Loiter Pop-Up Galleries joins the Long Beach Business District.

"Art is Business" https://www.loitergalleries.com/about-us.


Established in 2018, Loiter Galleries' mission is to support local underserved artists by providing affordable gallery space, promotion, and general support even during the most challenging times. We also serve the business community and our Long Beach neighborhoods by filling vacant storefronts with art and optimism. 


We believe that art is a powerful tool in the evolution of neighborhoods and cities. And that the accessibility of art is of the utmost importance. 

 Additionally, Loiter Galleries fills a void. Mainly serving the various needs of underserved artists. The programs we develop directly assist the business district and the arts community. We supply affordable gallery showcases, marketing, supplies, meeting space, art business advice, and emotional support for the artists. Conversely, we aid local property owners by converting dark, empty spaces with art and positive activity. As a result, artists finally have a venue to display their art and receive the support they need to learn how to be successful. In addition, the property owners sell/lease their spaces more quickly via our projects' brightness, activity, and popularity.

Another core audience, naturally, is art lovers and supporters. We serve them by presenting them with artists we discover who are out of the mainstream. Although some of our artists are established, the shows they create tend to be more adventurous and push the boundaries. Again, this occurs through our direction and collaboration.

Many of our visitors have never been in a gallery previously.



Alpha Bruton, Chief Curator for the Phantom Gallery Chicago, has contracted services with the team at Loiter Galleries in Long Beach and is an art partner and cohort with a board of directors member Liza Simone with Space in the Gap, presenting  Popup Research Station CAFE. We welcome Loiter Galleries to our Network of Phantom Galleries. 

IN THE NEWS: C. Lee Cutchens, Community Contributor Verified User Badge
Posted Mon, Jun 4, 2018, at 7:42 pm PT

Loiter Galleries has announced the grand opening of its newest pop-up collaborative, "Loiter Pop Up Galleries," on June 9 from 5–10 pm at The Streets, 375 North Promenade in Downtown Long Beach. While supporting local artists, guests will enjoy art discussions and refreshments and two-hour free parking at nearby public parking garages.

Led by Long Beach artists Vinny Picardi, Fine Art Photographer, and Monica Fleming, Painter, the "Loiter Pop Up Galleries" will run into the summer. Pop Up galleries provides local artists with a location to showcase their work at a low or no cost opportunity.

"We will be the debut artists of what will hopefully be the first of many pop-up gallery showcase opportunities for Long Beach artists in temporarily available storefronts," said Picardi and Fleming, co-proprietors of Loiter Galleries. "As cities redevelop, available gallery space is out of reach for most artists. We aim to ensure Long Beach artists always have a venue to present their work."

Art is a powerful tool in the evolution of neighborhoods and cities, and the Loiter Galleries Pop-Up project's goal is to aid in the responsible growth and progress of a city through art. Its purpose is two-fold: it creates temporary galleries in available spaces and serves to support local artists and their messages.

"We welcome Loiter Galleries to The Streets and look forward to their artists' showcase in our Downtown shopping center," said Tony Shooshani, Managing Member of Shooshani Developers. "Their presence will engage guests, residents, and employees with a unique local art experience in a central location."




THE JAZZ INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO DEVOTES 2022 TO HONOR THE GREAT LOUIS ARMSTRONG.

"Art is Business"



THE JAZZ INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO DEVOTES 2022 
TO HONOR THE GREAT LOUIS ARMSTRONG.

He arrived in Chicago in 1922 from New Orleans to play as a sideman for King Oliver. He left Chicago an international superstar. Throughout 2022 join us for concerts, exhibits, discussions, and more as we celebrate and tell the story of this master musician's life and legacy. A founding father of jazz, the first pop star, and a cultural ambassador of the United States, he is the incredible Louis Armstrong.

For Immediate Release... Press Contact: Scott Anderson 
April 19, 2022, Scott@JazzInChicago.org 
 847-337-2111 mobile phone 
 
JAZZ INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO HONORS LOUIS ARMSTRONG 
Events are planned all year to celebrate 100 years since Louis Armstrong arrived in Chicago. 
CHICAGO, IL -- The Jazz Institute of Chicago is proud to bring together jazz luminaries from Chicago 
and beyond for a range of concerts and events to honor the man who arrived in Chicago 100 years ago 
and changed the course of America's original art.
 
