A Message for the Phantom Gallery Curators

SUBMITTING DOCUMENTATION and ARTIST IMAGES:
Curators, please make a note of the submission requirements. 

In order for the marketing consultant to load images the following format must be submitted. Submitting only website links, will not surface, and becomes time-consuming to search, and format for usability. This is also resourceful when our developers are submitting documentation to funding institutions. This will also help you in your future endeavors.

1. Submit the entry fee of $40 per artist (membership fee) online payable to  Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, use the PayPal button on this blog to make payments online.

2. Create a folder with 4 images per artist, including a logo if a group.
 List your name, address, telephone number, email, and web link; this must be done per artist in your group. Save as a  “JPEG” format at 72 dpi, approximately 1200 X 1800 pixels.
Images should be labeled with the first word of the title, e.g., images of artwork titled “Phantom Gallery” should be labeled with your last name phantomgallery.jpeg .
A description of the work and size. If installation what is the square foot of the space. 
No CD entries will be accepted (email zip entries are accepted online only.
Create a bio/resume
Artist Inventory list that includes the name, medium, and size of each entry in the same order as the images appearing on the file and value. 
Group applications must include a statement on how the works are selected by the group to ensure the quality of works submitted.

This information will be used by the marketing consultant when posting to  ARTslant, Blogger, Facebook groups, and other publications.

This price list will also be used for insurance purposes. CNA 

List sponsor information, and logo if applicable, this will be listed on the  Phantom Gallery Blogspot , and WordPress web-link. 
International Art Group Phantom Gallery 2012

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Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Collection Management: The First Step

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AXA Art Collection- page image


I am providing this information to artists, collectors, and curators doing business with the Phantom Galleries. As galleries, it is invaluable that we continue to gather information and advice from experts in the field. I am currently taking an inventory of my collection and personal artwork as part of my estate planning—artwork that was entrusted to me for my collection prior to incorporation.  

Collection management is an ongoing process. Start by documenting and tracking relevant information.
Maintain a file for each work. Records can be paper, electronic, or a mixture. Attend the exhibitions of the artists you collect. Clip their reviews. Turn to a certified appraiser when you need specific information about value.  Decide whether you need Fair Market Value or Insurance Replacement Value. 

If you send a work for conservation, obtain the conservator’s report for your file.
Research
Documenting each work
Tracking
Checklist

You’ve assembled a collection. How do you look after it?
First, this ongoing process extends from proper installation and the right inns coverage to planning for subsequent stewardship. A conservator, appraiser, and attorney may all play a role.

Documenting each work
A good first step is documenting and tracking relevant information. Maintain a separate file for each work. Include the purchase invoice with the date and seller. Ask the gallery or auction house for available photographs as well as exhibition and conservation histories. Take color photographs of the back and front of a painting and several angles of a three-dimensional object.


Record information on the back of the photograph as it will be hidden once the painting is framed. Train your eye to detect all nuances about the baseline condition of each object is there an anomalous patch of paint? Do striations appear in the patina of a bronze sculpture? Date all observations. Finish by completing the checklist on the next page.


 Your records can be paper, electronic, or a mixture. With a simple spreadsheet, a Microsoft Access database, or off-the-shelf collection management software. You can create reports with ease. Plan to store a copy of your data in a separate location.  Although you may prune works from your collection, keep the records. They are a valuable part of your collection history.


Research
Learn all you can about the content or meaning of each work and the times it was made. Research the artist’s biography. Make it a goal to visit exhibitions of artists you collect. Clip and save their reviews from newspapers, magazines, and online. Follow their stylistic development. Whose works are like theirs? What periods within their work are considered most important? Challenge yourself to grasp the details as well as the larger picture.


Tracking
You will want to be aware of the market conditions for the areas in which you collect. Are values climbing, falling, or remaining stable? This information will guide many decisions, from insurance and gifting to security and estate planning. Auction catalogues and online auction databases such as Artnet.com, artprice.com, or AskART.com provide a useful range of pricing for paintings and sculptures. Artfact.com follows furniture and decorative arts as well.


 For a more precise figure, turn to a certified appraiser. Specify whether you require fair market value (the basis – with adjustments—for taxes, gifts, and donations) or replacement value (for insurance). Fair Market Value equals the price likely to be received at auction. Replacement value is usually higher and can be considered an object’s retail price. It is wise to have a collection reappraised every five years or so. As the foregoing suggests, good collection management is the rational side of collecting. Yet its rewards are also satisfying, yielding an acceptable result: a collection secured for the ages.


Checklist
Below is essential information to record about each item in your collection. Find a similar checklist at AXA-ART. 
Artist/Maker
Dates of Artist/Maker
Title of Work
Description of Subject Matter or Type of Work
Date of Work
Materials
Dimensions
Condition: Describe the object’s surface and carefully note any changes during periodic re-examinations. If you send a work for conservation, obtain the conservator’s report and file it. Note in your record the date of the report and that you have added it to the file.


Inscriptions and Markings: Examine the back and front of every two-dimensional work. Record earlier labels, inventory numbers, artist signatures, and all other writing.


