<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417832/qeo2tbu4es4hijmwt5vs.jpg"></figure>By CGN Staff via PRArchitect Frank Lloyd Wright's signature style is easily identifiable to many around the world, but here close to home the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust announced on June 17 plans for a new state-of-the-art Visitor and Education Center that will serve as a means of welcoming today's architecture fans and visitors. The plans mark a milestone for the organization founded on the same day 45 years ago. The expansion will strengthen the Trust’s relationship to the Oak Park community, deepen its educational impact, increase indoor and outdoor capacity by more than 20,000 sq. ft., and enhance the experience of the 90,000 visitors to the Home and Studio site each year.Since its founding in 1974, the Trust has become a Chicago-wide organization that has welcomed approximately 5 million visitors to its five sites, located in Chicago and Oak Park. A non-profit community anchor, the Trust has grown to a staff of 50, with over 650 volunteers, and has just completed restoration of the Robie House, Wright’s consummate Prairie masterpiece, to widespread acclaim. Its annual Wright Plus Housewalk is a signature event known around the world.Architect John Ronan, who also designed Chicago’s Poetry Foundation building, was selected as the architect of the expansion. Other finalists were Krueck + Sexton, Pappageorge Haymes, Perkins + Will and Vinci Hamp Architects. “This is the most important initiative since the Trust’s founding and restoration of the Home and Studio. It will ensure that Wright’s legacy remains vital to future generations. Ronan’s proposal was chosen for its design simplicity, quiet presence within the site, and use of materials referencing the site and surrounding neighborhood,” stated Board Chairman Bob Miller.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417833/efvwmn5sl18efztqeant.png"></figure>The new Visitor Center will be a public arrival point and will consist of a Reception Hall with audio-visual programming, an information and ticketing area, visitor amenities and a shop. A wooded outdoor plaza will extend from the Visitor Center to Chicago Avenue and connect to the historic grounds of the Home and Studio, combining an open grassy lawn with hard surface walkways and terrace areas. The combined Visitor Center and plaza will accommodate an array of special events including lectures, receptions and other community and educational gatherings in partnership with area schools and businesses.A new Education Center will include a design studio for student and family classes with an area for students’ art display and works by area artists and designers. A conference room with private reception area will be a premier space for educator meetings, academic forums, young leadership summits, seminars, and special-interest group discussions.A library and center for curatorial research will be adapted from Trust offices, currently housed in an 1860s residence that was the home of Wright’s mother. The Home and Studio garage will become a gallery for the Trust’s permanent collections, enriching the historical and artistic content of tours. “The new Center will be a building of architectural importance set gracefully into the context of a beloved historic site and neighborhood. It is a natural next step into a bright future for Oak Park,” said Celeste Adams, Trust President &amp; CEO.The plan will be submitted for review to the Village of Oak Park for its consideration of alterations and improvements to the Trust’s property.About the Frank Lloyd Wright TrustThe <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001JIdSef7SVkMMGdko0EBFYSyP2ERKo6te3wVKP30NEy7fMTsTxcmw0KypBwd6xToiYNpgcuFpSLTR0AalhW04tyILGIEPKJdU7IoA0EiXLsBqR8qMBOMd5ez9QXxmQxRHyb5YCKYZFLrOtuh4CaVfIw==&amp;c=JiOCJ8piUVPDwezHRQBG7URZ3fJf9F4Wr7E2PyHhaYjSKp4uYma3VA==&amp;ch=IAXK3tbbOuqOULK8ObCqj_tGVQLon9xLpFcdsM5Ree9HKCrP8-A2Lw==">Frank Lloyd Wright Trust</a> seeks to engage, educate and inspire the public through interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s design legacy and preservation of his original sites in Chicago. Owner of Wright’s Home and Studio, the Trust operates public tours and programs at five Chicago area historic sites: Wright’s Home and Studio (1889/1898) and Unity Temple (1905-08) in Oak Park; the Frederick C. Robie House (1908-10) located on the campus of University of Chicago in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood; The Rookery Light Court (1905) in the Chicago Loop; and Emil Bach House (1915) in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.About John RonanArchitect of the expansion, <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001JIdSef7SVkMMGdko0EBFYSyP2ERKo6te3wVKP30NEy7fMTsTxcmw0MxZQGFOlHDyzllyztSK8u5GVPCjKZ0941aN71bYHs4hJ1ks3pM6CWec402unSWyGzFWWEcUW-t2bDSoHJ8oRww=&amp;c=JiOCJ8piUVPDwezHRQBG7URZ3fJf9F4Wr7E2PyHhaYjSKp4uYma3VA==&amp;ch=IAXK3tbbOuqOULK8ObCqj_tGVQLon9xLpFcdsM5Ree9HKCrP8-A2Lw==">John Ronan</a> is founding principal and lead designer of John Ronan Architects established in 1999. A graduate of University of Michigan and Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Ronan is known for his conceptual innovation and concise design approach. He was elected to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2014. In 2017 he was the recipient of the American Academy of Art and Letters Architecture Award, and his Poetry Foundation building was listed as one of the 125 best buildings of the last 125 years by Architectural Record. His firm has received numerous design awards, including two AIA Institute National Honor Awards. He is currently the John and Jeanne Rowe Endowed Chair Professor of the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology.</body></html>

Frank Lloyd Wright Trust's Plans for a Modern Welcome

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417834/cxzgwry7qbfgbdviqzwu.gif"><figcaption>We love Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate&nbsp;in Millennium Park too, but there are so many things to see &nbsp;throughout Chicago! &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Summer in the midwest is basically one mad dash to be out in the fresh air as long as possible, before the doors of winter snap shut again. Many area gallery owners and artists are often busiest inside, welcoming visitors to see summer shows. We figure they relish the chance to get out and enjoy the city as well as the art that is all around us.Deborah Maris Lader, an artist, musician and the driving force behind the <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/chicago-printmakers-collaborative--3">Chicago Printmaker’s Collaborative</a> let us in on what she would do on a day off or a day out with visitors to Chicago.&nbsp;By Deborah Maris Lader, as told to Ginny Van AlyeaSince I spend my days in my studio surrounded by artists and/or making art, I enjoy the rare “day off” by feeding my other senses, while simultaneously stocking my visual cupboard with new material. My perfect day would be waking up to my morning matcha, while watching the birds gather at the feeder outside my window. Hopefully I’ll have picked up an oat jammer cookie at Baker Miller the day before to go with my daily soft boiled egg breakfast. If it’s a warm day, I’d bike down the lake trail to Maggie Daley Park and rent some shoes to scramble around on the self-belay rock climbing walls. If it’s cold I’ll rent ice skates and glide on the ribbon. I love walking along Lake Michigan in all kinds of weather, usually starting at the bird sanctuary at Montrose Harbor.Then I’d go to the <a href="https://imss.org">Museum of Surgical Science</a> in the Gold Coast, which is a fairly serious funhouse of medical history filled with both gory and beautiful curiosities and inventions. Where else can you see a bowl full of kidney stones?Lunch would be something leafy – Left Coast Cafe, or the chopped salad at Cafe Selmarie. In winter, I’m a fan of the Tom Yum soup at Sticky Rice. Since I’m also a musician, I’d run over to the Old Town School of Folk Music, pick up some accessories at the store, and catch up with my musician friends, who I’d likely run into in the lobby. If I’ve got friends in town, I’d give them a tour of the WPA murals throughout the building, which used to house the old Sulzer Library.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417836/ojh7uxwxgy3kpc1eb1dc.gif"><figcaption>Deborah Maris Lader (center) with her fellow band members.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In the evening, my top picks are to head to <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/millennium-park">Millennium Park</a> for a summer concert, or catch a Shakespeare in the Park performance, or a concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Evanston SPACE, or City Winery (my band plays all 3 venues, so I can get good tickets!).Dinner is at my new favorite, Kitsune on Lincoln Ave. It’s one of the most original food experiences I can think of. I’ll eat things there that I would never normally eat, just because it’s so unusual. I had my first bite of bone marrow there (and I don’t really eat beef, but whatevs). In general I love so many places in my neighborhood (Lincoln Square). When I have visitors, I like to show it off.I recently had arty friends visit, and we did a workshop at my studio at Chicago Printmakers Collaborative. I gave them a tutorial in woodcut and screen printing. Later we headed to Northman Cider pub for a cider tasting, and saw a play at Lookingglass Theatre. We also of course did the Chicago Architecture Center's Architectural Boat Tour.If friends are in on a weekend, we’ll attend an opening, usually someplace a bit smaller or offbeat, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/adventureland-gallery">AdventureLand</a>, or <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/firecat-projects">Firecat Projects</a>, or <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/addington-gallery">Addington Gallery</a>, or pretty much anything Aron Packer is doing (usually a pop up). &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417837/wettl1tpvr1kmfnkrkyl.gif"><figcaption>Deb Lader playing atop CPC on Western Ave.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Other favorite places to take visiting friends:• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/chicago-cultural-center--2">The Chicago Cultural Center</a> (78 E Washington) Ogle the mosaics, stained glass and grand staircases.• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/navy-pier">Navy Pier</a> (600 E Grand) can be fun. I love walking outside along the pier to see the boats and watch people.• The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool (Fullerton and Cannon Dr.), next to Lincoln Park Zoo, is an example of Prairie School landscape architecture designed by Alfred Caldwell in 1936.&nbsp;• The Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N Central Park Ave) is truly amazing. It’s great in the winter when you need a blast of Amazonian-like jungle humidity. And greenery.• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/millennium-park">Millennium Park</a>! (Randolph and Michigan Ave.) There is so much to love – the Frank Gehry bridge, the Lurie garden the Crown Fountain, The Bean [Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate] &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;My tourist tips:• Skip the “Chicago pizza” experience• Rent a bike (and helmet) on the lakefront trail to see the city skyline• Pick up a <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/magazine">CGN Arts Guide</a> for a comprehensive listing of all the galleries and spaces in the city! &nbsp;Helpful Freebies:• Walk around downtown. It doesn’t cost anything, it’s good exercise, and you’ll see all kinds of cool stuff.• Hungry? <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=openings">Gallery openings</a> have free booze and food.• Actually, it never costs anything to walk into any gallery in the city and look at art. How great is that?</body></html>

Tourist For a Day: When an Art Insider Takes Time Off

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/50e5c1be866e9aaa28cfec1db/images/e06e3661-0bb7-4a7a-9736-0ca63dbca435.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured from Left: Richard Wright, David Rago and Suzanne Perrault</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN Staff via PRThe Chicago auction house landscape has changed so much over the past year and a half you might get whiplash trying to keep up.&nbsp;Early in 2019 Leslie Hindman acquired Cowan's from Cincinnati and became <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/leslie-hindman-auctioneers--3">Hindman.</a> In early 2018 John Toomey Gallery announced a generational succession as well as a name change after&nbsp;three decades in business, becoming <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/3/toomey-co-auctioneers-represents-a-new-generation-in-auctions">Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers</a> and ending its partnership with Treadway Gallery (also of Cincinnati). Phillips opened a midwest presence at the end of 2017 when <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/8/lauren-g-peterson-a-familiar-face-gets-a-new-start-at-phillips">Lauren G. Peterson</a>, formerly of Christie's, joined Carol Ehlers in Chicago. And several other well-known auction and art world figures have also moved between houses in recent months: Joe Stanfield moved from Toomey to Hindman; Aron Packer joined Toomey; and Cathy Busch became a managing director at <a href="https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details/?pressreleaseid=8716">Christie's</a> after 15 years at Sotheby's.Today, <a href="https://www.wright20.com/">Wright</a>, established on Chicago's West Side in 2000, announced that it too is evolving its business model by joining forces with New Jersey-based <a href="https://www.ragoarts.com/">Rago Auctions</a>. After nearly 20 years in business, with 250+ auctions, 75,000+ lots, $375 million in sales and a reputation as the top source in the country for 20th century art and design, the time had come for Wright to ensure its future place in an increasingly competitive auction market. Both houses will continue&nbsp;to operate under their individual names while sharing technology, expertise and marketing efforts.&nbsp;The full press statement is below.Click to read CGN's <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/4/15-minutes-with-richard-wright">15 Minutes with Richard Wright</a> from 2012.&nbsp;In the increasingly competitive auction market, the joint entity will have stronger reach and a broader team of specialists. With $65+ million in consolidated annual sales, the combined company has a team of 75 and more than a century of business experience. Rago’s broad expertise in art, jewelry, ceramics and estates and Wright’s focus on design and innovative presentation will be combined to better serve their clients and maintain a strong voice in the world of art and design. As CEO of the combined companies, Richard Wright will work in tandem with Rago’s specialists to continue to bring new concepts to our auction platform. “I welcome the opportunity of working with a larger team,” says Richard “our blended perspectives, geographic reach and experience will add to the great work we both currently do.” “Elbert Hubbard, the Arts and Crafts era luminary, once said that the best business was done in cooperation, not competition,” says David Rago, President, “I’ve always believed in that and our merger with Wright presents us with a golden opportunity&nbsp;to experience this in practice rather than theory.” “We are all excited by the potential this merger represents,” says Suzanne Perrault, President, “particularly as it pertains to increased reach and exposure for our shared clientele, consignors and collectors alike. The mix of our two cultures, while similar, presents a fascinating challenge and offers a terrific opportunity for growth, both personally and professionally.” <a href="https://wright20.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50e5c1be866e9aaa28cfec1db&amp;id=2347c8588f&amp;e=7eb8b4f0ec">About Rago</a> Rago Auctions, founded in 1984, is a leading U.S. auction house with $34 million in sales in 2018. It serves thousands of sellers and buyers yearly with global reach, personal service and competitive commissions for single pieces, collections and estates. An internationally-known venue through which to buy and sell, Rago offers free valuations for personal property as well as USPAP-compliant estate and appraisal services. <a href="https://wright20.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50e5c1be866e9aaa28cfec1db&amp;id=a8658b7e03&amp;e=7eb8b4f0ec">About Wright</a> Founded in 2000, Wright has established a reputation as an innovator within&nbsp;the industry. With world class specialists and presentation, Wright has pioneered new categories of collecting and upped the ante for catalog and website design. Dedicated to 20th century art and design, Wright has become a renowned resource for distinguished collectors and sellers around the globe&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417833/soas7kwujiwrx1ffx0ez.jpg"><figcaption>Finn Juhl&nbsp;,Rare armchairs with adjustable backs, pair&nbsp;&nbsp;$45,000, part of Wright's June 5, 2019 auction, Important Design Including Post War + Contemporary Art&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Another Marriage of Auction Houses: Wright and Rago Unite

