<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418571/kh2w7e0szd2hu9cpdpun.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;By JAYCEE ROCKHOLDEven though the city of Chicago may be on the map, its photography community isn’t— which is exactly what Jennifer Murray, executive director of Filter Photo Festival and Filter Space, is trying to fix. A grad student turned Loyola University professor, Murray has always had her toes dipped in the Chicago photography community.Still currently the only photography festival in the Midwest, Filter Photo Festival (running September 21- 24, 2017) was founded by Sarah Hadley as a small operation in 2009, but now encompasses hundreds of participants, in-depth portfolio reviews, artist talks and interactive events. “Filter actually began about nine years ago as an annual festival,” said Murray. “This upcoming September will be our ninth annual Filter Photo Festival taking place at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel, just a short walk away from the Museum of Contemporary Art.” The festival draws both a Chicago centric and national crowd, as well as a few international photographers eager to get their work reviewed.Even though there are multiple facets of the festival, portfolio reviews make up a majority of the festival. Gathering a wide variety of artists and resources for both students and the public is one of the goals that solidifies Filter Photo Festival. It’s a high concentration of well-known artistic individuals in one area made available at a fair price.“The portfolio reviews happen with professionals like gallerists and curators,” said Murray. “We invite them to come from across the country. We usually have around 30 and about 10 of those are Chicago based. We really want people to take advantage of the fact that you have all of these professionals in one specific location as opposed to thinking that you needed to go to San Francisco, New York and different cities around the country in order to have your work looked at.” &nbsp;This year, Matt Austin, founder of Candor Arts, and Teresa Silva from Chicago Artists Coalition are among the Chicago-based reviewers.Murray’s background in teaching urged her to place a heavy emphasis on portfolio reviews (she currently teaches photography at Chicago’s own Loyola University). Proud of the fact that she could practically talk about a piece and workshop it all day long, part of her drive for reviews stems from her experience working in A+D Gallery, a non-photo gallery at Columbia College Chicago. “Teaching photography but running a non-photo gallery really helped me understand the place photography has in the art world,” said Murray. “I think we tend to think of photography as the subset or separate thing and it’s really not.”The public can purchase portfolio reviews in bulk, allowing the individual to spend 20 minutes discussing their work with multiple professionals, and runs on a first come first serve basis. Whoever submits a list of artists they wish to meet with quickly has more of a chance of speaking with the artists on their list.For Murray, the Filter portfolio reviews emphasize that photographers are artists, and should consider themselves so. Ranging from still life to street photography, each photographer has their own artistic value.Besides the public, portfolio reviews also attract plenty of students, who actually have an advantage for portfolio reviews. Not only do they get the chance to have their work reviewed by well-known artists, but they also can participate at a lower cost. Students who are faced with a tight budget can purchase single portfolio reviews versus the require bulk buy for others.&nbsp;“A lot of our local faculty will bring students and classes,” said Murray. “That’s really the goal; to create a festival, to create these four days of programming in Chicago that’s just not for people that can afford this. We really want it to be open to anybody. We want to provide opportunities to students.”Hand-in-hand with portfolio reviews, Filter Photo Festival also organizes artists talks. Topics range from searching for and finding photography opportunities to discussing and showcasing a particular artist’s work. Some talks implement tours or other interactive aspects, such as the Leica Camera walk organized by Chicago’s Tamarkin Camera, in which participants are lent a Leica camera to take photos while walking around the city. This free activity allows people to step out of their own specific area of photography and experience something they wouldn’t have been able to before, especially students who may not be able to afford a Leica camera.“It’s street photography and film based. It doesn’t have to be film, but it certainly could be,” said Murray. “It’s a nice community building opportunity. It’s a way to sample some gear but it’s also a way to be with other folks that want to walk around and take pictures.”Some of the artists speaking at the event this year include photographer Jeffrey Wolin and Catherine Edelman, owner and director of Catherine Edelman gallery in Chicago, both of which will lead a gallery tour of Wolin’s exhibition Pigeon Hill: Then and Now, which includes his photographs taken in a housing project in southern Indiana. Photographers Sara J. Winston and Terry Evans will also lead their own talks as well. Even though the content of each talk will differ, one can expect healthy discussions of what it means to take contemporary photographs, as well as an enlightening method to learn about the artist and their work.In addition to artist talks, Filter Photo also presents numerous opportunities for workshopping photographers. Following a similar formula to that of the portfolio reviews, some, like Filter Photo members and those who sign up when registration opens, get first pick on these workshops. Even though the workshops will give guidance like the reviews, they also take time to pose heavy questions to spur discussion. The workshop Getting Seen, Getting Shown: Professional Practices for the Fine Art Photographer With Sasha Wolf and Jess T. Dugan not only points out skills that a photographer should have to keep their head above water, but also questions when a photographer knows if when their work is ready to be shown, how to connect with others in the art world, and how social media intertwines with this all.“People that take those workshops have the opportunity to develop a peer group with the other people that are there and develop a relationship with that artist,” said Murray. “Most of the time people will bring their own work to the workshop, so they not only hear what the artist has to say about their own practice and how to move forward in this particular area, but also have the opportunity to have the artist look at their own work. [The artist] provides really direct one-on-one feedback.”Overall, the Filter Photo Festival, highlighted by portfolio reviews, artist talks, and workshops, bolsters a photography community. Murray, who hopes the festival continues to attract people from both Chicago and around the world, also intends the festival to stay around the same size as it is now in order to maintain the small, tight-knit community feel. The festival has definitely grown since its conception in 2009, but for now, it fill its own niche in the Midwestern photography community. At the end of the day, for Murray, the main concern isn’t the size of the festival, but the individuals that make it up. From amateur photographers to those who have decades of experience, from still life photographers to student photographers snapping pictures for their own personal project, Filter Festival provides a platform to aid them all.“We know you’re serious and that this isn’t just a passing fad for you,” Murray said. “We know that you’re genuinely interested in being a part of this community and that this is really a career for you. We want to nurture those people.”Photo: Courtesy of Filter Festival&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN interviews Filter Festival director Jennifer Murray.

Putting Chicago on the Map: How Filter Festival Builds Photography Community 

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with&nbsp;Jayson Lawfer&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/the-nevica-project">The Nevica Project</a>.

Name: The Nevica Project 
Dealer: Jayson Lawfer 
Age: 43 
Previous occupation: Director of a nonprofit 
Hometown: Freeport, IL

Chicago Gallery News: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence. &nbsp;

Jayson Lawfer: Selling and promoting art and artists in both the primary and secondary markets&mdash;international in scope, personal in nature.

CGN: How did you become an art dealer?

JL: Long before I opened my gallery, I started collecting art and spending quality time with artists, collectors and dealers. Over time I saw an opportunity to create an interesting and fulfilling business. In 2008, while living abroad in Italy, I created the The Nevica Project and set it up as an online gallery working off of images and contracts. NEVICA is an Italian word that means &ldquo;it snows,&rdquo; and my idea was to build a small gallery business that would snowball into something bigger and bigger every year.

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?&nbsp;

JL: I mentally pinch myself, because I feel fortunate to do what I enjoy each day.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs?

JL: Thumbs up. Anytime you can corral millions of dollars worth of art and the population that can afford it, you create a win-win situation.

CGN: Artists you admire but don&#39;t represent?

JL: Jonas Wood, Theaster Gates, Kerry James Marshall and Richard Serra. But the great thing about collection management is that my gallery has work by all these artists within our secondary market situations.&nbsp;

CGN: Best sale you&rsquo;ve ever had?

JL: One of the most profitable was a Viola Frey 9-foot sculpture but one of the most exciting was a Magdalena and Michael Frimkess vase I sold to Jonas Wood.

CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors?

JL: I really believe one should buy what touches his or her soul. But I also feel like making investments with artwork is underrated, exciting and smart. I always inform young collectors that when they support artists and buy their artwork, they have a position in the success of that artist.

CGN: Which artist that you represent or work of art you have recently acquired are you most excited about? Why?

JL: I recently acquired a Ruth Duckworth wall mural.&nbsp; It was an interesting story because I was picking up a rare Duckworth we just sold (from a Wilmette private collection) and transporting it back through Evanston.&nbsp; I saw an estate sale, so I decided to stop for a second. I couldn&rsquo;t believe there was a Ruth Duckworth sculpture hanging on the wall in front of me.&nbsp; I made an offer and next thing I knew I was transporting two pieces of historic art back to Chicago. I have only been to a few estates sales in my life, and it just seemed like something told me to stop there.

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

JL: In this day and age, if you can keep your doors open, then that is a success in itself.&nbsp; We have definitely reached a more global audience this year with sales happening in England, Holland, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan and Australia. That being said, The Nevica Project does about 95% of all our sales online and to people outside of Chicago. I do feel it is a bit of a challenge to keep paying rent for a brick and mortar space.&nbsp; But it is our gallery&rsquo;s dedication to the public that we keep a physical space and make art available. We want people to have opportunities to personally see the artwork by great artists such as Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, Richard Tuttle, Peter Voulkos, Neha Vedpathak, Jun Kaneko and Warren MacKenzie.

CGN: How do you view working as an art dealer in Chicago and Kansas City? &nbsp;

JL: In Kansas City when you have an exhibition and an opening, people come. In Chicago it is different, because there is so much going on that we end up competing with other spaces. We recently had an exhibition of Magdalena and Michael Frimkess&mdash;two artists that are getting great press right now. We sold work to major collectors and other artists such as KAWS and Jonas Wood (we even had interest from Reese Witherspoon), but we only had a handful of Chicago residents come and see the show.

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

JL: Food and vintage motorcycles.&nbsp;

CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago?

JL: I would say Richard Serra&rsquo;s Reading Cones. I do wish it were one of his larger pieces so viewers could lose themselves in the space and be intimidated by the scale. But I am still grateful our city has one.

I also love looking at Theaster Gates&rsquo; house in Dorchester. I know it is technically private, but it is there for the public to see. To me, it really does stand for his roots in social art practices by creating a space and bringing communities together in it. He once said, &ldquo;The word artist has been too small for too long&hellip; And I think I am just trying to fill the word up again so that it means more.&rdquo; I feel like that house is a gift to Chicago and has graciously invited myself, collectors, investors, supporters, neighbors and friends to have a memorable art experience.

CGN: What are your five&nbsp;favorite art spaces to visit in Chicago?

JL:

<ol>
	<li>Rhona Hoffman Gallery</li>
	<li>Shane Campbell Gallery</li>
	<li>Peanut Gallery</li>
	<li>Marilyn and Larry Fields Private Collection</li>
	<li>Museum of Contemporary Art</li>
</ol>

Jayson Lawfer is the owner of The Nevica Project located in Ravenswood&nbsp;in Chicago. For more information about his gallery visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/the-nevica-project">The Nevica Project. &nbsp;</a>

CGN interviews local art dealer Jayson Lawfer. 