Distinguishing Features
Location of object: Especially important if you have more than one residence.

Display: Who framed or mounted it? How is it secured?

Provenance: What is the collection history of the object? To whom did it previously belong? Pay special attention to antiquities and any work created before 1946 that was considered in Europe after 1932.

Bibliography: Is your work cited in the catalogue raisonne (a systematic annotated catalog; especially: a critical bibliography) of the artist? This will affect valuation, as authentication frequently depends on a work’s inclusion in the accepted catalogue raisonne. Are there other citations?

Exhibition History: Please file a copy of the catalogue of any show in which a work has appeared. Otherwise, copy the complete reference, including dates and location.
Purchase Price and Date
Appraisal History

Loan History: Record exhibition dates, venues, and the value placed on the work at the time of the loan. Make notes about the condition report from each location.

Art is Business"- Reference: ART News/Summer 2005 Collection Management Checklist   by Vivian Ebersman, Director of Art Expertise AXA ART Collection Management Series
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Live Painting with Live Music - Tali Farchi & Royce Deans with Reneé Bak...


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Archives: Royal Chicano Air Force - EXPRESS

"Art is Business"

Gone but not forgotten- Jose Montoya passed on September 26, 2013.  A son, husband, father, artist, professor, poet, musician, activist, is how he lived his life.

Jose Montoya, a nationally known artist, poet, and musician, has died. Montoya, an art professor at Sacramento State for 27 years, was a co-founder of the Royal Chicano Air Force, an influential Chicano political artists group. Montoya died on Wednesday, September 26th, 2013, at the age of 81.

“He was someone who could use spoken word to conjure poignant imagery and promote a healthy contemplative state,” said Serna. “His poems gave us pause to reconsider our individual and cultural condition.”

Montoya was born in Escobosa, New Mexico, and grew up in central California. He worked with labor leader Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
He was Sacramento’s third poet laureate, named to the post by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission in 2002. He is the author of poetry collections, including the acclaimed “In Formation: 20 Years of Joda.”
In interviews, Montoya said he learned arts from his mother, whose own artistic endeavors involved decorating church interiors. He was also the founder of Sacramento State's Barrio Arts program.

Jose Montoya, one of the original members of the Royal Chicano Air Force, retouches the mural he and several other artists painted in 1977 at Southside Park. 

THE SACRAMENTO BEE 

blindelof@sacbee.com
 
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/26/5771355/jose-montoya-1932-2013.html#storylink=cpy






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Frequently Asked Questions Toolkit- 2010

"Art is Business"

Toolkit- 2010

Here are some questions that people have asked us so that they can start their own storefront program.

If you're a city entity
If you're a property owner
If you're an artist
IF YOU'RE A CITY AGENCY LOOKING TO START A PROGRAM:
How did you recruit property owners to participate in the program, and approximately how many individual property owners are you working with?

 Our goal was to have 26 storefront installations in vacant storefronts in four neighborhoods. We worked with an economic development nonprofit organization in each neighborhood with pre-existing and deep connections with local merchants and property owners.

It was still difficult to get property owners to participate for several reasons.
Some property managers we approached thought it was a great idea but the owners, many of whom didn't live in the neighborhood or City, declined.

Some property owners thought it was a great idea until they had to sign the contract. Then, a few property owners dropped out because we asked them to carry general liability insurance.
Even though we offered to clean up properties in return for their willingness to use the space, property owners didn't jump at the opportunity.

We expanded our initial concept and included under-utilized storefronts and businesses where the display windows were not utilized. We also had the creation of two exterior murals running along the north and south side of our busiest commercial corridor to add additional impact to the Art in Storefronts visual element. That proved to be a very successful decision.

In the end, one property owner provided five windows along a critical commercial corridor.

Are the property owners receiving any compensation for their loan of vacant space?
The property owners received several benefits for providing use of their storefront, but they were not paid to participate. We cleaned their space before installation and left the space cleaner than how we received it. Property owners noted a decrease in graffiti on the properties where artists painted the exterior. And increased attention led to the rental of two properties.

How did you handle liability issues?
We required the property owner to carry general liability insurance. Our project managers, Triple Base, also named the City and the individual artists as additionally insured. The City used its own self-insured policy to cover the value of the art if it was damaged or stolen from the storefront. The art insurance was valued at $500, and the honorarium was paid to participating artists, even though the work had more excellent monetary value. For example, the cost of replacing video equipment would exceed $500. The artists were advised to carry their own liability insurance and additional art insurance.

How much did the extra insurance cost?
The cost of naming additionally insured is minimal. Property owners and the project management team found that each insurance agent dealt with it differently. In some instances, it costs nothing extra. In other cases, it costs between $25 and $100.

How did you recruit artists?
Artists seemed hungry for a program like this, and we received almost 200 applications for only 26 slots.
We issued a press release in conjunction with the Mayor's office to announce the project and posted guidelines online to coincide with the media announcement. We then put the word out through our agency's various e-Newsletters, with a lot of traffic coming from our Gallery Program, Community Art and Education Program, and our Cultural Equity Grants Program. Triple Base also reached out to their extensive roster of artists.