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417822/hi35merqobkmumoajccf.gif"></figure>Acclaimed Photographer Recalls Learning His Trade in Chicago 70 Years AgoHis photographs range from great moments in sports to sympathetic portraits that document the lives of everyday people. Marvin E. Newman is a native New Yorker, but a long time ago, Chicago was key to his development.We visited him on a return trip to the city 70 years after he honed his craft here.Marc Vitali, WTTV<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2019/06/06/photographer-marvin-e-newman-chicago-exhibition">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417823/mjee7hfracorjrwt5p92.gif"></figure>Édouard Manet spent his final days in excruciating pain — and creating his most thrilling artÉdouard Manet was succumbing to the ordeal of late-stage syphilis when he painted some of the freshest, most affecting flower paintings in the history of art. Against dark backgrounds, brushstrokes by turns delicate, dimpled and confidently supple coalesce to describe modest bouquets of moss roses, lilacs and plump peonies. Occasionally, a cut stem, cropped by the frame, lies fallen beside the glass vase, reinforcing what the wet-in-wet paint is already telling you: These flowers have just arrived. They’re a gift. Enjoy them. Nothing lasts.Last seen together in a 2017 exhibition at the Phillips Collection, the asparagus paintings are reunited again in “Manet and Modern Beauty,” a gorgeous exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.Sebastian Smee, Washington Post<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/edouard-manet-spent-his-final-days-in-excruciating-pain--and-creating-his-most-thrilling-art/2019/06/05/0b1d8d2e-86f0-11e9-a870-b9c411dc4312_story.html?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.64936bf81dfa">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417824/viplm4qemuoxmybrh0f2.gif"></figure>Summer Preview: The Most Promising Museum Shows and Biennials Around the&nbsp;WorldSummer is travel season for many, and museums around the world are rising to the occasion, hosting a bevy of must-see shows. The Minneapolis Institute of Art promises to break new ground with its exhibition of Native women artists, and the Museu de Arte de São Paulo is staging what could be a radical revision of art history that incorporates proto-feminist perspectives. On the retrospective front, there are major shows for Dora Maar, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Virgil Abloh, Natalia Goncharova, Image Bank, and many others. Below, a look at the season’s most promising shows.The Editors of ARTnews<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2019/06/05/summer-preview/">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

News From Around the Art World: June 11, 2019

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417600/hwaxe6wde5skqnb6lmih.gif"><figcaption>Patrick Rouiller at work creatinga uniquely inspired mural panels to be installed in a client’s home.</figcaption></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe tradition of murals as public art is quite familiar, in fact going back to ancient times when people lived in caves instead of condos, but what might not be as well known is the modern murals that fill walls and spaces of private homes, at once telling personal stories and displaying unique art in one particular place. Residential murals make a very permanent statement and they also must work with spatial and architectural details, making a dramatic, one of a kind contribution to a home.&nbsp;Patrick Rouillier, a highly respected name in design–savy circles, got his start creating such murals almost 30 years ago, right after graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His first full time employment was with a chicago lamp company, doing design and production and developing business skills. Though he learned a great deal, the job meant he was removed from relationships&nbsp; with clients, and he found the repetition of production painting unfulfilling. He resolved to seek work where each project would be important to the specific client.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417601/w2jev2epc9onzt7da2vq.gif"><figcaption>Sketches for a client's project must take into account the overall design and palette as well as any architectural elements.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;It was studying scientific illustration at SAIC that fostered Rouillier’s critical eye for looking at objects as well as different periods and painting techniques. He learned to listen to what his professor, and eventually client, wanted to convey through the technical artistic outcome. “It provided me with an employable skill set from the beginning,” he says, “So I began working for and collaborating with designers and clients, listening and translating information objectively into the process of how the materials work, and then executing the artistic expression.”Beyond the meticulousness required to create personal, time consuming works that are often larger in scale and even executed on site, relationships are part of each project. “I enjoy sharing with the people I work with,” admits Rouillier, “comparing the techniques and the history of the materials, such as gilding, or explaining the steps in creating a painting.” He also savors what he says is the natural process of work and a certain amount of experimentation, or twisting a tradition’s technique.“I have been fortunate to be educated by the diverse influences of my peers and the people who have employed me over the years. I enjoy being challenged by those various relationships to consider a new way of looking at design or art I may have undervalued or been ignorant of. Every day is a chance to learn something new.”</body></html>

Patrick Rouillier: Creative Collaborator

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417751/f5vdjhlmp3b3kikeggmc.gif"></figure><h3>Happy little clouds: Bob Ross’s first museum show aims to change his reputation</h3>Why has it taken art museums so long to show the work of Bob Ross, the late, legendary 1980s TV painter beloved by millions? A new group show in Chicago is aiming to change that and move Ross’s evaluation from the king of kitsch to a conceptual artist. New Age, New Age: Strategies for Survival, at the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago (until 11 August), positions Ross not as a mere novelty but as the forefather of a newer self-help trend in contemporary art.Jason Foumberg, The Art Newspaper<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/happy-clouds-bob-ross-s-first-museum-show-aims-to-change-his-reputation">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417752/gulefgtx3j3sbf7odyc0.gif"></figure><h3>Art Institute of Chicago to Deaccession Three Hundred Chinese Artworks</h3>The Art Institute of Chicago is planning to unload more than three hundred works from its collection of Chinese art at Christie’s New York this September. The institution is selling objects dating from the Song dynasty to the Qing dynasty at a live sale on September 12 and an online auction taking place from September 10 to September 17.Art Forum<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/art-institute-of-chicago-to-deaccession-three-hundred-chinese-artworks-79959">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417753/kajlzprrhnrjnr4bc7jm.gif"></figure><h3>Noted architect Stanley Tigerman dies at 88</h3>Stanley Tigerman, a noted Chicago architect whose career spanned more than 60 years and whose buildings included the playful and the compassionate, died Monday at age 88.&nbsp;Dennis Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/architecture-design/noted-architect-stanley-tigerman-dies-88">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

News From Around the Art World: June 4, 2019

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417567/emlef6f6b5ujdjq44fff.gif"><figcaption>The Angad Arts Hotel is located in the heart of St. Louis’s Grand Center Arts District. It is the first hotel in the world where guests are able to book their luxury accommodations not only by room type, but also by emotion of color.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;By CGN STAFFIn the art world you’re often encouraged to think outside the box in order to consider alternative perspectives, but what if the box itself is the inspiration?Summer is the season of road trips – and staycations – if you have a weekend or to to spare, or need an excuse to visit relatives or show friends around town, consider a stay in one of these artistically amped hotels. Often inspired by the artistic and cultural communities that surround them, you can devote your stay to a contemporary art immersion from start to finish.From Milwaukee to Saint Louis, and Indianapolis to Cincinnati, once you’ve visited one creative metropolis, you may start thinking about where to head next. Perhaps you’ll even see art in your dreams...&nbsp;Milwaukee, WI – Saint Kate Arts Hotel<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417568/n3dgyassddn1jruonkvk.gif"><figcaption>The brand new Saint Kate The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, by the Marcus Group, opens in June and features elements in each room that are designed by artists, such as this guest room blanket by Christiane Grauert.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>What: Saint Kate The Arts Hotel. With a range of rooms available at various price points, the website states, "Stay in a living, breathing piece of art. The Canvas rooms are given to local artists as blank slates—and the completely unique finished products are yours to explore. A portion of the proceeds from each stay will benefit local and state-wide arts initiatives." Items listed as room amenities? Local art, art and design books, drawing Paper, and a ukulele.Where: Downtown MilwaukeeDetails: <a href="https://www.marcushotels.com/portfolio/stay/saint-kate">www.marcushotels.com/portfolio/stay/saint-kate</a>&nbsp;Indianapolis, IN – The Alexander<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417569/ky9zqduymx7vdtbyqkvx.gif"><figcaption>Nestled in the City Way area of downtown Indianapolis, The Alexander pairs contemporary design with hospitality. In every room, lobby, and dining space is a piece of art commissioned or curated from local and international artists.</figcaption></figure>What: The Alexander Hotel. In every room, lobby, and dining space is a piece of art designed to inspire you during your stay, commissioned or curated from local and international artists. Blocks from both the Banker’s Life Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium, this downtown hotel is minutes from area museums, professional sports,&nbsp;and the Indiana Convention Center. &nbsp;Where: Indianapolis's City Way neighborhoodDetails: <a href="https://www.thealexander.com">www.thealexander.com</a><h3>&nbsp;</h3>Cincinnati, OH – 21 C<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417570/mwv2yo7hviu0nzbfq3nn.gif"><figcaption>In downtown Cincinnati the Historic Metropole Hotel was reimagined in 2013 as a contemporary art museum. Adjacent to the Contemporary Art Center, designed by Zaha Hadid, 21C Museum Hotel is a multi-venue 8,000 square foot museum open to the public 24/7, as well as an award-winning 156-room boutique hotel.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417571/iplqjbyduqdj4hegopra.gif"><figcaption>Also at 21C in Cincinnati, you can take weekly docent tours of the hotel and the art center or buy Kehinde Wiley dinner plates in the gift shop for $99 each.</figcaption></figure>What: At 21c you can discover contemporary art in the most unexpected places, from the sidewalks to the elevators. Specially commissioned site-specific works can be found throughout the museum; meanwhile, rotating exhibitions transform the galleries into ever-changing spaces. As you approach, enjoy Werner Reiterer’s <a href="https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/museum/exhibit/untitled/">Untitled</a> as it hovers over the sidewalk, breathing in and out; then, walk through&nbsp;<a href="https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/museum/exhibit/healing-tiles/">Healing Tiles</a>‘&nbsp;glowing pool of organic patterns, and don’t miss an evening viewing of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/museum/exhibit/lightmail/">Lightmail</a> in the solarium. The museum is open to the public 24/7; and exhibitions and cultural programs rotate often. On view until August 2019 is a spotlight on LaToya Ruby Frazier.Where: The heart of downtown Cincinnati, "The Queen City." Adjacent to the Contemporary Art Center and across the street from the Aronoff Center for the Arts.Details: <a href="https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/cincinnati/">www.21cmuseumhotels.com/cincinnati/</a>&nbsp;Chicago, IL – The Peninsula&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417572/fhahj84s1bhm07ikhuij.gif"><figcaption>In 2016 The Peninsula Chicago marked EXPO CHICAGO with the contemporary art exhibition, Whoville, featuring highlights from the Beth Rudin Dewoody collection, which included over 30 works, some by Roger Brown, Nick Cave, Theaster Gates, Art Green, Kerry James Marshall, Bruce Nauman, Gladys Nilsson, Ed Paschke, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Christina Ramberg, Tony Tasset, H.C. Westermann and Karl Wirsum. The hotel has continued the alignment each year.</figcaption></figure>What: The Peninsula Chicago is the five-star hotel that brought traditional Asian service to a city already renowned for the warmth of its hospitality. The hotel has become an integral part of Chicago life and is considered the top choice for everything from accommodation to celebrations and corporate events. For this, the hotel credits its strong links to both the local community and international heritage.&nbsp;Where: Chicago's Gold Coast, along Michigan Ave. and a short walk from the Museum of Contemporary Art as well as the Richard H. Driehaus Museum.&nbsp;Details: <a href="https://www.peninsula.com/en/chicago/5-star-luxury-hotel-downtown-chicago">www.peninsula.com/en/chicago/5-star-luxury-hotel-downtown-chicago</a>&nbsp;St. Louis, MO – Angad Arts Hotel<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417573/y4ulugiudjdvhbpwrsrb.jpg"><figcaption>A yellow "happiness room" at the Angad Arts Hotel in St Louis</figcaption></figure>What: Angad Arts Hotel boasts that it is a wholly new hospitality experience that embraces the visual arts, performance, fashion, literature and gastronomy. AAH offers superb, gracious hospitality combined with curation of socially inspiring experiences. It is the first hotel in the world where guests are able to book not only by room type, but also by emotion of color.Where: The heart of St. Louis’s Grand Center Arts DistrictDetails: <a href="https://www.angadartshotel.com">www.angadartshotel.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Immersive Art Invites You to Stay: Midwestern Art Hotels Worthy of a Road Trip

EXPO CHICAGO Announces Participants for Eighth Edition

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417701/dcjwroyvozxxe6e6yzoa.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAWhen compared to the international gatherings that draw art collectors, dealers and curators to Chicago for a few days each September and November, laser-focusing the art world's attention on the state of the market, the city's local summer art festivals can seem like an alternate art universe. We're not one to say if one is better than the other, but they're certainly distinct from one in another in important ways. While there is a social attraction to both kinds of fairs, the juried events that attract hundreds of artists to set up a tent and display their own work – usually outside in a park or neighborhood – are geared towards celebrating independent artists by making affordable art accessible and tempting enough for just about anyone to take home. Often these fairs are where a buyer's very first art purchase is made.&nbsp;The next two weekends are ideal chances to experience some of the city's oldest, and in fact most popular, local art fairs. The fairs coming up can each boast more than 60 years of history, testaments to how loved and how successful they have been in their communities.&nbsp;More fairs and markets take place through June and into July. With warm weather to draw out the crowds, many casual as well as avid art fans and families will be spending a Saturday or Sunday in the presence of original art, hopefully appreciating all that this new, welcome season has to offer.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417701/hos4xlgckwo4sbtwlzdc.jpg"></figure><h3>The 72nd 57th Street Art Fair</h3>When: June 1-2, 2019&nbsp;Where: Hyde Park, Chicago (on 56th, 57th and Kimbark Streets between Kenwood and Woodlawn Avenues (vicinity of William H. Ray Elementary School at 5631 S. Kimbark Chicago, IL 60637).What: The event is the oldest juried art fair in the country and offers art lovers a fantastic opportunity to meet more than 175 artists, hear the about their process and shop high quality, original and handmade works including glass, jewelry, leather,&nbsp;photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, wood, ceramics and fiber art.&nbsp;In addition to shopping one-of-a-kind art, the Fair offers around the clock music by Buddy Guy’s Legends, a Community Arts &amp; Activities area for kids of all ages, delicious food, plus much more!&nbsp;Details: <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org">www.57thstreetartfair.org</a> &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417702/yi9txupwbf5ljh0ozm91.jpg"></figure><h3>62nd Annual Gold Coast Art Fair</h3>When: June 1-2, 2019&nbsp;Where: Downtown, Chicago. In Grant Park's Butler Field. Corner of Monroe and Lake Shore DriveWhat: The award-winning Art Fair welcomes more than 200 juried artists from across the country to create an exceptional, shoppable weekend. Festival attendees will find artwork in all mediums and at all price points, as well as artist demonstrations, interactive art projects, and activities just for kids. Fest-goers can also relax in one of three Food, Live-Music, and Beer Oases.&nbsp;In addition, the 2019 Chicago Ale Fest – Summer Edition will join the Fair in Grant Park, on Saturday, June 1, with 200 craft beers, live music and some of Chicago’s favorite food trucks. Sunday’s Art Fair features a beer garden with craft beers available for purchase by the glass.&nbsp;Details: <a href="https://amdurproductions.com/event/gold-coast-art-fair-2019/">amdurproductions.com/event/gold-coast-art-fair-2019/</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417703/xjo1er1v61o0ax7tclce.jpg"></figure><h3>70th Old Town Art Fair</h3>When: June 8-9, 2019&nbsp;Where: Chicago. The heart of the Old Town Triangle Historic District. Main entrance gate is at Lincoln and Wisconsin.What: The Old Town Art Fair takes features 250 nationally acclaimed artists and welcomes approximately 30,000 art lovers. There will also be a Garden Walk, Live Music, Food Court and Children’s Corner.&nbsp;Gates open Saturday 10:00 am to 7:00 pm and Sunday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, rain or shine.Details: <a href="http://www.oldtownartfair.org">www.oldtownartfair.org</a><h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image" data-storehaus-transformation="{&quot;crop&quot;:{&quot;x&quot;:&quot;3.5257425742574044&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;w&quot;:&quot;457.4742574257427&quot;,&quot;h&quot;:&quot;299.7029702970297&quot;}}"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417704/xpzmmcied1tivl5smebk.jpg"></figure><h3>The Art Center Festival of Fine Arts</h3>When: June 22-23, 2019&nbsp;Where: downtown streets of Highland Park, IL&nbsp;What: The Art Center Festival of Fine Arts showcases the work of over 100 juried artists from around the world in a variety of mediums, including ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, painting, sculpture and more. In addition to the artwork available for purchase, attendees will be able to interact with artists through demonstrations and booth chats. Live music, kid-friendly activities, will be available for visitors to enjoy.Details: <a href="https://theartcenterhp.org/tac-festival-fine-art">theartcenterhp.org/tac-festival-fine-art</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417704/eabrl4q1hfstdhbxd6fy.gif"></figure><h3>Randolph Street Market</h3>When: June 29-30, 2019&nbsp;Where: West Loop, Chicago. 1350 Block of West RandolphWhat: Randolph Street Market Festival continues the Outdoor+Indoor Summer Season in June (and every month!). Experience 300 vendors with the best of unique vintage, antique &amp; repurposed furniture, art, decor, ephemera, vintage fashion for men/women, fancy foods, global goods and much, much more. Enjoy the market bars, cabana and shade shack for lounging and our live band line up each day to make for a fun day of shopping in the heart of the West Loop. Free West Loop/Fulton Market delivery area. Kids under 12 always FREEDetails: <a href="https://www.randolphstreetmarket.com">www.randolphstreetmarket.com</a><h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417706/oqcsuzcuhs29pilumbzz.jpg"></figure><h3>Midsummer Festival of the Arts</h3>When: July 20-21, 2019&nbsp;Where: Sheboygan, WI (on 56th, 57th and Kimbark Streets between Kenwood and Woodlawn Avenues (vicinity of William H. Ray Elementary School at 5631 S. Kimbark Chicago, IL 60637).What: Set amidst the gardens of the major innovative grassroots John Michael Kohler Art Center, this is the largest multi-arts event in East-Central Wisconsin. This family-friendly festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors who shop the 135 artists' booths and enjoy live music, art-making activities, free admission to the Arts Center, delicious local cuisine and food trucks, and more. In booths set up along the tree-lined streets, festival-goers can choose from an astounding variety of paintings, photographs, jewelry, sculpture, ceramics, art glass, fiber art.Details: <a href="https://www.jmkac.org">www.jmkac.org</a><h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417706/uaxbjwr6w9bbfpkz5ybh.png"></figure><h3>Art &amp; Chalk Fest 2019</h3>When: July 27-28, 2019&nbsp;Where: The Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, WI, northwest of Milwaukee&nbsp;What: This free, annual outdoor, fine arts festival features 65+ fine artists selling their work and 15+ chalk artists from across the nation creating ephemeral masterpieces before your eyes.Art activities for all ages are offered throughout the weekend along with live entertainment and music, food vendors, a beer garden, an art raffle, and free admission for the weekend to the Museum of Wisconsin Art.Details: <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org">www.57thstreetartfair.org</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Summer Art Fair Season Begins June 1

