 studios in Evanston. The event is a fantastic opportunity to meet artists in their studio, learn about their practice and build or start a collection around these local working artists.&nbsp;The event spans Evanston, and a helpful Google map marking each studio and artist is provided so you can plan your tour at <a href="http://evanstonmade.org/">evanstonmade.org</a>&nbsp;Key events taking place as part of Evanston Made are:&nbsp;OCTOBER 6:&nbsp;Studio&nbsp;Tour Preview &amp; Pop-up: 1100 Florence 3–8pmOCTOBER 7:&nbsp;Open Studio Tour: Self-guided tour across Evanston, 12-5pm&nbsp;First Saturday Evanston Art Events, 9am-8pm&nbsp;OCTOBER 8:&nbsp;Maker's Market at 1800 Maple Ave. Garage, 12-5pm&nbsp;&nbsp;More events are highlighted below.&nbsp;– CGN&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/t19iavqyqdpschdne9wd.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/annie-briard-mary-farmilant-kellie-klein-renee-robbins-nina-weiss">Annie Briard, Mary Farmilant, Kellie Klein, Renee Robbins, Nina Weiss</a>Opening: Sunday, Oct 8, 1 – 4&nbsp;pm On view Oct 7 – Nov 5<a href="/organizations/evanston-art-center--3">Evanston Art Center</a>This group show of work by women artists offers photography, digital art, painting and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/wx1nhqbpfk9zat16skd9.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/my-downward-gaze">My Downward Gaze</a>Opening: Saturday, Oct 7, 5 – 8&nbsp;pm On view Oct 7 – 29<a href="/organizations/perspective-group-photography-gallery-ltd">Perspective Photo Gallery</a>Perspective Gallery is proud to present a new show ,"My Downward Gaze",&nbsp; that incorporates two of Bob Tanner's related projects: "At Ocean's Edge" and "At Winter's Edge".&nbsp; Peering from above, the artist captures ephemeral patterns in the ebb and flow of wind, tides, and water, and more improbably, in the residue left by the coming and going of traffic in a parking garage. In viewing images that reproduce&nbsp;&nbsp;and enhance these patterns, we are led to a place of meditation where we can contemplate impermance and transition in our own experience of the world.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/y7eaplbceli759ldtuoe.jpg"><figcaption>Art Encounter Evanston Mural Arts Program mural in Downtown Evanston by Jeff Zimmermann</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/downtown-evanston-mural-tour">Downtown Evanston Mural Tour</a>Saturday, Oct 7, 11&nbsp;am – 12:30&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/art-encounter-a452ddc8-ae2e-43d9-b388-5e0489a313fe">Art Encounter</a>Want to learn more about the artists and stories behind Art Encounter’s Evanston murals? Art Encounter Executive Director and mural program co-founder Lea Pinsky will take you on a mile-long guided tour of our Evanston Mural Arts Program murals, where you will look closely at several of the large-scale artworks that have transformed the center of Evanston, including pieces by Shawn Bullen, Ruben Aguirre, Jeff Zimmermann, Anthony Lewellen, Molly Z., Cheri Lee Charlton, Max Sansing, Dalek, and more.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artencounter.org/downtown-evanston-mural-tour">Register here</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419290/tulybsrpxnpmbkkhcijt.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/john-wangendo-and-yancey-hughes">John Wangendo and Yancey Hughes</a>Oct 7 – Nov 5<a href="/organizations/evanston-art-center--3">Evanston Art Center</a>These two exhibitions present the works of John Wangendo and Yancey Hughes as an intimate portrait of African youth and culture. Drawing inspiration from their cultural origins and surrounding environment, their distinctive mediums and perspectives offer a dynamic view of contemporary youth in Africa. This exhibition was curated by Fran Joy&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419291/k9xbvq4grtpkyg9vovwl.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rosalie-favell-facing-the-camera">Rosalie Favell: Facing the Camera</a>On view through Dec 3<a href="/organizations/block-museum-of-art">Block Museum of Art</a>The Block presents the first Chicago presentation of <a href="https://rosaliefavell.com/portfolio/facing-the-camera/">Rosalie Favell: Facing the Camera</a>. Rosalie Favell (b. 1958) is a photo-based artist who draws inspiration from her Métis heritage and family to create complex self-portraits and portraits. For her series Facing the Camera (2008–18), Favell photographed Indigenous members of arts communities in North America and Australia, producing 500 photographs. This work is a rewriting of history and a living art history—a critical intervention in expanding the visibility of contemporary Indigenous artists and arts professionals.&nbsp;Facing the Camera strives to present the diversity of arts communities and to push beyond stereotypical and one-dimensional representations of Indigenous peoples. The black and white photographs reference the problematic relationship between Indigenous cultures and the camera, which has historically been used as a tool of domination.Also on view at the Block: <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/for-one-and-all-prints-from-the-block-s-collection">For One and All: Prints from The Block’s Collection</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Weekend Spotlight: Evanston

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/bmf8spquthdtorzhsgxn.png"></figure>Via PR3Arts announces ten artists each receiving $30,000 unrestricted grants at annual 3Arts Awards CelebrationAcclaimed local artists &amp; past 3Arts Awards recipients performing at the For the Love of Artists themed celebration include grammy award-winning opera singer Will Liverman and Chicago poet laureate avery r. young, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Monday, November 13CHICAGO, IL (OCTOBER 3, 2023)– 3Arts, the Chicago-based nonprofit grantmaking organization, announces the recipients of <a href="https://3arts.org/awards/3arts/2023/">this year’s 3Arts Awards</a>, with over half a million dollars distributed to local artists. The 2023 recipients of the unrestricted $30,000 grants are dance artists Donnetta “LilBit” Jackson and Rika Lin; musicians Rashada Dawan and Avreeayl Ra; teaching artists Jacinda Bullie and Eric Hotchkiss; theater artists Nancy García Loza and Charlotte “Chuck” Gruman; and visual artists Selva Aparicio and Jenny Kendler. The organization will honor the ten new recipients at its first in-person celebration since 2019 on Monday, November 13 at 5:30pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E Randolph Street. 3Arts Awards Celebration: For the Love of Artists tickets include a pre-program cocktail reception, awards presentation, performances, and an after-party with a bountiful buffet and music by DJ Sadie Woods. Tickets cost $130-$300 and are available at <a href="https://3arts.org/awards/3arts/2023/">3arts.org/tickets</a>.The awards ceremony will bring together energy-filled performances by Grammy Award-winning opera singer Will Liverman (on break from his starring role in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X currently running at The Metropolitan Opera); a dance excerpt from Gentle, Into That Good Night by critically acclaimed choreographer Stephanie Martinez (founder of PARA.MAR Dance Theatre); and a grand finale led by Chicago’s inaugural poet laureate avery r. young joined by an “all-star band” of past 3Arts awardees JoVia Armstrong, Meagan McNeal, Bethany Thomas, Caitlin Edwards, Sam Thousand, and more. The awards are hosted by 3Arts Executive Director and arts leader Esther Grimm with event co-chairs Juana Guzman, Will Liverman, Nalani McClendon, and Jason Quiara.“It is going to feel so good to be back together again!” notes Esther Grimm. “In addition to celebrating the extraordinary 2023 3Arts Awards recipients, we are going to announce some big—next-level—news during the event that I think everyone in Chicago will be happy about. I hope the seats will fill with people from all over metro Chicago so together we can send the loudest applause possible to the artists who add meaning and connection to our lives—and who persevered during the last three years of the pandemic. We need to let them know what they mean to us; in fact, that’s why we called this event, For the Love of Artists.”<a href="https://3arts.org/awards/3arts/2023/">Learn more about the new 2023 3Arts Awardees here.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;NEXT LEVEL AWARDS AND MAKE A WAVE AWARDSThe nearly $600,000 to be distributed at the celebration includes five $50,000 Next Level Awards, along with ten $2,000 Make a Wave Awards selected by last year’s 3Arts awardees, all to be announced at the For the Love of Artists event on November 13.Next Level Awards are $50,000 unrestricted cash awards given to past 3Arts awardees to help fuel the next stages of their careers.&nbsp;Make a Wave is a groundbreaking artist-to-artist grant program in which past 3Arts Awards recipients select another ten Chicago artists to receive surprise cash awards, sending a “wave” of support through Chicago’s cultural communities. Make a Wave artists receive $2,000 each, thanks to the generous partnership of the Siragusa Family Foundation.&nbsp;About 3Arts Founded in 1912, with a history centered on women artists, 3Arts is a nonprofit organization that supports artists working in the performing, teaching, and visual arts in the Chicago metropolitan area, including women artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists. By providing unrestricted awards, project funding, residencies, professional development, and promotion, 3Arts helps artists take risks, experiment, and build momentum in their careers over time.3Arts extends special thanks to the 2023 Award Partners: The Chandler Family, The Walder Foundation, The HMS Fund, Stan Lipkin &amp; Evelyn Appell Lipkin, The Reva &amp; David Logan Foundation, and The SIF Fund at the Chicago Community Foundation.One of the ten 3Arts Awards, the 2023 Community Award, is named in honor of the 152 community donors who contributed to a crowdfunding campaign to fund the award.&nbsp;3Arts also recognizes support for the Next Level Awards from an anonymous donor at The Chicago Community Foundation and Good Chaos, as well as Make a Wave Partner: The Siragusa Family Foundation.&nbsp;3Arts gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our sponsors. Presenting Partner Sponsors: Allstate Insurance Company and MSUFCU; Presenting Partner: Xfinity; Lead Sponsors: Blue Cross &amp; Blue Shield of Illinois and Center for Advanced Emotional Intelligence; and Media Sponsor: Chicago Magazine.For more information about 3Arts, please visit <a href="http://www.3arts.org/">www.3arts.org</a>.# # #&nbsp;Meet the 2023 3Arts Awardees EventMonday, November 13Harris Theater for Music and Dance205 E. Randolph, Chicago, Illinois5:30pm Reception • 6:30pm Awards CelebrationAfter-party with dinner buffet and music by DJ Sadie Woods<a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lUBidBEaqS2A2YprwnOv71KjTWw4jqaSgTGkYGA8mxyRjlODK1j-C1fES0xciYyPeZqExthMuJnVWKfP8IpNOQXzZTx-TvBHCwmmIawo9yU5GtR6nqHEJfQi6JzGbSDeaA5LKFGidfmHdUv5tykIZBeh_s1ma9mRyXmFXWmPAzAtoNnVemOuBtHK_KhVnxTjy-vBjoKXlJc=&amp;c=4JCheYHVCM023GXVOOdk_JnSj0FF9mJcjMOsMtGt7b4F-OmJKedd9A==&amp;ch=jXm0r4zPIX_qFI9JyFRRM0B8CzzKrovHSraOX6NdR90-l1aBhTaKsA==">Purchase Tickets</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