Some feedback we received from the Mission District was that the artists who knew about the program application were those already involved with the Arts Commission. So, for our Chinatown program, we will send out a press release (to both English and Chinese language press) when the application is posted, and we will hold an information session in Chinatown to answer questions about the program and discuss how to make a competitive proposal.

What kind of art was selected, and is it viewed solely from the street?
We prioritized selecting artists who lived or worked in the neighborhood and whose proposals were to create new work that celebrated the surrounding community. The most substantial submissions employed inventive media or full-scale installations and engaged people innovatively and dynamically.
The installations were only seen from the street to maximize viewership and minimize liability issues.

How often do you plan to change out exhibits/artwork? Do you have your schedule already set for the duration of the pilot program?
Since this was a pilot program, we did not plan to install future work in the space. Some property owners have arranged with the artists to keep the installations in the space longer than the extent of our program.
Some artists created programming that corresponded with their installation by holding an art opening at their nearby studio the same night as the launch.

What was your budget?
The entire project was created for $55,000, which covered project management, design and printing of marketing collateral, web design, artist stipends ($500 each), cleaning fees to prepare the windows for installation, and minimal installation and de-installation expenses. The project budget does not include City staff time.

Do you have samples of your contracts?
Yes. Here is a link to a sample artist agreement (Word, 38 K) and a link to a sample property owner agreement (Word, 33 K)

IF YOU'RE A PROPERTY OWNER:
How do I find an artist or artist collective?
Look around at local flyers and marketing materials to find artists who may live or work in your neighborhood. Check out art websites such as Open Studios/Art Span, SFAC or GFTA, Bayview Artists Shipyard, and Fecal Face. Go to local galleries and artist workspaces and inquire.

What is the minimum the property owner should provide?
The property owner should provide a clean, accessible storefront with electricity and a secure door with a lock. The property owner should also provide general liability insurance and a set of keys to allow the artist to enter the space necessary to install their artwork. It is also helpful if the artists can store supplies in the storefront until the installation is complete.

Should the property owner select the specific art?
Many artists want to install work they already have completed and want a place to display it. If an artist wants to create an original work or installation to be placed in the window, then the property owner should be provided with a sketch of the proposal.

Who pays for what?
The property owner should cover the cost of the window and site clean-up and utilities. The artist should cover the cost of creating the art and installation unless the property owner wants to help pay for some of these expenses. No matter how much the property owner agrees to pay to support the project, the artwork belongs to the artist.

How long doe the artwork stays in the window?
The work should stay up as long as it is agreed upon and written into the contract.

What if the artist doesn't want to remove the art?
The artwork should be removed on the date stated in the contract.

What if the property owner wants the art to stay longer?
The property owner should discuss this as an option with the artist and if both parties agree to extend the exhibition time, change the dates in the contract.

What should be included in a letter of agreement between an artist and a property owner?
All agreements should be put into writing and signed by both parties. This includes installation and removal dates, when the property will be cleaned and ready for installation, when the artist can pick up keys to the property, contact information for all parties and participants, insurance coverage, and fees.

IF YOU'REYOU'RETIST: How do I find a property owner to work with?
Walk around your neighborhood and find the vacant storefronts that provide contact information for leasing or renting. In some instances, it may be a property management company. Be sure you have the exact address.

You can also search public records at your local tax collectors office, but storefronts with signage indicate a property owner interested in using the space. Be persistent once you make contact. Provide documentation of Art in Storefronts. They know you're straightforward and have their interests in mind.

If you live or work in a neighborhood, you may also know an under-utilized window, which could work as well, like an insurance or accounting office.

How do you establish the value of your artwork for insurance purposes?
The best way to establish a set value for your artwork is to list all your materials and hours of labor. Also, be sure to take ample photos of the work for your own record.

What have you found successful in lighting the art installations at night?
Lighting the storefronts is a huge benefit, so the installations are visible at night. For several of the Chinatown sites, artists used simple spotlighting. Clamp lights with hoods were the most cost-effective, easy to install, and efficient lighting. The lights can also be placed on the floor to light upwards.
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Featured Artist Catherine Jones

 

In August, I met this fantastic artist from Canada while staying at the Edge Water Beach Apartments in Chicago. Walking into her condo, she saw a life-size portrait of Queen Elizabeth, best known for staging the capture of Fort Halifax Citadel. In 2014, she will be seeking citizenship in the US, and then we can talk more about her international love affair with staging


In 2004, the entire series was unveiled in the Senate of Canada. Fort Catherine est. 23rd day of June, anno Domini, 2006.
Prior to 2006, the Halifax Citadel, est. 1749, boasted of having never been invaded. This flagrant challenge, coupled with the prohibitive costs of 21st-century fort construction, led to an inevitable conclusion:
"Why bother to build your own fort when you can follow tradition and take someone else's?"
Directly following the report of the noon-gun, the Union Jack was lowered, and for the first time in 257 years, another flag, the flag of New Catatonia, was flown in its stead. Desperate to avoid another Iraq or Vietnam, the occupation was prudently short-lived. Validation was obtained when all pages from the guest book were removed. Regardless, the Citadel can no longer legitimately claim to have never been invaded, let alone occupied.