<html><head></head><body>In order to thrive, Chicago artists need an active local collecting community. A unique program – Not Just Another Pretty Face (NJAPF) – created to benefit the Hyde Park Art Center also supports artists, while showing collectors the surprising ways to make art part of your life. NJAPF allows the Art Center to play matchmaker for artists and potential art buyers, facilitating a fun, accessible commissioning process that builds lasting relationships between artists and patrons, creates a new base of support for artists, and invests in the vitality of Chicago’s cultural community.2019 marks the seventh installment of the program. A series of salons began early this year, and an exhibit unveiling the works will be presented in December, along with a catalog documenting the collaborations. We asked Linda and Mark Shapiro and artist Candida Alvarez, who worked together during the previous iteration of NJAPF, to share the story behind their artist–patron collaboration.&nbsp; – Ginny Van Alyea, CGN Publisher &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417517/vmbhwqchtjb0amw8u7li.gif"><figcaption>Candida Alvarez’s Dignity and Tranquility Last Forever hangs in the front room in Linda and Mark Shapiro’s home.</figcaption></figure>Hyde Park Art Center: Tell us about your experience with Not Just Another Pretty Face.Linda Shapiro: We were fortunate to work with Candida right before she had an amazing exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2017. I’ve always admired her as an artist, and it’s been fun to follow her work.Mark Shapiro: When she invited us to her studio, we had the chance to meet an old friend and neighbor in a different context and to see how an artist works.Candida Alvarez: The commission with Linda and Mark was special because I have known them for years. Their son was a school buddy with my son. I was so touched.HPAC: Describe the piece that resulted from your collaboration.LS: Candida was very responsive to us. She made a beautiful square painting. I really like squares, and she picked up on it.CA: I asked them to share photos and things that meant something to them as a family – a special collection of objects, travel and family photos, landscapes. Those images were my beginning point for the formal structure of the painting. The color was found through the photographs.LS: We sent her photos, mostly of family, with the theme “At Home in Hyde Park.” We have a son, who for years wore a red fleece to school. There’s a little red splotch in the corner that I’ve decided is Michael’s fleece.HPAC: Two years later, how do you reflect on the process?LS: The whole process was great – going to a salon, sitting and reviewing artists, visiting Candida’s studio, attending the unveiling, and now living with the art!CA: The entire process was fluid and surprising.LS: We’ve never commissioned a piece of art before, and it was fun. We’ll do it again next time! &nbsp;To get involved with Not Just Another Pretty Face please visit <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/njapf-2019/">hydeparkart.org</a> or contact Maria Nelson: mnelson@hydeparkart.org • 773-324-5520, ext. 1014Publisher's note: since this interview was published in the summer print edition of CGN, the full list of artists participating for 2019 has been released, including: Juan Angel Chavez, Kelli Connell, Antonia Contro, Chad Kouri, Laura Letinsky, Industry of the Ordinary, Jay Tichy, Mary Lou Zelazny, and many others.&nbsp;</body></html>

Collaborative Benefit: Hyde Park Art Center Plays Artistic Matchmaker

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417574/x83fdwm4xdju0mpxbspz.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEA&nbsp;If you've made it outside today, you may finally believe that summer is coming, and with it is the new season of art. This Friday night, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, new solo shows open around Chicago – in West Town and the West Loop – plus several in Evanston for the annual Evanston Made, as well as a handful in Wisconsin if you're looking for a weekend trip.&nbsp;A handful of local art fairs are also happening this weekend and next.&nbsp;The highlights are listed below, and our full calendar may be viewed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=openings">here</a>.&nbsp;Have a plastic glass of wine on us, and pick up a copy of the summer issue of CGN in galleries now.&nbsp;Happy (finally!) summer!&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>• Chicago Openings</h3>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417575/b7fixlnpzcpo3r7d1dsf.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Derrick Adams – The Ins and Outs: Figures in the Urban Landscape</h3>Opening: Friday, May 31, 2019 5–7:30&nbsp;pm (West Town)<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-ins-and-outs-new-figures-in-the-urban-landscape">Rhona Hoffman Gallery</a>The gallery’s third solo exhibition with Brooklyn-based artist Derrick Adams speaks to a legacy of perseverance in the Black community. Adams’ new paintings unfold the twists and turns, joys and struggles of navigating life in an urban context. A continuation of Adams’Deconstruction Worker series (2010–), the constructed portraits depict the everyday with a style drawn from Modernism and the idealized and exaggerated forms of traditional African sculpture, also taking inspiration from contemporary pop culture and vernacular scenes from the artist’s life. Rendered in a cubist style, the subjects are framed by abstracted city streets on which miniature model automobiles break free of the two-dimensional plane. The city grid speaks to the paradox of movement and progress—both individual and collective—within the confines of existing paths. Whether posed or caught in motion, the subjects are surrounded by an environment that adjusts to accommodate each individual. For Adams, the works suggest that “we are who we are because our presence is strong enough to also inform the spaces we occupy.” &nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417576/df1eihji9s84cvhrfzf4.gif"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Aerosol Kingdom</h3>Opening: Saturday, Jun 1, 2019 6 – 10&nbsp;pm (West Town)<a href="/organizations/chicago-truborn">Chicago Truborn</a>Internationally recognized muralist and animal enthusiast, Justin Suarez, returns to Chicago for his second solo show with Chicago Truborn. Aerosol Kingdom features 100 repurposed aerosol cans featuring extremely detailed hand cut stencil animal portraits. From birds of prey, to sea creatures, to the majestic beings of the African Sahara - animals of all shapes and sizes will be represented here. And, while the cans will be the main focus of the show, new hand painted canvas works available as well. The combination of stencil work and free handed brush painting has taken the level of detail in Justin's work far beyond what you’ve seen from him in the past. This show will range in size and price as to accommodate collectors of all levels.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417577/nnu6xevxbespfxdcklfg.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Zach Schrey: What's Up Doc</h3>Opening: Saturday, June 1, 2019 6–9&nbsp;pm (West Town)<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/zach-schrey-what-s-up-doc">Line Dot Editions</a>Zach Schrey is a Chicago-based artist and printmaker/co-owner of Pop!nk Editions. Rooted in contemporary urban culture, Schrey creates an alternate world of characters and designs that remind us of the everyday, yet have an instant presence because of their bold, clean aesthetic. Influenced by the ubiquitous imagery of cartoons, comics, and corporate logos/brands, Schrey’s work collectively pokes fun at these cultural icons, heightening our awareness of their superficiality and constant presence in our lives. His paintings and prints have been shown throughout the US and abroad.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417578/e1ukljgbecpyzg8zpavu.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Inka Essenhigh</h3>Opening: Saturday, June 1, 2019 4–6 pm (West Loop)<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/inka-essenhigh">Kavi Gupta Gallery</a>Inka Essenhigh (b. 1969, Pennsylvania, US) is&nbsp;renowned for her dreamlike paintings, which translate her encounters with, and intuitions about, contemporary society into haunting, playful, sometimes disturbing visual scenes. Essenhigh is part of a generation of artists that includes Rachel Feinstein, Lisa Yuskavage and Cecily Brown, that rose to prominence in 1990s New York as leaders in the contemporary return to figuration.Essenhigh employs a mix of automatism, imagination and “inner vision” to translate the visible world into arabesque enamel paintings that reveal the unseen worlds of energy, feeling, and mystery that lurk just beyond everyday life. The lush, mysterious images she creates arise from a diverse range of influences, including High Renaissance painting, 19th Century French cabaret, and the whimsy and instinct of childhood imagination.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417578/aaekkum8zafnpowchwz4.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>William Counter: Simple Spells</h3>Opening Friday, May 31, 2019 7–10&nbsp;pm (Bucktown)<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/william-counter">Firecat Projects</a>Firecat Projects presents Simple Spells, a one-person exhibition featuring the works of Kansas artist William Counter. Media theorist Dick Hebdige identifies an individual as a bricoleur when they ‘appropriate another range of commodities by placing them in a symbolic ensemble which serve to erase or subvert their original straight meanings.’ Simple Spells is a visual example of bricolage, where the artist has collected common objects – yardsticks and advertisement flyers – and utilized them to facilitate a vision based on ‘magical thinking’. This is Outsider art where the objects themselves are to be experienced through their talismanic value and numinous qualities.&nbsp;<h3>• Evanston Openings</h3>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417579/maw8zqjcsjxmr3zgrrhi.jpg"></figure><h3>Verna Todd: Consider the Lilies</h3>Opening&nbsp;Reception:&nbsp;Saturday, June 1, 5-7 pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/verna-todd-consider-the-lilies">Perspective Gallery</a>Choosing a lily as the subject for her series Consider the Lilies was tough for Verna Todd. She is forever on the artist’s quest to show people something they have never seen before. Something new. "A lily is just too common," she reasoned, "everyone has grown an amaryllis; or, at least seen boxes of them stacked in stores." Yet she relates that a crimson amaryllis given her by a friend insisted on being photographed. “Morning, noon and night, it shamed me for not getting out my camera.”&nbsp; Resentfully, she gave in. That’s when the lily took Todd to another place, a quiet place where she could simply enjoy its presence. She relates that her tussle with the amaryllis is like ones she encounters often – doing versus being.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417580/juctrdusedz89l2tv9ef.gif"></figure><h3>Evanston Made</h3>Opening&nbsp;Reception:&nbsp;Friday, June 31, 6-9 pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/evanston-made-2cd05646-9322-43f9-a442-1ca3a3bdcf02">Evanston Art Center</a>The Evanston Art Center will partner with Evanston Made, a month-long, annual celebration, in June, of the arts in Evanston designed to create opportunities for artists to engage with the community. The exhibition at EAC will feature works from local Evanston artists and celebrate the Evanston arts community. Throughout the month of June,&nbsp;studios, galleries, museums, workshops and businesses open their doors to showcase works (artistic, artisanal, etc.)&nbsp;and host events by Evanston creatives.Also happening at Evanston Art Center and produced by Anomaly Productions, a Pop-Up Gallery and Store at the art center is an "all-inclusive" event, located in the lobby May 31 - June 30.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417581/xlst8pu85o41dkg8jdk2.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Janice Wgciechowski: Serene Watercolor Collection, and Meet the Artists Event for Evanston Made</h3>Saturday June 1st, 12-5pm and 5-7pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/evanston-made-s-annual-artist-studio-tour">Ice House Gallery</a>Meet the Gallery's Resident Artists: Ann Andrews,&nbsp;Valerie Kahan,&nbsp;Meredith Kopelman,&nbsp;Laurie Kwo, &amp; Dana Phillips. The gallery is participating in Evanston Made’s Annual Artist Studio Tour, a self-guided tour of studios in Evanston, June 1, 2019 from 12-5pm and in the fall on October 19, 2019.Janice Wgciechowski is this month's featured artist and a reception for her new show, Serene Watercolor Collection, opens the same evening from 5-7pm.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417582/pktpmnrjcg8fsddpqfnw.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Passion and Process</h3>Friday, June 1, 2019 12–8&nbsp;pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/passion-and-process-space-900-core-member-exhibition">Space 900</a>Passion and Process, is an exhibition that showcases the unique processes and visions of Space 900's core members. Together, members will be creating a window installation that highlights artist's individual mediums and techniques, along with exhibiting &nbsp;art for Evanston Made. Show Participants:&nbsp;Todd Anderson, Ken Avick, Colleen Conley, Clark Ellithorpe, Judith Roston-Freilich, Jill King, Joanna Pinsky, Judy SolomonArtist Talk:&nbsp;11am, June 1, led by Joanna PinskyOpening, during Evanston Made:&nbsp;June 1st, 2019, 12 to 8pm&nbsp;<h3>• Wisconsin Openings</h3>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417582/tax7nusfvrq9oyrgiov1.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Among the Wonders of the Dells: Photography, Place, Tourism</h3>Opening: Saturday, Jun 1, 2019 2–5&nbsp;pm (West Bend, WI)<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/among-the-wonders-of-the-dells-photography-place-tourism">Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA)</a>Among the Wonders of the Dells explores the emergence and transformation of the Wisconsin Dells into what is today the single-most important tourist destination in Wisconsin. The exhibition and its 192-page catalog will include photographs by LeRoy Gates, the first photographer of the Dells, H.H. Bennett, the great nineteenth-century photographer touted as “the man who made the Wisconsin Dells famous,” Oliver Reese, John A. Trumble, who documented the Dells’ postwar tourist boom in the twentieth century, Dennis Darmek, and three contemporary Wisconsin photographers commissioned by MOWA to spend a year photographing the Dells from their unique perspectives.&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417583/hqsx300fje4tlwim5i8o.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Leila Knapp: Juxtaposition</h3>Opening: Saturday, Jun 1, 2019 4:30 – 7:30&nbsp;pm (Mineral Point, WI)<a href="/organizations/sugar-row-gallery">Sugar Row Gallery</a>Images of Leila Knapp's work will be placed side by side for artistic consideration.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417584/ugw6bunag3ck62jajzax.jpg"></figure><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Sandra Peterson, New Work</h3>Opening: Saturday, Jun 1, 2019 5-8pm (Mineral Point, WI)<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/sandra-peterson-new-work">Wantoot</a>New work will be on view by this artist who applies distinct, large brush strokes to her canvas. The gallery is a neighbor of Sugar Row, which is also having an opening the same evening. Both spaces are located in the idyllic artist colony of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, just north of Galena and southwest of Madison. Wantoot Gallery is the showroom of wantoot.com, which features a highly curated group of American modern fine art and fine craft from many nationally-recognized artists.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Early Summer Shows Offer Art in Chicago, Evanston and Wisconsin