An Interview with a Dealer: Jayson Lawfer

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>We Need to Move, Not Destroy, Confederate Monuments</h2>

&quot;The art historian in a critic wants to preserve Confederate images in&nbsp;museums, not trash them. At a crime scene, you don&rsquo;t destroy evidence.&quot; -New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/arts/design/we-need-to-move-not-destroy-confederate-monuments.html?referer=">Read More...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Not To Be&nbsp;Sniffed at: Long-Lost Banksy Artwork Is Rediscovered</h2>

&ldquo;A Banksy painting that appeared on a public toilet block in east London, only to disappear after it was vandalised, spray-jetted by the local council and then painted over, has been rediscovered over a decade later.&rdquo;

-The Guardian

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/aug/18/banksys-snorting-copper-east-london">Read More...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Singapore Art Museum Names June Yap as New Curatorial Director</h2>

&ldquo;June Yap has been named the new curatorial, programs, and publications director for the Singapore Art Museum, according to the Chinese newspaper Today. Yap was a curator of new-media exhibitions at the museum in 2003 and 2004, and she has remained involved since as a member of the institution&rsquo;s acquisitions committee as well as the Singapore Biennale 2016 Advisory Committee. From 2012 to 2014, she also served in a two-year curatorial residency at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.&rdquo; -ARTnews

<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2017/08/22/june-yap-joins-singapore-art-museum-as-new-curatorial-director/">Read More...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>That Norman Rockwell Poster on the Wall? It&rsquo;s Actually a $300,000 Original, One Family Discovered</h2>

&ldquo;A long-lost work by&nbsp;Norman Rockwell&nbsp;has been discovered by&nbsp;Heritage Auctions&nbsp;Texas. The owners, who mistakenly identified the piece as&nbsp;a signed print, presented it to Heritage auctions experts to assess its value. However, after careful inspection,&nbsp;the work, showing three umpires standing in the rain during a baseball game,&nbsp;is actually an oil-on-paper study for the final piece&nbsp;titled&nbsp;Tough Call. Its value is estimated at $300,000, but based on past auction results, it could go for considerably more.&rdquo; -artnet News

<a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/newly-discovered-norman-rockwell-1031546">Read More...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Who is Really Making &ldquo;Chihuly&rdquo; Art?</h2>

&ldquo;More than 40 years later, Jeffrey Beers still vividly remembers what it felt like to have Dale Chihuly call up to convene a pre-dawn glassblowing session. You felt flattered and inspired, he said, jazzed by Mr. Chihuly&rsquo;s caffeinated freight train of energy and the idea of making art with him while most of the world slept in.&rdquo; -New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/arts/design/chihuly-glass-bipolar-court-moi.html">Read More...</a>&nbsp;

Read the August 14, 2017&nbsp;roundup&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/8/news-from-around-the-art-world-august-14-2017">here</a>.

Photo: Julia Rendleman/Associated Press

CGN's weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

News from Around the Art World: August 22, 2017

It&#39;s been a&nbsp;big year&nbsp;for Chicago&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/museum-of-contemporary-art-chicago-mca">Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)</a>. Coinciding&nbsp;with their 50th Year Celebration, MCA has&nbsp;hosted a slew of special exhibitions and events, ranging from their show devoted to Takashi Murakami, famed Japanese artist that specializes in anime inspired works, to soothing jazz music and drinks in the garden.

Although the&nbsp;year is halfway done,&nbsp;MCA continues&nbsp;their celebrations. Following suit of hosting&nbsp;past talks featuring musicians (Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth), the museum has&nbsp;three new artists invited to each lead a talk; &nbsp;R&amp;B and pop artist Solange Knowles (commonly known as Solange), rapper Vince Staples, and Chicago native&nbsp;Chance the Rapper. All three talks are&nbsp;in partnership&nbsp;with Chicago-based Pitchfork and are highlighted&nbsp;with hopes to be&nbsp;&ldquo;a conversation series exploring new perspectives in music, art, and culture&rdquo;.

Here is a breakdown of the participating speakers, and what to expect&nbsp;from each artist.

&nbsp;

<h2><a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/mca-talk-solange-knowles">Solange</a></h2>

Wednesday, September 13, 6-7pm

Solange Knowles isn&rsquo;t just one of the year&rsquo;s most respected, Grammy winning R&amp;B/ artists&mdash; she&rsquo;s also an activist and&nbsp;experienced speaker. This fall, she will&nbsp;be bringing her speaking capabilities to the MCA. Solange, in conjunction with Chicago writer Britt Julious, will discuss her most recent album A Seat at the Table.

Tickets to see Solange Knowles will be on sale August 23 at noon. To purchase tickets,&nbsp;visit <a href="https://mcachicago.org/Home">mcachicago.org</a>

&nbsp;

<h2><a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/mca-talk-vince-staples">Vince Staples</a></h2>

Friday, October 13, 6-7pm

There is more than meets the eye with Vince Staples, and that&#39;s&nbsp;what his MCA talk is going to be about. Aided by Matthew Schnipper, editing manager of Pitchfork, Staples will discuss his early life growing up in Long Beach, personal identity, and how a&nbsp;rap career has altered both his art and lifestyle.

Tickets to see Vince Staples&nbsp;will be on sale September 6 at noon. To purchase tickets, visit <a href="https://mcachicago.org/Home">mcachicago.org</a>

&nbsp;

<h2><a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/mca-talk-chance-the-rapper">Chance the Rapper</a></h2>

Friday, November 17, 6-7pm

Chance the Rapper has become a household name in Chicago for many reasons&mdash; his loyalty to the city, popular and colorful mixtapes, and&nbsp;philanthropic efforts do not go unnoticed. Paired with Adrienne Samuel Gibbs, a journalist whose work focuses on south side Chicago, the audience can expect to hear from Chance the Rapper about personal&nbsp;ties to the city, his music, and how he is giving&nbsp;back to the&nbsp;community.

Tickets to see Chance the Rapper will be on sale October 11 at noon. To purchase tickets,&nbsp;visit <a href="https://mcachicago.org/Home">mcachicago.org</a>

This fall the MCA hosts Solange, Chance the Rapper and Vince Staples.

Hitting the Right Note: Fall MCA Artist Talks

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with&nbsp;Claire Warner of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/volume-gallery">Volume Gallery</a>.

Gallery: Volume Gallery 
Name: Claire Warner 
Age: 37 
Previous occupation: Specialist, Wright Auction 
Hometown: Dayton, Ohio

Chicago Gallery News: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence.

Claire Warner: Volume Gallery focuses on American decorative arts and design with a strong emphasis placed on emerging contemporary architects, artists, designers and makers.

CGN: How did you decide to open Volume Gallery with Sam Vinz?

CW: Sam and I worked together very briefly at Wright. When the market collapsed in 2008, I had an idea of starting a gallery that featured new work from emerging designers. In my head there was really no stress to starting something when the market seemed in ruins. I connected with my friend, the very talented Jonathan Nesci, to be the first exhibition. He asked if I remembered Sam Vinz, who had also approached him about exhibiting in a new gallery that he was starting with the same mission. All three of us sat down to discuss, and Sam and I joined forces to start Volume. Jonathan Nesci&rsquo;s The New was our first exhibition. &nbsp;

CGN: What were you doing before you opened the gallery?

CW: Working at Wright in Chicago as a 20th century and contemporary design specialist.

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?&nbsp;

CW: Go through the day with Sam.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art/design fairs?

CW: Thumbs up&mdash;fairs have gotten a bad reputation lately because of their abundance and expense to galleries, but it is the best way for people to see a condensed amount of work. And if you are not able to afford multimillion-dollar pieces, you get to see master works before they go into a private collection and might not be able to be viewed publicly in our lifetime. For us in the contemporary market, the fairs offer a snapshot into the now and a way to connect in person with new work. Dealing largely in material based work, it is crucial for us to be able to get people to view and feel. Exhibiting on an international platform like Design Miami gives us the opportunity to reach more people than we can in Chicago and expose our program to emerging collectors.

CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors?

CW: Buy from galleries! Galleries have gotten the reputation as intimidating places to purchase, but 90% are approachable and offer works in a wide range to fit emerging collectors budgets. If you don&rsquo;t have the budget for an original, you can buy a multiple. If you can&rsquo;t buy a multiple, you can buy the exhibition catalog. Buy what you love and stretch to get a work you really want. Buying from galleries supports the artist directly and contributes culturally in your community.

CGN: Best sale you ever had?

CW: The most fun has been the project we are doing with Commune (Los Angeles) and Ace. We worked intimately with Commune to commission nine works of art and design for the Ace Hotel Chicago, a beautiful new Bauhaus inspired building in the Fulton Market area. The hotel opens officially this September and features artists and designers from Volume&rsquo;s program as well as some new additions from Chicago. &nbsp;

CGN: Designers you admire but don&#39;t represent?

CW: Charlotte Perriand, Claire Zeisler (they don&rsquo;t have to be living right?)

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

CW: Fortunately, this has been our most successful year to date. We moved into a new location, which has increased traffic, and more people are aware of the gallery and our program. Challenges have been to balance running a growing business while equally focusing on curation and finding new work to exhibit.

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

CW: My daughter Ada.

CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago?

CW: Not just saying this because Volume is having a solo exhibition opening this September with Kreuck and Sexton&mdash;but Crown Fountain is truly amazing. Jaume Plensa&rsquo;s video sculpture executed by Kreuck and Sexton is a perfect balance of interactive art and design.

CGN: What else is coming up at your gallery?

CW: After Kreuck and Sexton&rsquo;s exhibition, we have Tanya Aguiniga&rsquo;s third solo show with the gallery, which opens in November.

Claire Warner is the co-founder of Volume Gallery located in the Ukrainian Village. For more information about her gallery visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/volume-gallery">Volume Gallery</a>.

Image: Claire Warner with co-director Sam Vinz

CGN interviews art dealer Claire Warner. 

 An Interview with a Dealer: Claire Warner

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>Pope.L to Bottle Contaminated Flint Water and Sell It in Detroit</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="Pope.L discussing his Flint Water Project in a video. Courtesy of the artist." data-rich-file-id="2225" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2225/original/popel.jpg" />

&quot;Pope.L is&nbsp;headed to the What Pipeline gallery in Detroit, where he will do a show that involves selling 1,200 bottles of water from Flint, Michigan, the city of nearly 100,000 people whose water became undrinkable after authorities decided to fill its water system with resources from the Flint River instead of using Detroit&rsquo;s network.&quot;

-ARTnews

<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2017/08/08/pope-l-is-raising-funds-to-bottle-sell-flint-water/">Read more...</a>

<h2>Gauguin: It&rsquo;s Not Just Genius vs. Monster</h2>

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2226" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2226/original/11gauguin5-web-superjumbo.jpg" />

&ldquo;Prodigy, pathfinder, nonconformist, virtuoso; fabulist, plagiarist, colonialist, pedophile. Are we fated forever to treat Paul Gauguin as an artist trailing a balance sheet behind him, a column of achievements and a column of crimes?&rdquo;

-The New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/arts/design/gauguin-its-not-just-genius-vs-monster.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdesign">Read more...</a>

<h2>John McKinnon Appointed Executive Director of Elmhurst Art Museum</h2>

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2227" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2227/original/elmhurst-2.jpg" />

The Board of Directors of the&nbsp;Elmhurst Art Museum&nbsp;announced John McKinnon as the new Executive Director. McKinnon comes to the Elmhurst Art Museum with over ten years of curatorial and administrative experience at major art institutions.&nbsp;

-ArtDaily

<a href="http://artdaily.com/news/98110/John-McKinnon-announced-as-new-Executive-Director-of-Elmhurst-Art-Museum#.WZHSB3eGMUE">Read more...</a>

<h2>Kentucky Mayor Calls for Review of Public Art Holdings After Charlottesville Rally</h2>

Kentucky&rsquo;s&nbsp;WHAS11&nbsp;reports that, in the wake of violence surrounding a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the mayor of Louisville is asking state officials to look into his city&rsquo;s inventory of public art and determine which, if any, pieces could be interpreted as honoring bigotry, racism, or slavery.

-Art Forum

<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/id=70341">Read more...</a>

<h2>Tananbaums Endow Curator Position at Block Museum of Art</h2>

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2228" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2228/original/5d2facaa-3d06-46b9-b609-6b3a191fd9fa.png" />

&nbsp;The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University&nbsp;has announced the receipt of a major endowment from Lisa (WCAS &rsquo;86) and Steven Tananbaum in support of its modern and contemporary art program. The $1 million gift will permanently establish the position of the Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

-Northwestern Now

<a href="https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2017/july/tananbaums-endow-curator-position-at-block-museum-of-art/">Read more...</a>

Read the August 7, 2017&nbsp;roundup <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/8/news-from-around-the-art-world-august-7-2017">here</a>.

Top image:&nbsp;Paul Gauguin.&nbsp;Vision of the Sermon&nbsp;(Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1888.&nbsp;Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.

News From Around the Art World: August 14, 2017

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Jackie Pernot of <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/chicago-art-source-gallery">Chicago Art Source Gallery</a>.