"Where the sun is always over the yardarm." 

 
AT THE END OF THE DAY
by
Catherine Jones
 
A series of twenty-one life-size oil on linen portraits of World War Two veterans. The Canadian, German, and British men are depicted without identification or military insignia, allowing the humanity in their venerable faces to transcend the geopolitics of war. Remarkably, although once mortal enemies, these men have sat down to raise a glass of cheer together.
 
The series was initially exhibited in Ortona, Italy, the scene of the vicious battle fought over Christmas 1943 and the site of the legendary Dinner of Reconciliation in 1998.
In 2004, the entire series was unveiled in the Senate of Canada.

scathing@scathing.com
http://www.scathing.com/press/index.html

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Jamin in Logan Square-PopUp Culture Coach

"Art is Business"


 
Patron's jamming at the market -


Whether one word or an intricate design, your flag will blow and be witnessed by many.
We were asked to return the flags by October 10th. They will be part of a Chicago Artists Month installation at the Chicago Green Technology Center in East Garfield Park.

For information on where to mail/drop completed flags, a.is.for.evil@gmail.com, www.andreajablonski.blogspot.com


One night I was at the Farmers Night Market in Logan Square. Susan Fox gave me one of the vertical fabrics to create my own prayer flag. I was asked to write, draw, paint, sew, dye, and collage a message about goodwill and community. I was allowed to involve my family and friends – there was no limit to the number of flags I was to paint.

 
   A prayer flag is a colorful rectangular found along mountain ridges in the Himalayas.
Darchor  (vertical) prayer flags promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers up to the gods, a common misconception, but spread these messages on the wind to the world. Darchor is raised by communities and is often found along walkways or paths as a colorful reminder of goodwill.
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Gretchen Hasse Featured Artist

"Art is Business"
“I wrote stories before I ever started to draw, and since then my work has been narrative. Currently, I create stories with writing, video, sculpture, photography, and drawing alone or in combination. My inspiration includes travel journals, videos. I produce for social justice groups and life lessons that take a really long time to learn."



Gretchen is currently a key holder at the B13 Gallery in Rogers Park, she was recently gallery sitting during the Glenwood Arts Festival in Rogers Park, where she and I caught up on project we are both doing. We are both members of Borderbend Arts Collective, and
often run into each other during AnySquare open studio, in Logan Square. I first met her at a forth of July party, where she introduced herself and we have been run in and out of art circles together. In 2014 we will be working together on a multi-media project, or installation we have not planned yet, but said yes to it, what ever it maybe.


 Common Ground on Damen/Devon
 
Gretchen frequently incorporates recycled materials into her two dimensional work, and I is beginning to draw on her  own consideration catalog of older work for ideas and elements in multimedia.
 
 
Adjunct Instructor Chicago Area Schools where she taught video production/post production, traditional animation and comic book design at Chicago schools and educational programs, including: • The School of the Art Institute of Chicago• Columbia College, Chicago, • University of Illinois / Chicago Alternative School Network• Chicago Humanities Festival• Chicago Filmmakers,• International Academy of Design and Technology I• SOAR/DCFS After School Program,• Facets Cinematheque, • After School Matters,• Digital Boot Camp.

Excerpt from Gretchen's Blog can be found at   http://gretchenhasse.tumblr.com/
I’m using a lot of recycled material these days. So imagine my delight (actually, you can see it right above) when I found this great packing box in the alley dumpster near my house. Bonus, I can use the top and the bottom for two separate pieces.

One thing about recycled materials is knowing how to prep them so they’re sellable, but not so over-prepped that they lose their trashy charm. With this box, one obvious thing was to deal with the dangerous nails. They wouldn’t come out without ruining the top of the box, so I just bent them back. I’ll probably cover the bent nails with something else when I’m finished with the painting.
I live in a three story house (a co-op) with ten other people. We have gallons of leftover paint, in all colors, inhabiting our basement storage room. So I am set on recycled paint as well. The background for the painting on the front of this is going to be the same color as our front sitting room.
 
Gretchen@gretchenhasse.com
Gretchenhasse.com
872-216-0570
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Paul Lorenz - 14 Pianos and a Pencil


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Phillip Bernal Design and Fine Art Consultant


"Art is Business"




The following is lists of organizations that I have learned my talents. I will start from the most recent and backtrack. I am currently working the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network in developing an initiative for the 47th Wall, Pop Up galleries, 2013 Miller Beach Arts & Business District, in Miller Beach Indiana, a group of artists, and art organization that has formed an ad hoc committee formulated to develop art incubators for the City of Gary Indiana. Red Dress Foundation: creating elegant parties to support HIV education and prevention. Lakeside Development CDC: An affordable housing advocacy organization in the Rodgers Park area a Ville Pop-up gallery in Andersonville for the holiday season of 2011, TPAN; Test positive awareness: and HIV prevention and healthcare.org serving the inner city. Guild Complex: a literary or furthering the benefits of literature to youth. Unity in Chicago: curated private art gallery with sales funding outreach programs. Alternatives: an org committee to helping at-risk inner-city your and women’s shelter. Leather Archives: a museum and depository dedicated to the sexual history of urban populations. Art against Aids: an annual black-tie art auction at the Drake Hotel to fund Weiss Hospital Aids care programs. Stop Aids Chicago: an A HIV prevention and outreach organization. BNI: Business Network International. a business networking org that helps small businesses gain a foothold in their market.

