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News From Around the Art World: May 5, 2020

As coronavirus cancels summer art festivals, ‘the business model for artists imploded’

“Nothing compares to this. We’ve never gone through anything like this,” said Kelly, who has been selling T-shirts, calendars and notecards for 30 years.

For many artisans, their main source of income is selling products at art festivals. Spring and summer festivals filled with vendors selling photographs, jewelry, pottery, clothing, and more attract thousands of visitors during the sunny weather. Several Chicago events were canceled this year including the Old Town Art Fair, Logan Square Arts Festival, the 57th Street Art Fair and Maifest.

By Abdel Jimenez, Chicago Tribune

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Artist Jim Bachor has created coronavirus-related pothole art in Uptown. COURTESY JIM BACHOR

Coronavirus-Themed Pothole Art Debuts In Uptown: ‘It’s An Opportunity For An Unexpected Grin’

A shrine to some of the city’s most coveted possessions during the coronavirus outbreak has debuted in Uptown. To find it, you’ll have to keep your head down.

Chicago-based mosaic artist Jim Bachor has created new works in his pothole street art project, with four mosaics taking the place of potholes in Uptown. The new works, located on Gunnison Street just west of Broadway, are meant as lighthearted takes on three things people have stocked up on during the pandemic: toilet paper, hand sanitizer and booze.

By Joe Ward, Block Club Chicago

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A Virtual Visit With the National Museum of Mexican Art

This month, “Chicago Tonight” had plans to visit an exhibition of Frida Kahlo’s photography collection. The exhibit arrived in Chicago but was never unpacked from the shipping crates — the National Museum of Mexican Art had just closed its doors in accordance with the governor’s stay-at-home order. 

Instead, we visited the museum for a virtual tour of its dynamic permanent collection.

By Mark Vitali, WTTW News

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Chalkboard art brightens street during COVID-19 pandemic

Every couple of weeks, this Chicago resident puts a newly-decorated chalkboard in her front yard for her neighbors to enjoy. Each board in the Andersonville yard has its own unique Mayor Lori Lightfoot-inspired design!

By Localish, Abc News

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A.N. Pritzker School fourth-grader Sylvia K.

Chicago-area kids look ahead to ‘brighter days’ with their prize-winning artwork

Chicago-area kids are proving to us that there’s still a lot of light, a lot of hope and that, despite what we’re all going through because of the coronavirus pandemic, brighter days are ahead.

For a student art contest we called The Imagination Project, the Chicago Sun-Times asked students from elementary school through high school in Chicago and the suburbs to submit images of their artwork based on the theme “Brighter Days.”

By Sun-Times staff, Chicago Sun Times

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