3Arts announces 10 artists each receiving $30,000 unrestricted grants

<html><head></head><body>In a personal message sent today to the CPC Community, Deborah Maris Lader, Director/Founder, shared the following message about the history of CPC and what is next for its future. CGN wishes Deb and the CPC family the best in the months and years ahead! – GV&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/qre84glbt0ta7fe9cnl6.jpg"><figcaption>Deborah Maris Lader</figcaption></figure>The State of the Printshop &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While the studio is in its prime,&nbsp;I have decided to begin the process of stepping away from directing the <a href="https://chicagoprintmakers.com">Chicago Printmakers Collaborative</a> in order for the workshop to chart its future course with younger leadership.&nbsp;During this transition, beginning in January 2024, some of our programming will be paused, including classes and gallery exhibitions. Read on:34 years ago, a new printmaking studio was started in a 2nd&nbsp;story walkup in Wicker Park, a raw space where cold Chicago winds gusted through old windows, and the nearest place to get a snack was cut rate liquor on Division St. The bricks rained salty residue on the tables and floor, but there was always someone’s baby or toddler around to wipe up the mess by crawling around in their overalls. A hoarder who collected broken xerox machines lived in the back and there was an occasional fire when he cooked on an old hotplate as he napped with his 5 cats. We never did get around to taping the drywall over there. A defunct printshop that had occupied the space had laid vacant for many years, and left behind one combo etching press, a stomp shear from 1898, some stones, and a metal bin full of solvent-soaked sawdust (in the old days they used to clean etching plates this way, but one live cigarette ember would have sent the whole building to the moon). Not exactly the stage set where dreams are made, but somehow, in my ignorant youth, I decided this was what I was meant to do. I was new to the city and learned its streets by combing through alleys looking for materials to build out the studio. I’m still convinced that the latticed board I hauled out of a hospital demolition site was used for postmortems. It served as our graining sink topper. I inherited a wooden drying rack from printmaker visionary June Wayne – completely useless but because it meant something, it stayed.The very best part was that printmakers showed up. As long as there was a press and ink and a flimsy fan to choke out the fumes, some really groovy artists made stuff from plates, blocks, stones and screens. It was a printy commune full of all sorts of amazing, creative characters with whom I was honored to work alongside. Some are still working in the shop, and we have watched one another progress and grow as artists. Others have spread their print wings across the globe and established themselves in universities, residencies, and in their own printmaking workshops. Two locations, two moves, and all these years later, our community has only grown and thrived and blossomed, and I have come to know and love my fellow print nerds like family.Our programming is currently robust. Classes are full, with growing waitlists. Our Bloom Residency recipients have been a joy to work with. Our Steamroller Fests have outgrown our back driveway. Our part time staff is spectacular, as well as our volunteers and interns. CPC is known around the world, and international visitors to Chicago seek us out to spread some ink or buy prints created by our artists.The CPC printshop is in a very healthy place.&nbsp;CPC was my first “baby”, and like my other actual offspring, there comes a time in which it’s appropriate to let go, and let those babies find their wings and thrive in the world on their own terms. I’m actually not planning on going anywhere and would very much like to be a working member of the studio. I’m very excited to focus more on my printmaking practice, my family, some new projects I’m cooking up, and some residencies and travel. I should mention that I’m in fine health (for an old bird - some of you were worried), but I do believe exiting while still on top of my game is the goal.My heart and soul will always be with this beautiful vibrant printmaking community that started from nothing, and I plan to stick around and watch it continue to thrive.&nbsp;So, what’s next for CPC?I have no idea what the future holds for CPC, but I’m excited about its potential. As I take a step back, I am open and looking for someone to assume operations and write the CPC’s next chapter. If you’re that person, hit me up. Or, if you know some smart, multitasking talent who has both a passion for print and a knack for business who might be the needle in the haystack with the energy to take on the task, forward this letter to them along with my contact. I’m open to all reasonable proposals. I own the building and will continue to be its benevolent landlord. I own the contents of CPC and would be open to some sort of long term “rent to own” arrangement or to just sell it outright, as long as it stays put and I can have access to its equipment. I’m open to a new name and focus for the workshop. Whatever. Or perhaps we just leave it as is – a shared studio full of a bunch of fellow print enthusiasts, just sharing resources and decision-making and presses and a whiskey on the printmaker party deck. A printy commune, kind of like where it all started in 1989, minus the solvent soaked sawdust. Let me know your thoughts.In the interim, I have a plan to simplify CPC programming starting Jan 1, 2024. It will be easier for someone to take over if things are a bit more quiet. I will break it down into sections so that it’s clear, and so that you can skip to the parts that interest/affect you:&nbsp;WORKING PRINTMAKER MEMBERSHIP and RESIDENT ARTISTS:For members and resident artists, much will remain the same, and you will love what we will call this “transitional period”. More access to presses and work time. More focus on your needs as working members of the studio. More say in what goes on around the studio. If everyone wants to do events, you can do them, and all the various tasks involved will be delegated by whomever takes the lead. If you don’t want to do events, we won’t do them. This is your studio, and you will have more responsibility to keep it organized, clean, and wonderful (there will be less staff, so cleaning and maintenance will be a group effort). I will personally be doing my own work alongside you, with less distractions like open public hours, classes, and other programming.If someone else is running the studio in a year, I trust that it will be someone who values the working membership program, as it certainly has always been the beating heart of the workshop. I envision more check ins and member gatherings. Even better news is that Maddie May will stay on as membership coordinator in 2024.&nbsp;CLASSES:We will pause classes in January and February and will not be offering our usual winter session of courses. Beginning in March, we will offer only the etching class for a 10-12 week session. In the summer, we will only offer Screenprinting. The reasoning behind this is that until someone new is running the studio, we need to simplify the giant task and cost of running classes. I hope that this will be a temporary pause on our full class offerings and that they will resume with new leadership (after all they are HUGELY popular). I will very much miss our beloved students during that time, and we have always emphasized EDUCATION as a primary goal in our mission, but my hope is that this pause is temporary. Private classes and work sessions will be completely suspended until a later date. We will not be offering SPRING SHORTS.&nbsp;GALLERY &amp; GALLERY ARTISTS:Beginning Jan 1, 2024, the CPC will no longer have regular open hours to the public. The gallery will only be open by appointment. I may develop gallery events based on the needs of guest curators, and our members may host other special exhibitions. CPC will retain a very focused roster of gallery artists, and their work will be available and shown on a rotating basis.&nbsp;We have begun the giant task of returning unsold work to many of the artists in our flatfile drawers. I am also returning all unsold artwork to our member artists, so that they can manage their own sales and exposure.&nbsp;THE ANNUAL SMALL PRINT SHOW:The 34th&nbsp;Annual Small Print Show that opens this December will be our last planned exhibition and will run through the end of February. After January 1, the show may be viewed by appointment. We will display a combination of existing inventory, a few pieces by each of our regular working member artists and inky friends, and some new work I’m bringing in from Thailand, Japan and Mexico. I will not be sending out an artist call. The public will be welcomed into our warm, art and gift filled space as usual, and the show will be more focused with fewer artists and it will be spectacular.