"Art is Business"
Phantom Gallery Chicago welcomes Phillip Bernal- Owner, Phillip Bernal Design and Fine Art Consultant http://facebook.com/bernaldesign. Phil and I met through Ernie Constantino, Director of Constituent Services, 47th Ward Alderman Pawar’s Office, we serve on the OpenWall Committee, and the subcommittee for Popup Storefront's in the 47thWard: Irving Park, N. Lincoln, Damen, and Lawrence Corridors.  
The 47th Ward has Community Day on Wednesdays from 3pm - 8pm, at 4243 N. Lincoln Avenue, 60618, call ahead for an appointment at 773-549-4555.  Our subcommittee volunteer office hours are on Wednesday from 11am - 3pm in the Ward office.es, this is an advertisement for Phil, he comes on board to coordinate artists and curators this Fall, look for him and our new gallery development on the N. Sheridan area of Edgewater this coming August - September. got a great idea for exhibiting you can contact Phil.
Mobile Phones (773) 370-9499
Website http://www.phillipbernaldesign.com
Email bernaldesign@facebook.com
Facebook http://facebook.com/bernaldesign
Can I say more about him? Sure but look for him in the coming months, proposals for installations can be submitted to the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network for Chicago Artists Month 5' x 5'. at phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com
The successful curatorial candidates will ensure that the following goals of the project are met:
Creatively activate spaces and sites to attract residents and visitors to explore Chicago's visual arts scene.
Showcase works of art that are innovative and engage participants and audiences in dynamic, interactive, and creative ways
Provide opportunities for artists to experiment with approaches not possible through permanent public art commissions.

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Membership Kick Off Fundraising 2013 -2014

"Art is Business"
 
 
Every year, curators from the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network begin its fundraising by contracting professional artists, art coordinators, community-based organizations supporting the arts, and other consultants to research and jointly apply for grant opportunities.  This year we have the opportunity to form partnerships with the African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley, the Visual Arts Development Project, and the Placer Arts Council a State and Local Partner.
 

In this past year alone, Phantom Gallery Chicago Network began a research project that explored historical documents discovered in the NAACP's Recording Secretary’s journal, dating 1936-1943; processed and cataloged events; created digital archives; and photographed markers mentioned in the journal. Co-sponsored a Retreat and explored the possibility of a “Land Trust”.

 
 
Inner Generational Project, "land trust" Retreat in Auburn, VADP Sponsored


This year, our goal is to raise $50,000 for operational support"
We are seeking operational support by contributions of non-federal funds, in-kind services and materials, or any combination thereof.  An in-kind match refers to the fair market monetary value of any allocation by your organization or contribution by outside organizations or individuals of labor, materials, goods, or services to the project. It can include salaried staff time; volunteer hours; office space; use of equipment for administrative or programmatic purposes; materials donated (e.g., for publicity, promotion, or evaluation); public program supplies, including refreshments; and travel, lodging, and meals for project staff or participants.
 
 


We hope you will join us in reaching our fundraising goal.  A simple donation can be made online at http://phantomgallery.blogspot.com or by sending $PGCNAlpha, PayPal @ Phantom Gallery Chicago Network.
 
Art Education Artists in Residence Projects
For more information, please contact me directly at phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com or 773-681-6570.  We sincerely thank you for your time and continued support.
 
The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network is registered under both the Charitable Trust and the Solicitation of Charity Act and is assigned registration number CO-01063500.
Sincerely,
Alpha Bruton
Chief Curator
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2013 - 2014 Fundraising Campaign Partners


Every year curators from the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network begins its fundraising by contracting professional artists, art coordinators, community based organizations supporting the arts, and other consultants to research and jointly apply for grant opportunities.  

 

This year we have the opportunity to form partnerships with the African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley, the Visual Arts Development Project, and the Placer Arts Council a State and Local Partner in California.


 

The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network is registered under both the Charitable Trust and the Solicitation for Charity Act, and is assigned a registration number, CO#- 01063500.

 


 
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Tarble Museum Artist in Residency

"Art is Business"






The Tarble has offered numerous activities involving professional artists in the past three years: exhibitions of contemporary art, artist residencies in area schools (the most recent IAC-funded residency was fall 2012), and co-sponsorship of artists’ lectures with the E.I.U. Art Department.  

Other arts programming offered at the Center includes the three annual Enrichment Programs for area schools, professional development opportunities for teachers, docent-led tours of exhibitions, and year-round community art instruction led by practicing artists. The Tarble also hosts Charleston Community Theatre productions, Embarras Valley Film Festival events co-sponsored with the E.I.U. College of Arts and Humanities, and poetry and fiction readings co-sponsored with the E.I.U. English Department.
 