Gallery: Chicago Art Source Gallery 
Name: Jackie Pernot 
Age: 45 
Previous occupation: Art consultant 
Hometown: Born and raised in Lake Forest, IL; Chicago since 1989

Chicago Gallery News: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence.

Jackie Pernot: The gallery represents emerging and mid-career contemporary artists with a focus on painting, mixed media and photography.

CGN: How did you become an art dealer?&nbsp;

JP: After graduating with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in art history, I worked as a framer for a couple years and then moved into art sales. I always thought I&rsquo;d go back to school for my master&rsquo;s and end up in a museum, but I fell in love with the gallery world and found that working both with artists and different types of clients was much more diverse and satisfying than I had imagined. It still feels fresh and challenging almost twenty years later!

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?&nbsp;

JP: I go through my emails and voicemails with coffee in hand and make a list of what I want to accomplish that day.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs?

JP: I have to say thumbs up. The right art fairs are excellent opportunities to see a lot of work from around the world in one place. Of course, they&rsquo;re exhausting and not how work should ideally be viewed, but they&rsquo;re worth the effort.

CGN: Artists you admire but don&#39;t represent?

JP: Patrick Wilson, Keun Young Park and Kara Walker.

CGN: Best sale you ever had?

JP: The most rewarding sales have been large-scale commissions that I&rsquo;ve done for a number of clients. There is an extended interaction between the collector, the artist and myself when going through the commission process, which makes for a deeper and more memorable experience.

CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors?

JP: Ignore trends and go with your gut. And buy what you love and can afford. Or can nearly afford&mdash;I still wish I hadn&rsquo;t been &ldquo;too fiscally responsible&rdquo; to purchase one of the Rembrandts that we exhibited at my first gallery.&nbsp;

CGN: Which artist that you represent or work of art you have recently acquired are you most excited about?

JP: I have to preface this by saying that I&rsquo;m genuinely excited about all of the work that I show in the gallery, but if I had to single out one recent acquisition it would be Lisa Kokin&rsquo;s Prosody. It&rsquo;s a textile piece made with felt and thread that looks like a giant soft book with the most delicately rendered asemic text. It&rsquo;s language abstracted, yet highly tactile at the same time.&nbsp;

CGN: What major successes have you had this year?

JP: We have been in growth mode since I joined Chicago Art Source Gallery in 2009, and each year has been stronger in terms of sales than the previous one, so I am very excited about where we&rsquo;re headed.

CGN: How do you view working as an art dealer in Chicago?

JP: In many ways, I feel like it&rsquo;s the best of both worlds. We have a savvy collector base with the ability to financially support the arts without the art market saturation of a city like New York. And it&rsquo;s wonderful to have so much local talent to tap into!

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

JP: Family, friends, food, wine, music, books, film and travel.

CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago?

JP: Leonardo Nierman&rsquo;s Flame of the Millennium. This piece feels like a part of my personal history in the art world in Chicago. We represented Leonardo in my first gallery, and I&rsquo;ve met him several times, including at an intimate dinner that was given in his honor around the time that Flame of the Millennium was installed. He is a fascinating and gracious gentleman and a great talent.

CGN:&nbsp; What are your five favorite art spaces to visit?

JP:

<ol>
	<li>&nbsp;Galleria Borghese, Rome</li>
	<li>The Cloisters, New York</li>
	<li>Street art in Lisbon</li>
	<li>Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venice</li>
	<li>The Broad, Los Angeles (it&rsquo;s really hard to stop at five!)</li>
</ol>

Jackie Pernot is the Gallery Manager of Chicago Art Source located in Lincoln Park. For more information about the gallery visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/chicago-art-source-gallery">Chicago Art Source Gallery</a>.

An Interview with a Dealer: Jackie Pernot

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>Graham Foundation Awards over $400,000 in Grants to&nbsp;Organizations</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="Image: helloeverything/SelgasCano, Kibera Hamlets School, 2016, Nairobi, Kenya. Courtesy of the architects. From the 2017 organizational grant to New York Foundation for Architecture-Center for Architecture for &lt;i&gt;Scaffolding&lt;/i&gt;" data-rich-file-id="2221" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2221/original/9bb4988f-1301-4053-aecd-d7dd47a1bfb0.jpg" />

&quot;As part of its annual Grants to Organizations program, the <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/graham-foundation-for-advanced-studies-in-the-fine-arts">Graham Foundation</a> has awarded over $400,000 to support architectural projects around the world. Grants went to 41 projects ranging from exhibitions and publications to events and research projects.

Winners were chosen from more than 220 submissions from museums, educational institutions, architectural organizations, and architectural festivals. In the past 61 years, the Graham Foundation has awarded more than 4,300 grants.&quot; -The Architect&#39;s Newspaper

<a href="https://archpaper.com/2017/08/graham-foundation-2017-grants-for-organizations/#gallery-0-slide-0">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Walker Art Center&rsquo;s Deputy Director Steps Down</h2>

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2222" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2222/original/article0.jpg" />

&quot;David Galligan, the veteran arts administrator who served as the Walker&#39;s chief operating officer from 1996 to 2002, then&nbsp;returned&nbsp;in 2013&nbsp;to help lead the effort to develop a new Walker campus and renovate the&nbsp;Minneapolis Sculpture Garden renovation, is stepping down as deputy director and COO to become a consultant.&quot; -Star Tribune

<a href="http://www.startribune.com/now-that-garden-is-open-walker-art-center-s-deputy-director-steps-down/438139153/">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>N.E.H., Once Targeted by Trump, Announces $39.3 Million in New Grants</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="A typewriter Ernest Hemingway used, displayed in his former home in Ketchum, Idaho. A National Endowment for the Humanities grant will help to preserve the house. Photo: Matt Cilley/Associated Press" data-rich-file-id="2223" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2223/original/nyt.jpg" />

&quot;A literacy program on American military bases, an effort to revitalize Native American languages, a four-part TV documentary about the Atlantic slave trade and several large-scale projects relating to America&rsquo;s founding period are among the 245 recipients of new grants from the&nbsp;National Endowment for the Humanities across the country.&quot; -The New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/arts/neh-grants-national-endowment-for-the-humanities.html">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Following the Floating Museum: When and Where to Expect It</h2>

&quot;There are a few sights that a Chicagoan expects to see on the river&mdash;friends celebrating the weekend on yachts, people hustling to numerous restaurants on the river bank&nbsp;or the occasional architectural boat tour brimming with eager tourists. However, for the next month, city dwellers should keep their eye out for something a&nbsp;bit more uncommon: The Floating Museum.&quot; -Chicago Gallery News

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/8/following-the-floating-museum-where-and-when-to-expect-it">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Coming to Dana Schutz&rsquo;s Defense, Cindy Sherman and Other Artists Pen an Open Letter to Her Critics</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Image courtesy of ICA Boston" data-rich-file-id="2224" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2224/original/boston.jpg" />

&quot;Prominent members of the National Academy, including&nbsp;Kara Walker,&nbsp;Marina Abramovic,&nbsp;Ed Ruscha, Jack Whitten, and&nbsp;Cindy Sherman, are coming to the defense of the artist&nbsp;Dana Schutz&nbsp;and the ICA Boston.

In an open letter distributed by email on Thursday evening, the signatories voiced their support of &#39;cultural institutions like the ICA Boston who refuse to bow to forces in favor of censorship or quelling dialogue.&#39;&quot; -Artnet

<a href="https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/dana-schutz-defend-open-letter-1042361#.WYh_ylSMHzF.twitter">Read more...</a>

Read the July 26, 2017 roundup <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/7/news-from-around-the-art-world-july-31-2017">here</a>.

Top image:&nbsp;Gwyneth Shanks,&nbsp;From Above Looking Down, 2017, Los Angeles. Courtesy the artist. From the Graham Foundation&#39;s organizational grant to Materials &amp; Applications for &quot;Privacies Infrastructure&quot;

News from Around the Art World: August 7, 2017

On Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at noon the City of Chicago hosts a restaging of the 1967 Chicago Picasso dedication in Daley Plaza. The event features Commissioner Mark Kelly, artist Edra Soto and designer Paul Durica.

Mayor Rahm Emanual and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events designated 2017 the &quot;Year of Public Art&quot;&nbsp;with a new 50x50 Neighborhood Arts Project, the creation of a Public Art Youth Corps, a new Public Art Festival, exhibitions, performances, tours and more representing a $1.5 million investment in artist-led community projects.

In honor of the &quot;Year of Public Art&quot;, CGN delved into the history of public art in the city of Chicago. Writer Franck Mercurio explored an array of topics including the controversy surrounding the installation of the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza. Below you&#39;ll find links to all the articles in the series.

July 6, 2017:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/7/does-man-love-art-a-history-of-public-art-controversy-in-chicago">Does Man Love Art? A History of Public Art Controversy in Chicago</a>

May 18, 2017:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/5/no-little-plans-the-battle-for-public-art-in-chicago">No Little Plans: The Battle for Public Art in Chicago</a>

April 25, 2017:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/4/public-art-and-the-masses-examining-sculpture-in-grant-park">Public Art and the Masses: Examining Sculpture in Grant Park</a>

March 15, 2017:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/3/the-origins-of-public-art-in-chicago-from-the-bronze-lions-to-skylanding">The Origins of Public Art in Chicago: From the Bronze Lions to Skylanding</a>

Image:&nbsp;Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune

Chicago celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza.

Everyone's Picasso: Celebrating 50 Years of a Chicago Icon

There are a few sights that a Chicagoan expects to see on the river&mdash;friends celebrating the weekend on yachts, people hustling to numerous restaurants on the river bank&nbsp;or the occasional architectural boat tour brimming with eager tourists. However, for the next month, city dwellers should keep their eye out for something a&nbsp;bit more uncommon: The Floating Museum.

Co-directed by Faheem Majeed, Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, Andrew Schachman and Avery R. Young, the museum, perched on a barge that literally floats down the Chicago river, is designed to highlight specific areas of the city and, in their own words, &ldquo;create temporary, site-responsive museum spaces to activate sites of cultural potential throughout Chicago&rsquo;s neighborhoods&rdquo;.&nbsp;

Here&rsquo;s when and where you can catch a glimpse of the museum: 
 
August 11-13: Bridgeport/Pilsen (Park 571, 2751 S Eleanor St) 
August 14-27: Riverwalk (River Theater, between LaSalle and Clark) 
August 28: Navy Pier at Polk Bros Park 
 
As the barge travels around the city, there will&nbsp;be events reoccurring each week at all locations.&nbsp;

Song Circle 
Wednesdays, 6-8pm 
In addition to its growing reputation for public art, the city is also known for its music. Come check out some of Chicago&rsquo;s own blues and gospel artists with the group session led by Avery R. Young, fellow vocalist and poet. 
 
Breaking Bread 
Thursdays, 6-8pm 
Anyone who has stepped foot in the Midwest knows that the region has some great grub. Thursdays at every barge location, step on over to the river to talk about site-specific topics while enjoying some of the dishes Chicago has to offer. 
 
Friday Night Live! 
Fridays, 6-9pm 
What&rsquo;s a live event without any music? Take the time to check out some of the city&rsquo;s local venues while enjoying a live show. 
 
Sticks + Tape 
Saturdays, 6-8pm 
Even though those who attend the Floating Museum can certainly observe the art already made, they can help make it too! Join in on a temporary, large-scale sculpture making activity, materials provided.

For a full list of&nbsp;activities,&nbsp;participating artists and organizations,&nbsp;visit <a href="https://www.floatingmuseum.org/river-assembly">floatingmuseum.org/river-assembly</a>

Image: Courtesy of the Floating Museum

The Floating Museum takes to the Chicago River with a mobile gallery.

Following the Floating Museum: Where and When to Expect It

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with&nbsp;Matthew Rachman of <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/matthew-rachman-gallery">Matthew Rachman Gallery</a>.&nbsp;

Gallery: Matthew Rachman Gallery 
Name: Matthew Rachman&nbsp; 
Age: 47 
Previous occupation: I spent 25 years primarily in risk management.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

Chicago Gallery News: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence.