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418039/ctrqml6fnzvcqendmh7c.gif"><figcaption>Haley Scott, AKA @sugarmilkk</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By SARAH ADLERLee Godie sold her work on the steps of the Art Institute.A self–taught artist, she insisted her work was better than Cezanne’s. But, it was the late ‘60s, decades before the advent of the Internet, and nearly half a century before Instagram would commandeer the public conscience. In terms of self-promotion, well, the steps of the Art Institute would have to do.Although the internet has revolutionized everything – how we connect with one another, how we look at art, even how we create art, a simple fact remains the same: artists who are starting out, and those without traditional gallery representation, must be their own best advocate. Independent artists are tasked with a critical step after making their work: how to effectively share their art with a wide and engaged audience. Self–promotion can now be created and distributed, for the most part, digitially, originating entirely from the privacy of home or the studio, rather than out on the steps of a major institution. And many of the digital channels available are also, in large part, free.I spoke with two artists without gallery representation on how they self-promote, and in particular, how they use the omnipresent social media application Instagram to do so. I also looked at greater trends in how artists feel about the controversial platform: does its universality and the algorithm of instant gratification ultimately undermine the art, even while bolstering the reach of one’s portfolio? I also wondered, what happens to galleries in the midst of all these great changes?•Haley Scott is a Chicago-based photographer who, on Instagram, goes by the sweetly enticing handle, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sugarmilkk/?hl=en">@sugarmilkk</a>. With more than 6,700 followers, a bio that proudly claims, “DETROIT MADE * CHICAGO BASED,” punctuated by the link to her professional website, Scott’s feed is a melange of photos united by rich hues as well as a sense of something intimate: there are close-up action shots of limber basketball players contorted into yoga-like positions, friends posing in moody lighting, and selfies of the artist herself modeling her own heavily tattooed arms. In many ways, Scott’s Instagram serves as both an ode to her work as well a window into her own identity.“I know for a fact that whatever my brain is twisted up in makes me see colors differently,” she says, speaking of both her work as well as her personal Instagram. Last summer, a swath of luscious pinks and purples dominated her images; by December she favored rich blues and darker tones.This kind of casual, light relationship to Instagram&nbsp;seems to be the exception amongst many artists today, at least according to several popular articles. <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zn8ezy/how-instagram-is-changing-the-art-world">A 2016 piece in Vice</a>&nbsp;by the artist Brad Phillips claimed nearly the exact opposite with its doomsday title, “How Instagram is changing the art world” and subheader, “The app has made me more successful than ever, but at the expense of my own art.”Written in the tone of an artist who is self-consciously biting the hand that has (literally) fed him luxurious six-course meals, Phillips acknowledges the ways in which his own presence on Instagram&nbsp;has dramatically boosted his art practice. Amongst his professional entrees, solo gallery shows and a book deal. His long list of drawbacks, however, underscores a kind of insidious aspect of the social media platform: that it sets up a system of instant gratification, it deletes any merit of privacy or creating work for oneself, and it can arbitrarily choose content to censor (if it transgresses vague community guidelines). In many ways, his criticisms aren’t too different from that of a regular (read: non-artist) user of the application.“The app has been both an amazing and horrible tool for me, as well as other artists,” Phillips proclaims.His frustration at the outwardly capricious nature of Instagram’s algorithms is mirrored by Hailey Losselyong, another Chicago-based artist who goes under the handle <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hai_ey/?hl=en">@hai_ey</a>. Referencing the coveted ability to post active links in one’s Instagram ‘Story’ – a feature that, oddly, is only available to some, seemingly due to a high number of followers or some other account verification (another process with secret guidelines) – Losselyong says, “I think it’s strange that not everyone has access to all the app’s features.”<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418040/iojutaegi7evkbf5g5uq.png"></figure>&nbsp;Despite her grievances with Instagram’s selectiveness, Losselyong warns that it is easy to hate on Instagram, when, in fact, it is also an incredible marketing tool, especially for artists who aren’t represented by galleries, or who do not employ or have access to a public relations team. Instagram, which is projected to surpass 111 million users&nbsp;in 2019, can serve as a very effective form of advertising. “It’s kind of a place to do a less refined version of a portfolio,” she says.Like Scott, Losselyong does not shy away from the selfie. Her intricate, stylized drawings, characterized by fluid and looping lines, are followed up by equally glamorous images of the artist posing, making her feed a kind of ode to not just the art but the life of an artist: subversive, creative, edgy. In one image she sports a head of bleached white-blue and purple hair, using only a blue emoji as the caption. It isn’t a historically typical artist’s portfolio.The effect of Instagram on art spreads beyond the individual artist. When it comes to galleries, Instagram has also introduced radical change. A <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/emerging-art-dealers-dealing-gallery-crisis-asked-dozen-nada-1414870">2018 Artnet.com article</a>&nbsp;by Julia Halperin and Tim Schneider describes the phenomenon as an “Instagram takeover.” Gallerists acknowledge that they have discovered artists and evaluated images of art by using the app. Some also claim collectors pay more attention to a gallery’s Instagram posts than their email blasts (which, it’s worth noting, mostly replaced mailed announcements). Halperin and Schneider write, “By providing an unmediated, simple, and ever-present line of communication with collectors, Instagram has allowed the gallery to propel conversations begun with collectors at fairs into finalized sales back at the gallery at a later date…”Like other social media tools, Instagram offers for galleries –&nbsp;which, are in simple terms, small businesses –&nbsp; access to free marketing and publicity. While algorithms may interfere with this in ways that wouldn’t happen in a magazine, per se, much can be said about the fact that not only is the content free, but it’s accessible to everyone. Instagram can ideally be a space to expose contemporary art to anyone who wants to engage with it, regardless of their ability to visit museums or frequent galleries.Instagram, therefore, remains in a kind of polarized space. In many ways, the continual pressure the platform fosters – to create work and then promote perfect images of it – both helps and hurts artists. This modern means of sharing, beyond the steps of a museum, can also create great anxiety while pursuing independence, encouraging a singular quest for likes. According to Scott though, sharing her art on social media doesn’t change the fact that she has never done her work for anyone else. “It’s just the Aquarius rebel in me.”<a href="https://www.instagram.com/chigallerynews/">@ChiGalleryNews</a> follows many artists and galleries. Below are a few that have notable followings and frequently high post likes.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418041/fiscikszk8hqatlavkpr.gif"><figcaption>From left: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/verticalgallery/?hl=en">@verticalgallery</a> – post likes: 755 • 33.9K followers; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/huntslonem/?hl=en">@huntslonem</a> – post likes: 1,183 • 107K followers; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sarahraskeyfineart/">@sarahraskeyfineart</a> – post likes: 466 • 29.9K followers; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yvettemayorga/?hl=en">@yvettemayorga</a> – post likes: 358 • 4,434K followers &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

#INSTAArt: Instagram's Independent Art Connections

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417563/isqrm1gy4fjpynwira7m.jpg"></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAAs of Monday, May 20 Chicago has a new mayor, in case you haven't heard. Lori Lightfoot was sworn in yesterday as the 56th mayor of Chicago, becoming the first African American woman and the first openly LGBTQ person to hold the office. We also heard that her physical office is now home to some personally chosen works of art, including a last-minute loan from the <a href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/">Smart Museum of Art</a>&nbsp;at the University of Chicago, as reported by <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/amanda-williams-lori-lightfoot-mayors-office-1552828">artnet.com</a>A&nbsp;work by Amanda Williams, commissioned by the Smart Museum, that was part of the just closed <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/solidary-solitary-the-joyner-giuffrida-collection">Solidary &amp; Solitary: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection</a>, drew Lightfoot's notice. A call was made, and the the piece was delivered to the newest chief occupant of City Hall.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417564/baozlcdrng0eapnzlvrw.jpg"><figcaption>Amanda Williams. Photo by Jean Lachat, courtesy of the Smart Museum of Art. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Beyond what's on her walls, it's worth noting that Lightfoot was the only one of the 14 mayoral candidates this year who made support for the arts officially part of her platform. Now that Lightfoot is in office, the mayor has shared a list of 31 people who are part of just her <a href="https://bettertogetherchicago.com/transition-team/">Arts and Culture committee</a> – from artists like Theaster Gates and Amanda Williams, to nonprofit arts leaders like Esther Grimm (3Arts), Hector Duarte (Chicago Public Art Group) and Nick Cave (SAIC).&nbsp;Lightfoot benefits on day one (and two) from the fact that everything is ahead of her, and nothing has yet gone wrong, as it surely will in a city of Chicago's size and with a city like Chicago's problems and obstacles. For now, we look to her proposed road map, where she emphasizes, "Real transformation will occur only when Chicagoans believe that their government works for them and their communities, responding to their needs and concerns."&nbsp;It's clear the mayor's office hopes to foster change by using the arts as a prime vehicle for localized as well as general progress in Chicago. In a time where funds are not only scarce but already overextended elsewhere, the transition team's statement about Arts and Culture says, "Artistic power is fundamental to reimagining the creative, innovative, and cultural roots of good governance. The new administration can demonstrate transparency and accountability by dedicating funding up front to arts and culture that is competitive with other global cities, in a clear and open manner, while addressing regulations that unfairly impact certain artist and particular neighborhoods. Our youth should be empowered and emboldened to light the way forward."There is no doubt that, well-funded or not, one of the biggest tourist draws in Chicago is our vibrant cultural scene that includes not only public art but also theater, music, performing arts, and more. The arts are serious job and business generators. In a state with a threadbare economy, our arts are valuable assets that benefit many individuals as well as groups.&nbsp;Some recent figures from the <a href="http://www.artsalliance.org/advocacy/resources/talking-points#2">Illinois Arts Alliance</a>:<ul><li>In Illinois, there are nearly 34,000 creative enterprises -- both nonprofit and commercial -- that employ over 140,000 people. These enterprises are essential to the state's economy: they put people to work, buy from local businesses, generate government revenue, and are a cornerstone of tourism and economic development.</li><li>In Chicago, the nonprofit arts alone are a $2.2 billion industry that supports over 60,000 full-time-equivalent jobs, generates a total of $1.3 billion in household income to local residents, and delivers more than $200 million in local and state government revenue.</li><li>The arts attract tourists to Illinois. There are over 100 million Americans who include the arts along with historic sites, cultural events, and ethnic festivals in their trips each year.</li><li>In Chicago, cultural tourists tend to stay longer and spend two-and-a-half times more money in relation to arts and cultural events than Chicago residents.</li><li>The arts are a magnet for talent and investments. They attract companies that want to offer their employees and clients a creative climate and a vibrant, livable community.</li></ul>So while Mayor Lightfoot has an uphill battle ahead of her, with many more critical topics and fields other than the arts, it's encouraging that her office is officially recognizing the role the arts can play in a healthy economy as well as in vibrant neighborhoods far from downtown. The arts can help the mayor reach, and lift up, the residents in all 77+ Chicago neighborhoods. &nbsp;&nbsp;Earlier this year when the first part of the election was underway, candidate Lightfoot joined with a group of local artists at City Hall and announced a <a href="https://lightfootforchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/LL-Position-paper_ArtCulture.pdf">policy</a> to advance arts and culture in Chicago.&nbsp;Her policy proclaimed, "The arts are powerful. Now more than ever, it is essential that we lift up and invest in our unparalleled Chicago artists. A robust Chicago arts community inspires us, engages us, questions the status quo and has the power to bring our diverse city together in conversation around the critical challenges of our day..."Lightfoot’s plan to advance arts and culture includes the following:<ul><li>Prioritize funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events for increased equitable grantmaking and microfinancing to individual artists, arts organizations and arts corridors.</li><li>Audit and streamline city licensing and permitting regulations, including the Public Performance and Amusement license.</li><li>Develop an Artist-in-Residence program to build job opportunities for artists and mentorship opportunities for young people.</li><li>Bring together ideas and resources from the city, philanthropy, culture and the arts to develop policies and strategies to keep artists living and working in Chicago.</li><li>Build investment in Chicago’s public art program by overhauling the Percent for Art ordinance.</li><li>Enhance the voices of socially-active artists to encourage civic engagement and support developing creative conversations and solutions to our city’s biggest challenges.</li></ul>The arts must be supported and fostered, and they also must be promoted so that more people who live here are aware of what they contribute.&nbsp;In 1986 Mayor Harold Washington's administration developed the original Cultural Plan for Chicago, and it was borne out of a two-year, citywide effort to analyze the City's cultural needs and opportunities and to act on them. Mayor Washington died in office the following year.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417565/z8qufefgykufhpzyqxt5.jpg"><figcaption>Mayor Harold Washington, whose administration created the original Cultural Plan for Chicago.</figcaption></figure>The City of Chicago and cultural community members came together in 1995 to revise the plan. And Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration again revisited the plan in 2012 after he first arrived in office, launching the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012. The Year of Public Art in 2017 was also spearheaded by the Department Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and Commissioner Mark Kelly, followed by the year of Creative Youth in 2018.&nbsp;The arts have not been neglected in the past, but for those who actively rely on and are connected to the current cultural community in Chicago, there is always much at stake with a new mayor in office and many have applauded Mayor Lightfoot's regular and public statements on behalf of the arts.&nbsp;When asked about the significance of loaning the work by Amanda Williams to the Mayor for her office on the day of her inauguration, Smart Museum of Art Director Allison Gass told artnet.com, “Chicago is a city full of hope about shifting histories and moving toward equity, and the fact that the new mayor wanted a work of art about that says a lot,” Gass added. “We believe in the power of art to help shift perspectives, and hopefully the map in the office will help do that.”<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417566/lva4go7idyk0usbmzfsh.png"><figcaption>Additional works by area artists have already made it onto the walls in City Hall. Artist Dan Devening shared, via Instagram @devening_projects, that his work (shown behind Lightfoot's head), Negative, from 1989, is installed, along with works by Tony Fitzpatrick, Dawoud Bey, David Klamen, and others.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;As stated in Lightfoot's ambitiously worded arts policy from February 2019, "Arts and culture are as essential as clean air and water. They sustain us, create joy, unleash our radical imaginations, and challenge us to see the world in new and better ways. They unite us while recognizing differences and defining our common humanity."&nbsp;What happens next will be key.&nbsp;</body></html>