&nbsp;&nbsp;FESTS, RESIDENCIES, EVENTS, and other programming:Aside from an offsite CPC exhibition scheduled at IL Wesleyan University in January 2024, and the possibility of returning to EXPO in April, we will not be doing other special events until further notice. The Bloom Residency will take a hiatus in 2024 and I’m REALLY hoping someone will resume it in some form in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;ONLINE GALLERY/SHOPIFY PRESENCE:The CPC online gallery store will stay and become even more populated as we move existing flat file inventory in the coming year. We have many fans of this platform who love purchasing the work of our artists, and it will continue to serve our print enthusiasts nationwide.&nbsp;In closing, I am grateful for this community, and I celebrate you all for playing your part in its success. I’m very excited about the future of CPC. I hope programming can continue, but it will not be under my supervision, and I look forward to seeing who might step forward and make it happen in some form!My new goal (in a few years) is to be that old decrepit human in my private studio in the back of the CPC workspace, happily going back and forth with my litho-stone-toting rollie cart after a successful ink rollup, passing by younger printmakers who have no idea who I am or what the hell I’m doing there. I do not plan on napping with lots of cats, but a little dog would be nice.Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions or comments. We have so many wonderful events and programs going on this fall, and the current gallery show is MAGNIFICENT.&nbsp;With love and inky solidarity,Deborah Maris LaderOctober, 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagoprintmakers.com">chicagoprintmakers.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Chicago Printmakers Collaborative Founder To Step Down in 2024

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419252/u0x4ii9xx6obrfytqqft.jpg"><figcaption>John Currin (American, b. 1962) Stamford after Brunch,&nbsp;2000 oil on canvas 40 × 60 in. Art Institute of Chicago Gift of Edlis Neeson Collection</figcaption></figure>By BIANCA BOVAI have the privilege of working in a museum. The Art Institute of Chicago occupies in my life the role of the definitive museum, by virtue of being the first that I experienced as child and a space that has served as the backdrop to many moments of significance personally and professionally in my adult life. I am lucky in this regard, if, at the moment, in no other.&nbsp;In a refrain echoed by many of my colleagues, I readily confess to spending less time in the museum's galleries than I should, considering I am already in the building. When my life was beset by bad circumstances last winter, for the first time I made a concerted effort to spend more. I have long held the belief that there are no novel experiences. In the whole unrecorded history of humanity, someone else has undoubtedly encountered just the set of circumstances one finds themself in, albeit arriving there by different means. Likewise, I believe in the canon of art history there is bound to be something that speaks to every human experience; something that reflects it, or that it can be hung on, or pinned to. This is, after all, an argument for why we have museums in the first place, or at the very least, why we collect art. A collector says they “fell in love” with a piece or that they “saw it and just had to have it.” It’s possible that what they saw was dollar signs, or that there is some degree of compulsion at play not dissimilar to the compulsion a gambler feels walking by a blackjack table. It is more in line with my experience, however, that it is a matter of seeing something that calls up some interior aspect of oneself–though, in the heat of that moment, it is seldom clear what aspect–that is the real driver. This abiding belief defines for me, more than any other, the work I do for a living as work worth doing. In an encyclopedic museum like the Art Institute, one generally not need to look too far, either.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;I began my intentional exploration, as a matter of habit more than anything else, on the second floor of the Modern Wing. There are works there that I have long been in the thrall of, and they now held the promise of stability at a time when I felt the floor perpetually slipping out from under my feet. It was comforting to know I could go up to gallery 296 anytime I wanted, and there, in the same place on the same wall, unchanged would be my favorite work in the whole museum, John Currin’s Stamford After Brunch (whatever judgment that admission earns me I welcome as entirely fair). I know the contents of the Modern Wing 200’s more or less by heart. I have given tours of them. There’s the de Kooning, there’s the Pollack, there’s the Frankethaler, there’s the Mitchell. Old friends. There’s the Robert Gober, perfect and sad and hopelessly attractive, and the Cady Noland that never fails to cause a certain populist shame to rise to the surface. I began going with regularity up to gallery 293 to gather a piece of candy or two from Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), hoarding them in my desk drawer. After all, what is there to know about the bedfellow relationship between love and grief that can’t be gleaned from Félix González-Torres?&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419253/wmlyep5utfaol6tlxhdq.jpg"><figcaption>Félix González-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). Photo by Bianca Bova.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In moments of uncertainty there is always the temptation to return to the well. For me, at the bottom of the well reside an unfortunate pair, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edward Hopper. When I realized the impact of wandering the Modern Wing 200’s was less the salve I had hoped it would be, I changed route and wandered in the American Art galleries instead. This development only lasted two days, during which Isamu Noguchi’s impossible aluminum Miss Expanding Universe sent me ricocheting back to Ruth Page’s Sex essay, an undated and diary-ish account of her marriage to Thomas Hart Fisher and her affair with Noguchi, and perhaps the most clear-eyed view of the politics of love in the art world ever committed to paper.&nbsp;Hopper, in turn, dragged me back to the ground, where in the expansive quietness of his work was the bitter confirmation that everything has a price, and proof of the resolve that I was willing to pay it. I also at this time picked back up The Crack-up, a book with a sort of damned quality about it. Curious in that it is both by and about Scott Fitzgerald in turns, it is full of aberrant details that require a depth of familiarity with his oeuvre and his life to grasp that verges on being too much to ask of the general readership. It remains a deeply formative volume for me, but one that I was quickly reminded did not contain any examples of how to handle being in crisis that were not, categorically, cautionary tales.&nbsp;When the art and writing of the 20th and 21st centuries failed me, I turned to art historical criticism by contemporary critics. Over one weekend I revisited Jerry Saltz’s essay on Sandro Botticelli’s La Derelitta, a gut-wrenching piece on a work of art unseen in person by its author, as good an argument for the validity of secondhand consumption of art as it is for the overwhelming power of the works that go undiminished by it. I followed this up with an account of the late Peter Schjeldahl’s legendary tours of the Frick Collection, which included a description of Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Progress of Love (Love the Avenger) (c.1790), a startling painting that depicts a winged cherub, aloft, with a dagger raised and ready to be plunged into the white dove that, mid-flight, is grasped by the cherub’s other hand. Here, I remember thinking, is a painting I can get behind. It caught me off guard in a way I found pleasing, spoke to me in the way I wanted to be spoken to in that moment; it succeeded where all of the other works I had been desperately seeking connection to had, for the first time, failed.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;My grasp of art history preceding the 20th century is thinner than I care to admit. I could not, even now, off the top of my head accurately provide the temporal parameters of the Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, and Rococo periods with any accuracy beyond a reasonable certainty that I have named them here in the correct linear order. My relationship to historical European art derives entirely from being Sicilian and also Roman Catholic. I remember with great clarity the gold-framed print of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper that hung over my grandmother’s kitchen sink when I was a child. In the house where I grew up, a terracotta bas relief of an angel presided over the strings of dried herbs and pepperoncini next to the pantry cabinet, while an elaborately painted and feathered model of a Sicilian cart (replete with horse) had pride of place on a shelf all its own. And the defining piece of decor in my parents’ bedroom was an extraordinary hand carved marble wall rosary. As such, in my adult life, alongside the contemporary art I collect, for many years there could be found in my apartment a retablo of St. Gertrude nailed to the wall, in order to keep the rats at bay. Ex-votos, statues, and gilded prints of saints come and go from the altar that occupies half of my bar as-needed. These objects have been to me something closer to furniture than to art, as they are, in their way, functional.&nbsp;Nevertheless, the next time I ventured into the Art Institute, I headed to Painting and Sculpture of Europe, chasing the high of the Fragonard. The department consists of a network of smallish galleries with jewel-toned walls, interconnected and accessed by narrow, dimly lit hallways. Situated at the heart of the museum’s original building, the warmth and richness fulfills every cliche of what a great museum is supposed to look and feel like. I walked through, my historical ignorance relieving me of the preoccupations that had informed my other late afternoon jaunts.