Matthew Rachman: Contemporary art with a heavy concentration of Chicago artists paired with modern furniture.

&nbsp;CGN: How did you become a dealer?

MR: I have always been a collector and over and over people would tell me I should open a gallery, so I did as a hobby. We caught traction quite fast, so I gave up my career in finance to run the gallery.

CGN: What&rsquo;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?

MR: Open my email and answer client inquiries.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art and design fairs?

MR: Thumbs down. Barriers of entry are too high for most galleries, and fairs are so big that buyers experience &ldquo;fair fatigue.&rdquo;

CGN: Who inspires you?

MR: My family.

CGN: Artists you admire but don&rsquo;t represent?

MR: Carlos Rol&oacute;n (Dzine).

CGN: Best sale you had?

MR: Recently, I found a stolen bike and returned it to the owner who happened to be an interior designer. She is now a client.

CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors?

MR: Buy art because you love it, not because you think it has room to appreciate.

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

MR: Success has come from courting clients around the country and Europe, but it is still challenging to find local buyers.

CGN: Your gallery specializes in mid-century furniture and presents a program of emerging artists. How did you decide to pursue both?

MR: Mid-century has always been a love of mine. After looking around we found a void in the market of people who were curating art and furniture together correctly. It seemed to be either one or the other. It was important for us to share our vision of how the two mediums could live together.

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

MR: Outside of visual arts, I am passionate about travel.

CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago?

MR: My favorite public art in Chicago is the work of Ruth Aizuss Migdal. Her work is prominent around the city yet few know her by name. Her work has been shown in the Art Institute of Chicago, but at 84 years old, she has never shown in a gallery in Chicago. We will feature her work in our fall show opening September 22nd.

CGN: What&rsquo;s currently on view at your gallery?

MR: Our summer show, a solo exhibition by Hannah Perry Saucier, just opened. Hannah is an artist residing in Barcelona, Spain who has never shown in Chicago before.

Matthew Rachman is the owner of Matthew Rachman Gallery located at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Paulina Street. For more information about his gallery visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/matthew-rachman-gallery">Matthew Rachman Gallery</a>.

An Interview with a Dealer: Matthew Rachman 

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>Chicago Planning Big&nbsp;Celebration for the Daley Center Picasso&rsquo;s 50th birthday</h2>

&ldquo;On August 8, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and hundreds of Chicago residents will convene at Daley Plaza to celebrate the 50th birthday of the city&rsquo;s famous Picasso sculpture. Dubbed &lsquo;Everyone&rsquo;s Picasso,&rsquo; the event is organized by the city&rsquo;s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and will feature performances by the Chicago Children&#39;s Choir and the After School Matters Orchestra.&rdquo; -Curbed Chicago

<a href="https://chicago.curbed.com/2017/7/25/16019828/daley-center-picasso-chicago-anniversary-birthday">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi Joins Board of Trustees at the MCA Chicago</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="Courtesy of the MCA Chicago" data-rich-file-id="2215" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2215/original/screen-shot-2017-07-27-at-2-57-15-pm-244x350.png" />

&ldquo;The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has added Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi to its board of trustees. His addition to the board was announced on the same day that the museum official launched the Global Vision Initiative, which the MCA first began as a pilot program in 2016.&rdquo; -ARTnews

<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2017/07/27/sheikh-sultan-sooud-al-qassemi-joins-board-of-trustees-at-the-mca-chicago/">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>EXPO CHICAGO Announces Artists for In/Situ Sector</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="Courtesy of EXPO CHICAGO" data-rich-file-id="2218" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2218/original/general-2.jpg" />

&ldquo;EXPO CHICAGO has revealed the artists who will participate in the In/Situ sector of the fair&rsquo;s upcoming edition, which will open in the Windy City on September 13. Organized by Florence Derieux, who was formerly a curator of American art at the Centre Pompidou Foundation, this year&rsquo;s In/Situ sector&mdash;the fair&rsquo;s annual showcase for monumental artworks&mdash;will be titled Chronopolitics.&rdquo; -ARTnews

<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2017/07/26/expo-chicago-announces-artists-for-insitu-sector/">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Philippe de Montebello, Former Director of the Metropolitan Museum, Joins Acquavella Galleries</h2>

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2217" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2217/original/philippedemontebello-350x145.jpg" />

&ldquo;Acquavella Galleries has brought on an unlikely new director: Philippe de Montebello, the longest-serving former head of New York&rsquo;s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The art historian&rsquo;s hire, announced today, is effective immediately.&rdquo; -Artnet

<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/acquavella-philippe-de-montebello-1034039">Read more&hellip;</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Ancient Vase Seized From Met Museum on Suspicion It Was Looted</h2>

<img alt="" data-caption="Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art" data-rich-file-id="2220" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2220/original/01-seize-1-master768.jpg" />

&ldquo;For decades it was proudly displayed in the Greco-Roman galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a 2,300-year-old, vividly painted vase that depicts Dionysus, god of the grape harvest, riding in a cart pulled by a satyr.

Today it sits in an evidence room at the district attorney&rsquo;s office in Manhattan after prosecutors quietly seized the antiquity last week based on evidence that it had been looted by tomb raiders in Italy in the 1970s.&rdquo; -New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/arts/design/ancient-vase-seized-from-met-museum-on-suspicion-it-was-looted.html?_r=0">Read more...</a>

Read the July 24, 2017 roundup&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/7/news-from-around-the-art-world-july-24-2017">here</a>.

Top image: Chicago Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza. Courtesy of&nbsp;Franck Mercurio

News From Around the Art World: July 31, 2017

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with&nbsp;Linda Warren&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/linda-warren-projects">Linda Warren Projects</a>.

Gallery: Linda Warren Projects 
Name: Linda Warren 
Age: 55 
Previous occupation(s): Film Producer/Production 
Hometown: Rochester, New York

Chicago Gallery News: How did you become an art dealer? &nbsp;&nbsp;

Linda Warren: A friend of mine was evicted from his studio, so I let him store over 100 pieces of artwork inside my home and garage. Friends would stop by to visit and began to buy some of the work. Two other artist friends brought their artwork over to my house to see if I could sell theirs as well, which I did.

Initially, I wasn&rsquo;t trying to make any money at all&ndash;I was just basically helping my friends out. But I started to realize that I could possibly make a living as an art dealer, and I was tired of the film industry and being out of town for months on end shooting films. I decided to convert my home into an art gallery and started having rotating shows every three weeks, introducing new artists. It was in Silverlake (Los Angeles), and there were a few others who were doing the same thing out of their apartments and homes. It became a little scene that drew a lot of people to the neighborhood. It all took off from there.

CGN: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence. &nbsp;

LW: An eclectic mix of aesthetically and academically compelling artwork by emerging, mid-career and established artists working in all media and styles, but with an emphasis on strong painting and Chicago-based talent.

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery? &nbsp;&nbsp;

LW: We have a staff meeting to discuss and prioritize goals of the day and week. The art consulting end of my business is extremely busy and demanding. To integrate that with the daily needs of the gallery, exhibitions and artists requires a lot of teamwork and juggling.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs? &nbsp;

LW: I am happy to be evolving more into a buyer then a seller. As a seller, art fairs are not my favorite way to use my energy or money. But as a buyer, they are a helpful and easy way to research and see a lot of good work.

CGN: Artists you admire but don&#39;t represent? &nbsp;&nbsp;

LW: Nick Cave, Jacob Hashimoto, Richard Hull, Claire Sherman, Jason Salavon, Anne Toeb, Jean Pierre Roy, Angel Otero, Merlin James, Anselm Keifer and Kerry James Marshall, to name just a few.

CGN: Best sale you ever had? &nbsp;

LW: As a gallerist, selling four very large-scale paintings by Michiko Itatani to one client; as an art consultant, commissioning a monumental kinetic sculpture by Pedro de Movellan.

CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors? &nbsp;

LW: Spend time researching online. Visit sites like artsy.net, artnet.com or Chicago Gallery News (plug&hellip;though I&rsquo;m serious). See what moves you and what you gravitate towards. Make lists of what you like and visit galleries. Buy what you love and what you would want to hold onto, not what you think you can resell. Don&rsquo;t rely on your first reaction to anything. Often the work you wind up loving the most is the work you might first have an aversion to. Be prepared for your taste and style to change over time and go with it. Don&rsquo;t be afraid to have and express your opinion. There should be nothing wishy-washy about your feeling towards what you buy. When in doubt&hellip;don&rsquo;t buy it.

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges? &nbsp;

LW: I have completed three corporate projects&mdash;one in LA, one in SF and one in Chicago. &nbsp;&nbsp;I am about to do a major install in Houston this summer for a corporate job and am working on another corporate project in Boston. I spent most of the winter in LA, and it&rsquo;s challenging being away from the gallery for too long. But I have a fantastic staff and wonderful Gallery Director, Natalia Ferreyra, who keep things running smoothly and effectively, so I am lucky. &nbsp;&nbsp;

CGN: How do you view working as an art dealer in Chicago? &nbsp;

LW: It is what I love to do and could not see myself doing anything else. I love Chicago and will always view this as my home base. I feel the most connected now and think it&rsquo;s a great city for me to live and work. &nbsp;&nbsp;

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world? &nbsp;

LW: Traveling.

CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago? &nbsp;

LW: Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa in Millennium Park.

CGN: What&rsquo;s coming up next at your gallery? &nbsp;

LW: On view now are three exhibitions: Chris Uphues: Heavy Sunshine, Chris Cosnowski: I Love Humanity This Much and David Reninger: Transformation. Our fall opener is Chris Silva and after that, ending the 2017 season, is Peter Drake.

CGN: You began your career as an art dealer in Los Angeles. What five differences do you see between LA and Chicago?

LW:

<ol>
	<li>LA&rsquo;s art scene is thriving and feels more alive and ever expanding than Chicago.</li>
	<li>Geographically, the art scene in LA is even more spread out then Chicago, so that, combined with the horrible traffic, makes it more challenging city to get around. &nbsp;</li>
	<li>There are many more galleries in LA then Chicago and in particular more significant international galleries have a presence there.</li>
	<li>Large-scale artwork seems easier to place in LA then in Chicago.</li>
	<li>LA is the opposite of conservative &ndash; so anything &ldquo;out of the box&rdquo; is looked upon favorably.</li>
</ol>

Linda Warren is the owner of Linda Warren Projects located in the West Loop in Chicago. For more information about her gallery visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/linda-warren-projects">Linda Warren Projects</a>.

