Chicago Truborn's 13 Year Anniversary is up next

Chicago Truborn opened its doors in West Town with a pretty simple idea: make art accessible, to support artists, and create a space that felt less like a traditional gallery and a more like a place to call home. 

I've watched artists and galleries come and go. I've seen our neighborhood change, the buildings, the businesses, and entire casts of people come through the Chicago art scene. I've seen artists who were just getting started become household names. Taken chances on people I believed in. Put paintings in living rooms and bedrooms and kitchens... murals on walls, weird objects on bookshelves, and art in the hands of people who maybe never thought they were “art collectors.” 

Chicago Truborn is Still here. Still independently owned, putting artists first. Still trying to make art feel approachable. Still got that door propped open. Playing my tunes.

It's only right to celebrate my business Bat Mitzvah by showing an artist who has been Instrumental in my experience, both professionally and personally. An artist whose name and work can not be seperated from the history of Chicago: That artist is my friend Anthony Lewellen. 

Anthony has been an important part of the Chicago Truborn story for years, as an artist, as a friend, and as someone whose work has continued to evolve alongside the city around him. His paintings occupy that strange and wonderful space between familiar and surreal : Recognizable pieces of Chicago, memory, culture and everyday life filtered through his own visual language. 

ANTCK will take over the gallery with a new body of work created specifically for this exhibition. Two site specific murals will be painted and a new, limited edition, print drop will be released! 

And while this show itself honors Anthony, the anniversary represents all the artists who have trusted me with their work. The collectors who bought their first piece here. The people who wandered in because they saw a mural outside. The friends who helped support me and wound up becoming die hard collectors. My fellow business owners who come to check on me throughout the day.

The people who have been coming through our doors since 2011, those who just discovered us last week! Anyone who has ever walked in and thought, “Oh shit. I LOVE this.”

13 years is a long time to do anything independently. It’s long enough to see entire chapters of your life come and go. I know how incredibly lucky I am to have built something that's lasted this long. I also know it's less about luck, or me... And more about YOU and what you've allowed this to become. SO, let's celebrate!