&nbsp;What gratified me about these works was that their complexity was somehow not at odds with their lack of ambiguity. In Jacob Jordaens' The Temptation of the Magdalene (c.1616), an animalian figure is seen emerging from the shadows of the background and into the light, waving two fistfulls of snakes above the exhausted Magdalene’s head. It is, the label explains to us, “a menacing symbol of evil.” The label does not, however, elaborate on the skull she holds tenderly in her lap, as a brothel owner and an angel battle for her soul.&nbsp;Where conceptual art invites us into a set of circumstances and asks us to evaluate them, the art in Painting and Sculpture of Europe seemed only to ask that I bear witness to it. Tintoretto’s Tarquin and Lucretia (c.1578-80) stops time as pearls fall under foot from Lucretia’s broken necklace, and statuary topples in her struggle against Tarquin. This is, emphatically, not a painting of the revolution that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic, though it depicts the events that set it off. Terrifyingly, it demonstrates that it is possible to distill even something so historically momentous down to a single moment of cataclysm. As someone waking up every day wracked with the thought How did my life come to this?, the painting seemed to dispel in one fell swoop the notion I was clinging to that bad luck is so vast and random that it must be indefinable. Here, it answers: this is how.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419254/xkprclqdqklrdj02ktwq.jpg"><figcaption> Bartolomeo Manfredi (Italian, 1582-1622) Cupid Chastised,&nbsp;1613 oil on canvas 69 × 51 3/8 in. Art Institute of ChicagoCharles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;If these were minor revelations, it was Bartolomeo Manfredi’s Cupid Chastised (c.1613) that rocked me back on my heels. It depicts the god of war beating Cupid for causing his affair with Venus, as Venus tries in vain to intervene. It is a shockingly violent painting. Similar to Fragonard’s cherub and dove, the absence of bloodshed and the depiction of the drawback of a weapon–rather than the moment of impact–allows the image to maintain a strange and dramatic visual grace. Fragonard’s title, however, steers us quickly towards a brighter question: what does it mean for love to avenge against peace? Manfredi by contrast does us no such favors. Such is the brutality of Cupid Chastised that on my first viewing of it, my instinct was to look away, as though I might see the first blow land if I looked too long. Cupid, blindfolded, with wings pressed to the floor and an open mouth that suggests the catch of his breath, is one of the most striking figures I have ever encountered in a work of art. He is a portrait of vulnerability and comeuppance.What unnerves me most of all about these works–and compels me to revisit them often–is the awareness that all art is contemporary art, insofar as all art is the art of its own time. When confronted by the peculiar charm of Fragonard’s cherub, the radical humanity of Manfredi’s cupid, or even the ineffable weirdness of Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem’s Venus, Cupid, and Ceres (c.1604) (also on view in Painting and Sculpture of Europe–and acquired, suitably, in 2020), there is the sense not of a historical continuum, but of something less rigid bridging the chasm of time. I would perhaps sleep better if I could convince myself that the true vitality of these works has been inevitably lost to the passage of centuries, if I could reduce them to academic objects for further study. I know that I am better served by the inability to do this, that it would be a disservice to the work and to myself not to acknowledge the aphorism they affirm: Ars Longa Vita Brevis. Art is long, life is short.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Wandering Through Art History In Pursuit of Solace and Hope 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419272/z7u55ufcvkeocopxumyk.jpg"></figure>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;By ANNA DOBROWOLSKIIf we click our ruby heels three times and return to a pre-pandemic world, the ‘Dark Ages’ had a bright future. Medieval art influence was everywhere in pop culture, from&nbsp;Vogue&nbsp;to video games. Maybe you remember the Met Gala’s ‘medieval’ theme in 2018, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”? That same year&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/6/cgn-interview-series-sandra-hindman-of-les-enluminures">CGN interviewed</a>&nbsp;the medieval expert and founder of Les Enluminures, Sandra Hindman, who shared the same optimism in light of an exhibition with the Art Institute featuring nearly 30 manuscript illuminations from her collection.&nbsp;Within a year, there was another parallel: COVID-19 to the 14th-century bubonic plague. People then and now turned to art not only as a response to but also as a reprieve from not understanding the world around them.&nbsp;Perhaps the closest thing Chicago has to the medieval world is hidden in the collection at the Newberry Library, housed in a neo-gothic building adorned with gargoyles that allude to the ‘Old World.’ &nbsp;I visited Sandra Hindman in her office in the One Mag Mile building in downtown Chicago to ask some questions. How can we bring that world of scribes and illuminated manuscripts into our buzzing world of instant messaging and AI? What can that world teach our own—and what light can art advisors like Hindman shed on the Dark Ages for their clients?Somehow the pages from manuscripts on the wall – spawned from another world centuries ago – seem right at home next to the view of Lake Michigan. Hindman’s screensaver is of a miniature of Italian-French poet Christine de Pizan sitting in her study. As we start talking it’s clear that I’m not the only one who feels that there’s much more to appreciate about medieval art. In September, Hindman unveiled a soft rebranding of LE, and launched a parallel art advisory, the first of its kind. Both endeavors are intended to help others bring medieval art home. Below is our conversation about the challenges and creative solutions of keeping medieval art alive.&nbsp;*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/viaisooiip2yymrsegdv.jpg"><figcaption>Sandra Hindman</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN:&nbsp; How has the market changed in recent years, and what does that mean for you?&nbsp;Sandra Hindman:&nbsp;I think it might have changed more in the last five years than in the last several decades. There has been a dramatic shift. In the early '90s there was the rise of art shows. But now there’s a new king and queen: auction houses and art advisors.&nbsp;Technological advances in general, and the pandemic and lockdown in particular, increased the importance of the internet, including the presence and outreach of big auction houses. Simultaneously there is more money for art in more hands, but the ‘hands’ are too busy to be on the hunt themselves. If the king is the auction house, the queen is the art advisor. Except, there are probably ten times as many art advisors and art advisory ventures than ever before.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/zmvbfwwoimfh5akzqlkb.jpg"><figcaption>A selection of objects and jewelry&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: What are some challenges you face running a business of medieval art today?&nbsp;SH: The expected answers would be: Finding inventory, funding it, finding clients, having enough money to pay all expenses, and purchasing inventory. But in fact, the biggest challenge is different. The Middle Ages seem more distant now than ever before, what with iPhones, iPads, computers, and now Al.I haven't done even an informal survey, but I wouldn't be surprised if most people, even very "qualified" buyers, are not sure when exactly the Middle Ages was* and what happened during it, not to mention why they should care. I think that teaching people why a connection with the past is important and how (and why) they can live with medieval art in the present is the most challenging part of my business now.*In case you need a refresher: the Middle Ages in Western Europe were roughly bookended by the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the fall of Constantinople in 1453.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: How are you overcoming that challenge of making medieval art more accessible to more buyers? Do you have any advice for those learning how to appreciate these objects?SH:&nbsp;Learn to live with them at home and feel comfortable about them. Christopher de Hamel, author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.abebooks.com/9781594206115/Meetings-Remarkable-Manuscripts-Twelve-Journeys-1594206112/plp">Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts</a>&nbsp;once wrote “No one can claim understanding of the late Middle Ages who has not read a Book of Hours in bed." Even if you can’t read the physical book in bed, you can read about it – it doesn’t take as much time as you would think!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419274/yrqxt4fb3yy1kkhz7b8g.jpg"><figcaption>"This ring is round and hath no end/ like my love for thee my friend"</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN:&nbsp;Can you provide an example from your collection (like this Posy ring) and walk us through it?SH:&nbsp;A posy ring originates in the sixteenth century and they appear to be exclusively English (though there are some Latin, French, or Italian ones out there). Shakespeare incorporates them into his Hamlet:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Hamlet: Is this a prologue or the posy of a ring.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ophelia: Tis brief, my Lord&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hamlet: as a woman’s love”&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN:&nbsp;What can we learn from a single leaf when the rest of a compendium might be missing?