An Interview with a Dealer: Linda Warren

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>Hundreds of Vivian Maier Prints Donated to University of Chicago</h2>

&quot;Almost 500 never-before-shown Vivian Maier prints have found a new home at the&nbsp;University of Chicago&nbsp;Library, the university announced Wednesday. Maier [see photo above], the Chicago-area nanny who has become famous posthumously as a street photographer &mdash; and as the subject of extensive legal wrangling &mdash; has had museum and gallery shows but has not previously had her work held by a research institution.&quot; -Chicago Tribune

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-vivian-maier-prints-donated-uofc-0720-20170719-story.html">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Lee Bey Named Vice President of Chicago&rsquo;s DuSable&nbsp;Museum</h2>

<a href="http://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/lee-bey-named-vice-president-of-chicagos-dusable-museum/"><img alt="" data-caption="Lee Bey. Courtesy of the DuSable Museum" data-rich-file-id="2211" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2211/original/10408611-10153465068479758-2277530458266498679-n-e1500493052100.jpg" /></a>

&quot;Change and expansion have become the name of the game at Chicago&rsquo;s DuSable Museum of African American History since March 2016, when it was granted Smithsonian Affiliation status by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. That distinction signaled the beginning of a long-term collaborative partnership between the DuSable and the world&rsquo;s largest museum and research complex. And now comes word that the museum has named Chicago cultural gadfly Lee Bey its first-ever vice president for planning, education and museum experience.&quot; -Chicago Sun-Times

<a href="http://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/lee-bey-named-vice-president-of-chicagos-dusable-museum/">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

University of Michigan Hires New Director for Museum of Art

<a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/07/um_hires_new_director_for_muse.html"><img alt="" data-caption="Christina Olsen" data-rich-file-id="2212" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2212/original/article0.jpg" /></a>

&quot;The University of Michigan has hired a new director for the Museum of Art. Christina Olsen will run the museum for a five year term starting Oct. 30. The UM Board of Regents approved the appointment Thursday, July 20 after a national search.&quot; -MichiganLive

<a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/07/um_hires_new_director_for_muse.html">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Victims of a Jerusalem Bombing Want to Seize Artifacts from Oriental Institute&nbsp;as Damages</h2>

<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/391778/victims-of-a-jerusalem-bombing-want-to-seize-artifacts-from-a-chicago-museum-as-damages/"><img alt="" data-caption="The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago" data-rich-file-id="2213" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2213/original/oi.jpg" /></a>

&quot;On September 4, 1997, Hamas terrorists&nbsp;bombed&nbsp;a mall in Jerusalem, killing five people and wounding nearly 200. In 2001, the US survivors and family members of those killed sued the Islamic Republic of Iran in federal court in Chicago, claiming the country had sponsored the bombing. In 2003, a US District Judge in Washington DC awarded the plaintiffs about $71 million in damages. Iran never paid up, so to satisfy their judgement, the plaintiffs have been waging a legal battle for over a decade to seize Persian artifacts that are &nbsp;in the&nbsp;Oriental Institute&nbsp;of the University of Chicago and in the&nbsp;Field Museum of Natural History, also in Chicago. The Supreme Court&nbsp;will hear the case&nbsp;in the fall.&quot; -Hyperallergic

<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/391778/victims-of-a-jerusalem-bombing-want-to-seize-artifacts-from-a-chicago-museum-as-damages/">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Motion to Dismiss Denied in Copyright Suit Against Richard Prince and Gagosian</h2>

<a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/motion-to-dismiss-denied-in-copyright-suit-against-richard-prince-and-gagosian/"><img alt="" data-caption="Donald Graham, &lt;i&gt;Rastafarian Smoking a Joint&lt;/i&gt;, 1996 (left). Richard Prince, &lt;i&gt;Untitled&lt;/i&gt;, 2014 (right) / Art Newspaper" data-rich-file-id="2214" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2214/original/rp.jpg" /></a>

&quot;A Manhattan federal court judge yesterday (18 July) rejected the request of Richard Prince, the Gagosian Gallery, and Larry Gagosian to dismiss the copyright infringement lawsuit of photographer Donald Graham. Graham alleges that Prince unlawfully used his photograph Rastafarian Smoking a Joint (1996) when he enlarged an Instagram post of it for his New Portraits show at New York&#39;s Gagosian Gallery&nbsp;in 2014. &quot; -Art Newpaper

<a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/motion-to-dismiss-denied-in-copyright-suit-against-richard-prince-and-gagosian/">Read more...</a>

Read the July 17, 2017 roundup <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/7/news-from-around-the-art-world-july-17-2017">here</a>.

Top image:&nbsp;Unpublished work &copy; 2017 The Estate of Vivian Maier. All rights reserved.

News From Around the Art World: July 24, 2017

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Randy Alexander of <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/randy-alexander-gallery">Randy Alexander Gallery.</a>

Gallery: Randy Alexander Gallery 
Name: Randy Alexander 
Previous occupations: Fundraiser, Actor, Truck Driver, Curator 
Hometown: Chicago

Chicago Gallery News: How did you become an art dealer?&nbsp;

Randy Alexander: I lost my mind one day and the first thing that came to me was running a gallery.

CGN: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence.

RA: Emerging and established conceptually-based art.

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?&nbsp;

RA: Use the restroom.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs?

RA: Down.

CGN: Artists you admire but don&#39;t represent?

RA: Berenice Abbott, Gertrude Abercrombie, Vito Acconci, Ansel Adams, Nicolas Africano, Josef Albers...I won&#39;t even get beyond the A&rsquo;s before we run out of space for this answer.

CGN: Best sale you ever had?

RA: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Sturtevant">Sturtevant&#39;s </a>Joseph Beuys&rsquo; Fat Corner.

CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors?

RA: Buy everything I tell you to buy.

CGN: What&rsquo;s coming up next at your gallery?

RA: Opening on September 16, two shows with Inigo Manglano-Ovalle and Jeff Prokash.

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

RA: Major success this year was staying in business. Major challenge this year was staying in business.

CGN: How do you view working as an art dealer in Chicago? How does it compare to New York in the 1990s?

RA: Chicago has a dynamic emerging scene and my job is to find, exhibit and translate the most powerful work I encounter from that scene. &nbsp;The 1990s collectors in New York were more passionate about investing in emerging artists.&nbsp;

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

RA: Movies.

CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago?

RA: Kwagulth Totem Pole (east of Lake Shore Drive at Addison).

CGN: What are the five best shows you&rsquo;ve seen so far in 2017?

<ol>
	<li>Kerry James Marshall: Mastry at the Met Breuer</li>
	<li>Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends at MoMA</li>
	<li>Joan Jonas: what is found in the windowless house is true at Gavin Brown&rsquo;s enterprise</li>
	<li>Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry at the Jewish Museum</li>
	<li>Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Gar&ccedil;ons: Art of the In-Between at the Metropolitan Museum of Art</li>
</ol>

Randy Alexander is the owner of Randy Alexander Gallery located in the South Loop in Chicago. For more information about his gallery visit: <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/randy-alexander-gallery">Randy Alexander Gallery.</a>

CGN interviews local art dealer Randy Alexander. 

An Interview with a Dealer: Randy Alexander

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>Elizabeth Chodos Named Director of Carnegie Mellon&rsquo;s Miller Gallery</h2>

&quot;Elizabeth Chodos [see image above] has been named the director of Carnegie Mellon University&#39;s&nbsp;Regina Gouger Miller Gallery. Chodos joins CMU from&nbsp;Ox-Bow, school of art and artists&#39; residency in Saugatuck, Michigan, where she has worked since 2010, most recently as executive and creative director.&quot; -CMU News

<a href="http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2017/july/miller-gallery-director.html">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>MacArthur Gives $10 Million to Combat Violence in Chicago</h2>

<a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20170717/NEWS07/170719886/macarthur-foudation-gives-10-million-to-combat-violence"><img alt="" data-caption="Photo courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation" data-rich-file-id="2201" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2201/original/chicago-grants-eblast-.jpg" /></a>

&quot;In what it says is the first round of big grants designed to fight violence,&nbsp;MacArthur Foundation has awarded $10 million to area organizations. Community Capital Grants, a new initiative from the Chicago-based foundation, account for $6.9 million of the total. The foundation says the Community Capital Grants might be awarded annually, beginning in 2018, to Chicago groups that work to stem violence and racial inequity in the city.&quot; -Crain&#39;s&nbsp;Chicago Business

<a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20170717/NEWS07/170719886/macarthur-foudation-gives-10-million-to-combat-violence">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Fixing the Met: Art Lovers Speak</h2>

<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_MET.jpg"><img alt="" data-caption="The Metropolitan Museum of Art. © Kai Pilger / Wikimedia Commons" data-rich-file-id="2197" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2197/original/the-met.jpg" /></a>

&quot;O.K., finding a new director for the Metropolitan Museum of Art will take more than a LinkedIn posting &mdash; but the hunt is on for a successor to Thomas P. Campbell, whose resignation last winter&nbsp;added a kink to the Met&rsquo;s tangle of troubles. Attendance, at seven million, is at a high. Exhibitions are some of the finest anywhere. Yet as it approaches its 150th birthday, the museum lumbers under a nearly $15 million deficit; a planned new wing for modern and contemporary art has been deferred; and the Met&rsquo;s optional admissions charge&nbsp;may be replaced with a mandatory entrance fee&nbsp;for out-of-towners.&quot; -The New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/arts/design/fixing-the-met-museum.html">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>In Wake of Closures, Galleries Are Adapating to Survive</h2>

<a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/market/galleries-adapt-to-survive-part-one/"><img alt="" data-caption="Joel Mesler in front of his Rental Gallery in the Hamptons, New York. Photo courtesy of Caliber Media" data-rich-file-id="2198" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2198/original/untitled.jpg" /></a>

&quot;For dealer Anthony Reynolds, the turning point came when the lease on his London gallery ran out and his landlord announced he was tripling the rent. &#39;I thought to myself, I can either find another space or I can find a different way to do this,&#39;&nbsp;the gallerist says.&quot; -The Art Newspaper

<a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/market/galleries-adapt-to-survive-part-one/">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis Launches Diversity Fellowship</h2>

<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/id=69631"><img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2200" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2200/original/article0-popup.jpg" /></a>

&quot;The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis,&nbsp;beleaguered by controversy last year, announced today that it was awarded a $25,000 grant in support of a new fellowship program that aims to promote diversity and equity at the museum.&nbsp;unded by the PNC Foundation, through its Arts Alive initiative, CAM&rsquo;s new Museum Pathways Project will also engage with existing youth programs, such as LEAP Middle School Intensive, Teen Museum Studies, and New Art in the Neighborhood, to educate adolescents on how to pursue a career in the arts.&quot; -Artforum

<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/id=69631">Read more...</a>

Read the July 10, 2017 roundup&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/7/news-from-around-the-art-world-july-10-2017">here</a>.

Top image: Elizabeth Chodos, formerly executive director of Ox-Bow, has been named director of Carnegie Mellon University&#39;s&nbsp;Regina Gouger Miller Gallery. Photo courtesy of CMU News

News From Around the Art World: July 17, 2017

The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) is a unique institution that we are fortunate to have in Chicago. Devoted to supporting contemporary photographers and to housing a wealth of images that represent prime examples of the medium, the museum&#39;s vast archives of photographs are comprised of more than 14,000 works by 1,465 artists. MoCP began collecting these works in 1979.&nbsp;

As the leading photography museum in the Midwest, the MoCP has established a reputation for broadening the visual arts by introducing new national and international talent to the public.&nbsp;The MoCP is committed to broadening the visual arts by constantly searching for new national and international talent to exhibit.

The museum&#39;s latest exhibition, re:collection, which opened July 13 and runs through October 1,&nbsp;is a celebration of MoCP&rsquo;s vast archive&nbsp;and an exploration of how we perceive images. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Photography as a medium is distinctive in its relationship to the practice of sequencing. With its origins in cinematic frames and a typically flat, reproducible form, photography lends itself to a storyboard approach. Photo books and exhibitions often depend on, and capitalize on, the fact that photographs that work well as stand-alone images can be enhanced and enriched by the presence of other images in their vicinity.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Images: Top Left: Angela Strassheim; Lower Left: An-My Lê; Top Right: Guillaume Simoneau; Lower Right: Alison Ruttan" data-rich-file-id="2196" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2196/original/recollection-strassheim-ruttan-le-simoneau-web.jpg" />

A stream of images runs through the galleries, spanning the history of photography and offering a diverse array of approaches. Each photograph speaks to its neighboring photograph in terms of content, form or another, more subtle, connecting factor waiting to be discovered. At certain junctures, tributaries are formed that group related ideas and address some of the most pressing social issues of our time. Each line of images starts with a camera-less construction, a nod to the beginnings of the medium when images were made without the camera apparatus as we know it today, and a gesture meant to underscore the unreliability of photographic representation.

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/re-collection">re:collection</a>&nbsp;is&nbsp;on view through October 1, 2017 at MoCP.

Top images:&nbsp;Left: Guillaume&nbsp;Simoneau;&nbsp;Top Right: Christian Patterson; Bottom&nbsp;Right: Rachel Papo &nbsp;

MoCP's latest exhibition celebrates the museum's vast archives.

re:collection at MoCP

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Martha Schneider of <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/schneider-gallery">Schneider Gallery</a> who is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the opening of her gallery in River North. Join her for the opening reception of <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/then-now-30th-anniversary-show">Then + Now: 30th Anniversary</a> on Friday, July 14 from 5-7:30pm.