A New Mayor's Welcome Embrace of the Arts in Chicago

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417520/uix5vltyjdipmgs8qmoz.gif"><figcaption>Lee and vicki caught the art bug in the 1980s when they needed something to go above their sofa. Today they have art over every piece of furniture and on every wall, including works by Roger Brown, Ed Paschke, Andy Warhol, Hollis Sigler, Morgan Blair and Cindy Sherman</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAOne late February morning I found myself driving to a sleepy part of Chicago and realized how much it would be transformed soon, once baseball season started in a few weeks. I was on my way to visit collectors Lee Wesley and Vicki Granacki, where the classic graystone exterior of the couple’s Wrigleyville home similarly revealed no hint as to the creative energy that I would soon discover inside.I’d never met Vicki or Lee, but as soon as they welcomed me in, they seemed somehow familiar. Their home is first and foremost a place to live – as comfortable for the couple as well as the volume of art it contains. The antithesis of a stark white or glass cube, all angles and sharp edges, it’s distinctly old Chicago, framed inside by warm wood trim, lots of doorways and natural light. That this historic residence houses so much locally significant contemporary art makes perfect sense when I learn that Vicki runs a Chicago-based historic preservation firm, Granacki Historic Consultants, and she serves on the Emeritus Board of Landmarks Illinois and the Board of Directors of the Polish Museum of America. Lee is President of the Dr. Newton K. Wesley foundation Fund, continuing the legacy of his father’s pioneering work in contact lenses.A minute after passing through the front door and taking off my coat, I was sitting on the sofa, which is essentially where the couple’s art collecting journey began.&nbsp;It all started in the 1980s in a practical way, when the couple needed something to hang over their couch, which happened to be pink and velvet brocade. The pair had bought this distinctive piece of furniture in London at Harrod’s, the famous department store, and they had it shipped home to Chicago after their honeymoon.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417521/nk6hdrcyl2ctgoiekdvp.gif"><figcaption>Vicki still has a photo of the sofa that launched an art collection, pictured here with the couple's first purchase: Gladys Nilsson's Duplicate and Triplicate.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Vicki and Lee had long been interested in the Hairy Who –&nbsp; an artistic group formed in Chicago in the 1960s by graduates of the School of the Art Institute. Vicki says, “When our son was just over a year old we started hanging out in Chicago’s River North galleries on Saturday mornings. Our first purchase, in 1981 from Phyllis Kind Gallery, was a pinkish pastel watercolor, Duplicate and Triplicate by Gladys Nilsson, a member of the Hairy Who, whose mice-like figures could hold their own against our flowered suite.”More than 38 years and over 125 works of art later they’ve had plenty of time to carefully build a significant collection that includes other Hairy Who members and associates, such as Ray Yoshida, Don Baum, Jim Nutt, Karl Wirsum, and Suellen Rocca. In addition, the collection includes pieces by Imagists such as Ed Paschke and Roger Brown, and Monster Roster member Seymour Rosofsky, not to mention dozens of other contemporary figurative artists – Phyllis Bramson, Joanne Carson, Robert Lostutter, Jim Lutes, and Hollis Sigler – who followed in their creative footsteps. To wander through Vicki and Lee’s home is to understand that their pursuit of art is serious and unending. Together they each have an eye for what may stand the test of time and trends.Vicki’s childhood was filled with art, in part because her father was a commercial as well as amateur artist – many of his personal watercolor landscapes are hung throughout the house. Similarly, Lee was inspired by his father, whose creativity saved himself from blindness when he invented the first commercially successful contact lens. Lee’s own research team extended that tradition with development of the soft lens. Once Vicki and Lee became parents, they worked to make art a part of their children’s lives through hands-on art projects for each developmental stage, until adulthood. Among the many works of art hung on the walls of their home, several by their son and daughter fit in nicely alongside pieces by famous artists.•<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417522/dqrgo3hmzzwslthiw3lw.gif"><figcaption>An eclectic mixture of two and three dimensional work from a range of periods is placed throughout Vicki and Lee’s main living areas. Featured here: &nbsp;two works by Phyllis Bramson: A Gender Bending Melodrama,&nbsp;(above the piano) and Lovemaking at the End of Springtime (female) (on pedestal), Yinka Shonibare’s Toy Painting 10, 2003 (above center), and Joanne Carson’s The Rope Trick Serenade (above sofa)</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;It’s not uncommmon for collectors, who may have been actively buying art for decades, to reach a natural stopping point. Vicki and Lee are not at that juncture. When we met just before March, they were preparing to head to New York to attend the spring art fairs, as they have for years. An important part of collecting for them is to continue to discover and support living artists.Lee shared a story of when they were last at The Art Show in 2017, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) at the Park Avenue Armory. It was there that they encountered the powerful works of artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn, who happened to grow up in Chicago and was exhibiting with David Nolan Gallery. When the couple met the artist in the booth, they hit it off. As Lee remembers, “We just enjoyed being around him. And he has an incredible story to tell.” Lee recalled a backstory about Quinn, that after his mother Mary had died, he returned home from boarding school to the public housing apartment in Chicago where his family lived and found it empty. They had moved out while he was gone.According to Lee, “We didn’t buy a work in New York, but later we visited Rhona Hoffman Gallery here [in Chicago] for a show of Quinn’s work and when we walked in and saw each other, it was like we were old friends. When we told him we had not been able to get a work of his yet, he said he wanted us to have a cherished portrait of his mother that was hanging in the gallery.”Quinn’s narrative-driven portraits occupy a unique place on the art history timeline of Vicki and Lee’s collection, but they are also representative of the pair’s focus on contemporary figurative work that is rooted in Chicago’s artistic tradition.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417523/nx7amemy4mvymh6fdtbk.gif"><figcaption>Figurative paintings dominate Vicki and Lee’s collection. Highlights, often prime examples from an artist, span styles and decades and often reference art history. Pictured from left to right: Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Bring Yo Big Teeth Ass Here!, 2017; Jim Lutes, Dr. E. Victor (detail), 1989; Fabrizio Arrieta, 1947 (detail), 2018</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The abundance of faces and figures throughout the couple’s home imbues each room with an energy that seems to come from not only on but also within the walls. Even in quiet moments, instead of solitude, it feels like action is happening somewhere; the collective energy made evident through color, complex narratives and examinations inspires a kind of continuous search for artistic themes and messages.Explains Vicki, “Although our Chicago collection is the strongest and most coherent, we’ve taken side trips into realism and pop art. Besides painting and drawing, there are sculptures and photography in the mix. But above all the theme remains figuration, from the real and recognizable to the stylized, illustrative, and even truly weird.”Lee adds that figurative art speaks volumes about that inspired spark found both in technology and art where human beings continually reinvent themselves.&nbsp;•Vicki and Lee frequent galleries, but as they strive to add to their collection they enjoy the hunt for rarer pieces, which are sometimes acquired at auction. The couple has maintained their interest in the Hairy Who ever since they first began buying art, but renewed interest nationally, most notably when the Art Institute of Chicago hosted an exhibition of the Hairy Who’s work in 2018, means increased competition for anything related to shows that took place during the 1960s. Yet sitting on a glass coffee table in the living room, next to a Don Baum house with a cutting board for a foundation, are the newest additions to the couple’s collection, won just last year at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers: a pair of comic books, and a flyer, published to accompany the first Hairy Who exhibitions held between 1966 and 1968, illustrated and autographed by member artist Karl Wirsum. There is also a cloth covered catalog, Who Chicago? An exhibition of contemporary Imagists, published in 1980 and packaged with an etching by Jim Nutt.Looking at this table filled with precious, temptingly touchable pieces of history and works of art, I asked if they had brought these objects out for me, or if they’re regularly so accessible. Vicki says, referring to their young grandchildren, who live locally and come over often, “We leave these out and encourage our grandchildren to touch the art. These are things they enjoy.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417525/a1lpiosfots6rohhpbcw.gif"><figcaption>Art in Vicki and Lee’s home is not off limits to anyone, even their grandchildren. Shown here: Hairy Who comic books signed by Karl Wirsum, one of Don Baum’s constructed houses, Kiki van Patton, 1988, and Keith Haring dominos and playing cards.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Despite having actively collected for so long Vicki and Lee have kept their passion mostly to themselves. Their daughter, Monica, married a man also passionate about art, and he has encouraged them to enjoy their collection through sharing it. The most significant step so far towards celebrating the assembling of these 125 plus works may is a private project to catalog each piece, noting relevant details on each work – artist, title, date, dimensions, acquisiton and so on – as well as artistic groupings. The resulting booklet, which continues to be updated and is sometimes brought along to art fairs and galleries, provides a tidy, personal summary of the works that comprise this unique collection.Before I ended my morning on the Northside, Vicki took me into one last room upstairs in their home, where, tucked away were items not officially part of the couple’s collection: watercolors, maps, and journals created by Vicki’s father, Leon Granacki, during his four years spent serving in the US Army 132nd Infantry Regiment in the South Pacific during WWII, from 1941–1945. Explains Vicki, “He rose from private to Master Sergeant, and while attached to the G-2 Intelligence Section, prepared original maps and target photos used by both ground and air troops.” Today she’s using her professional experience in historic preservation to capture and save what’s so beautiful and important about her father’s work. She says, “His small but historic contribution was to a cause larger than himself.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417526/mdsnot3sio3p7y2dxyhs.gif"><figcaption>One of the maps created by Vicki's father Leon Granacki while serving in the US Army in WWII</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;This effort, along with Lee’s work finding a home for his father’s collection of artifacts tracing the innovative history of contact lenses, also informs how they think about their art collection. Though Vicki and Lee have spent decades learning about, acquiring and living with art, ultimately they believe that they are just caretakers.&nbsp;“I’ve always thought especially about being a steward of the historic buildings that we live, work, and worship in," says Vicki. "They were built by our ancestors, and if we care for them kindly and properly, will be enjoyed by our descendants. That’s what my career in historic preservation was about. As part of our work we were always doing research – looking for maps, plans, sketches, photos and journals that identified who came before us and what they created. We would be so excited to find records kept by ordinary people of the world around them. I have this idea that someday someone else may be looking for something that I’ve taken care to collect and put in a public archive or museum and they will be just as excited to find my treasure.”&nbsp;Additional images from the collection:&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417527/axr3ehwzr3kejnna9810.gif"><figcaption>Watercolors by Leon Granacki</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417528/iorl1sywrhttanszv5vu.gif"><figcaption>Keys rest next to Outsider artist Mr Imagination's Siamese Head Portrait, Michael Nakoneczny's Untitled (baseball), and a Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417529/ssdwgik7e6bxdbhyq1wx.gif"><figcaption>Pepe Mar's Envy Headed, Mixed media collage sculpture in acrylic box; and Alison Zuckerman's Palatial Respite, 2018</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417530/btko5mogguyrmfqq3bp0.gif"><figcaption>Shown here, starting from the upper left by the door frame: &nbsp;Tony Oursler, Robert Lostutter; first row to right of door, descending: Joel Peter Witkin, Martha Mayer Erlebacher, Seymour Rosofsky; second row, descending: Michael Nakoneczny, Ed Paschke, and Andy Warhol.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Stewards of Art and History: The Expansive Collection of Lee Wesley and Vicki Granacki

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417518/tmm8qn23sgvpnctsmm81.jpg"><figcaption>Weather Station by the Chicago-based artist team Iñigo Manglano Ovalle and Bill Baker City of Chicago &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>By CGN STAFF via CITY of CHICAGO DCASE PROn Monday outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the completion of the city's 1.25-mile Chicago Riverwalk when he led a celebration to open the newest section of the walk, the Chicago Riverwalk East (the Section Between Michigan Ave. to Lake Shore Drive), featuring a new landscape, seating, vendor spaces, a community market place, and of course, public art.Together with city officials, Riverwalk architects, site designers, artists, vendors and other local partners the Mayor celebrated the opening of what may be his signature contribution to the city, the newly transformed Chicago Riverwalk. This completion of this final portion of the Riverwalk, which cost $12 million, means that every block of this award-winning 1.25-mile promenade and recreational amenity has been modernized or developed for the first time.&nbsp;“Chicago is reconnecting with the River in a way that improves our quality of life, protects ourenvironment and enhances economic development that is sustainable for future generations,” said Mayor Emanuel. “The completion of Riverwalk East is a major milestone in that journey. We are finally fulfilling Daniel Burnham’s original vision of Chicago as a true two-waterfrontcity.”In August 2018, Mayor Emanuel announced plans to improve older sections of the east end of the Riverwalk from Michigan Avenue to Lake Shore Drive, building upon the success of the Riverwalk and creating even more opportunities for residents and visitors to interact with and enjoy the Chicago River.The design team, led by Mueller and Mueller, worked with the landscape architecture firm of Site Design Group to substantially complete this reimagination of Riverwalk East. This design emphasizes the transition from a park-like environment on the east end near Lake Shore Drive to the urban civic space of Michigan Avenue and creates areas of public seating surrounded bylandscaping. The new Riverwalk East space includes: 10,000 square feet of “play” space; 94new LED dark sky compliant light fixtures; three public restrooms; approximately 150 new tree plantings from 35 different species to increase the diversity of the urban tree canopy, and 20 types of furnishings from the Riverwalk palette increasing public seating by over 500 along the Riverwalk.“I have been designing public spaces in the City of Chicago for the past twenty-five years," said Ernie Wong of Site Design Group. "It is an honor to have worked with Muller 2 and the Department of Fleet and Facility Management on the site improvements for Riverwalk East! The design intent was to take a largely urban hardscape on the west end and transiting to a natural and lush landscaped corridor. The project adds valuable open space, better pedestrian access to the river and seating to view the natural asset in the heart of downtown Chicago.”In line with the Mayor’s goal of bringing more public art to the Riverwalk and throughout thecity, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and the Department of Fleet and Facility Management (2FM) led a Riverwalk East Gateway Project committee to select a new work of art that will create an iconic visual marker for the south bank of the Chicago River just east of Michigan Avenue. The committee selected Weather Station by the Chicago-based artist team Iñigo Manglano Ovalle and Bill Baker. Manglano-Ovalle is a renowned conceptual and visual artist working across media to create large-scale installations and architectural interventions, and Baker is a structural engineering partner at Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill (SOM), whose innovative structural engineering design and research have been vitalin realizing some of the world’s most recognizable structures.Scheduled for completion in fall of 2020, Weather Station comprises an array of seven slender, stainless steel towers of varying heights – each culminating in a wind vane and anemometer –collectively rising from the river bank to a height of 117 feet.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417518/uz5be6yhfmmrvizscvvs.jpg"><figcaption>A rendering of Weather Station. City of Chicago</figcaption></figure>“The Chicago Riverwalk has become an escape from the everyday with one-of-a-kind visual art projections at Art on theMart and new works of public art that enhance what is truly amagnificent urban space,” said DCASE Commissioner Mark Kelly. “Once complete, Weather Station will become an iconic public art landmark rising from the banks of the Chicago River with its animated stainless steel towers."Additionally, a submarine memorial designed and funded by a group of Navy volunteers is another new addition to Riverwalk East, and will be dedicated on Saturday, May 18. The memorial commemorates the 28 submarines manufactured in Wisconsin that used the Chicago River to connect through various waterways to the Gulf of Mexico and on to the war efforts after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.As part of additional investments in the Riverwalk, Mayor Emanuel, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and 2FM developed the Riverwalk Community Marketplace between Michigan and Wabash Avenues, a new concessions programto highlight existing vendors in the City’s culturally diverse communities. Construction on themarketplace began in the fall of 2018. This investment includes the expansion of the existing path to create a corridor for the placement of kiosks. Following a 2FM public solicitation to identify marketplace vendors that encouraged minority and women-owned vendors to apply, the new Community Marketplace will open in June and will feature nine new vendors.Additionally, five panel installations by artist Ebony G. Patterson were unveiled and will sit above the Chicago First Lady ticket booths. Patterson, represented locally by Monique Meloche Gallery, is known for colorful, large-scale, multimedia murals created out of everyday, tactile materials.&nbsp;The gauzy installations by sculptor Robert Burnier, featuring site responsive tent-like geometric structures of steel, nylon, hardware, streamers, are also still on view on the west end banks of the River.&nbsp;It's worth noting that Mayor Emanuel leaves office in just a few days, on May 20.&nbsp;In a May 2 interview with the <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-ae-mayor-emanuel-chicago-arts-jones-0505-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a>, when asked why he placed so much importance on arts and culture while in office – and according to the reporter, perhaps too much – Emanuel responded,&nbsp;"It was always more than programming for me. It was about policy. The arts and culture imbued everything we did. They influenced our educational policy. They changed the CTA — there is not a new transit station now that does not have art. The arts have been an outlook, a philosophy and an approach. That is what our cultural plan was about — seeping the arts into everything the city did. Culture is the soul of this city."The Chicago Sun-Times also <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/emanuel-strengthens-his-case-to-have-the-riverwalk-named-after-him/">reported</a> this week, "Mayor Rahm Emanuel has privately told associates that, if anything in Chicago is ever named after him, he would love it to be the Riverwalk, the embodiment of his vision to create a “second waterfront.”More information may be found at <a href="https://www.chicagoriverwalk.us">chicagoriverwalk.us</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Mission Accomplished: Mayor Announces Completion of Chicago Riverwalk 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417542/od7btljp33rrbtqgwmio.jpg"><figcaption>Designer Ruthie Sommers created an entrance vignette to the 2018 CAADS that brought the art of nature inside the Merchandise Mart&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEABeginning this Thursday evening the seventh floor of the Merchandise Mart will offer an abundance of fine antiques and art from many of the world's top dealers, when the third edition of the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show kicks off.&nbsp;Chicago is attracting the global spotlight lately, in particular for being home to the best of what's new and contemporary in art, food, architecture and design. This weekend&nbsp;offers the chance to also view and appreciate antiques that are once again new and to consider the many ways that they can inform much of what we admire in current visual trends and practices.&nbsp;It was not long ago that Chicago was without a major antiques&nbsp;show on its cultural calendar,&nbsp;and since Dolphin Productions launched the fair in 2017 it has continued to mature and give Chicagoans a chance to once again host a splashy international gathering that features treasured art and antiques from the past alongside newer modern pieces that attract a younger, style savvy audience.&nbsp;Running through Sunday&nbsp;the show highlights fine antiques and artworks reflecting a variety of design periods from more&nbsp;than 75 national and international exhibitors. The show, the only one of its kind in the city all year, is not to be missed, largely because of the opportunities to learn and appreciate treasures that are not often on view but also for the chance to be among so much history as well as beauty.&nbsp;Proceeds from ticket purchases and sponsorship of Thursday's <a href="https://wbnorthwestern.org/event/artshow/">Opening Night Party</a> benefit programs and patient care initiatives supported by The Woman’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital – including the Board’s most recent major commitment to fund the study of collaborative mental health care in Northwestern’s primary care clinics in Chicago and help improve access to mental health care in the community. The Woman's Board hosted the revamped opening night last year, bringing a committed, stylish crowd to the fair. This year tickets for the Opening Night Party are $250 with 5 pm VIP entry ($275 at the door) and $200 with 6 pm entry ($225 at the door).&nbsp;&nbsp;VIP Tickets also include a Cocktail Reception and Designer Lecture with <a href="https://amandalindroth.com/">Amanda Lindroth</a> and <a href="http://www.fernandowongold.com/">Fernando Wong</a> along with the opportunity to shop the show before it opens at 6 pm. Lindroth is known for a style that evokes 1960's and 70's Palm Beach. Wong is lauded in interior/outdoor and landscape design circles. He recently created an Art Basel Showhouse for Elle Decor. Both designers are contributing their vision for the opening night party and will be featured as part of the Designer Lecture.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417542/eosd7tky5tapvbf9zj4p.jpg"><figcaption>Fernando Wong's Elle Decor Art Basel Showhouse combines design with fine art</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417544/e29ufb1m5ybherf70w6j.jpg"><figcaption>Designer Amanda Lindroth is Florida, everywhere</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The weekend offers plenty of design education programming on Friday, May 17 as well:• Hidden in Plain View: Chicago’s WPA Poster Designers11:00 am, taking place in the Pella Showroom on the Mart’s First Floor, Suite 100Featuring Neil Harris, Preston &amp; Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus of History and Art History, University of Chicago; contributing author, Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America (Chicago Art Deco Society, 2018)• Farnsworth House Revitalized: A New Look at the Mies Masterpiece12:30 pm, Scott Mehaffey, Executive Director, Farnsworth HousePrograms hosted by Pella Crafted Luxury, and organized by Zurich Esposito, AIA Chicago.&nbsp;RSVP to <a href="INFO@DOLPHINFAIRS.COM">INFO@DOLPHINFAIRS.COM</a><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417545/v8okiwreku2xt5x4vpce.png"><figcaption>Friday's programming has a local angle</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chicago-antiques-art-design-show">The Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show </a>runs May 16-19, 2019Some highlight's from this year's exhibitors are shown below.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417546/cxijqjlwcpqtfzluhkon.gif"><figcaption>CAADS 2019 exhibitor M.S. Rau Antiques of New Orleans showing Le Carnaval du Sage by Rene Magritte</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417547/nyevm7nw5ooakkc72ljo.gif"><figcaption>CAADS 2019 exhibitor Nicholas Wolfe of Chicago showing a pair of dressers by Paul Laszlo for Brown and Saltman circa 1950s</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417548/z3ewzomb5tk8zf4ybvm2.gif"><figcaption>CAADS 2019 exhibitor Jayne Thompson Antiques of Harrodsburg KY showing a leather screen painted with Chinoiserie scene English or Dutch circa 1740</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417552/mq1xs6mxx6aguowfze1t.gif"><figcaption>CAADS 2019 exhibitor Nally Jewels of New York showing a brooch by Van Cleef &amp; Arpels</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417553/gjwkundklt16ukcobyqp.gif"><figcaption>Les Enluminures will exhibit representative examples from their extensive collections, including medieval manuscripts such as Books of Hours, miniatures, and historic rings.</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417554/wc7rg8vqygbakcnp8xf4.jpg"><figcaption>CAADS 2019 exhibitor Converso of Chicago showing a Nakashima Long Chaise 1965</figcaption></figure></body></html>

Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show is a Chance to Mingle Among History and Beauty

<html><head></head><body>When visiting galleries, wandering a museum or strolling through a fair, the art you encounter is complete. Most of us do not see the process a work of art goes through on the way to completion; we do not often see the artist at work, in the studio testing ideas and concepts or on site tending to an installation.For our summer issue of CGN we asked a handful of artists to share what they are working on now as well as to describe their process so we might glimpse what really happens behind the curtain and see what is still a work in progress. –GV&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417221/cqltn7xdnuln01rrxule.gif"><figcaption>Tony Fitzpatrick</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;TONY FITZPATRICKFitzpatrick is a prolific artist who is always sourcing bits and pieces of found materials for his drawing collages. He’s currently working on a series called The Garden Of All Other Ecstasies as well as making maquettes for a large scale local project that will be publicly announced in late spring.“These works are about the Gardens of our Desire. What moves us, and keeps us up, and makes our hearts beat faster... There are thorns, dirt, bramble and burrs. There is conflict, sweat, and the smell of the earth.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417222/grtrxdrebizhezm5ufq9.gif"><figcaption>Jordan Martins</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;JORDAN MARTINS“I’ve been working through ideas relating to camouflage, signalling theory, and gestalt psychology, including the way plants and animals conceal or advertise themselves visually.The work I’m preparing for Goldfinch for my show in September 2019 is, in a sense, beginning with the idea of a painting behaving like a plant or animal in this active way, rather than an inert object on display.In part this is being worked through with the kinds of patterns built up within in each piece, but also in how individual pieces can relate to another in the space, to conceal or distort themselves or perhaps suggest a level of instinctual communication between them.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417223/i7ic1ecxbnoskwnshqxc.gif"><figcaption>Zack Wirsum</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;ZACK WIRSUM“These days in the studio I am preparing for a show in October at Jean Albano Gallery. My current body of work is mostly memory related in concept and content; a combination of observational painting from recollections and nostalgic re-explorations of subject matter that fascinated me as a child, now from the perspective of adulthood. The two small paintings [pictured here] are examples of the later working studies for a larger painting about a birthday party for a cryptid attended by monster movie and Disney characters, tentatively titled Feliz Cumpleanos El Chupacabra Expanded Guest List. I am playing with the composition of the party invitees and tweaking coloration. The larger painting, in the background with the masking tape blocking cues and partially obscured by the studies, is about the 1930s Boston Red Sox spring training in Hot Springs Arkansas. It depicts baseball players climbing the wooded Ouachita mountains in full uniform as part of their conditioning, which I learned from a historical plaque. The stylization of the ball players I concocted reminded me of samurais, so I utilized colors I imagine a samurai would chose to paint their house with. I am still working on the patterns and layout of the rock formations and boulders the athletes are scaling. The masking tape is helping to inform these decisions.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417224/hdhtkw8kfxgsnkblmmam.gif"><figcaption>Anna Kunz</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;ANNA KUNZAnna Kunz is working towards a collaboration with Emanuel Pratt and the team at the SWEETWATER foundation, which will include new suspended paintings and structures.Parts of the collaboration will be on view in the Artists Garden and Theatre at the Taste of Chicago this summer.Recent exhibitions include Inquiry into Abstraction, University of Cincinnati, curated by Mark Brosseau, and All is Well and Good at Circle Contemporary, curated by Eric Ruschman.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417225/mnu7asympymjiocnumjk.gif"><figcaption>Diana working on a scale model – with helpful Legos – for a show at Carrie Secrist Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;DIANA GUERRERO-MACIÁ&nbsp;“I use slow craft practices to make hybrid paintings and objects. My core values are: material making is meaningful, craft is a form of consciousness, and the decorative has work to do.Materiality is a meaning that is distinctive. I make surfaces that are collaged, pieced, dyed, and stitched as a reconsideration of the field and form. My early works were constructed from discarded clothing, cut apart, flattened and pieced back together by hand in a way to expand the materiality of painting. I was influenced by Modernism and the Arts and Crafts Movement. In my practice, I admired the Pattern and Decoration movement and artists who used craft and collage methods to challenge categorization of art, craft and design.As a Latina artist, I learned the value of material culture in real-time. My Cuban immigrant parents taught me hand-work, material re-use, and improvisational “making-do.” They understood the need to balance the decorative with the utilitarian to resist subjugation. My artwork comes to me intuitively, through my lived experience.&nbsp;I’m not trying to answer with logic, rather, I look to where my hands-on pursuit leads me.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417226/p1thvew0uzk41nltufph.gif"><figcaption>George Klauba</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;GEORGE KLAUBAIn October George Klauba will have a solo exhibition at Hofheimer Gallery of his new body of work. He will have 20 oil paintings and drawings on wood of tattoo–related imagery. As of this spring he had completed 10 paintings. The sketch pictured here is one idea in showing women and men tattooed. Klauba explains, “I usually use the head or face of the subject in animal form to blend a similarity of the person’s inner make-up or angst. It’s part of the belief that tattoos mirror the inner side of the person or soul.”</body></html>

Artists and Their Art: Revealing Works in Progress

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418288/n8mjnvpbnm9cdtgquq3c.gif"></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe Golden Triangle has sourced global treasures as well as inspiration for customers of its unique, River North Chicago space for 30 years. Founded in 1989 by Douglas Van Tress and Chauwarin Tuntisak, The Golden Triangle has built a reputation for itself as a nexus of antiques, design and art. Today it is one of Chicago’s largest home furnishing stores, housed in an 18,000 square foot former Chicago River warehouse featuring vignettes from various historical periods, such as the Raj, other Colonial periods, ancient China, and 19th Century Europe, as well as an indoor courtyard. As shoppers and designers move from space to space, their experience changes with the context.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418289/h5vr3l0rojve9nzc8mdj.gif"><figcaption>The arches in two of the buildings are inspired by Georgio de Chirico’s painting, Piazza d’Italia, as well as Southeast Asian shophouses. The third building, says Van Tress, is pure modern.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Owners Van Tress and Tuntisak travel the globe to hand-pick items for the Chicago store, and they regularly visit Chiang Mai, where they have a warehouse for shipping things to Chicago, at least twice a year since the store’s founding. A misty mountainous city in northern Thailand, with colorful hill tribes housing hundreds of elaborate Buddhist temples, Chiang Mai is considered a destination for handicrafts and antiques. The city houses beautiful hotels, lively nightlife and epicurean delights, and as of this past fall, Golden Triangle Hang Dong.&nbsp;According to Van Tress, “Golden Triangle Hang Dong is something new. We want to sell in Asia and even globally.”<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418290/dy7yt2dydzoyugvhgw3x.gif"></figure>&nbsp;The new store is a collection of three buildings, adjacent to the existing warehouse, which will become a marketplace and restaurant. The goal, says Van Tress, is to be a new kind of retail space, “A design village where the visitor can explore and see things juxtaposed...in a kind of spiritual experience.” He sees Golden Triangle Hang Dong as a means of bringing “the best of the past, history and human culture into modern design. We’re not a normal antique store.”The Golden Triangle will celebrate its 30th anniversary on May 16, 2019 with an exclusive (and already waitlisted) event featuring many local artists and cultural supporters.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418291/rwjpzva1ccafa9vydvvo.gif"><figcaption>Van Tress says the basic idea for the store’s design – modern but also a bit softer, with historical references – was his own, fulfilled by architect Techinphat Khachonphurithanakul.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