In 1922 Louis Armstrong made a small splash playing riverboats and clubs in and around New Orleans. Then, that summer, he was summoned by King Oliver to come to Chicago and join his Creole Jazz Band  on the second cornet. He soon dazzled Chicago audiences with new and exciting playing and the astonishing duets he shared with Oliver. His first recorded solo was on the song "Chimes Blues" with King  Oliver on April 5, 1923. 

It was also in Chicago where Louis met his future wife, Lil Hardin Armstrong, a gifted pianist and composer who had a profound effect on Armstrong's playing as well as his personal style. Louis and Lil married and bought a home on East 44th on Chicago's Southside. Over the next several years, Lil helped guide Louis from a top-notch local player with country bumpkin charm to an international superstar and America's first cultural ambassador to the world. In Chicago, Louis continued to record 
songs that would alter the course of jazz forever. As Dizzy Gillespie said, "No Louis, no me." 

The current line-up of Jazz Institute of Chicago events is as follows: 
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 
CHICAGO LOVES POPS: A CELEBRATION OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG 
Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E 60th Street 
Trumpet greats Orbert Davis, Corey Wilkes, and Maurice Brown pay homage to the great Louis. 
Armstrong arrived in Chicago 100 years ago and changed jazz forever. 
Ticket info at www.jazzinchicago.org

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 & 5 at 7PM 
LOUIS ARMSTRONG ART EXHIBITION and CONCERT 
Fulton Street Collective, 1821 W. Hubbard Street
Two evenings of artwork inspired by Louis and Lil Hardin Armstrong with special concerts with Marques Carroll on November 4 and Chris Neal on November 5.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2 at 7PM 
JAZZ CITY: TRIBUTE TO ELLA AND LOUIS 
South Shore Cultural Center 7059 S South Shore Dr 
Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald recorded some of the most known and enduring songs in 
jazz history. Bruce Henry and Alysha Monique pay tribute to this exceptional pair. Expect a few 
holiday tunes too!

Community Conversation and Quilt Installation

"Art is Business"    https://www.chicagotextileweek.com/week-of-events/community-conversation-and-quilt-installation.


Blue Circles is a community art project developed by Amanda Christine Harth for her residency SAIC at Homan Square.


I visited this Community Conversation and Quilt Installation, and so glad I did. 

On Friday, September 30th, 2022, I joined an open-ended community conversation about Chicago's textile art and craft communities and their interrelating histories. 

What is Chicago's textile history, and what can we do to remember that history while creating its present and imagining its future?

This conversation occurred in Nichols Tower, part of Chicago's textile history. Once part of the original Sears, Roebuck & Company, the building now hosts the School of the Art Institute's Homan location. Several community quilts will be displayed during the conversation as a reminder of Chicago's rich quilting history and to link this gathering to the tradition of quilting circles as a community gathering, planning, and healing site. Featured quilts include A quilt from recent denim dying and quilting workshop participants at SAIC Homan, a "circle work" quilt made by Teen Creative Agency, and quilts from a local church.

Gatherings like quilting circles, sewing clubs, embroidery protests, and knitting collectives inspired this community conversation! So, in the spirit of those gatherings, bring your projects (knitting, crochet, embroidery, card weaving, quilt squares, fashion sketching, hand stitching, lace work--whatever!) to work on during the conversation. Some basic materials will be on hand if you don't have a project to bring. Then, CTW representatives and makers of the quilts on display will give brief opening remarks to set the stage for the remainder of the program.






RESOURCE: Sickler Welcome Blanket Kits, 2000 Miles of Warm

Sickler Welcome Blanket Kits, 2000 Miles of Warm Welcomeblanket.org, Making change with Art & Activism-Craftivism. Partnering with refugee resettlement agencies & immigrant aid groups to distribute blanks. 

Donating quilts to those in need of a warm welcome. What better way to welcome than a pretty, fun, and useful blanket? The need is great. 

Where are the blankets going?
Your blankets are helping three organizations:
THE IRC, our refugee resettlement partner, works with asylum seekers who have been released from detention.

Miry's List a movement dedicated to welcoming new arrival refugee families.
Catholic Charities USA, aiding in their Helping at the Boarder program.

Learn More:


Phantom Gallery CHI

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