&nbsp;&nbsp;SH:&nbsp;There is much to glean from a single page. Art is art. The beauty of the page, even a single page that has survived from a compendium, can give us access to great art by world class artists – some of whom remain anonymous forever – that is otherwise not accessible or financially unachievable in a complete codex.&nbsp;CGN: What piece in your collection has left a deep impression on you lately?SH:&nbsp;Sydrac’s manuscript. The copy I have*, which has been deaccesioned from an Imperial Russian collection&nbsp;has about 600 questions and answers between Christian philosopher Sydrac and ancient Babylonian king Bokkus to explain the natural world. It contains questions like “How do fish sleep?” “Why don’t the stars fall from the sky,” “Where does fire go when it burns out?” “Can we prolong life?” People are thinking about that one now. There’s another, “Will there always be war?”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419275/gpwcxo19tq0a41g4olcn.jpg"><figcaption>From the book of Sydrac, &nbsp;"Will there always be war?"</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: *The Book of Sydrac&nbsp;(Le Livre de Sydrac) Sandra mentions is a imagined dialogue between Christian philosopher Sydrac and ancient Babylonian king Bokkus to explain the natural world in over a thousand questions—a kind of rhymed encyclopedia. It was originally written for the French king in the 13th century. While ‘bad science’ might not make for good literature (answers range from quirky and moralizing to poetic), as art and as an object that survives today, it shows us that how we (mis)understand the world relates to what we read and what we see.&nbsp;**<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419276/m4espa2rskiz33dbmmbz.jpg"><figcaption>Sanguini/ Fra Angelico, Manuscript cutting, Children of the World</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: What are you looking forward to?SH:&nbsp;Two things in particular. The first is: we are engaged in a soft rebranding photography project – using new photos in space with people – through which we are trying to show how you can live with medieval art in the modern world.In addition to the soft launch, I’m launching a parallel business called Sandra Hindman Art Advisory LLC, which puts in place functions I’ve been doing for decades anyway. But this is a real gap in the art market internationally. Medieval art is a highly specialized field with few experts and the learning curve is simply too steep for most collectors in this busy world. The client who knows modern and contemporary art, or the museum with a manuscript collection but no specialized curator, they often don't know where to turn. I will advise museums on accessioning as well as deaccessioning projects, where there are special needs. A client who wants to gift their collection, I can find them the appropriate outside IRS appraiser and, equally importantly, advise them on what museum or library would be most appropriate as a gift-home.In other words, one antidote to this fast-paced world is to use these pieces to enter a world previously unknown to us.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419277/tc1uxebpirev1d7qkotc.jpg"><figcaption>Hindman with a book from her collection&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;#</body></html>

The Art of (Medieval) Living in Chicago

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/dja4hykpwu7a4ltttmgs.jpg"><figcaption>In Milwaukee, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house is for sale after 68 years in the same family. ANDREW MILLER &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/frank-lloyd-wright-in-milwaukee-for-sale-4b4defb3">A Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Milwaukee Lists for the First Time in Almost 70 Years</a>When Barbara and Robert Elsner bought a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in 1955, they wrote the famed architect to ask if he had designed any landscaping for the house. Wright responded that he hadn’t, but told them that their 1917 home was “a good house of a good period for a good client.”&nbsp;Since then, the Elsner family has carefully preserved the Milwaukee house, returning the interiors to their original paint colors and buying back the home’s custom-made furniture.Now, however, the family is ready to hand the house over to a new steward, according to the Elsners’ daughter Margaret Howland, who lives in the home. They are putting the property on the market for the first time in 68 years, asking $1.5 million.Via WSJ&nbsp;<a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/10/01/bronzevilles-the-forum-uncovers-century-old-hand-painted-scenic-theater-backdrops/?utm_source=Pico&amp;utm_campaign=81f50152a9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_10_02+Morning+List+3&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_-cbdb1cc15c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&amp;mc_cid=81f50152a9&amp;mc_eid=9fac193df8">Bronzeville’s The Forum Uncovers Century-Old, Hand-Painted Scenic Theater Backdrops</a>A trove of historical theater backdrops have been discovered in the attic of The Forum, the long-vacant Bronzeville treasure that’s being restored to its glory.Forum owner Bernard Loyd said the backdrops were found by contractor Michael Beaver, who was working at the site several weeks ago as part of an extensive renovation effort of the venue at 318-24 E. 43rd St.Via Block Club&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/arrested-great-wall-of-china-shortcut-2368758">The Great Wall of China Has Suffered ‘Irreversible’ Damage After Two Workers Excavated a Shortcut Through the Cultural Relic</a>Two suspects accused of digging a hole to create a shortcut over the Great Wall of China have been arrested for causing damage to the world famous heritage site.Last month, police received an alert reporting that the hole had been dug in the Great Wall in Yang Qianhe Township, about 215 miles west of Beijing, the Youyuxian County Public Security Bureau <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PNWdmbZXS7esmGQiUZqurw">said in a statement</a>. Investigators called the historic site “severely damaged.”Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2023/09/27/through-his-work-chicago-artist-shines-light-invisible-disabilities">Through His Work, Chicago Artist Shines Light on Invisible Disabilities</a>Arts Midwest, which presents an annual award to Midwestern artists with disabilities, recently announced its 2023 awardees.Visual artist Matt Bodett is the only Chicago recipient. He said his work gives him a voice.“That power given back to me, I think, was that moment of transition for me,” Bodett said.That power Bodett is referring to comes as a result of hard work, after being diagnosed with what’s described as an invisible disability.Via WTTW&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 10/2/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419279/k2cwemv8aftxnsef13o4.jpg"><figcaption>Floating Museum's Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, avery r. young, Faheem Majeed, and Andrew Schachman at the Chicago Cultural Center Credit: Cory Dewald</figcaption></figure><a href="https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/biennial-as-experimentation-chicago-architecture-biennial-floating-museum-this-is-a-rehearsal/?fbclid=IwAR0Zgf_T8Gt_jEgiMSQgXl3-l1gqldzaH_fzjW-uMjFGArqsA12l2rBeqa8">Biennial as experimentation</a>In 2017, a barge drifted along the Chicago River. It wasn’t carrying the usual Ozinga concrete or gravel; instead it floated a museum. Produced by the Floating Museum, an interdisciplinary collective comprised of architect Andrew Schachman, artists Faheem Majeed and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, and poet avery r. young, the museum barge showcased artwork from dozens of local and national artists. But for those lingering along the Chicago Riverwalk, the barge’s approach was announced by song: every Wednesday night, the group would float up the river, transporting a chorus led by young.&nbsp;Today, the Floating Museum has ascended from participants to artistic directors of the 2023 edition of the CAB, which opens September 21. Borrowing from their experience in 2017, they’ve named this year’s biennial theme, “This Is a Rehearsal.”Via The Chicago Reader&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/picasso-anniversary-celebration-museums-2174113">It’s Pablomonium! A Bonanza of Major Picasso Shows Will Hit Dozens of Museums in 2023 to Mark 50 Years Since the Artist’s Passing</a>April 8, 2023, will mark the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, and to celebrate the incomparable artist’s legacy, museums around the globe are staging a bonanza of shows.A commission organized by the French and Spanish governments has coordinated 42 exhibitions at top European and American institutions, from the Centre Pompidou to the Mint Museum in North Carolina, all under the banner “Picasso Celebration 1973-2023.”The effort “aims to highlight the career of an essentially European artist who, with a deep knowledge of the heritage and principles of tradition, as well as an understanding of both classicism as an ethical value and of modern issues in art, has projected throughout the world universal symbols,” reads a statement from the commission.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/belinda-tate-director-indianapolis-museum-of-art-newfields-1234680000/">Newfields, Still Reeling from Controversy, Names Indianapolis Museum Director After Lengthy&nbsp;Search</a>Newfields has appointed Belinda Tate as the next director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfield, concluding a nearly four-year hiring process and crisis of identity for the 140-year-old institution.Tate comes to Indianapolis from Michigan’s Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, where she has served as executive director since 2014. She will begin her tenure on November 6 and be the first at Newfields to hold the title Melvin &amp; Bren Simon Director, which was established in February 2021 as the not-for-profit museum revamped its executive structure.Via Artnews&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 9/27/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/ixscheuobmyhnppxprsa.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/william-buxton-modern-paintings">William Buxton: Modern Paintings</a>September 28Richard Norton Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/zbd4makbfy3u6adfpwtr.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/karl-jahnke-solo-show">Karl Jahnke: All Over the Place</a>Opening: Friday, September 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmChicago Truborn&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/dilmsiktjocg5vlxjubk.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/steve-krakow">The Secret History of Steve Krakow</a>Opening: Friday, September 29, 7 – 10&nbsp;pmFirecat Projects&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/anfbbzhebonto0qonlkg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/zach-weber-then-now">Zach Weber: Then(now)</a>Opening: Friday, September 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmThe Golden Triangle&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open Sept 28 - Oct 2: Part I