A Chicago Space's Global Reach: The Golden Triangle Expands to Thailand

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418300/z5p5gsuvdvpowlxqgart.gif"><figcaption>Edra Soto, Open 24 Hours, 2018. Photo: James Prinz</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By ALISON REILLYEdra Soto’s warmth, generosity, and kindness are apparent (and contagious). She speaks candidly about her work, her influences, and her upbringing in Cupey, Puerto Rico. Her motivations, her life experiences, and her perspectives push her audience to more closely examine their own neighborhoods, sidewalks, fences, and homes. In a contemporary art world that can often reject the participation of the audience, Soto takes the hands of her viewers and looks them in the eye. She acknowledges their bodies, their physical presence, and their memories. Her artistic and personal lives are bound together, which some might consider a great risk. However, her exceptional body of work demonstrates the opportunity for shared growth by revealing vulnerabilities. Below is an edited version of our recent conversation about her move to Chicago, her ongoing series GRAFT, and her upcoming projects. Chicago Gallery News: Can you tell me about how you grew up? Which part of Puerto Rico are you from?Edra Soto: I grew up in a middle class family in Cupey, Puerto Rico. Cupey is the biggest and most populated barrio in the metropolitan area of San Juan. Both my parents worked hard for my brother and me. My father worked for an insurance company and for the military through the air force. He traveled a lot. My mom stayed with us at home and did many jobs. She had a home nursery; she ran a commercial ceramic business with my dad at home; and she was a baker. She made amazing wedding, quinceañera, and birthday cakes. I have childhood memories of chewing hard sugar flowers and looking at my reflection in the immense mirrors she made by pouring sugar in order to create a fake pond. Perhaps that was the beginning of my appreciation for installation work.CGN: What did it feel like to move from Puerto Rico (via Paris) to Chicago?ES: I felt fortunate to have parents that had faith in me and who could help me make the move. But I also thought that I was not going to make it outside of Puerto Rico. I became a commercial artist very early in my life. During my last year at Escuela de Artes Plásticas&nbsp;de Puerto Rico I won a few awards at my bachelor’s graduation and sold out two shows at a commercial gallery in San Juan. My parents were impressed and motivated to help me transition into higher education.It took me awhile to get used to Chicago’s weather. I even did an installation, titled I Love Chicago Project, dedicated to my relationship with Chicago, the School of the Art Institute, and the weather. I created an alter ego in the form of a lion tamer to symbolically build self-empowerment. This was my first time bringing people together to activate a project. I invited artists I met at the school, my roommate, my boyfriend (now my husband), and whoever wanted to be a part of this project. I made posters to promote the events and opened my semi-private studio for visitors.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418301/nzejtkvkckblcrqklijw.gif"><figcaption>Portrait of the artist Edra Soto. Photo: Dan Sullivan</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: You mentioned your commercial success as an artist in Puerto Rico, but you have now moved away from the gallery/artist relationship model. How do you support yourself?ES: After grad school, I supported myself by working at a Chicago public school. Some years later, I worked at a charter school. I dedicated ten years of my life to teach high school. It was hard work, but I learned a lot from the experiences. I met wonderful students who brought great joy and pride to my life. After those ten years, I built enough confidence to teach at the college level. I’ve been a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for the past five years and just recently started to teach an Introduction to Social Engagement course at the University of Illinois in Chicago. As my visibility as an artist increased, I started to get approached by colleges and universities to lecture and do exhibitions. These opportunities increased to the point where I could become a freelancer.CGN: Do you encourage other artists to follow your example?ES: Perhaps following my path is not even practical for me. I tend to live in the moment and my planning is mostly work-related, not life-related. My life works because my art works, and I try to keep that way. It is not a predictable or financially stable situation. At this precise moment I don’t feel great financial support, but I am creating projects that might bring financial support in the future. So, I’m still gambling.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418302/heuiotrjbba4qp49ml4k.gif"><figcaption>Edra Soto, GRAFT (detail), 2019.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: How has your experience as an art teacher in Chicago public schools shaped your practice as an artist?ES: Many of the methods and materials I used with my high school students became a part of my artistic practice. Structure doesn’t manifest naturally on me. When I’m telling a story, I have to make a conscious effort to keep it on track to build a natural progression. Becoming a high school teacher forced me to work with a type of structure that allowed me to keep order. To be an administrator, you have to be organized. It turns out that so much of the work I do, as an artist, is administrative. If I’m not efficient at keeping track of what needs to get done, I will miss deadlines, opportunities, and even relationships.CGN: What is your studio like?ES: My studio looks like a warehouse! My process is very embedded in my daily life. I’m less of a craftsperson and more of project manager, designer, and researcher.CGN: In 2017-2018 you presented Open 24 Hours at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA). In an interview you stated, “Putting the bottles in other people’s hands is putting the responsibility of littering in their hands, which was my initial motivation for picking up the bottle.” Can you talk about your relationship with the viewer (or participant)? Why is it important for you to put the responsibility of littering in their hands and how does that relate to your motivations as an artist?ES: I consider the action of picking up garbage my civic duty. I learned this when I was in ninth grade. I forget a lot of things, but that lesson I never forget. A teacher took a group of students and me to a hallway and told us, “Even if it’s not your garbage, you pick it up, and place it in the trashcan.” The action of picking up garbage became a sign of education.This is the same model brought to life in Open 24 Hours. The work is about respect for the land, appreciation for the place you live, and the people living in it. Cleaning can become a conversation on values, from self-value, to value of a place, to others’ values.At the MCA, all the refuse that I collected in 2017 was on display to evidence what I witness daily. I designed a transactional procedure between the museum visitor and me. I created a contract that they had to sign if they wanted to acquire, or “adopt” as the museum described it, a glass bottle that I had found in my neighborhood, picked up, and cleaned. In the contract, I describe the bottle as “a piece of American history” to instigate intrigue in the meaning behind the bottles. The procedure was a strategy to elevate the desire and value of these objects. They taught me about a history that I was not aware of, so I couldn’t simply offer them for free. Through the procedure, I also asked people for their time. Perhaps time is one of the things we all value the most.CGN: You started your ongoing work GRAFT in 2013. What does the title mean?ES: GRAFT is an imaginary migration. Citing structures known as quiebrasoles and rejas found prominently in Puerto Rico, GRAFT physically interconnects existing architecture to a site-specific place while conceptually representing an imaginary transplant or migratory gesture.&nbsp;CGN: Do you keep an inventory of quiebrasoles and rejas patterns? Are the patterns in your work based on ones you have seen, or do you create new patterns?ES: I source all the patterns for GRAFT. My visits to Puerto Rico have been steadily increasing since my father passed in the summer of 2017. But I’ve been documenting quiebrasoles and rejas patterns for many years, even before I started the project.I used to make drawings of the patterns, but at the time I didn’t see great value in the gesture. Living a greater part of my life surrounded by these patterns makes me sensitive to the role they play in visual culture. Presenting them through architectural interventions becomes a way of reinstating them rather than reproducing them. The history that this project unveils explains why it is so easy to “borrow” their beauty without thinking about their greater cultural significance.CGN: Do the materials of quiebrasoles (concrete) and rejas (wrought iron) resonate with you?ES: The purpose of concrete and wrought iron to the casa criolla (common house) in the Caribbean was for protection and ventilation. These are familiar, raw, nostalgic, and even seductive materials to me, but I wouldn’t appropriate them and take them out of their original function and context.CGN: How does it feel to present GRAFT in different settings? For example, in 2013 you installed it at Terrain Exhibitions in Chicago and recently in 2018 at the Untitled Art Fair in Miami.ES: At both of these spaces the architectural interventions were remarkable in terms of visibility and audience responses. They both motivated creative thinking and negotiation of space. At Terrain it was the first architectural intervention I’ve made. At Untitled I took the opportunity to introduce photo documentation as a new element. I embedded small viewfinders in the circular spaces of the structure. By peering through the viewfinders, the audience is met with an image documenting my everyday life during visits to Puerto Rico. Photos of my childhood home, scenes from various neighborhoods, and destruction from Hurricane Maria are just some of the images viewers see. The act itself is akin to peering through the quiebrasoles and rejas surrounding a Puerto Rican home to glimpse the house behind the walls.CGN: Have you presented GRAFT in Puerto Rico?ES: Not as an architectural intervention; it would be redundant. At the Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, documentation of GRAFT was included as part of an exhibition titled Ida y Vuelta curated by Dr. Laura Bravo. I recently donated these prints to the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico for their permanent collection.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418304/yfohbylnma9wwxevjohi.jpg"><figcaption>Edra Soto, Manual Graft, 2019. Architectural intervention at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. photo credit EG Schempf.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: For each iteration of GRAFT you include a literary component. Why is that important to you?ES: GRAFT allows me to expand the multidisciplinary aspects of the project and explore visibility by providing a format that can be disseminated beyond the gallery experience. The literary component creates an accessible history of Puerto Rican vernacular architecture. While quiebrasoles and rejas are popularly recognized in Puerto Rican’s visual culture, there is little exploration or research on the origin of these patterns. Contrary to the familiarity of colonial architecture, vernacular architecture has yet to be included as an exploratory subject in primary and secondary education in the Caribbean. Writers from disciplines of art history, art, architecture, and politics are invited to reflect on rejas in the contexts of their individual fields of expertise. The content is published in both English and Spanish and is available to the public.CGN: Some iterations of GRAFT include a shelter that resembles a bus stop. Why is this type of structure significant to you?ES: The elements of GRAFT are specific to each space, and sometimes I include a shelter, reminiscent of a bus stop, that serves as a bench for visitors to sit and read the accompanying publication. Bus shelters in Puerto Rico may be made of concrete, wood, and aluminum. I’ve seen a few made in concrete that integrate quiebrasoles in their design.CGN: What are your upcoming projects for this year?ES: Currently, my work is on view until June 2, 2019 at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art as part of an exhibition curated by Risa Puleo titled Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly.Another group exhibition I’m part of, Art of the Neighborhood, is currently at the Willis Tower through the summer, curated by CNL Projects and Chicago Artists Coalition.I’m involved in three MacArthur Foundation cultural exchanges! One is currently at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan. The second, an exchange with Cuba, will have its Chicago presentation at the Smart Museum in summer 2019 and in Cuba in 2020. The third, an exchange with Brazil curated by Jordan Martins, will take place in 2020. A long overdue commission for the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line Western station is on its way as well.This summer I was invited to create work with a client from the Light &amp; Salt Coalition, a grassroots movement that mobilizes individuals and organizations to heal, educate, and empower youth and women in the fight against slavery. My donation will be auctioned at their summer gala.More information about and works by Edra Soto may be found at &nbsp;<a href="https://edrasoto.com/home.html">www.edrasoto.com</a>Publisher's note: In April 2019 Edra Soto was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) 2019 Artist Fellowship Award. Non-matching Fellowships in fixed amounts of $15,000 are awarded to Illinois artists in recognition of their outstanding work and commitment within the arts.</body></html>

Artist Edra Soto: Mining Personal History to Create Artistic Engagement

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418278/cblo9nrg7wqxu1rk6qkh.gif"><figcaption>Kingston-born multimedia artist Ebony G. Patterson is creating a series of five intricate and colorful banners titled …between the below… &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><h3>Chicago Riverwalk&nbsp;</h3>Seasonal walkway opens May 13Stroll along the east branch of the Chicago River and admire new and permanent public art installations along the banks while enjoying creative food and entertainment. New this year: banners by artist Ebony G. Patterson.&nbsp;From Lake Shore Dr./Lake Michigan west to Franklin.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagoriverwalk.us">chicagoriverwalk.us</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418279/axw1eule0d6a9jqgojcm.gif"><figcaption>Art on the Mart will project seven nights a week this summer and coordinate programming with the City’s year of Chicago Theater in 2019 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><h3>Art on theMART</h3>Nightly May 13–Sept 30With its minimum 30-year duration, its location downtown along the Chicago River and its substantive and relevant content, Art on theMART is a milestone on Chicago’s trajectory of public art. Local and international works are on display and freely accessible with no branding nor sponsorships.&nbsp;Best viewed on The Chicago Riverwalk between Wells and Lake St.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://artonthemart.com">artonthemart.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418280/wpajo0uswwiujdrhv2qg.gif"><figcaption>This large, iconic vintage Georg Jensen sterling eel dish is from &nbsp;Greg Pepin Silver from Denmark, exhibiting this year at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><h3>Chicago Antiques + Art + Design</h3>May 16–19The third edition of this dynamic show features 100 exhibitors and a sequel to last year’s splashy, refreshed opening night party benefitting the Woman’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.&nbsp;Show tickets: $20+. Opening night tickets $200+&nbsp;222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza<a href="http://chicagoantiquesartdesign.com">chicagoantiquesartdesign.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418281/xaaewkfb8z9sk3ipyipi.jpg"><figcaption>Randolph Street Market takes place nearly every month, but the outdoor summer events become more popular every year. Things kick off Memorial Day weekend in the West Loop. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><h3>Randolph Street Market Memorial Day Garden Party</h3>May 26 and 27Kick off the season’s outdoor markets with a live band, fancy foods, market bars, on site-appraisals and more. Check website for early buying hours. 1340 W. Washington,&nbsp;Tickets: $5–10<a href="https://www.randolphstreetmarket.com">randolphstreetmarket.com</a> &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418282/hyxkwdfg4w4ymbyu6jvp.gif"><figcaption>Featured in Sculpture Milwaukee’s 2018 exhibition was Richard Deacon's Big Time, 2016, painted and lacquered stainless steel, image Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York</figcaption></figure><h3>Sculpture Milwaukee &nbsp;</h3>June–OctoberA free outdoor urban sculpture experience in downtown Milwaukee returns for a 3rd year with works by 20+ internationally and locally renowned artists. Past exhibitors have included Magdalena Abakanowicz, Sanford Biggers, Robert Indiana, Hank Willis Thomas, Erwin Wurm and others.&nbsp;Works on view and for sale.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com">sculpturemilwaukee.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418284/qyo66jyv7kaaw2s4rxfp.gif"><figcaption>Joe Mills is just one artist participating in the 72nd 57th street art fair in Hyde Park</figcaption></figure><h3>57th Street Art Fair</h3>June 1 and 272nd annual two-day outdoor celebration of the arts in Hyde Park. 57th St. at Kimbark<a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org">57thstreetartfair.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418285/eobcv1i1mzvvx6l64auq.gif"><figcaption>CAC’s Work in Progress party is always creative as well as supportive of artists. 2018’s theme was construction attire...</figcaption></figure><h3>CAC’S Work in Progress</h3>June 6Chicago Artists Coalition’s annual benefit is CAC’s biggest night of the year and raises over $100,000 to support residencies, education programs, and resources for Chicago artists.This year’s party honors artist Hebru Brantley + Gensler.2130 W. FultonTickets: $60–$350<a href="https://chicagoartistscoalition.org/get-involved/annual-benefit">chicagoartistscoalition.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418286/lj2xjf6ipd5qfgbbpjf3.gif"><figcaption>“The Nate” sculpture park hosts a summer solstice event based around Edvin Strautmanis’s Phoenix, built from steel beams</figcaption></figure><h3>Summer Solstice Sunset Celebration</h3>June 22Arrive at the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park in south suburban University Park, IL around 6:30pm “Ravinia” style (BYO picnic and beverages) enjoy ambient tunes with our guest DJ next to the bonfire near the lake, take a walk around the park and watch the sun go down through the geometric angles of Phoenix, by Edvins Strautmanis, which is sited to frame the sunset on the Solstice.&nbsp;FREE and family friendly.<a href="http://www.govst.edu/About/Nathan_Manilow_Sculpture_Park/Programs_and_Events/">www.govst.edu/sculpture/</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418287/nahvptfkpisivo1zdgte.gif"></figure><h3>MCA's Tuesdays on the Terrace</h3>June 5–September 25Every Tuesday this summer, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago hosts free outdoor activities, including the popular Tuesdays on the Terrace live jazz series and the SOARFarmers Market.Tuesdays on the Terrace features Chicago’s quintessential jazz musicians performing outside on the MCA’s terrace. Visitors can experience the musicians up close, enjoy dining al fresco, or relax with a cocktail on the sculpture garden lawn. The performances take place from 5:30-8 pm every Tuesday with support from Luminarts and media sponsor WDCB 90.9 FM, and are hosted by WDCB’s Al Carter-Bey and Richton Guy Thomas from WHPK 88.5 FM.&nbsp;</body></html>