Gallery: Schneider Gallery 
Name: Martha Schneider 
Age: 76 
Previous occupations: Assistant secretary at law office 
Hometown: Buenos Aires

Chicago Gallery News: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence.

Martha Schneider: Contemporary photography from around the world.

CGN: How did you become an art dealer?

MS: I started when my husband was a lowly resident in psychiatry and I fell in love with collecting art. He soon said I needed to find my own way of making money, so I started getting more involved in the art world, making friends with dealers, collectors and artists. My husband and I are originally from Argentina, so I started bringing small works back with me, and finding friends in my social circles to buy them. My circle grew and with the help of time, persistence and word of mouth I had a nice and growing base of collectors. I made some more important connections with larger corporate collections like US Bell. Eventually, I started to use my home for a display space and invited groups to view the work. For example, when I lived in Park Ridge, I invited the members of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago to come to my home and look around.&nbsp;

I moved to Highland Park and began advising people about art from home. I could be with my children and continue to pursue art dealing. I dedicated one of the bedrooms into a small home-gallery. From there I generated more clients and followers. Everything was working fine until one Sunday my doorbell began ringing like crazy; still in my pajamas, I opened the door to discover three clients in need of an emergency present for a friend. &nbsp;We solved their problem, but the experience was enough to make me decide not have my home disrupted any longer. So, I rented a gallery space on Green Bay Road in Highland Park, on the second floor. I opened it in 1982 and at the time specialized in ceramic and handmade jewelry. In 1988, my husband and I decided to move to the city, so the gallery moved with me to the River North and there it stayed. It&rsquo;s from the River North location that I started to add photography. The ceramics faded, and today I focus on contemporary photography exclusively. &nbsp;

CGN: How did you decide to focus on contemporary photography?

MS: I had been collecting contemporary photography, and when I was still representing ceramicists, one of the photographers I met, Luis Gonzalez Palma, asked what was on my walls. When I said nothing, he insisted, &ldquo;Put my photos on your walls,&rdquo; and so we started. Today, I still believe that photography is the media of our time. &nbsp;When I began, there were not a lot of galleries interested in taking a risk on photography, and contemporary photography especially. Some may say that I was a pioneer, but I just think there are some interesting living artists making powerful work, and I want to give them a platform.

CGN: What&rsquo;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?

MS: I turn on the lights, grab a glass of water and start up my computer to begin checking my email.

CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs?

MS: Thumbs down, for me personally. I do have mixed feeling about them, but I don&rsquo;t enjoy the rhythm of them from the dealer&rsquo;s side. I enjoy taking time with my clients, and don&rsquo;t feel I can work the same way at a fair. I will go to fairs to see what is out there, who the new artists are, and what is being shown. The one thing I always come away with is a reassurance of what I like. I don&rsquo;t usually find the best work at art fairs.

CGN: Artists you admire but don&rsquo;t represent?

MS: Pierre Goonord, Fazal Sheik, Cindy Sherman, and David Hilliard, among others.

CGN: Best sale you ever had?

MS: The best part of any sale, for me, is being part of what connects the artist and the collector. Money keeps us alive, but it is not the most rewarding part of the exchange. I like working personally with specific clients, and my favorites are the ones who come back year after year to look, talk and share what they have seen and in turn what I&rsquo;ve seen to recommend for them. They are friends more than anything else. Some of my most faithful patrons are couples&mdash;one duo of lawyers out of New York, another major collector and museum patron out of Nebraska, some Italians who live in France, and a man in the hotelier business from Indonesia.

CGN: Your gallery is celebrating its 30th anniversary. What advice would you offer to your younger self?

MS: I am celebrating my 30 years in River North and 35 years as a dealer. However, my work in this business of art began quite a time before. When my oldest daughter was 9 months old and just starting to crawl, one of the members of the Museum of Contemporary Art came to my house and was interested in the art that I&rsquo;d brought back from Argentina. He acquired a few copies. So in less formal ways, I&rsquo;ve been in this business for more than 40 years.

As for advice, I would say first try to start with some experience in both art and sales. Try to establish a few clients and grow slowly and steadily. Keep a moderate sense of goals in the beginning, and stick with it. You must know what you like, and stay true to your own aesthetic. If you can, you will be able to transmit why to existing and new patrons.

CGN: What&rsquo;s coming up next at your gallery?

MS: The anniversary show. It opens the 14th of July and is on display through the first week of September. It will be a wonderful selection of old and new works by artists we have worked with through the years. The work I&rsquo;m most excited about is some new pieces we will have from Luis (Gonzalez Palma). As I mentioned, Luis was the artist who helped me shift from ceramics to photography, and probably the artist I was most influential in developing through the years. It&rsquo;s a special moment to have his work in our show, and they are as beautiful as ever.

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

MS: I worked with Father Terry Dempsey to put a show together for Erika Diettes in the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in St. Louis, Missouri that was very successful. Luis (Gonzalez Palma) is having a traveling retrospective in Spain that will likely travel more broadly in Europe, and he was also invited to contribute work to a site related to the Venice Biennale. This is the third time he is being affiliated with the global art initiative.

35+ years in business is also a major milestone for me. &nbsp;

The challenge is staying relevant and alive in the art world with critical work and not resorting to &ldquo;fluff&rdquo; that is easy to sell, but not as critical or valid as the sort of work we have stood by all these past years.

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

MS: My husband and my family. Also, traveling plays a huge part in my life and major interests. I love seeing how other people live and their customs. I believe that experiencing other parts and people in the world is important. &nbsp;

CGN: What&rsquo;s your favorite work of public art in Chicago?

MS: The Jaume Plensa Crown Fountain and Anish Kapoor&rsquo;s Cloud Gate in Millennium Park.

CGN: What are your five&nbsp;favorite places to see art in Chicago?

MS:

<ol>
	<li>Art Institute of Chicago</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Galleries including Stephen Daiter Gallery, Addington Gallery and Ken Saunders Gallery</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Museum of Natural Science</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Exhibition of college graduates at Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago</li>
</ol>

Martha Schneider is the owner of Schneider Gallery located in River North. For more information about her gallery visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/schneider-gallery">Schneider Gallery</a>.

CGN interviews local art dealer Martha Schneider. 

 An Interview with a Dealer: Martha Schneider

CGN&#39;s weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.

<h2>Adjunct Professor Resigns from SAIC, Citing a &ldquo;Toxic Environment&rdquo;</h2>

<a href="https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/michael-bonesteel-resignation-saic-henry-darger-comics/Content?oid=27428790"><img alt="" data-caption="Former School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) professor Michael Bonesteel. Photo: Richard Pearlman / Chicago Reader" data-rich-file-id="2186" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2186/original/fob-isaacs-michael-bonesteel-900.jpg" /></a>

&quot;Author, art critic, and longtime adjunct assistant professor&nbsp;Michael Bonesteel&nbsp;resigned from the faculty of the School of the Art Institute last month, citing a &#39;toxic environment&#39;&nbsp;that &#39;feels more like a police state than a place where academic freedom and the open exchange of ideas is valued.&#39;&quot; -Chicago Reader

<a href="https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/michael-bonesteel-resignation-saic-henry-darger-comics/Content?oid=27428790">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>More Than One Thousand Artifacts from San Francisco&rsquo;s Mexican Museum May Be Fake, Report Finds</h2>

<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Most-of-a-Mexican-Museum-collection-fails-11271345.php"><img alt="" data-caption="An artifact that was determined to be a forgery of a double sprout stirrup vessel from Northern Peru from 1000-1400 C.E. pictured at The Mexican Museum July 6, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle" data-rich-file-id="2187" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2187/original/1024x1024.jpg" /></a>

&quot;Almost all of the artifacts described as the oldest in the permanent collection of the&nbsp;Mexican Museum&nbsp;are either forgeries or cannot be authenticated to display in a national museum. That&rsquo;s the finding of a report commissioned by the museum board and submitted in late June by&nbsp;Eduardo P&eacute;rez de Heredia Puente, an associate of the&nbsp;National Institute of Anthropology and History&nbsp;in Mexico City.&quot; -SF Gate

<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Most-of-a-Mexican-Museum-collection-fails-11271345.php">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>The National Public Housing Museum&rsquo;s Long Journey Home&nbsp;</h2>

<a href="https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/national-public-housing-museum-abla-jane-addams-homes/Content?oid=27428793"><img alt="" data-caption="The National Public Housing Museum’s future home, 1322 W. Taylor, on the Near West Side, was one of the first public housing buildings in Chicago. Photo: Maya Dukmasova / Chicago Reader" data-rich-file-id="2188" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2188/original/fob-fea-public-housing-museum-3-900.jpg" /></a>

&quot;When the&nbsp;National Public Housing Museum&nbsp;finally opens next year in a three-story brick building at 1322 W. Taylor&mdash;the last remnant of Chicago&#39;s oldest federal housing project, the Jane Addams Homes&mdash;it will be the first cultural institution in the country devoted to chronicling and analyzing America&#39;s attempts to house its people.&quot; -Chicago Reader

<a href="https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/national-public-housing-museum-abla-jane-addams-homes/Content?oid=27428793'">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>Hobby Lobby Forfeits 5,500 Illicit Iraqi Antiquities and Agrees to Pay $3 Million Fine</h2>

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fanofretail/13848039183"><img alt="" data-caption="Photo: Nicholas Eckhart / Flickr" data-rich-file-id="2189" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2189/original/13848039183-6fd4783883-k.jpg" /></a>

&quot;Hobby Lobby, the private Oklahoma company that won a landmark&nbsp;Supreme Court&nbsp;case by pleading that its business was run according to rigorously moral Christian principles, has been caught importing millions of dollars worth of smuggled Iraqi antiquities.&quot; -Los Angeles Times

<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-hobby-lobby-20170705-story.html">Read more...</a>

&nbsp;

<h2>South Side Community Activists Push for Economic Promises from Obama Center</h2>

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obamacenter/ct-obama-center-community-benefits-agreement-met-20170708-story.html"><img alt="" data-caption="An aerial view of the site for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side on April 24, 2017. Photo: E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune" data-rich-file-id="2190" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2190/original/ct-obama-presidential-center-jackson-park-phot-001.jpg" /></a>

&quot;South Side community activists who want residents to see dividends from the Obama Presidential Center have begun drafting their wish list for community benefits agreements that seek new jobs, improved schools and affordable housing for nearby residents.&quot; -Chicago Tribune

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obamacenter/ct-obama-center-community-benefits-agreement-met-20170708-story.html">Read more...</a>

Read the June 26, 2017 roundup <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/6/news-from-around-the-art-world-june-26-2017">here</a>.