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/tii4iind9sjw30xlt8y4.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/to-be-continued">To Be Continued...</a>Opening: Friday, September 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmChicago Artists Coalition (CAC)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419287/phhgw4hbfakilldqyl0a.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/arc-members-50th-anniversary-exhibition">ARC Members’: 50th Anniversary Exhibition</a>Opening: Friday, September 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/n6ozasbnxyvid0hyj4bi.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rodney-smith-a-leap-of-faith">Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith</a>Opening: Friday, September 29, 5 – 7:30&nbsp;pmAnne Loucks Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/nutgwrcfqvergx7tbrbo.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rebecca-morris-2001-2022">Rebecca Morris: 2001-2022</a>September 30Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/kntftyt4nyogfbmzgtvc.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rosy-petri">Rosy Petri</a>October 2Wadsworth Family Gallery at Lewis University&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Open Sept 28 - Oct 2: Part II

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419279/hvfouzwrcknoh5auwrx1.jpg" alt="image001.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;CHICAGO (September 22, 2023)—Next month, the nonprofit <a href="https://www.aaaachicago.org/">African American Arts Alliance of Chicago</a> presents its Black Arts Month programming, a series of free public events highlighting Black artists from across Chicago, Monday evenings at 7 p.m. from October 9 through October 23, 2023. Advance registration isrequired for all events, and is free with a suggested donation of $15, at <a href="https://www.aaaachicago.org/">www.aaaachicago.org</a>.&nbsp;Public programs for Black Arts Month will be held across the city, celebrating and featuring Black artists across artistic disciplines during each event in a series of performances and presentations:&nbsp;Monday, October 9 from 7-9 p.m.Black Arts Month Kick-off and North Side Convening at Black Ensemble Theater4450 N. Clark Street, ChicagoFeatured artists: Black Ensemble Theater and Red Clay Dance Company&nbsp;Monday, October 16 from 7-9 p.m.Black Arts Month South Side Convening at Retreat at Currency Exchange305 E. Garfield Boulevard, ChicagoHosted by Melissa DupreyAn evening celebrating Black storytelling across genres through digital media with a panel discussion facilitated by Troy Pryor and a post-event celebration featuring DJ Rae ChardonnayFeatured artists: Growing Concerns Poetry Collective, Congo Square Theatre, LaTaryion Perry/Missed Turn Productions and Lo Williams&nbsp;Monday, October 23 from 7-9 p.m.Black Arts Month West Side Convening at Muse Coffee Studio747 S. Western Avenue, ChicagoHosted by Melissa DupreyAn evening celebrating Black storytelling through theater, poetry, film, and dance and a post-event celebration featuring DJ Rae ChardonnayFeatured artists: Perceptions Theatre, Enneréssa LaNette Davis, Mckenzie Chinn, Jamal “Litebulb” Oliver&nbsp;Registration for new individual, organizational, and affiliate memberships is now open, and all new members who register by October 31, 2023, will receive 15% off their Alliance membership fee. More information, including member benefits, is available at <a href="https://www.aaaachicago.org/">www.aaaachicago.org</a>. &nbsp;About the African American Arts Alliance&nbsp;Founded in 1997 by a group of Chicago’s leading African American artists and arts organizations, the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago is a nonprofit service organization dedicated to supporting and promoting Black excellence within the performing, visual, literary, technical and design art forms. The Alliance has worked to increase interaction, communication and collaboration within the Black arts community to promote the continuing development of organizations and individual artists, as well as highlighting their accomplishments through its annual Black Excellence Awards. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.aaaachicago.org/">www.aaaachicago.org</a>.</body></html>

The African American Arts Alliance of Chicago presents Black Arts Month in October

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419279/h4ryyi1sntgzrxtn8hgr.jpg"><figcaption>Wanted: More Eyes On John D. Graham, 2023.</figcaption></figure>Manneken Press Hosts Collaborative Exhibition of Works by Richard Hull and John YauManneken Press, based in downstate Bloomington, IL, is an independent fine art press publishing limited editions, unique prints, artist’s books, portfolios and drawings by leading contemporary artists, many with Chicago connections. Art critic and poet John Yau and artist Richard Hull produced a series of prints this past spring that are now part of the exhibition at Manneken on Artsy.&nbsp;Manneken co-founder Jonathan Higgins shared, "Yau and Hull are &nbsp;longtime friends and have both engaged in collaborations with others, but never until now with each other. Loosely following the format of “Wanted” posters of outlaws from the old Wild West for this project, Yau provided pithy phrases which he sketched directly onto rectangular plates. Hull used the texts as prompts, drafting abstracted portraits on a larger square plate. The three plates were placed together and printed once for the initial impression, then a second cognate or “ghost” impression was pulled, a pattern followed throughout the series.Each of the prints contains a message. Some call for more attention to under-recognized artists like John D. Graham, and Miyoko Ito. “Wanted: The Lost Movies of Anna May Wong” (2023) is a lamentation for the first Chinese-American film star whose career was diminished due to stereotyping and Hays Code censorship."The exhibition is <a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/manneken-press">online through February 4, 2024</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.arcgallery.org/exhibitions-archive/50th-anniversary-exhibition">ARC Gallery to Open 50th Anniversary Exhibition This Weekend</a>Artist Residents of Chicago (ARC) was founded in 1973 as a women-run artists’ cooperative organization at a time when the art world refused to take women’s voices seriously. ARC in 2023 still brings innovative, emerging and experimental visual art to a wide range of viewers. As a non-commercial gallery, we are able to provide a unique atmosphere of continued artistic experimentation and dialogue.&nbsp;The public is invited to attend a reception with ARC as its members celebrate with a 50th Anniversary Members' Exhibition. For this milestone celebration, ARC presents work by members past and present. Featuring an installation piece by founding member Gerda Meyer-Bernstein, now 100 years old. One of the original alternative Chicago galleries of the 1970’s, along with Artemisia, and N.A.M.E., ARC is now the last of these great names still standing.Opening Reception Fri.&nbsp; Sept 29, 5-8pmRead CGN's feature on ARC's anniversary <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/6/arc-gallery-at-50">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419280/etyf0ypws6zd5a843jeu.jpg"><figcaption>Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977), Snared, Oil on masonite, 8 x 10 inches &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://mailchi.mp/mongersongallery/new-to-the-gallery-gertrude-abercrombie?e=d4bddc3732">Mongerson Gallery Offers a classically enigmatic work by Gertrude Abercrombie.</a>The gallery shared the acquisition of a work by the celebrated surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie. Painted in 1967, Snared showcases Abercrombie’s penchant for dreamlike tableaux and haunting symbolism. A lone figure stands in a desolate night landscape, reaching out towards the owl before her. Behind her, her long hair is caught in the keyhole of a ghostly door— she is in limbo, snared between what she reaches towards and what holds her back. The piece was exhibited at the The Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL. Gertrude Abercrombie: An Exhibition. July 28 - October 25, 1991.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419281/cqxc4bhoopgsmirnxgxd.jpg"></figure><a href="https://andrewrafacz.com/exhibitions/chicago-exhibition-weekend-2023/">CXW &amp; ANDREW RAFACZ present Chicago Community Board</a>Andrew Rafacz Gallery announced that their now-boarded up facade on the ground floor of 1749 West Chicago Avenue, which was seriously damaged when a truck drove through the gallery window a few weeks ago – will be repurposed as a physical information board and nexus for any and all exhibitions and scheduled events citywide in the arts this fall.The gallery shared in a message, "We encourage all of our fellow galleries, institutions, artists, performers, writers and collectives to post their related show announcements, posters, maps, texts, images and memorabilia to our community board facing a bustling stretch of Chicago Avenue.The visual palimpsest of our city’s dynamic, layered arts community will continue to evolve throughout the fall season, as the gallery rebuilds behind the scenes."They Community Board launches September with Chicago Exhibition Weekend and continues once CXW is over.