Arts in Health Care, Oak Forest Hospital AIR. 2002
 
The proposed fall 2013 residency will enhance visual arts programming in area schools by hosting Bruton to work with a variety of populations (students, teachers, and community members) in individual textile projects and a collaborative installation. Hands-on studio experiences involving professional artists, teachers, students, and others address the Tarble’s ongoing mission to provide unique arts education programs engaging rural area school populations and the community.
  

Beidler Elementary CPS, AIR Stagecraft, 2010
 
A residency involving area schools and community members was included in the Tarble’s education plan for the fall 2013 schedule. In consultation between Curator of Education Kit Morice and the Steering Committee, Alpha Bruton was selected from the AIE Artists Roster to serve as artist-in-residence. Her vast experience facilitating collaborations between professional artists and a variety of populations made her a good fit for the site.
 
The Steering Committee is comprised of Kit Morice, Tarble Curator of Education, teachers Dirk Muffler/Pathways, Penny Hess/Jefferson School, and Kris Marsland/Windsor Jr.-Sr. High School, Judith Hagen, Principal/TLC, Humboldt (On-Site Coordinators, non-core groups); Shannon Johnson, Fine Arts Chair, Coles County Arts Council (Community Coordinator); Amy Borregine (parent volunteer), and Lydia McCollum (student).
 

Newberry Math and Science Academy, AIR 8th Grade Students 2012
 
Bruton was selected because she has involved communities in collaborative projects with exciting results. Residency activities will complement and enhance the art curricula in the co-sponsoring schools and complement the Tarble’s long-range plan by encouraging the active involvement of arts organizations, schools, and community members with the Tarble, expanding and enriching the existing arts education programs. The residency also provides continuing education opportunities for teachers through the Teacher In-Service as well as the core and non-core classroom activities.
 
 
 Chicago Public Library, SAIC Textile Fiber Arts Department, and Community Artists


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BOLD NEW HORIZONS: RENEE BAKER AND THE CHICAGO MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT

 Reposted article written by Samuel Thompson


TRAILBLAZER:  one word to describe Renée Baker.   The words “polyproductive” and “prolific” can also be used to describe Ms. Baker, founder and music director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project.  During the final months of the 2012/2013 season, Ms. Baker conducted the premieres of three original compositions inspired by the life and work of Mark Rothko and recently received the Charles E. Walton Black Music Month Award from Chicago’s Vivian G. Harsh Society. 

 Renee Baker is a very active figure in the cultural life of Chicago, having been a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta since 1987 and having appeared as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician throughout Chicago, including a Ravinia debut as viola soloist in Strauss’ Don Quixote, partnering with John Sharp, cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.     In tandem with her career performing “traditional classical music”, Ms. Baker has been making great strides both as a conductor and as a composer of modern music.   


Ms. Baker maintains a deep reverence for those who were influential in her development as an artist.   “I am incredibly grateful to Paul Freeman for serving as a stalwart mentor to me as a conductor, composer, and musician,” she said.   “I was groomed over 25 years in the Chicago Sinfonietta – Paul first hired me as a violist in the orchestra in 1987 when it was founded, and was the first conductor both to ask for and premiere two symphonies that I had written.”  

Those premieres include the October 2010 world premiere of Ms. Baker’s “Sundown’s Promise” - a thirteen-section work inspired by the Japanese rice harvest and spotlighted by Japanese Taiko drums – and the May 2011 premiere of “Divertimento Notte blu” for Orchestra and six jazz soloists.   Commissioned by the Chicago Sinfonietta, both works received great critical acclaim, and the May 2011 premiere of “Divertimento Notte blu” marked another high point in Ms. Baker’s steadily growing career, as it was in that performance that she made her Symphony Center debut as a conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

To have been the recipient of such a tremendous opportunity from a mentor was indescribable for Ms. Baker, as both premieres took place during Maestro Freeman’s final season as music director of the orchestra that he founded.    Symbolically, one could refer to that season as Mr. Freeman’s “passing the baton” to an emerging visionary.    It was also during the 2010/2011 season that Ms. Baker was hailed as    

“The latest AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) visionary” by  Downbeat Magazine. 

Renee Baker is definitely riding a wave, becoming one of the most influential proponents of modern music in the twenty-first century.  In recent years, new music ensembles including Washington DC’s Great Noise Ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and three-time Grammy Award-winning Eighth Blackbird (also based in Chicago) have captured the attention of concertgoers and musicians worldwide.   Renee Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project are soon to join the ranks of the aforementioned ensembles, as CMOP is now positioned to establish a true international presence and reputation as the go-to orchestra both for new music and for composers of color.


The reverence that Ms. Baker holds for her mentors is in tandem with her insatiable curiosity.   “About seven years ago, I started looking at both the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the American Composers Orchestra, as I wondered if both those groups and orchestras that were programming ‘traditional classical music’ were attracting audiences for modern music.”   Continuing, she shared that in the formative years of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, she purposefully sought out people who were at the top of their game and who had an authentic interest in what she was trying to learn.  “These people, some of the most foremost jazz and creative musicians - including composer and MacArthur Foundation Fellowship recipient Anthony Braxton and flutist/composer and Doris Duke artist Nicole Mitchell - were able to answer the questions that I had.”