Summer 2019 Art Social Calendar 

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEA&nbsp;It's hard to believe but May is nearly here, meaning we are on the cusp of summer and a new season of art. This Friday night, May 3, several new solo shows open in Chicago, with the bulk of them taking place in River North. Openings are also happening in Ravenswood, as well as in West Town – notably, Catherine Edelman Gallery is hosting their first show in their new space at 1637 W Chicago Ave.The highlights are listed below, and our full calendar may be viewed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=openings">here</a>.&nbsp;Have a plastic glass of wine on us, and keep an eye out for our new summer issue of CGN that will be in galleries in the coming days as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417838/hacepvfs8yd3ttfojypw.jpg"><figcaption>Joel-Peter Witkin, Harvest, 1984</figcaption></figure><h3>Joel-Peter Witkin: From the Studio</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/joel-peter-witkin-from-the-studio">Catherine Edelman Gallery</a>This will be Catherine Edelman's first show at their new, 4,200 sq. ft. West Town location at 1637 W. Chicago Ave.The gallery inaugurates the new space with Joel-Peter Witkin: From the Studio. The exhibition runs through July 3, 2019. Joel-Peter Witkin will be &nbsp;at the opening on May 3 from 5:00 - 8:00 pm with various family members.&nbsp;For more than 60 years, Joel-Peter Witkin has stayed true to his mission: to create photographs that show the beauty of marginalized people by placing them into art referential tableaus, often laced with Catholic overtones. His work features hermaphrodites, post and pre-op individuals, and people born with physical abnormalities. In his eyes, all people are beautiful, regardless of societal norms.&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417838/ppr0otin3p43roj1g0wc.jpg"><figcaption>Art Shay, The Supremes at Hittsville USA, Detroit 1965, silver gelatin print, 16 x 20 inches</figcaption></figure><h3>Art Shay: A Lifetime of Photographs, 1922-2018</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/art-shay-a-lifetime-of-photographs-1922-2018">Gallery Victor Armendariz</a>It's been a year since Art Shay died, and now Gallery Victor Armendariz is opening a show of the famed photographer's work, including many iconic images of people and moments that epitomized the times.&nbsp;Also opening on Friday will be <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dystopian-utopia-christopher-klein">Christopher Klein: Dystopian Utopia.</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417839/szvwnml6lod8ti0ml9xe.gif"><figcaption>Molly McCracken Kumar, Ephemeral Germination, 2019, 42" x 50", acrylic and resin on canvas</figcaption></figure><h3>Molly McCracken Kumar, Celestial Vigor, New Paintings</h3><h3>Brooks Anderson, Illumina, Cloud Paintings</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/addington-gallery">Addington Gallery</a>The gallery opens two shows on Friday night, both of which feature palettes bright enough to temporarily rebuff this week's gloomy weather. Molly McCracken Kumar's acrylic and resin paintings conjure the heavens, while Brooks Anderson's cloud paintings make you think of looking skyward on a summer day with grass beneath your head.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417840/rg4zdxrbg7thqxtsoqge.jpg"></figure><h3>Perfect Life</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5–8 pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/perfect-opening-reception">Rangefinder Gallery</a>Arina Dähnick lives and works in Berlin. She grew up in a creative family and was taught early on about fine art and photography.&nbsp;Her first professional photo exhibition was at school&nbsp;at the age of 17.&nbsp;Dähnick says, "My photography wants to invite people to rediscover reality with special awareness. I am truely fascinated with modern, with urban life. What is the actual meaning of “modern times”? The Project “Perfect Life”&nbsp;follows this question.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417841/wyfx0qqom7x07epmnm8h.jpg"></figure><h3>Kitsch'n Art</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/curated-by-john-cain-executive-director-south-shore-arts-featuring-artwork-from-his-private-collection-july-august-2019-gallery-group-show-emily-ackerman-managing-editor-business-manager-chicago-gallery-news-858-n-clark-st-suite-204-chicago-il-60610-tel-312-649-0064-emily-chicagogallerynews-com-chicagogallerynews-com">Jean Albano Gallery</a>The gallery's newest show is curated by John Cain, Executive Director, South Shore Arts, featuring a funky title and artwork from his private collection.&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417842/khgmikqfdge03ccghz7g.jpg"><figcaption>Daryls Ewoldt</figcaption></figure><h3>Midwestern Metal</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/vale-craft-gallery">Vale Craft&nbsp;</a>This invitational show highlights metal objects, sculpture and jewelry by mostly Chicago artists.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417843/czfuyls14weqdmnafsgl.jpg"></figure><h3>Nasturtium: Jennifer Shanahan</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 7-10pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nasturtium-jennifer-shanahan">The Dime</a>With "Nasturtium" Jennifer Shanahan creates a meditation on the ephemeral notions of Beauty, Impermanence, Sensuality, and the passage of time. The Nasturtium, a flower long prized for its beauty as well as being an edible flower; has been an alluring subject for poets and Artists for centuries. Jennifer spent three years making Photographs that ruminate on this lovely if elusive, Flower. This is the artist's first one woman show.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417844/sliremdf0wt5dwvsipe3.gif"><figcaption>Susan Aurinko</figcaption></figure><h3>Europa Europa: Susan Aurinko</h3>Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 5-8pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/europa-susan-aurinko">Hofheimer Gallery</a>Photography Susan Aurinko's opens a show of photographs from her travels in Europe. She will be at the opening on Friday in Ravenswood and will also give a talk on Saturday, May 18th from 2 to 4pm with guest curator Chuck Gniech.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417844/f7yk77vn6ub5swwxbhhm.jpg"><figcaption>Pooja Pittie</figcaption></figure><h3>New Work by Pooja Pittie</h3>Opening: Saturday, May 4, 2019 4-7pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/new-work-by-pooja-pittie">McCormick Gallery</a>These new, abstract paintings by Pooja Pittie use a range of materials and textures to create multiple layers and dimensions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417845/uloc86hxe3bcouwfiyxw.jpg"><figcaption>Shannon Finley</figcaption></figure><h3>Shall we go, you and I while we can</h3>Opening: Saturday, May 4, 2019 5-8pm<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/shall-we-go-you-and-i-while-we-can">Carrie Secrist Gallery</a>Also opening in the West Loop at 835 W Washington is a vibrant show featuring the work of gallery artist Shannon Finley and others.&nbsp;</body></html>

May Openings Usher in Start of Summer Art

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418245/bk84ra4zpajkt82h60qy.png"><figcaption>The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel</figcaption></figure>By CGN Staff via NADA PRAs we gear up for a season of museum blockbusters and gallery group shows and summer art walks, we also have one eye on the fall, which is Chicago's busiest art season of the year. Come September, in addition to the eighth edition of EXPO Chicago and the third Chicago Architecture Biennial, a new art fair will take place: The Chicago Invitational, presented by the nonprofit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newartdealers.org/">New Art Dealers Alliance</a> and running September 18-21, will overlap with EXPO and span three floors of the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel on Michigan Ave. &nbsp;In 2018 NADA&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/nada-new-york-shuts-down-1330418">cancelled</a> its New York fair.&nbsp;As EXPO has established its strong, international profile during it previous seven editions, the addition of a new fair in the city with a commitment to newer voices and unconventional initiatives in the art community will broaden the scope and appeal of events taking place during this busy time in Chicago and extend the profile of the city as a hub for contemporary art and culture.&nbsp;Current NADA member galleries based in Chicago include: Shane Campbell, Document, Kavi Gupta, M. LeBlanc, PATRON, Regards, Volume, and Western Exhibitions.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN will continue to share updates as they become available. Additional details below via NADA's press release this week:“Historically, Chicago has been a hotbed of artist-run galleries and alternative spaces,” said Heather Hubbs, NADA Executive Director and former Chicago-based art professional. “The city then and now embodies the experimental spirit of NADA, and we look forward to connecting our exhibitors with this audience.“The fair will take place throughout three floors of the iconic Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, with a curated selection of galleries in the hotel’s historic Stagg Court and Tank spaces, and a takeover of 13 hotel rooms on the fourth floor. The landmark hotel is located across from Chicago cultural landmarks the Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago.“I’m very excited for the Chicago Invitational, NADA’s new and re-imagined art fair at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. This important expansion to Chicago, in an ideal venue, will continue our mission to support artists and arts organizations internationally,” said Rachel Uffner, NADA Board President and owner of Rachel Uffner Gallery. “The Invitational will also allow us to cultivate existing relationships in the region while developing new ones. We are already feeling incredible support from Chicago’s cultural and arts community and are looking forward to seeing everyone in September.”The inaugural edition of the Chicago Invitational further exemplifies NADA’s expanded commitment to year-round programming and producing alternatives for galleries to exhibit artwork in a new setting. NADA recently held the New York Gallery Open, a new initiative designed to bring visitors and collectors to over 50 art spaces across New York City for public tours, talks, and performances, and NADA House, the organization’s second off-site exhibition on Governors Island, which will be on view from May through August 2019.“As EXPO CHICAGO approaches its eighth edition, we welcome the addition of the Chicago Invitational presented by NADA, which will serve as a complement to a full week of exhibition alignments, openings, and events for international arts patrons to explore,” said Tony Karman, President | Director of EXPO CHICAGO. “NADA’s critically acclaimed fairs and year-round programming in support of its members remains extremely important in these ever-changing times, and I am confident that their first Chicago edition will be successful.”</body></html>

A New Art Fair This September: NADA's 1st Chicago Invitational

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418275/d1p5y9uao9q2edlpj7g3.gif"></figure><h2>Learn how public art shaped Chicago through walking tour series</h2>Lovers of all things Chicago have an exciting opportunity to learn about the city through a series of historical seminars at the Newberry Library. Offered June through August, the courses cover a variety of <a href="http://www.newberry.org/programs-and-events?field_event_category_tid=14&amp;field_event_date_value2%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=04%2F30%2F2019&amp;field_event_date_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=07%2F30%2F2019">Chicago-focused topics</a> ranging from art and landscape design to baseball and beer.By Jay Koziarz, Curbed Chicago<a href="https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/4/30/18524213/public-art-newberry-library-chicago-history-seminar">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418277/suky6fzxwpjvqgtkmrot.gif"></figure><h2>'Outsider' Art Is Going Mainstream. But In Chicago, It's Always Been In</h2>Outsider art is having an "in" moment.It's a label given to self-taught, unconventional and often uncelebrated artists, but in recent months exhibitions of outsider art have shown up at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Atlanta's High Museum of Art.While mainstream interest in the genre may be on the rise, it's always been in the spotlight at Intuit: The Center For Intuitive And Outsider Art, a small gallery founded in Chicago in 1991 that is one of the few museums in the world dedicated solely to outsider art.By Chris Bentley, WBUR<a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/04/11/outsider-art-chicago">Read More</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

News From Around the Art World: April 30, 2019

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEA&nbsp;The&nbsp;first week of April was a busy start to 'spring' openings, but now that new shows, for the most part, no longer happen on just a single big busy night in the city – they're happening nearly every weekend in various neighborhoods – there are actually more opportunities to spend time visiting smaller groups of galleries at once, rather than making the mad dash to see 15 shows in one night or having to see some shows at the expense of others.&nbsp;Friday night, April 19, is a chance to visit the five spaces – at 1709–1711 W Chicago Ave – that cemented West Town as a new and <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/5/a-new-westward-migration-galleries-move-in-search-of-space-and-community">growing gallery destination</a> and to see the strong range of art that is being exhibited.&nbsp;This is the season after the first big openings of the year and before the summer group shows. There will be a lot to see and talk about Friday, and then more shows will continue to open, as they do now, through next week and into the first weekend of May.&nbsp;The highlights are listed below, and our full calendar may be viewed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events">here</a>.&nbsp;Have a plastic glass of wine on us, as we pull all-nighters to get the summer issue of CGN off to the printer on Tuesday!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418261/vyqnnf0uxbyfkg1o1jro.jpg"><figcaption>Laura Letinsky, To Want for Nothing 25, 2018, Archival pigment print. Edition of 7.</figcaption></figure><h3>Laura Letinsky: To Want for Nothing</h3>Opening: Friday, Apr 19, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/document">DOCUMENT</a>Letinsky is a Chicago-based photographer who is also a Professor in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Chicago. Known for her contemporary still lifes, the work in this show is also accompanied by poetry of Danielle Dutton.&nbsp;“When I was little I used to take a blade and cut the faces off models in my mother’s magazines. In the scene I was looking at, this book the narrator was reading, the one I thought I knew, was gone. In her hands was a blank white space in the shape of a book I’d read. But it was also, for a moment, like I’d been cut away—just a white shape on the sheets where I and my material needs had been.” —Danielle Dutton, 2019Document will also be exhibiting <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/greg-stimac-amulet">Greg Stimac: Amulet</a> in Gallery 2.&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418262/yf6vwb7p6onomw7u80tl.gif"><figcaption>Binky &amp; Tony Forever, 2009, Pigmented inkjet print, 37 x 43.25 inches, print, 38 x 44.25 inches, framed, Edition 6 of 6.</figcaption></figure><h3>Deana Lawson &amp; Dru Donovan</h3>Opening: Friday, Apr 19, 2019 5–7:30&nbsp;pm <a href="/organizations/rhona-hoffman-gallery--2">Rhona Hoffman Gallery</a>Deana&nbsp;Lawson is a photo-based artist whose work examines the body’s ability to channel personal and social histories, addressing themes of familial legacy, community, romance, and spiritual aesthetics. Her practice borrows from simultaneous visual traditions, ranging from photographic and figurative portraiture, social documentary aesthetics, and vernacular family album photographs.&nbsp;Lawson&nbsp;is visually inspired by the materiality of black culture and its expression as seen through the body and in domestic environments.&nbsp;Dru Donovan (b. St. Paul, MN) received a&nbsp;BFA&nbsp;in photography from California College of the Arts in 2004 and an&nbsp;MFA&nbsp;in photography from Yale School of Art in 2009, where she was awarded the Richard Benson prize for excellence. In 2011&nbsp;TBW&nbsp;Books published her first book, Lifting Water. She has said, "I use photography to look, interact, escape, control and be invited in and I decided that reinvestigating these moments in a similar way would help me make visual sense of what had happened. The act of revisiting and looking at these different gestures and then making photographs of these directed moments helped me to work through the mourning process and the complexities of the situation." Donovan lives and works in Portland, OR.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418263/j4fazmnrlmc127w6lrpu.jpg"></figure><h3>Paul Nudd: Plastic Blastula</h3>Opening: Friday, Apr 19, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/western-exhibitions">Western Exhibitions</a>For his fourth solo show, Plastic Blastula, at Western Exhibitions, Paul Nudd presents a selection of large-scale paintings depicting an ambiguous and chaotic prenatal cosmic universe, densely populated by a series of many rapidly transforming and colliding embryonic cleavages. Collectively they can be seen as a forceful and monumental continuation of many of Nudd’s aesthetic and formal obsessions: bodies in distress, molecular anxiety, blobs and biomorphic abstraction, disease, malformation, mutation and uncontrollable biological forces.&nbsp;A blastula is a pre-embryonic cellular blob of matter that eventually morphs into a fetus. Plasticity similarly induces a development or transmutation of nature as plastic is created through a seemingly science-fiction derived embryonic mass production. Both blastulas and plastics can be deformed in any direction, but plastic differs from these pre-embryonic forms in that it is materially permanent and impenetrable. Plastic is unnatural and can be molded and stretched to fit in or around anything.&nbsp; If birth is rupture, plastic birth is rupture without rupture.In Nudd’s worldview, Plastic Blastula walks the line between cautionary apocalyptic tale and orgiastic revelry.Western Exhibitions is also opening the first show of work by <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/julia-schmitt-healy">Julia Schmitt Healy</a> featuring a selection of textile works from the early 1970s&nbsp;— a series of&nbsp;ballpoint on handkerchief drawings and a grouping of tufted watercolor on muslin pieces that exist somewhere between painting, pillows and soft sculpture.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418264/uynvmodkpajv9ewvsyoc.png"><figcaption>Thomas Leinberger</figcaption></figure><h3>Thomas Weinberger: Interior</h3>Opening: Friday, Apr 19, 2019 6–8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/volume-gallery">Volume Gallery</a>Thomas Leinberger is a designer based in Chicago, IL. He designs furniture, objects and installations out of his studio in Garfield Park. INTERIOR gives the viewer a considerable insight into Leinberger’s conceptual exploration of the interior and the role of objects in space. Inspired in part by his great interest in early modernist interior design and the continuum of designed objects, the pieces in the exhibition were first imagined as interventions in historical interiors, considering how they would activate in these environments and in turn, the space transformed by their introduction. These objects are conceived to participate in everyday functions of support and furbishing, yet they also possess autonomy outside of their utility.&nbsp; Leinberger’s continued interest in the monolith is evident throughout the exhibition. Their single forms lack signifiers of “furniture” other than their distinctly domestic scale and implied function. Their existence is not substantiated by the functionality, like a readymade who changes in context, these objects lend themselves to all kinds of speculative use. Through this work, Leinberger continues to exemplify design that resists the strict functionalism that’s associated with object design, instead, his work quietly invites us to imagine how an object is capable inexhaustible ways of being.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418265/i4hvk78yb328aufsg9fx.png"><figcaption>Amadeo Morelos</figcaption></figure><h3>Amadeo Morelos &gt; Reps</h3>Opening: Friday, Apr 19, 2019 5–8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/paris-london-hong-kong">Paris London Hong Kong</a>Amadeo Morelos’ recent paintings depict grotesque figures pleading for sympathy and acclaim. Using humor and absurdity, he re-configures autobiographical symbols and the visual language of bodybuilding culture and Greek mythology to suffuses the mundane with fantastical proportions. As canvas is substituted with fabric reminiscent of posing trunks, these paintings recall an incomplete body that is built through external expectation. Morelos received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016.&nbsp;</body></html>