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 9/25/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419279/oc6dnngxybadnuixxmsc.png"></figure><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/21/bob-ross-painting-for-sale-auction/70917462007/">Bob Ross' 1st painting from famed TV show up for auction. How much is it?</a>Happen to have $10 million lying around?If so, the first-ever painting that legendary artist Bob Ross created on his show could be yours.Via USA Today&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/nfts-are-worthless-1234680119/">Your NFTs Are Totally&nbsp;Worthless</a>A team of&nbsp;researchers have crunched the numbers to explain why you don’t see people hawking ugly cartoon apes on the internet as much anymore:&nbsp;NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, once vaunted as a revolution in&nbsp;crypto&nbsp;and digital&nbsp;art, are largely worthless.Via Artnews&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/van-gogh-museum-pokemon-tease-collaboration-in-new-trailer-2364365">The Van Gogh Museum Enters the Pokémon Universe, Teasing a Collaboration With the Beloved Pocket Monsters</a>The Van Gogh Museum and Pokémon Company have released a teaser trailer for a new and unexpected collaboration set to begin on September 28.In the video, Pikachu and Eevee can be seen running through a field of sunflowers before something in the sky catches their attention. The pocket monsters look up and see the sun and clouds transforming into the painterly style of Vincent Van Gogh—with loose brush strokes, swirls and all.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2023/09/22/chicago-architecture-biennial-2023">Thompson Center transformed for Chicago Architecture Biennial</a>Artistic directors of this year's Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) say they're disrupting the traditional way art and architecture are presented. Though the Biennial celebrates Chicago's global reputation for architecture, the event's main goal is to highlight creativity in our neighborhoods and reimagine well-known spaces.CAB is making closed spaces more accessible and interesting, including those at the Thompson Center, closed to the public since July 2022.<ul><li>As part of the Biennial, the public will be invited inside to experience "HygroShell," a curved sculpture made of malleable timber, at the center's LaSalle entrance.</li><li>Artists are also transforming an abandoned Sprint store there into an art gallery. Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama is using natural materials to drape artwork around the steel, austere structure of the building.</li></ul>Via Axios&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 9/22/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419279/plcpsyt2qegzcan3ojjh.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Event features dozens of artistic tenants, including Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, Exile in Bookville, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Liederstube, Monsieur Pamplemousse, Natya Dance Theatre, Press Here Studio and the Second Floor Art Gallery exhibiting Don Yang&nbsp;Via PR -- Chicago’s historic <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/">Fine Arts Building</a> (410 S. Michigan Avenue) marks its 125th anniversary with a major public celebration on Friday, October 13 from 5-9 p.m. that activates all ten floors of this Chicago Landmark, an artist haven since its founding in October 1898. Mayor Brandon Johnson has declared Oct. 13 <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/mayoral-proclamation/">Fine Arts Building Day in Chicago</a> “in recognition of [this] milestone 125th anniversary” and to “encourage all residents to support this historic landmark.”The Fine Arts Building is a home for art in all forms: from pioneers like Poetry magazine’s founding publisher Harriet Monroe, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, sculptor Lorado Taft and the Chicago Little Theatre, to the ongoing legacies of painters, musicians, booksellers, puppeteers, dancers, photographers and craftspeople who inhabit the building today, the Fine Arts Building is buzzing with more than a century of Chicago creativity and innovation.The 125th Anniversary Celebration on October 13 will include a free concert at 7:30 p.m. in the newly renovated Studebaker Theater from Dr. Yulia Lipmanovich, a distinguished concert pianist and piano teacher based in the Fine Arts Building. The Studebaker originally opened with a piano recital by Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler in 1898, and Dr. Lipmanovich will be recreating some of Zeisler’s original setlist to commemorate the theater’s 125th anniversary. Advance registration for the concert program is free and recommended at <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/events/125/">fineartsbuilding.com/events/125</a>.An expanded version of the building’s monthly <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/events/second-fridays/">Second Fridays</a> open studios events, the 125th Anniversary Celebration highlights artistic tenants throughout the building, ranging from music, dance and puppetry to literature, fine art and jewelry—illustrating the full range of art forms that fill the halls of the Fine Arts Building today.&nbsp;Programming highlights of the October 13 celebration include (with event locations):&nbsp;·&nbsp;Chicago Human Rhythm Project (Studio 300) will present a “Taste O’Tap” with opportunities for visitors to learn the first steps of the Shim Sham (national tap dance anthem) as well as demonstrations of lesser-seen tap choreographies to classical music, swing and old standards such as “I've Got You Under My Skin.”·&nbsp;Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (Studio 433) will present an overflowing display of handmade puppets and flowers, created for a special public spectacle in Maggie Daley Park to <a href="https://chicagopuppetfest.org/amal/">welcome Little Amal to Chicago</a>.·&nbsp;Chicago Opera Theater (Studio 404) will present a series of live musical performances in celebration of its 50th anniversary.·&nbsp;Exile in Bookville (Studio 210) will highlight an all-star group of authors as guest booksellers throughout the evening.&nbsp;·&nbsp;Jazz Institute of Chicago (lobby) will present performances from a jazz combo 5-7 p.m.·&nbsp;Liederstube (Studio 721), which presents classical music in intimate and informal settings, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. They will perform selections of their greatest hits, inviting visitors to gather around the piano and sing art songs.·&nbsp;Monsieur Pamplemousse custom jewelry by Alex Agudo (Studio 702) will walk guests through the making of a bracelet or key chain pendant with a special 125th anniversary message. Limited edition for the first 100 guests.·&nbsp;Natya Dance Theatre (Curtiss Hall) will perform the dance theater of India known as Bharatanatyam, which combines percussive footwork, geometrical body movements, hand gestures and facial expressions to convey profound messages.&nbsp;·&nbsp;Press Here Studio (Studio 419) will present the Center for Mad Culture’s interactive exhibition “It’s Not Art Therapy” by Sandie Yi and Katie O’Neill, as well as a reading and book signing with MV Perry, who will read from his new novel A Revolution of the Mind.·&nbsp;The Second Floor Art Gallery (2nd Floor), curated by Stanley Smith of Oak Street Design, will open a new show featuring the plein air paintings of fellow Fine Arts Building tenant and artist Don Yang, showcasing the architectural icons of Chicago and the surrounding areas.·&nbsp;New historic exhibits <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/windows-into-history/">Art Alone Endures and Staging Ground</a> (5th Floor) offer “windows into history,” sharing stories of the artists and companies that have called the Fine Arts Building home over the past 125 years. The exhibits are free and open to the public daily during normal business hours. A self-guided walking tour of historic sites and artists’ studios throughout the building is available online at <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/map/">fineartsbuilding.com/map</a>.&nbsp;Additional tenants participating in the 125th Anniversary Celebration include: Ann Pickett Studio and Gallery; portrait artist Lou Ann Burkhardt; Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras; painter, illustrator and editorial cartoonist Richard Laurent; Patrice Olsen Fine Art, presenting drawing, painting and photography for social justice; Ossia Musical Forum, a musical academy and chamber music concert booking specialist; and abstract artist James Tansley.Second Fridays open studios are free to attend at the Fine Arts Building on the second Friday of every month from 5-9 p.m., and include gallery openings, special performances and artistic demonstrations. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/second-fridays">fineartsbuilding.com/second-fridays</a>.&nbsp;The Fine Arts Building is a home for art in all forms: from pioneers like Poetry magazine’s founding publisher Harriet Monroe, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, sculptor Lorado Taft and the Chicago Little Theatre, to the ongoing legacies of painters, musicians, booksellers, puppeteers, dancers, photographers and craftspeople who inhabit the building today, the Fine Arts Building is buzzing with more than a century of Chicago creativity and innovation. A Chicago Landmark since 1978, the building features original manually-operated elevators, Art Nouveau murals from the late 19th century and the recently renovated Studebaker Theater, one of the city’s oldest and most significant live theatrical venues.</body></html>

Chicago’s Fine Arts Building to host 125th Anniversary Celebration

Building a Next Gen Collection: Zach Smith