CGN's weekly roundup of local, national and international art world news.v

News From Around the Art World: July 10, 2017

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418570/dboyt3kymbqq5yce6zyi.jpg"></figure>Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Scott Speh of <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/western-exhibitions">Western Exhibitions</a>.Gallery: Western Exhibitions Name: Scott Speh Age: 46 Previous occupations: Artist, various day-jobs Hometown: Oxford, OhioChicago Gallery News: Please describe your gallery’s program in one sentence.Scott Speh: Western Exhibitions shows thought-provoking, visually innovative artists who work across most media, with an emphasis on LGBTQ artists, personal narrative, works on paper and artist books.CGN: How did you become an art dealer?&nbsp;SS: I moved to Chicago 15 years ago after two years in Brooklyn and became frustrated that friends of mine who I thought were great artists weren’t getting the recognition they deserved, so I decided to open a gallery. I was still an artist then and had no experience with such a thing. I did co-run the exhibition program at a small non-profit in lower Manhattan in the early aughts but it was decidedly non-commercial. I learn something new every day on the job, and I’ve been doing this for almost 15 years.CGN: What's the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?&nbsp;SS: Make a pot of green or chamomile tea.CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs?SS: In the middle!CGN: Artists you admire but don't represent?SS: Kerry James Marshall, Nick Cave, Jessica Campbell, Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Erin Washington, Cary Leibowitz, Elizabeth Atterbury, Barbara Rossi, Faith Wilding, Judy Ledgerwood, Suzanne Treister, Hermonie Only, Ebecho Muslimova, Tyson Reeder, Katie Halton, Steve Reinke, Leah Mackin, Tony Tasset, Julia Fish, Tony Lewis, Gladys Nilsson and about a thousand more.CGN: Best sale you ever had?SS: Placing a beautiful but elaborate and logistically challenging Stan Shellabarger print (really an installation) into both the Art Institute of Chicago and the Baltimore Museum of Art collections was pretty cool.CGN: What advice would you share with new or young collectors?SS: Spend. Spend. Spend! Just kidding (sort of). But seriously, go the distance with artists you love and admire. Support their mercurial shifts in tone/materials/subject matter/aesthetics; artists don’t want to make the same thing all the time. Basically, trust artists! Follow their instincts wherever it might lead.CGN: What’s coming up next at your gallery?SS: A group show opening in July with a ridiculously specific conceit: the image of a fabric/textile sagging between two upraised points, titled <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/a-sag-harbored">A Sag, Harbored</a>. Artists include Michelle Grabner, Tanya Aguiñiga, Nicholas Frank, Rachel Niffenegger, Holt Quentel, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya. In the fall we’ll show animations, drawings and ceramic sculptures by Lilli Carré (opening in September) and two bodies of work by pioneering feminist artist Faith Wilding: a seminal series from the early 1980s in Gallery 1 and work fresh out of the studio in Gallery 2 (opening in November).CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?SS: Opening in our <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2016/10/document-paris-london-hong-kong-volume-gallery-and-western-exhibitions-to-relocate-to-ukrainian-village-neighborhood">new location on Chicago Avenue</a> counts a major success, I think. It’s our fifth space in Chicago and the first one we were able to design from scratch. Every day running a small business is a challenge.CGN: How do you view working as an art dealer in Chicago?SS: I love living in Chicago. I’m incredibly grateful that I live and work here. No lie though, it is challenging in that we don’t have the density of art enthusiasts that, say, NYC does, but, and this is a big but, we do not have to suffer the overhead that NYC galleries do. I also love the camaraderie amongst dealers in this town. I share a building with three other galleries, and we all get along famously, sharing resources and working together for the greater good. And with the great art programs in Chicagoland, there are always interesting artists in this city.CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?SS: I know that I’m getting older, as I seem to care a lot more about baseball than I used to.CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;SS: Batcolumn by Claes Oldenburg.CGN: What are the top five exhibitions you’ve seen in the past year?SS:<ol><li>Jessica Campbell (Bria) at THE SUB-MISSION, Chicago, IL</li><li>Rei Kawakubo (Art of the In-Between) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY</li><li>Raymond Thunder-Sky (Demolition Man: Selected Works from the Raymond Thunder-Sky Archives) at The Carnegie, Covington, KY</li><li>William Weege (Peace is Patriotic) at Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL</li><li>Sylvia Fragoso at The Good Luck Gallery, Los Angeles, CA</li></ol>Scott Speh is the owner of Western Exhibitions located in the Ukrainian Village. For more information about his gallery visit: <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/western-exhibitions">Western Exhibitions</a>.</body></html>

CGN interviews dealer Scott Speh of Western Exhibitions.

An Interview with a Dealer: Scott Speh

In recognition of Chicago&rsquo;s &ldquo;Year of Public Art,&rdquo;&nbsp;Chicago Gallery News&nbsp;is featuring a series of articles chronicling milestones of public art in Chicago. The fourth in the series examines the history of controversial public art installations.

By FRANCK MERCURIO

Controversy is never far from public art, especially in Chicago. Throughout the years, the city has seen its share of debates and scandals over art installations, ranging from cost overruns and incompetence to charges of public indecency and immorality to misplaced or destroyed artwork.

Even works that are much beloved today often began with rocky public relationships. When the city&#39;s famous &ldquo;Chicago Picasso&rdquo; (officially untitled) was unveiled in Daley Plaza fifty years ago this summer, it was&nbsp;not&nbsp;universally embraced. Indeed, most people puzzled over it.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="&lt;i&gt;The “Chicago Picasso” was fabricated in Gary, Indiana at the American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel.&lt;/i&gt; Photo: Untitled sculpture (“The Picasso”), Chicago Illinois, 1967. Pablo Picasso, sculptor. Fazlur R. Khan Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago. Digital File #199207_151211-007. " data-rich-file-id="2184" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2184/original/199207-151211-007.jpg" />

&ldquo;Was it a joke? Was it for real? Why that? Everyone had an opinion,&rdquo; wrote&nbsp;Chicago Tribune&nbsp;reporter Sheila Wolfe the day after the unveiling ceremony in August 1967.&nbsp;

Writing in the same edition, the Tribune&rsquo;s art editor, Edward Barry, reported on the crowd&rsquo;s decidedly mixed reactions. &ldquo;With applause, startled exclamations, and incredulous smiles,&rdquo; wrote Barry, &ldquo;Chicago received its long awaited gift yesterday from the most celebrated of living artists.&rdquo;

Gwendolyn Brooks seemed to brace Chicagoans for the impending public controversy. In her poem, composed on the occasion of the Picasso&rsquo;s unveiling, she wrote:

Does man love art? Man visits art, but squirms. 
Art hurts. Art urges voyages&mdash; 
And it is easier to stay at home, 
The nice beer ready.

Art&mdash;especially public art&mdash;does indeed urge voyages. Each new work tends to push the boundaries of our collective sensibilities, challenging our shared notions of what art is supposed to be. The rules for evaluating public art go beyond formal and conceptual concerns and take into account other criteria that can make or break an installation. Does the work provide a civic amenity? Does it fit within its urban and architectural contexts? Is it accessible to the general public, both physically and intellectually?

All of these issues were debated with the unveiling of the Chicago Picasso in 1967. But what was then new and provocative gradually became familiar and accepted. Today, the gargantuan modernist sculpture serves as a symbol of Chicago; it&rsquo;s considered a unique civic asset, one that paved the way for subsequent &ldquo;plaza sculptures&rdquo; by other renowned artists, including Calder, Miro, Chagall, Nevelson, and DuBuffet.

Yet despite its current popularity, the Chicago Picasso still presents a conceptual conundrum to many people. What exactly is it supposed to be? A baboon? A dog? A horse? A praying mantis? A woman? For decades, the question has been debated by experts and amateurs alike.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The identity of the sculpture&rsquo;s inspiration [is] an ongoing controversy that to this day has not been definitively resolved,&rdquo; writes Patricia Balton Stratton in her recently published book The Chicago Picasso: A Point of Departure. &ldquo;Part of the reason for the uncertainty,&rdquo; continues Stratton, &ldquo;was that Picasso himself refused to speak about the sculpture&rsquo;s provenance or even to name it, an act of negative creativity that opened up the sculpture&rsquo;s field of meaning and made it truly public.&rdquo;

<img alt="" data-caption="Photo courtesy of Franck Mercurio" data-rich-file-id="2177" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2177/original/2016-04-29-19-37-48.jpg" />

Despite the intense desire to solve the mystery of the sculpture&rsquo;s identity, the subject matter (if there is any) probably didn&rsquo;t mean much to Picasso himself. Instead, the artist seemed more intent on refining a set of formal concepts that he had pursued and explored throughout his 70-plus-year career.

These explorations can be traced back to Picasso&rsquo;s guitar constructions of 1912&ndash;1914 when he first experimented with planar and linear elements to define space and suggest volume. More radically, the artist used linear elements to compose his&nbsp;Project for a Monument to Guillaume Apollinaire&nbsp;(1928), a collaboration with the sculptor Julio Gonz&aacute;lez. These early works are the ancestors of the Chicago Picasso, which includes many of the same elements, but rendered on a monumental scale.

Picasso also played with the idea of seeing and experiencing the sculpture in different ways depending on the viewer&rsquo;s vantage point.

Looking directly at the work, the viewer is confronted with a gigantic totemic figure, its &ldquo;face&rdquo; reminiscent of an African mask. Picasso collected art from Africa and Oceania throughout his career, and these works often served as inspiration for his own art, most famously in his painting&nbsp;Les Demoiselles d&#39;Avignon&nbsp;(1907).

However, looking at the Chicago Picasso from either side, the viewer&rsquo;s perception changes; a profile of a woman becomes apparent, suggesting the many portraits Picasso made of his wife, Jacqueline, created during the same time period he was working on the Chicago commission.

These shifting perceptions reflect a kind of Cubist sensibility, providing multiple perspectives within one piece. But the Chicago Picasso also represents a lifetime of sculptural explorations, culminating in a single work and making a simple &ldquo;one answer&rdquo; reading of the piece impossible.

But even as debates about the meaning of the Chicago Picasso continue, it&rsquo;s worth noting that it was not the first or last public art controversy in Chicago. One of the earliest to seize the public&rsquo;s attention centered around a bronze sculpture installed on the front steps of the Art Institute in 1916: a rather handsome male nude titled&nbsp;The Sower.

<img alt="" data-caption="Albin Polasek, &lt;i&gt;The Sower&lt;/i&gt;, 1916. &lt;i&gt;The Sower&lt;/i&gt; currently overlooks the Esplanade at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Photo courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden " data-rich-file-id="2183" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2183/original/sower-183.jpg" />

The artist, Albin Polasek (1879&ndash;1965), had arrived in Chicago from Rome to head the School of the Art Institute&rsquo;s sculpture department. While studying at the American Academy in Rome, Polasek had modeled&nbsp;The Sower, a classically inspired figure in the tradition of monumental male nudes in Western art. (Think Michelangelo&rsquo;s&nbsp;David, but with an agrarian calling.) The Art Institute placed&nbsp;The Sower&nbsp;on public view outside the museum&rsquo;s main entrance, in part to advertise a large exhibition of American sculpture, but also to celebrate the opening of a new gallery space&mdash;Gunsaulus Hall&mdash;spanning the Illinois Central Railway tracks.

The &ldquo;naked farmer&rdquo; immediately caught the gaze of many Chicagoans, who were not accustomed to seeing full-frontal male nudity on Michigan Avenue. It also caught the attention of the city&rsquo;s first &ldquo;censor of public morals&rdquo; Major M.L.C. Funkhouser. He tried&mdash;in vain&mdash;to have&nbsp;The Sower&nbsp;taken off view in the name of public decency. Letters to Chicago&rsquo;s newspapers were both for and against sculpture. Yet throughout the scandal, the Art Institute stood its ground, and Polasek kept his sense of humor.

&ldquo;He was highly entertained by it all,&rdquo; recounted Polasek&rsquo;s wife, Ruth Sherwood, in her biography of the artist. &ldquo;More over, the discussion brought him fame overnight. People who would never have thought to visit the Art Institute flocked downtown to see the &lsquo;Sower.&rsquo;&rdquo;

Chicago newspapers also had fun with the controversy. When the time came to bring&nbsp;The Sower&nbsp;inside the museum (to accompany an exhibition of Polasek&rsquo;s work), the&nbsp;Chicago Tribune&nbsp;wrote that &ldquo;Nippy December breezes whistling about the Art Institute made it necessary for &lsquo;The Sower&rsquo; to put on his pants or get out of the weather&mdash;so he has gone in.&rdquo;

The Sower&nbsp;is now on permanent display at the Chicago Botanic Garden where he watches over the Esplanade four seasons a year&mdash;in all his natural glory.

<img alt="" data-caption="Albin Polasek, &lt;i&gt;The Sower&lt;/i&gt;, 1916. &lt;i&gt;The Sower&lt;/i&gt; currently overlooks the Esplanade at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Photo courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden " data-rich-file-id="2180" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2180/original/esplanade-20sower-201.jpg" />

Polasek&rsquo;s masterwork remained controversial for only a few months. But not all public art controversies erupt immediately after a work is unveiled. In some cases, the scandal happens long after a work has been de-installed or decommissioned.&nbsp;

Case in point: The controversy surrounding&nbsp;Chicago Rising from the Lake&nbsp;(1954) by artist Milton Horn (1906&ndash;1995) happened years after the sculpture was created. Today, this monumental bronze relief adorns the Columbus Drive Bridge along the Chicago River Walk. But the sculpture took a very circuitous route to its present home.