The Chicago Modern Orchestra Project is a special ensemble in many ways.   “I believe in inclusion,” Renee said, “and many of these people are people that I have been grooming since 1991.   We have managed to marry the best of traditional classical musicians and the best of avant-garde jazz players in Chicago, and we’re rapidly expanding our reach beyond the United States.   CMOP’s roster includes musicians who are also members of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and freelance with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony, Chicago Opera Theatre, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, and many other fine ensembles.   This is why we can do absolutely authentic presentations of classical music, jazz, and modern concert music.   I am able to get a flavor that most ensembles are not able to.”   With CMOP, Ms. Baker has shown herself to be a leader in developing true orchestral diversity, as no other orchestra in the United States can boast the authentic inclusiveness of the ensemble in both musical expertise and demographic:   in addition to being an awesome mix of classical and jazz musicians, CMOP membership is a true reflection of our nation’s ethnic diversity.

 “During our first season, we presented a total of fifteen concerts, including both large ensemble concerts and smaller community concerts.     The ensemble has performed at both Dominican University and the South Shore Cultural Center, and our first ‘laboratory’ was held at Velvet Lounge.”   Ms. Baker’s belief in inclusion pervades the work of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, as CMOP has, since its inception, premiered an average of ten works each season, including compositions by Ms. Baker and others received through the ensemble’s open score project.    “It is truly wonderful not only to have created an opportunity to continuously hone my skills as a composer, but also to constantly introduce fresh music to our audience.”

 Ms. Baker’s reach as a composer has grown steadily over many years.    Her works have been performed by groups including the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Southeast Symphony

(Los Angeles), DanceWright Project (San Francisco), Great Black Music Ensemble /AACM(premiered in Umbria, Italy, 2009), and presented both by the Joffrey Ballet Chamber Series and the Museum of Contemporary Art/Chicago.   Ms. Baker continues to secure performances of her works both nationally and internationally, including the upcoming 2014 premiere of “blu Samsara” in Zolle (Netherlands) and the anticipated premiere of “Sunyata” in 2015.

In recent years, CMOP has garnered attention from many people and organizations dedicated to the composition and performance of modern music, and the 2013-14 season will mark the beginning of a three-year period of great expansion.    Between 2013 and 2016, the ensemble is slated to present an exciting assortment of new works by some of the most interesting and innovative composers working today.  

“Our 2013/2014 season begins with the premiere of my Simple Consciousness:  Painted Scores Exploratorium at Chicago’s Out of Line Gallery,” Ms. Baker said, “and during that season we shall also give the Chicago premiere of Nicole Mitchell’s When Life's Door Opens for Chamber Orchestra and 3 Vocalists.   This piece was commissioned and premiered in New York by the Tri-Centric Orchestra, and Nicole, having very deep roots in Chicago, offered us the chance to give the Chicago Premiere.”   The organization New Music USA has also paired CMOP with 2008 Rome Prize finalist Gregg Wramage for a series of premieres to take place between January 2014 and May 2015.    The three-year period 2013-2016 also includes works by UK-based composers Mark Yeats (who has recently become Composer-In-Association with Atlanta’s Chamber Cartel) and Alistair Zaldua.

When asked how she manages such an involved, diverse, and innovative career, Renee answered in a very simple yet profound manner: “You find time to eat, right?  For the things that are vital to our existence – that we identify as vital – we find time.   This is all about quality of life – a life filled with art and creativity.   If you are a cultural creative, everything is open to you.”  

 As they stand on the precipice of tremendous growth, everything is definitely open both for Renee Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project – a woman and an organization that stands for growth, discovery, inclusion, and true openness.

-Samuel Thompson




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Archives: Interrogating Monuments: Jeremiah Hulsebos- Sofford's Hall of Khan

    Repost from Sixty Inches From the Center Posted by ArtSlant on Apr 28, 2013 |

Interrogating Monuments: Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford’s Hall of Khan


 

Image on top: Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, background: Hall, foreground: Maid; Courtesy of Hyde Park Art Center

This article was originally published on April 20, 2013, on ArtSlant by writer W. Keith Brown. This article is part of a series of article exchange partnerships between Sixty Inches From Center and other online blogs and journals that have missions similar to ours–to document and support the visual arts happening in Chicago. The goal of these partnerships is to build bridges within our writing community, help promote one another to new audiences, and give more exposure to the art that keeps our Chicago experience compelling.

 The critical pedagogue Henry Giroux tells us that objects placed before us in the public sphere function as forms of public pedagogy—that is, they communicate and reinforce certain cultural narratives, hierarchies, and social mythologies. These images | objects seek to teach us about our collective past and present, regardless of accuracy or consensus. As cultural reflections and representative images or objects, monuments serve as cultural mirrors, and the sites where they are situated are part of a broader cultural commons.