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419235/yhl2k9qpcrqtvkvt1zna.jpg"><figcaption>Derrick Adams's Fun Time Any Time in Polk Bros. Park. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAAt the start of summer I found myself at Navy Pier purely for family adventure and not to spend days walking Festival Hall during an art fair. As it was a cold, windy day we weren't able to enjoy the outdoors for long – we spent 30 minutes playing a &nbsp;wet, quick round of Putt Putt golf, and having paid for parking and determined to get our money's worth, we set out to see Chicago's number one tourist destination as tourists in our hometown.Before heading indoors from mini golf, we walked into Polk Bros. Park, at the west end of the Pier. Thanks to EXPO CHICAGO, the annual rotation of public art installation, part of <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/in-situ-outside">IN/SITU Outside</a>, gives any visitor to the Pier a reason to come back to see new art long after EXPO ends in April. Derrick Adams's Fun Time Any Time was still on view when we visited (it came down after June 25) and the shiny black unicorns were unoccupied. It fell to my family to show other onlookers that the art could, in fact, be interactive and fun. Adams's quartet of magical creatures are also vehicles for leisure as well as cultural understanding. Both adults and children took turns riding the glossy, rainbow-maned unicorns, with my seven year-old son looking like he was training for the Triple Crown.The Navy Pier of today is, thankfully, a far cry from the tired, worn, heavily carpeted Pier of the late '90s and 2000s. A major overhaul, unfortunately timed right around the pandemic, managed to update and refresh all the surfaces and spaces and to also introduce new destinations. The food court is still the food court, and throngs of people still gobble up Garrett's Popcorn and overpay for branded souvenirs and tchotchkes, but the overall look is light and airy and sleek. This may be a tourist destination but it is a modern, very Chicago-style one.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419236/iyjtdsecyndjvrwr2nwc.jpg"><figcaption>Hebru Brantley's Flyboy. Photo CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;After a little lunch (at Harry Caray's – not modern but still fun) we found ourselves standing outside the entrance to the Chicago Children's Museum. We hadn't visited the museum in about 6 years, but now that my children are 7 and 9, and familiar with hand sanitizer, they were desperate to go inside, so off we went. There was much more to do for older children than I remembered, and the art on display, as well as the many creative activities, was prominent. Outside the museum on the south side of Navy Pier near the tour boat docks, we had seen one of Hebru Brantley's towering Flyboys installed, a kid dressed as a hero and ready to take off or at least make some art. Inside the museum Hebru himself could be seen, at the entrance to the art lab in a display explaining the benefits of getting messy and expressing your ideas on paper. A selection of completed art studio works by children are on installed in a glass case nearby. I personally enjoyed seeing a visual artist positioned as an inspirational super star rather than an athlete or movie star.&nbsp;At the entrance to the art studio, an illuminated sign quotes Hebru Brantley in both Spanish and English,&nbsp;<blockquote>"From Kirby's Clubhouse to Sky Studio, my hope is that in these spaces, you will feel free to immerse and express yourself in all sorts of creative ways."</blockquote>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419237/opqlxfw8eakdmylum5q4.jpg"><figcaption>The Art Studio. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419238/actoavl725kiibr8bljd.jpg"><figcaption>An animated sign in English and Spanish welcomes visitors to the Art Studio. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419239/u4irbdlp22n1whjp3czq.jpg"><figcaption>Works by artists at the Art Studio. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;*&nbsp;Just down the walkway from the art studio is a climbable sculpture available to kids and adults alike, as long as you don a helmet. Titled Cloud Buster, the structure by Kevin Winters is built out of steel, wood, wire, rope, acrylic, fiberglass and artificial turf. Winters was inspired by the structure of the particle accelerator complex at Fermilab in suburban Batavia, IL. Bringing art, design and physics together, Winters has created a dynamic playground in the sky through which to expend energy of another sort. After all, young visitors to the museum can be expected to stay still for only so long, even when they're making a mess in the art studio.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419240/abyhxn25htxchjumajbz.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Winters's Cloud Buster. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;A visit to any museum wouldn't be complete without having to exit through the gift shop (you also enter the museum here), but in addition to browsing toys and t-shirts for sale, you notice several handwoven, patterned sculptures suspended from the museum entrance's ceiling. Helpful signage visually identifies each work and which group of children created it. Some were crafted at the museum – collaborations between visitors and resident artists – while many others were made by local school groups. 200 visitors, community center members, students, and professional artists were invited to contribute to the collection. Each spinning work is made of yarn and is a tactile exploration of color, layering and storytelling - many resemble traditional Native American God's eyes that watch over and engage these bright, hopeful young minds that pass in and out of the Children's Museum in the heart of a busy city. These parting images from the museum are a reminder that art isn't always right in front of us on the wall, it is often above and all around us, waiting to be explored or even created.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419240/txvbwoiphbv5cetanmhf.jpg"><figcaption>Woven creations at the entrance/exit to the museum. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;#&nbsp;The Chicago Children's Museum Offers Free Family DaysIn 2023: Last Thursdays from January – May and September &amp; October!In partnership with Navy Pier, Chicago Children’s Museum guests can enjoy five fun-filled activities for families and children (ages ten and under) on the last Thursday of each month from January through May and two additional days of activities in September &amp; October. Free admission to Chicago Children’s Museum.&nbsp;No pre-registration is required. $10 discounted parking at Navy Pier with validation.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/family-days">Details here.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Artistic Discoveries at the Chicago Children's Museum 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419279/di7oa09v6boqjcck5d99.jpg"><figcaption>JNL Graphic Design studio visit, Chicago, 2015. © Iker Gil. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://mascontext.com/observations/jnl-graphic-design-celebrating-a-studio-that-sculpted-the-visual-and-cultural-landscape-of-chicago-and-beyond">JNL Graphic Design: Celebrating a Studio that Sculpted the Visual and Cultural Landscape of Chicago and Beyond</a>As JNL Graphic Design closes its doors, we want to celebrate the remarkable contributions by Jason and Leslie with the voices of many who admire their work as clients, collaborators, and friends.Via Mas ContextJust a few of the contributors:&nbsp;<ul><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/natasha-egan">Natasha Egan</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/andrew-fenchel">Andrew Fenchel</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/tony-karman">Tony Karman</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/donnie-madia">Donnie Madia</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/john-mckinnon">John McKinnon</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/zo%C3%AB-ryan">Zoë Ryan</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/david-salkin">David Salkin</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/tony-tasset">Tony Tasset</a></li><li><a href="https://mascontext.com/contributors/richard-wright">Richard Wright</a></li></ul>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arts-entertainment/warrant-issued-seize-schiele-drawing-art-institute-chicago">Warrant issued to seize an allegedly stolen Schiele drawing at the Art Institute</a>New York authorities have issued a warrant to seize a watercolor and pencil drawing by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele from the Art Institute of Chicago. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office issued a series of warrants last week seeking to seize three artworks created by Schiele that it believes to be stolen.Via Crain's&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/jens-haaning-empty-frames-museum-loan-2364634">A Court Has Ordered an Artist to Repay a Danish Museum $72,000 for Submitting Two Empty Frames for a Commission</a>A Copenhagen court has ordered a Danish artist to repay the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art nearly $72,000 after he delivered two empty frames in lieu of a commissioned artwork in 2021, claiming that the frames were a new conceptual piece, provocatively titled Take the Money and Run.The museum had loaned the artist, Jens Haaning, 534,000 krone ($84,000) to recreate a 2007 sculpture, in the form of banknotes, titled An Average Danish Annual Income, which represented the salary using krone bills affixed to a canvas. A 2010 version used euros to represent a typical Austrian income.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/arts/design/van-gogh-returned-dutch-museum.html">Stolen Van Gogh Painting Is Returned in Ikea Bag</a>A Vincent van Gogh painting stolen from a Dutch museum in March 2020 was returned on Monday by a tipster, who delivered it encased in Bubble Wrap and tucked in an Ikea bag to the home of a private Dutch art crimes detective.Via NYT&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

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