Horn originally created the massive 12-foot-by-14-foot relief for Parking Facility Number 1, the first city-owned and operated public parking garage in Chicago. Opened in 1955, the modernist structure at Wacker Drive and State Street accommodated a growing number of car commuters within a state-of-the-art facility. The sculpture,&nbsp;Chicago Rising from the Lake, took pride of place on the building&rsquo;s gleaming white brick fa&ccedil;ade, where it faced north toward the Chicago River. There, it presided over a daily parade of automobiles, driving in and out of the facility, until the garage was demolished in 1983, making way for the Renaissance Hotel and the Leo Burnett Building.

But after its de-installation, the sculpture disappeared.

<img alt="" data-caption="Milton Horn’s &lt;i&gt;Chicago Rising from the Lake&lt;/i&gt; (1954) as depicted on the façade of Parking Facility Number 1 (1955) designed by the architecture firm Shaw, Metz and Dolio. Photo courtesy of City of Chicago Bureau of Parking and forgottenchicago.com" data-rich-file-id="2181" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2181/original/parkingfacility1-milton-horn-photo.jpg" />

Several attempts were made to find it. Horn tracked it down in 1987 near the city&rsquo;s Transportation Department office at 31st Street and Sacramento where it was found lying at the bottom of a tarp-covered swimming pool. Sometime later, the sculpture was moved to a metal scrapyard along the banks of the Chicago River. It was rediscovered there in 1994, receiving much press attention in the process.

Chicago Rising&nbsp;soon became a symbol of the city&rsquo;s failures to keep track of and maintain the hundreds of works of public art that had been financed over the years by taxpayers. Horn&rsquo;s sculpture sparked a movement in the 1990s to reform and improve the Chicago Public Art Program, which today oversees more than 500 works of art in 150 locations throughout the city&mdash;including the Chicago Picasso.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/reallyboring/4040731323"><img alt="" data-caption="Photo: Eric Allix Rogers, &lt;i&gt;Chicago Rising From The Lake&lt;/i&gt; (Milton Horn, 1954). On the Columbus bridge over the Chicago River. © Eric Allix Rogers" data-rich-file-id="2182" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2182/original/4040731323-ffd088ab78-b.jpg" /></a>

Happily,&nbsp;Chicago Rising&nbsp;was restored and reinstalled in 1998. The sculpture, rescued from obscurity, is now enjoyed by citizens and tourists alike as they promenade along the River Walk.

What new controversies will arise now and in the future? Perhaps one is the scarcity of commissions given to women artists and artists of color to create major works in highly visible locations. Projects such as the Wabash Arts Corridor are beginning to address and correct this historic bias. But prestigious civic projects seldom are awarded to artists that fall outside the &quot;old white man&quot; category. Hopefully, new commissions&mdash;going to a broader range of artists working today&mdash;will be as exciting, challenging and significant as the great ones that came before.

Top image: Thousands of people jammed Daley Plaza on Tuesday, August 15, 1967 to witness the dedication and unveiling of the &ldquo;Chicago Picasso.&rdquo;&nbsp;Photo: Richard J. Daley Center, Untitled sculpture (&ldquo;The Picasso&rdquo;), Chicago Illinois, 1963-1965. C. F. Murphy Associates, architect. Fazlur R. Khan Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.&nbsp; Digital File #199207_151211-009.

Read more from Franck Mercurio&#39;s Public Art series:

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/3/the-origins-of-public-art-in-chicago-from-the-bronze-lions-to-skylanding">The Origins of Public Art in Chicago: From the Bronze Lions to Skylanding</a>

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/4/public-art-and-the-masses-examining-sculpture-in-grant-park">Public Art and the Masses: Examining Sculpture in Grant Park</a>

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/5/no-little-plans-the-battle-for-public-art-in-chicago">No Little Plans: The Battle for Public Art in Chicago</a>

CGN explores examines controversial public art installations in Chicago.

Does Man Love Art? A History of Public Art Controversy in Chicago

By ALISON REILLY

On June 23, Rashid Johnson&#39;s solo exhibition opened&nbsp;at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Hail We Now Sing Joy initiates&nbsp;a new program for the museum to feature the work of a contemporary artist in the Quadracci Pavilion (designed by&nbsp;architect Santiago Calatrava). The show is&nbsp;an impressive presentation&nbsp;of Johnson&#39;s recent work and an exciting way for director Marcelle Polednik to inaugurate the space with her new vision.

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Rashid Johnson leads a tour of his new exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Pictured on the left is &lt;i&gt;Antoine's Organ&lt;/i&gt;, an enormous black scaffolding cube filled with houseplants, books and fluorescent lights. For Johnson, the grid is significant because he grew up in an academic household (his mother is a professor) and he learned how to draw on lined paper. " data-rich-file-id="2168" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2168/original/img-4225.jpg" />

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Inside &lt;i&gt;Antoine's Organ&lt;/i&gt; is a piano that will be activated by local musicians throughout the course of the exhibition. The installation also features some early video work by Johnson including &lt;i&gt;Black Yoga&lt;/i&gt;." data-rich-file-id="2171" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2171/original/img-4252.jpg" />

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="In the next room, Johnson continues to explore his interest in the grid but in this case through a two-dimensional surface. For his series of &lt;i&gt;Escape Collage&lt;/i&gt; paintings, Johnson layers photos from his childhood, stock images of palm trees, and black soap and wax onto ceramic tiles." data-rich-file-id="2170" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2170/original/img-4240.jpg" />

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="&quot;I was trying to be coy, but these are self-portraits,&quot; Johnson said. Like the &lt;i&gt;Escape Collage&lt;/i&gt; paintings, the the artist creates the &lt;i&gt;Anxious Audience&lt;/i&gt; work by melting black soap and wax and pouring it directly onto the white ceramic tiles. Johnson then quickly draws on the surface to create a portrait through the removal of material." data-rich-file-id="2174" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2174/original/img-4244.jpg" />

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="In the final room of the exhibition, a large wood table is covered with a Persian rug and blocks of shea butter, which Johnson uses often in his work. For him, the material signifies how he was raised in an Afrocentric, non-religious space. But he noted that as he became an adolescent that familial space shifted leaving him to question his own identity. " data-rich-file-id="2176" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2176/original/img-4247.jpg" />

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/rashid-johnson-hail-we-now-sing-joy">Hail We Now Sing Joy</a>&nbsp;is open through September 17, 2017 at the <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/milwaukee-art-museum-mam--2">Milwaukee Art Museum</a>.&nbsp;

Top image: Rashid Johnson,&nbsp;Untitled Escape Collage (detail), 2016, ceramic tile, black soap, wax, vinyl and spray enamel. All images courtesty of Alison Reilly.

Rashid Johnson leads a tour of his new exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Rashid Johnson Leads Tour of Solo Exhibition at Milwaukee Art Museum

The year of public art is turning out to be just that - new elements of the year-long celebration continue to be unveiled regularly, adding to the ongoing joy and affection many of us have for our city&#39;s second-to-none public art collection.&nbsp;

Most recently, the&nbsp;Chicago Loop Alliance unveiled&nbsp;newly commissioned public art banner series on State Street in conjunction with the Year of Public Art. The commissioned&nbsp;series of&nbsp;banners&nbsp;pay homage to the Loop&rsquo;s iconic public art, though they are in fact temporary.&nbsp;Eight unique banner designs feature abstracted and distilled interpretations of public artworks that span the decades (including Pablo Picasso&rsquo;s unnamed sculpture in Daley Plaza (1967) and Anish Kapoor&rsquo;s&nbsp;Cloud Gate&nbsp;(2006). Done&nbsp;in an arresting eight-color Modernist palette, and created by&nbsp;designer and artist&nbsp;Bob Faust, the banners&nbsp;will be displayed&nbsp;July 5&ndash;30 on State Street between Lake Street and Congress Parkway.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2165" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2165/original/image002.png" />

Faust sought a design that allowed each unique sculpture to be recognizable, but also be part of a discreet set, arriving at a simple shape solution. Typography was reduced to its simplest elements, also to be part of the illustrative style and not compete with the illustrations themselves. Matisse&rsquo;s cutouts were among the inspirations for the graphic style.

&ldquo;These banners &ndash; which take familiar works and reduce them to their elements, reinforcing how ingrained public art is in our consciousness -- blur the line between art and design,&rdquo; said&nbsp;Kate Keleman, Creative and Placemaking Manager at the Chicago Loop Alliance.&rdquo; They transform the often-mundane street pole banner into an instrument that changes the experience of the street and creates an immersive design gesture.&rdquo;

&quot;Chicago&#39;s greatest public artworks make powerful memories from the feelings they invoke,&rdquo; said Faust. &ldquo;My goal through these minimalist graphics is to instigate a reaction that reaches back into our memory banks and pull up the original feelings made by the artworks they represent.&rdquo;

To read more&nbsp;about the battle for public art in Chicago click <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/5/no-little-plans-the-battle-for-public-art-in-chicago">here</a>.

Street banners for the year of public art in Chicago 

Look Up! Bright Banners Spread Art in the Loop

Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with&nbsp;Louise Rosenberg&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/cultivate-urban-rainforest-gallery">Cultivate Urban Rainforest &amp; Gallery</a>.

Gallery: Cultivate Urban Rainforest &amp; Gallery &nbsp; &nbsp; 
Name: Louise Rosenberg 
Age: 54 
Previous occupations: Records Store Manager, Office Manager at Cabaret Metro, Massage Therapist at a holistic healthcare center 
Hometown: Skokie, Illinois

Chicago Gallery News: Cultivate Urban Rainforest &amp; Gallery is unique because you offer a selection of indoor plants alongside a rotating exhibition space. How did you decide to pursue art alongside gardening?

Louise Rosenberg: Great art and design are often inspired or informed by plants and the natural world. Many plants are in and of themselves works of art. We feature indoor plants and terrariums as a way to bring nature inside living and workspaces.

CGN: Please describe your gallery&rsquo;s program in one sentence.

LR: Our works are directly informed and inspired by pattern, texture, color and organic form found within nature, with an emphasis in flora.

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?&nbsp;

LR: Turn on the music.

CGN: Who are artists you admire but don&#39;t represent?

LR: Andrew Goldsworthy.

CGN: What is the best sale you ever had?

LR: When our buyers really deeply connect to a work of art, every sale is wonderful!

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

LR: I really am bolstered by kind words from other curators and artists that appreciate the exhibits here at Cultivate. Our neighbors have said we are a wonderful addition to the community. Cultivate is different in many ways. We are not solely an art gallery. We offer many things that add life and dimension to any space. That is both an advantage and a challenge.

CGN: How do you find new artists to work with?

LR: Several different avenues. Artists sometimes make connections and suggestions. Being a business on Main Street in Evanston with longer hours than a more typical gallery setting, I am exposed to many people. Sometimes those conversations turn out to be with other artists or art lovers. I many times discover wonderful artists that live in the area. I have been approached on a pretty regular basis as well.

CGN: What are your favorite places to see art in Evanston?

LR: Artists studios and looking around me while walking the neighborhood.

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

LR: Music, plants&nbsp;and cats.

CGN: What&rsquo;s coming up next at Cultivate?

LR: In August, we have an exhibition called <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/flora-and-fauna-works-by-stephanie-chambers-lucy-engelman">Flora and Fauna: Stephanie Chambers &amp; Lucy Engelman,</a> which includes painting and illustration and in October, Shar Coulson will present mixed media on linen.

Louise Rosenberg is the owner of Cultivate Urban Rainforest &amp; Gallery located in Evanston. For more information visit: <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/cultivate-urban-rainforest-gallery">Cultivate Urban Rainforest &amp; Gallery.</a>

CGN interviews local art dealer Louise Rosenberg. 