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford’s Hall of Khan is an attempt to question monuments and frame them through artistic sculptural representations of the artist’s own research and interests. In the works arranged, the artist has examined power, truth, knowledge, pedagogy, and cultural semiotics. Each form takes on different iconic treatments, including ancient tablature, architecture, the equestrian figure, and pedestal-based sculpture. Inside the exhibition space, viewers encounter brightly colored cast foam molds, wooden fixtures, and abstracted found objects. Two large built structures flank both entrances of the space. The first is a horse stable entitled Stall, and the second is a larger suspended form entitled Hall (i.e., Hall of Khan). The Hall form is based on 19th-century European palatial structures like the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, and the Grand Palais in Paris. The stable is a minimalist form designed for interactive exhibition programs in which live horses will be brought in for specific activities and learning.

On the day of the opening, two horses were used, one for Elijah Burgher’s performance (a kind of living monument that mocks the Ralph Lauren Empire) and the other to carry a three-foot lime green saddle (Green Screen Googie for Italo Calvino). Both structures are like homes. 

The stall serves as a house for horses, and the hall serves as a reminder of the great halls that housed and still house special objects of cultural significance. Architectural monuments and museums function as caretakers and shelters for objects as well as spaces of human memory. Hulsebos-Spofford has taken care to sharply craft, represent, and replicate the feeling of great halls, only his are empty. “Hall” serves two meanings: Hall of Khan, the exhibition title is full of many objects, yet Hall, the actual form itself, creates a void that visitors can approach, enter, and exit. The artist has created two spaces in one. The first consumes us (the hollow Hall structure) and the second allows us to consume it.


Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, foreground: White Men Can’t Jump, background: Stall, right: Tablets; Courtesy of the gallery.

The exhibition title, Hall of Khan, is derived from the artist’s research into the 2008 Genghis Khan monument in Mongolia. Khan, as we know, was a tyrannical emperor, but over time, his conquests have become less severe, and he can now serve as a source of tourism revenue for capitalist Mongolia. This research led Hulsebos-Spofford to a specific investigation of equestrian monuments, a historically popular genre of monument-making in which particular figures of interest are both symbolically and physically mounted on horseback (literally seated in positions of power). There is a connection between thrones and saddles that is worth considering, as the role of the saddle recurs throughout the exhibition. Here, the artist asks us to consider who is powerful enough to be positioned this way and who is powerful enough to make such grandiose gestures. 

In a recent talk at the Art Institute of Chicago, Kara Walker mentioned her work as “saddling up to power,” which invokes an image of the artist as a powerful communicator of ideas. This notion that artists ask meaningful questions in their work as a form of cultural power is nothing new, but it is worth considering as we think about how art can teach us new things and communicate an artist’s ideas to a wider public. Hulsebos-Spofford openly admits that it is a tall order to deconstruct such monumental objects and that this investigation is an exercise in claiming and demystifying power. The artist as a powerful image- and object-maker should resonate with all of us, as we, too, possess the agency to question power.

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, Buoy, 2013; Courtesy of the gallery.
The works on display range in sculptural form and conceptual meaning, moving from the grand and abstract to the personal as the artist seeks to place his own memories in positions of power and ask others to consider how truth and power commingle with memory and historical fact (or non-fact). The exhibition reads visually as sculptural forms arranged in a small galaxy of abstract 3D collage and assemblage—works strewn about in a carefully curated yet haphazard arrangement. In White Men Can’t Jump, the artist references the Billy Ho character played by Woody Harrelson from the 1992 basketball hustler film “White Men Can’t Jump.” The same black Nike shoes, shirt, and hat pattern worn by Harrelson is invoked to signal how the popular film marked one of the first moments when the artist became aware of racial stereotypes in popular culture. The film resonated with the artist as the plot (a pick-up basketball game) became an unlikely setting for an interracial friendship between the characters. A similar expression appears in Maid, a bright orange-red saddle monument with charred, amber-like stakes that surge upward from the top of the piece. 

Here, the film “The Passion of Joan of Arc” from 1928 starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti is invoked as another memory of the artist and his cinematic encounter with the famous heroine being burned alive at the stake. In the silent film, striking images of the body being burned alive alongside the compassionate reaction of the town’s people communicate the horrific death and the public remorse for capital punishment. The monument serves as a reminder of what power can do. It also reinterprets the many Joan of Arc monuments found around the world.

Abstraction, in the contemporary sense of the word, hangs in the air over this exhibition, as Hulsebos-Spofford seeks to demystify the real and representative issues surrounding monuments through abstraction. It is all very meta in that we have an artist making abstract sculpture and spatial collage about the monument, with abstracted historical and cultural meaning that complicates the monument's sculptural genre. For me, this is an exhibition about gaps as much as it is about the formal aspects of contemporary visual art, sculpture, installation, and collage. Conceptually, the artist is dealing with representation and abstract meaning as it is situated in our collective imaginary. As people who interact with public spaces, we learn from the artist to think, question, and intervene. Monuments ask that we acknowledge and remember things that we do not know—they are stopgaps in time.
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Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford: Hall of Khan is on view at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615, through July 28, 2013.
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